Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK (1562-1621)
Keyboard Works - Volume 2
Toccata 9. toni (SwWV 297) [5:21]
Est-ce mars (SwWV 321) [4:33]
Paduana Lachrimae (SwWV 328) (after John Dowland)* [5:19]
Allemand (Gratie; More Palatino) (SwWV 318)* [3:52]
Toccata in C (SwWV 283) [3:28]
Die flichtig Nimphae (Vluchtige nymph) (SwWV 331) [2:08]
Toccata 1. toni in d minor (SwWV 286) [3:55]
Mein junges Leben hat ein End (SwWV 324) [6:24]
Pavan Philippi (SwWV 329) (after Peter Philips) [7:02]
Toccata 2. toni in g minor (SwWV 292)* [2:38]
Von der Fortuna werd ich getrieben (Engelse Fortuijn) (SwWV 320)* [3:12]
Unter der Linden grune (Onder een linde groen) (SwWV 325)* [5:21]
Fantasia crommatica à 4 (SwWV 258) [8:01]
Robert Woolley (harpsichord, virginal*)
rec. 20-21 October 2006, Glynde Church, East Sussex, UK. DDD
CHANDOS CHAN 0758 [63:37]
Jan Pieterszoon SWEELINCK (1562-1621)
Music for Harpsichord
Praeludium (Fantasia) (SwWV 265) [3:47]
Est-ce Mars (SwWV 321) [5:05]
Fantasia crommatica à 4 (SwWV 258) [8:08]
Pavan Philippi (SwWV 329) (after Peter Philips) [9:10]
Mein junges Leben hat ein End (SwWV 324) [6:37]
Toccata 1. toni in d minor (SwWV 286) [4:11]
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr (SwWV 299) [4:30]
Echo Fantasia in C (SwWV 253) [8:06]
Fortune my Foe (SwWV 320) [3:02]
Passomeza a 4 Voc. (Passamezzo moderno) (SwWV 326) [6:33]
Paduana Lachrimae (SwWV 328) (after John Dowland) [6:00]
Lucas OSIANDER (1534-1604)
Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland [0:39]
anon (?Melchior SCHILDT, 1592/93-1667)
Fantasia 1. toni à 4 [11:38]
Glen Wilson (harpsichord)
rec. 11-13 May 2008, Schuttbau, Rugheim (Unterfranken), Germany. DDD
NAXOS 8.570894 [77:28]
Very few, if any, composers have so strongly influenced the development of
keyboard music in Europe as Girolamo Frescobaldi and Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck.
Their music found wide dissemination and they were much sought after as teachers.
Through their pupils they had a lasting influence on composing for the keyboard
which extended as far as Johann Sebastian Bach. Frescobaldi has been given
much wider attention than his Dutch contemporary. In 2002 the latter's complete
oeuvre for keyboard was recorded for the first time.
Sweelinck did not compose music only for keyboard. He published four books
with polyphonic settings of the Psalms on the melodies of the Genevan psalter.
A collection with Latin motets, called Cantiones sacrae, was printed
in 1619. Moreover he wrote chansons, madrigals and canons. Last year (2010)
the Gesualdo Consort Amsterdam finished its project of recording all of Sweelinck's
vocal music, under the title 'The Sweelinck monument'.
But Sweelinck will always be first associated with the keyboard, and that
was already the case in his own time. In particular in Germany his reputation
as an organist was such that young keyboard players went to Amsterdam to study
with Sweelinck, or were sent to him by their employers. Nicknames like 'Orpheus
of Amsterdam' and 'the German organist maker' bear witness to the high esteem
in which he was held.
At about the same time two discs were released with some of Sweelinck's keyboard
music played on harpsichord or virginals. Both discs include pieces which
could also be played at the organ. In many cases the choice is up to the interpreters.
Sweelinck was organist of the Oude Kerk in Amsterdam, but he wasn't in the
service of the church. The organ was not used for Sunday services. Under the
authority of the city council Sweelinck played during weekdays to entertain
the inhabitants of Amsterdam. Because of that there is little reason to assume
he only played sacred music at the organ. It is likely he would also have
performed variations on popular tunes of the time. He was particularly famous
for that, and improvised such variations at the harpsichord during performances
at home or in social gatherings of members of the bourgeoisie.
