Articoli ~ About Music

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Sonate veneziane del Settecento

La présence de la "flûte traversière baroque" est attestée ,en Italie, depuis le début du 18ème siècle alors que la "renaissance traversa" fut largement utilisée de la fin du 15ème siècle jusqu'au debut du 17ème siècle (la précieuse collection de l'Accademia Filarmonica de Verone en est le témoin). L'Oratorio "La Resurrezione" de Georg Friedrich Händel, représenté pour la première fois à Rome en 1708, prevoit une panie obligee de "Traversa" ; certains ont pensé qu'elle fut jouée par Jacques-Martin Hotteterre "le Romain" ou, en étant plus reéaliste, par un musicien Polyvalent de l'orchestre. En tous cas, dans les premières mnees du 18ème siècle, c'étaient des instrumentistes à vent français qui opéraient dans les principaux orchestres ce furent eux qui inventèrent la "maniera di fiato tardo barocca" (1a manière de jouer des instruments à vent à la fin de I'époque baroque), transmettant ensujte cet Art aux AIlemands et aux ltaliens sul1out quand, après les années 20, commencèrent à circuler, hors de France, les premières compositions dédiées expressément à de tels instru ments. En 1724, Quantz descendit en ltalie: il avait étudié (à Dresde avec la première Flute de l'Orchestre, "Monsieur Pierre Gabriel Buffardin". Le futur Mâìtre de Frédéric Il de Prusse eut ainsi I'occasion de rendre visite aux plus importantes cités et aux plus grandes personnalités musicales de l'epoque : il fut probablement le premiel virtuose de la flûte traversière jamals entendu dans la Péninsule! Comme par enchantement, les compositeurs italiens commencèrent ,à cette epoque, à destiner des oeuvres de manière spécifique à de tels instruments. Il Signor Vivaldi était sans aucun doute intéressé à ce nouveau langage da la "flûte traversière" , à tel point qu'illui dedia de nombreuses oeuvres toutes caractérisées par une agilité inattendue mais sortout par une nouveauté absolue quant à I'expressivité dans le style "cantabile". Nous pouvons considérer "il Prete Rosso" comme le premier grand compositeur vénitien (et pas seulement vénitien) pour flute traversière: celui-ci contribua considérablement tant à l'évolution technique, s'inspirant typiquement de l'écriture pour violon, qu'à I'affinnation "politique" de I'instrument. Nous savons qu'un enseignant "todesco di oboè" (allemand de hautbois), il Signor 1gnazio Sjeber, était actif à Venise, au debut du 18ème siècle, à l'Ospedale della Pietà. Jouant également de la flûte traversière, il enseigna cel1ainement cet art nouveau à des générations entières de "putte & putti". De talentueux instrumentistes à ven furent fonnes ainsi dans les Ospedali venitiens (à en croi re la pratique polyvalente de l'epoque, ils pouvaient em egalement "sonatori de arco" (Instrumemtistes à cordes) clavecinistes, chanteurs et professeurs de chant, composi teurs, etc...). Les plus célèbres d'entre eux occupèrent des postes de grande envergure auprès des Cours de l'Europe entière : il Signor Platti à Würzburg (avec Tiepolo!) "Maestro sul flauto traverso dell'Illustrissimo et Reverendissimo Signore Pietro Filippo di Krufft" (à Venise il fut elève, avec Benedetto Marcello, de Gasparini à l'Ospedale della Pietà); Mademoiselle Anna Bon, "virtuosa di musica da camera" (virtuose de musique de chambre) à Berlin auprès de la Cour de Frederic le Grand, active ensuite avec san père Gerolamo (célèbre architecte et decorateur de theatre et meme claveciniste "per diletto" (amateur) à la Cour des Esterhazy avec Haydn; il Signor Ferrandini à Munich, comme hauboïste-flûtiste et ensulte directeur de la musique de chambre à la Cour (élève de Biffi à l'Ospedale dei Mendicanti); mais aussi des Maestri (virtuoses) d'autres instruments comme il Signor Vivaldi, violoniste, "che riempi di musica mezzo mondo" (qui comble de musique la moitié du monde); il Signor Giovanni Battista Pescetti à Londres, témoin d'une valide traditian venitienne dans l'art de jouer du clavecin, partagée avec Galuppi (tous deux furent elèves de lotti). Benedetto Marcello fut le seul à rester dans la Capitale, probablemem grâce à san rang social de "Nobile Veneto" (Noble Venitien) et à ses charges de juge et administrateur de la Republique. Ils représentaient tous la crème des musiciens "obligés" cependant de traverser les Alpes tant pour le manque d'espace que pour l'intérêt peu sautenu dans le Bel Paese pour la musique de chambre instrumentale la plus grande part de ces sonates, publiées ,à l'époque, à l'étranger (aujourd'hui elles se trouvent dan1 les principales archives d'Europe), ne furent, probable ment, jamais executees à Venise! L'Opera dominait el dominera sur la vie musicale de manière absolutiste pour longtemps, occupant les esprits et detournant inexorablement l'attention envers la musiqe instrumentale : la voie ouverte ,deux siècles auparavant, à la pratique toute venitienne de "sonar con ogni sona de instromenti" (jouer avec toutes sortes d'instruments), se perpétua de manièr idéale dans d'autres nations : nous pensons surtout à la famille Bach en Allemagne du Nord et aux Grands Autrichiens de la fìn du siècle. (Traduction Michel van Goethem)

