Johann Gottlieb GRAUN (1702 - 1771)
Concerto for violin and orchestra in c minor (GraunWV C:XIII:68) [10:30]
Concerto for 2 violins and orchestra in G (GraunWV C:XIII:84) [20:27]
Concerto for 2 violins and orchestra in F (GraunWV Av:XIII:31) [21:28]
Concerto for viola, strings and bc in E flat (GraunWV Cv:XIII:116) [18:09]
Markus Heinrich GRAUEL (? - 1799) (attr)
Concerto for violin, strings and bc in A [16:36]
Ilia Korol (violin, viola), Proska Batori (violin)
moderntimes_1800/Ilia Korol
rec 13 - 17 October 2008, chamber auditorium of Deutschlandfunk, Cologne
CHALLENGE RECORDS CC72317 [47:36 + 39:40]
The Graun brothers, Carl Heinrich and Johann Gottlieb are important representatives
of the generation of composers between the baroque and classical eras. Johann
Gottlieb attended the Kreuzschule in Dresden and later studied at Leipzig University.
He received lessons on the violin from the then most prominent violinist in
Germany, Johann Georg Pisendel. He also travelled to Italy, where he became
acquainted with Giuseppe Tartini. Back home he was appointed concertmaster
of the orchestra of the Prussian Crown Prince Frederick, while Carl Heinrich
secured the position of Kapellmeister. Graun held this position until his death.
He was also active as a violin teacher; among his pupils were Franz Benda -
from 1733 onwards also a member of Frederick's orchestra - and Wilhelm Friedemann
Bach.
Graun composed many concertos, mostly for violin, which were to be played by
himself and reflect his own skills as a violin virtuoso. Burney reports that
he was greatly admired as a composer who combined pleasant melodies with counterpoint
and was generally considered "one of the greatest violinists of his day".
The concertos on these two discs show that he gradually moved away from counterpoint.
The Concerto in c minor is the earliest piece in this set and was written in
1730 or even earlier. Particularly beautiful is the largo in which the violin
moves over a tutti which is dominated by a motif of three notes. Although the
scoring includes two oboes they have no independent parts but play colla
parte with the violins.
That is also the case in the Concerto for two violins in G. The scoring includes
two parts for horns, and these are independent and play a noticeable role in
the fast movements, but are silent in the adagio. This movement is dominated
by Seufzer and descending figures, both in the solo parts and in the
tutti.
Graun's acquaintance with Giuseppe Tartini has had a strong influence on his
compositional style. The Italian master didn't avoid virtuosity, but gave priority
to expression. That is also the main feature of Graun's concertos, and it is
no coincidence that in two concertos the slow movements are the longest. In
the Concerto in F the second movement, mesto, is almost twice as long as the
fast movements. That is different in the Concerto for viola in E flat. It is
one of only two concertos for this instrument which are known from Graun. It
is a particularly beautiful work, with a magnificent cantabile solo
part in the middle movement, with the character indication 'adagio, un poco
andante'.
The only piece which is not by Graun is the Concerto in A, which is attributed
to Markus Heinrich Grauel. He is an almost completely unknown quantity, and
has no entry in New Grove. The concerto is to be found in the archive of the
Berlin Singakademie, and it says 'del Sigr. Grauel'. The man to which it is
attributed was cellist in the court orchestra in Berlin from 1763. Considering
his style he is thought to have been a pupil of Graun. It is less virtuosic
but quite beautiful. The first movement is dominated by drum basses, a feature
of many compositions from the mid-18th century.
Ilia Korol and Piroska Batori give excellent performances of the solo parts.
The dialogue between the two violins is very well worked out and there is a
good balance between the two violins. The viola concerto is definitely one
of the highlights of this set, and the viola is brilliantly played by Ilia
Korol. The horn parts are impressively executed by Oliver Kersken and Stefan
Oetter, and also well recorded as they are clearly audible.
In short, this is a very fine production which sheds light on the oeuvre of
a composer whose violin concertos need to be further explored.
Johan van Veen