Le Voyage d'Allemagne
Johann SCHENCK (1660-1712)
Sonata VI in a minor, op. 9.6 [16:20]
Georg Philipp TELEMANN (1681-1767)
Sonata in D (TWV 40,1) [10:55]
Johann SCHENCK
Sonata V in e minor, op. 9.5 [14:34]
Johann Sebastian BACH (1685-1750)
Suite for cello No. 5 in c minor (BWV 1011) (transposed to d minor) [20:35]
Emmanuelle Guigues (viola da gamba)
rec 9 - 12 September 2013, Église de Vicq, Pressignac-Vicq (Dordogne), France DDD
ENCELADE ECL1404 [62:29]
In the renaissance the viola da gamba was almost exclusively
used as a consort instrument. The Spanish composer Diego Ortiz (c1510-c1570)
was one of the first who composed pieces for solo viol. The 17th century saw
an increase in the composition of solo music, for instance by Christopher
Simpson in England, Johann Schenck in the Netherlands and André Maugars and
Nicolas Hotman in France. Maugars had worked in London in the service of James
I. He was one of those players of and composers for the viol who was influenced
by the English tradition of viol playing.
The present disc is called 'The Voyage to Germany' as it seeks
to document the English influence, through English-born composers who settled
at the continent, partly due to the political upheavals in the first half
of the 17th century. William Brade exported English consort music to northern
Germany, Henry Butler settled in Spain and William Young in Austria. That
said, it is not that easy to point out exactly what the English influence
might have been. It is probably more the very fact of playing the viol as
a solo instrument, comparable to the violin, rather than the English style
which inspired someone like Johann Schenck, the only 17th-century composer
in the programme.
Little is known about his early years. Although it is mostly assumed that
he was born in 1660 in Amsterdam, that cannot be documented with absolute
certainty. We also don't know who his teacher was. It could have been
Carolus Hacquart, a gambist and composer who was born in the Spanish Netherlands,
but settled in Amsterdam in the early 1670s. What we do know, however, is
that Schenck played a key role in music life in Amsterdam. He composed what
is considered the first opera in the northern Netherlands, and wrote a number
of songs on Dutch texts. In 1697 Schenck moved to Düsseldorf, where he became
Kammermusikus at the court of the Elector Palatinate Johann Wilhelm. The court
poet stated: "No one has ever played this instrument in a more delicate
way". Here Schenck wrote the music which was published in two collections
which were printed in 1702 and 1704 respectively. In the latter year L'echo
du Danube came from the press as Schenck's op. 9. It was written
in Neuburg - the patrimonal estate of Johann Wilhelm - and dedicated to Baron
Adam de Diamantstein, the superintendent of the Neuburg court music. Neuburg
is close to the Danube which explains the title of the collection. This is
virtuosic music for solo gamba, and the most Italian in style of Schenck's
compositions. It is far beyond the capabilities of amateurs.
This collection comprises six sonatas which consist of a number of movements
of contrasting tempo and character. Stylistically they show a strong influence
of Italian violin music, and especially the stylus phantasticus which
is the hallmark of the Italian music from the early 17th century. The last
two sonatas are for viola da gamba without basso continuo. Sonata VI in a
minor has seven movements some of which are divided into various contrasting
sections. Sonata V in e minor includes two dances: gavotta and giga. The virtuosity
of these sonatas comes to the fore in the use of double stopping and the exploration
of the full tessitura. Sonata VI opens with an adagio which includes a figure
which moves from the upper end to the very bottom of the viol's range
within a couple of bars. Several movements include expressive gestures, in
particular Seufzer.
Georg Philipp Telemann composed music for virtually every instrument in vogue
in his time. The viola da gamba is well represented in his oeuvre, in orchestral
as well as in chamber music. Among the latter are twelve fantasias for viola
da gamba solo which for a long time were thought to be lost, as Emmanuelle
Guigues writes in her liner-notes. At the time of writing (November 2015)
she apparently did not know that these pieces had been rediscovered. That
is a little suprising as a recording of these fantasias by her German colleague
Thomas Fritzsch has already been released; a review will be published here
in due course. The Sonata in D was printed in his Der getreue Music-Meister,
a series of periodicals with music which was published in 1728-29. It is a
specimen of the mixed style which Telemann preferred. The structure is modelled
after the Italian sonata da chiesa. The third movement is especially
notable as it has the form of a recitative and arioso.
The disc closes with Johann Sebastian Bach. His only known compositions for
the viola da gamba are the three sonatas with obbligato harpsichord BWV 1027
to 1029. Emmanuelle Guiges has chosen the fifth of the six suites for cello
solo which she has transcribed for her instrument and transposed from c minor
to d minor. "The deeper C minor character we might have lost by doing
this is more than compensated for by the viol's timbre, as well as
by the pitch used for this recording: A-405 Hz". The suite sounds very
well on the viola da gamba. It is quite odd, though, that it opens with the
allemande. Guigues refers to the prélude but this is not included.
This is not explained in the booklet. On the label's site I read this:
"The choice of a transcription of a suite by Bach (1685-1750) for cello
is the culmination of a major project upon which Emmanuelle Guigues first
embarked with an album devoted to the composer – released ten years
ago now - and which presented the prelude to the Fifth Suite, which is now
completed on this album." However, this can not justify the prelude's
omission here, not even if the purchaser is expected to own the previous disc.
There was plenty of time on this disc to include it. This is a major blot
on this production. Guigues plays well but some movements are too slow: that
goes for the allemande and also the two gavottes. As a result the dance rhythms
don't come off to maximum effect; especially the gavottes are rather
ponderous and stiff.
Fortunately the rest of the programme is much better. Telemann and Schenk
are beautifully played. In the former the third movement has the right amount
of rhythmic freedom which a recitative needs and in Schenck the contrasts
between the movements or sections are nicely executed.
Johan van Veen
www.musica-dei-donum.org
twitter.com/johanvanveen
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