The Chandos disc is the second Robert Woolley has devoted to Sweelinck's keyboard
music. On his first disc he played the organ. I don't know whether a complete
recording is planned, but with these two discs one gets a very good impression
of the Sweelinck’s art. In this second volume Robert Woolley plays two instruments.
The first is a claviorganum: an organ with a harpsichord on top of it. This
instrument is a copy of a claviorganum built by Lodewijk Theewes in 1579.
It’s currently preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Woolley
only plays the harpsichord of this claviorganum. The second instrument is
a copy of a pair of virginals built by the famous Flemish keyboard builder
Ioannes Ruckers in 1611. This is a so-called muselar, a typically Flemish
form of virginals with the keyboard placed off-centre to the right. Glen Wilson
only uses a harpsichord, which is a copy of another instrument by Ruckers.
The exact date of the original is not given but in his liner-notes Wilson
writes: "Since he [Sweelinck] died only about twenty years before the
type of double [double-manual harpsichord] I use was invented, I hope I may
be pardoned by purists".
One doesn't need to be a purist to have some objections to this choice, and
particularly the way he uses this instrument. The sound is rather thick and
heavy, and that makes some pieces in his recording somewhat ponderous. That
effect is exacerbated by Wilson's sometimes rather slow tempi and his habit
of playing the notes of chords mostly simultaneously, whereas Robert Woolley
often plays them as an arpeggio. His playing is generally more relaxed and
he has the faster tempi. There is no such thing as a 'right' or 'wrong' tempo
in this music but on the whole I prefer Woolley's choices as they sound more
natural to my ears and let the music flow.
Glen Wilson makes heavy weather of some pieces, in particular the variations
on Est-ce Mars, where he also creates strong contrasts in tempo between
the variations. Some are extremely slow, others very fast. Woolley takes more
of a middle ground here, and that seems to me just right. The same goes for
Mein junges Leben hat ein End, and - to take a quite different piece
- the Pavan Philippi. In the Fantasia crommatica Woolley and
Wilson have chosen almost the same tempo, but the former's performance is
to be preferred. That shows that it isn't just the tempo which is the issue,
but also the way of playing. Wilson often couples the manuals or the 8' and
4' registers, and that makes the sound of the harpsichord even heavier. He
also regularly changes the registration during a piece which seems questionable
from a historical perspective.
I have much enjoyed the performances by Robert Woolley who plays at a consistently
high level and seems to have grasped the character of Sweelinck's music quite
well. The fiery performance of the brilliant Toccata 9. toni which
opens the programme sets the tone. I prefer his harpsichord in this oeuvre,
and the alternation between the harpsichord and the very beautiful virginals
only enhances the attraction of this disc.
Although I am critical about some features of Glen Wilson's recording I would
like to point out that various pieces in his programme come off quite well.
The Paduana lachrimae can stand the rather slow tempo. On his disc
we find an example of chorale variations which are mostly played at the organ,
Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr. Wilson convincingly demonstrates that
it fares well at the harpsichord. Not all pieces in his programme are authentic.
The Passomeza a 4 Voc. is generally considered spurious. The programme
ends with a piece which is definitely not by Sweelinck. It has been preserved
anonymously, but is also attributed to Melchior Schildt, one of the many German
pupils of Sweelinck. The Fantasia 1. toni à 4 is based on the first
line of the German hymn Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland. It is a brilliant
display of contrapuntal ingenuity, and Wilson gives a commanding performance.
It is preceded by a harmonization of this hymn by Lucas Osiander.
The track-lists are quite different in the spelling of the titles of various
pieces. I have harmonized them, and used the spelling of the Chandos disc
as the standard. That one is also most up-to-date in regard to the catalogue
numbers. The SwWV refers to the new catalogue of the Dutch Sweelinck scholar
Pieter Dirksen. The reference to this catalogue for the Naxos disc is incomplete,
and I have added the missing numbers.
It was a nice gesture by Glen Wilson to dedicate his disc to his teacher Gustav
Leonhardt and his wife Marie on the occasion of their 80th birthdays. It is
am embarrassment that Naxos wasn't able to print the name of Mrs Leonhardt
correctly.
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
Two discs with keyboard works by Sweelinck with contrasting interpretations
- on balance Robert Woolley's recording is to be preferred.