These three pieces are specimens of music written
for the theatre in the Netherlands in the baroque era. They are very
different in character, though. The largest work, with music by Carolus
Hacquart, was composed for the celebrations of the Peace of Nijmegen
of 1678 which brought the war between France and the Netherlands to
a close. It is not known whether it was ever performed in the form which
the composer had in mind.
Hacquart was born in Bruges and educated in composition and the playing
of the bass viol, the lute and the organ. He was one of the composers
from the southern Netherlands who went north, where the Republic of
the Seven United Provinces was experiencing its 'Golden Era'. He first
worked in Amsterdam and then moved to The Hague where - at the instigation
of the diplomat, poet and composer Constantijn Huygens - he had the
opportunity to give concerts at the home of Prince Johan Maurits van
Nassau. He also acted as organist in a hidden Catholic church; public
worship was not allowed for Catholics at that time.
Huygens was impressed by Hacquart's music, and that had everything to
do with his music for
De triomfeerende min which was performed
in The Hague, probably in a more modest setting than the composer had
in mind. He called his piece, on a text of the poet Dirck Buysero (1644-1707),
"a peace play, mixed with vocal and string music, stage machinery and
dance". A large part of the text is spoken; one could compare this piece
with the theatre music which we know from Henry Purcell. It begins with
songs of praise on the peace and prosperity in the Republic before the
war with France broke out. When the war begins young women are no longer
willing to give themselves over to Love. Cupid can't accept that and
approaches Mars. Before they get into a fight, Cupid's mother Venus
intervenes and seduces Mars who then ceases hostilities. Peace returns
and odes to peace are sung.
A performance of this piece poses various problems. First of all, the
spoken text is probably not well suited to recording on CD; a staged
performance on DVD with subtitles would be more appropriate. Oration
is omitted here. The libretto in the booklet includes some texts which
explain the situation. Secondly, the score includes references to dances
and interludes, but the music is not printed and may never have been
written. For this recording music has been taken from one of Hacquart's
main collections of instrumental music,
Chelys, a set of suites
for viola da gamba, printed in 1686. Here they are arranged for an instrumental
ensemble which comprises a recorder, pairs of oboes, trumpets, violins
and viols and basso continuo. In two cases music by other composers
was used.
The two other pieces are completely different: comedies of a rather
'vulgar' character, reflecting the culture of the lower classes which
is reflected in the way of singing. They remind me of the English comedies
as they were recorded by The City Waites for
Hyperion.
The wedding of Cloris and Rosie is to a text by Buysero, although
other poets also contributed. It was called a 'rustic operetta', a 'farce
with song and dance'. The music for this piece is mostly lost, apparently
during a fire in the Amsterdam Theatre in 1772. On this disc only songs
and dances were included as these could be reconstructed. This operetta
was in fact the sequel to a piece Buysero had written before,
The
courtship of Cloris and Rosie. The music was by Servaes de Konink,
like Hacquart from the southern Netherlands and living in Amsterdam
since 1685. Here he was mainly active as a player of incidental music
in the theatre. His music for this play has for the most part been lost;
the two pieces recorded here have again been reconstructed. These reconstructions
are based on finds in the Dutch Song Database which has been a great
help in this kind of reconstruction projet. It includes many texts and
melodies of the 17th and 18th centuries.
The music on this disc is most enjoyable, certainly that by Hacquart.
One can easily understand Constantijn Huygens' appreciation, which is
confirmed by the collections which feature instrumental and vocal music
by Hacquart. For Dutch-speaking listeners this is all easy to appreciate,
but for those who don't understand Dutch it may be something of a challenge
because the texts are not translated. The liner-notes certainly help,
but can't fully compensate for the lack of translations. The music and
fine singing and playing make up for a lot, though. This disc also offers
an opportunity to get to know an aspect of music history which is hardly
known within the Netherlands let alone anywhere else.
The booklet and the tray omit the names of two of the singers: Jasper
Schweppe, baritone (track 13, 17, 20, 25) and Frans Fiselier, bass (track
2, 8, 11, 12, 19, 20, 21, 25, 34).
Johan van Veen
http://www.musica-dei-donum.org
https://twitter.com/johanvanveen