The earliest documentation of the presence in Italy of the "baroque transverse flute" dates to the beginning of the 18th century, while the "renaissance transvese flute" was widely used between the end of the 15th and the early 17th ceniuries (as is witnessed by the rich collection of f1utes at the Accademia Filarmonica in Verona). The Oratorio "La Resurrezione" by George Friedrich Handel, first performed in Rome in 1708, calls for an obbligato "Traversa", hypothesized by some to have been played by Jacques-Martin Hotteterre "le Romain", or, more probably, by a member of the orchestra who doubled on that instrument. In the first years of the century, in any case, the wind players of the principal orchestras were French, for it was they who invented the "late baroque manner of wind- playing" This manner was then passed on to the Germans and Italians above all when, after the 1720s, the first works expressly composed for these instruments began to circulate outside of France. In 1724 Quantz traveled south to Italy. He had studied in Dresden with the first flutist of the orchestra, Pierre Gabriel Buffardin. The future teacher of  Friedrich Il of Prussia thus had the opportunity of visiting the most important cities and encountering the major musical personalities of the time. He was probably the first virtuoso on the transverse flute to be heard on the Italian peninsula! Strangely enough, from that time composers in Italy also began to dedicate specific works to this instrument. Vivaldi was undoubtedly interested in the new musical language of the "flauto traversiere", to such an extent that he dedicated numerous works to it, all characterized not only by a surprising agility but especially by an entirely new type of expressivity in the cantabile writing. We can consider the "Red Priest" to be the first great composer in Venice (but afso elsewhere) of music for the transverse flute. He contributed significantly both to the technical evolution of the instrument (clearly inspired by the violin) and to its "political" role. We know that in early eighteenth-century Venice there was a German oboe teacher at the Ospedale della Pietà, Signor Ignazio Sieber, who aiso played the transverse flute and certainly instructed an entire generation of pupils ("putte & putti") in this art. Skilled wind players were thus trained at the Venetian ospedali (continuing the versatile practice of the time whereby a musician might be a string player, harpsichordist, singer and singing teacher, composer, etc.). The most famous of them held important posts at courts throughout Europe. Signor Platti at Würzburg (with Tiepolo!), "Maestro of the ,transverse flute of the most Illustrious and most Reverend Signor Pietro Filippo of Krufft" (in Venice, he was a pupil, together with Benedetto Marcello, of Gasparini at the Ospedale della Pietà); the Signorina Anna Bon, "virtuosa of the chamber music" in Berlin at the court of Friedrich the ! Great, later active with her Gerolamo (a celebrated architect and set designer as well as dilettante harpsihordist) at the Esterhazy court with Haydn; Signor Femmdini in Munich as oboist, flutist, and later director of chamber music at the court (he had been pupil of Biffi at the Ospedale dei Mendicanti). But there werè also virtuosos of other instruments, such as Signor Vivaldi, violinist, "who fìlled half the world with music"; Signor Giovanni Battista Pescetti in London, exponent of the fine Venetian tradition of harpsichord playing, which he shared with Galuppi : (both pupils of Lotti). Benedetto Marcello was the only one to remain in the Venetian capital probably thanks to his social status of "Noble Venetian" and to his duties as judge and administrator of the Republic. These were all prized musicians who were "forced" to cross the Alps, both for lack of space and because of the scarce interest on the part of the. "Bel Paese" in instrumental chamber music. The majority of these sonatas, originally published abroad (and today preserved in the principal archives of Europe), were probably never even performed in Venice! Opera dominated the Italian musical scene, and would continue to do so unwaveringly for a long time to come, inexorably drawing attention from instrumental music. The decidedly Venetian practice begun two centuries in Venice of "sonar con ogni sorta de instromenti" (playing with every sort of instrument) continued in other countries; consider above all the Bach family in Nonhem Germany and the Great Austrians of the end of the century. (Translation by Candace Smith)

Johann Joachim Quantz
"Versuch einer Anweisung die Flöte traversuere zu spielen"
(Berlin 1752)

[...] L'esecuzione musicale può essere comparata all'espressione di un oratore. L'oratore ed il musicista hanno in fondo lo stesso progetto tanto nella preparazione della loro opera quanto nella sua espressione. Essi desiderano impadronirsi dei cuori dei loro ascoltatori, eccitarne e sopirne i movimenti dell'animo e condurli ora a questo, ora a quel sentimento, L'uno può trarre vantaggio dalla conoscenza del mestiere dell'altro.[...] Ad un oratore si richiede di avere la voce possente, chiara e forte; la pronuncia distinta e perfetta; di non confondere le lettere insieme e di non mangiarsele; di applicarsi ad una piacevole varietà della voce e del linguaggio; di evitare la monotonia nella declamazione e di lasciare che il suono delle sillabe delle parole venga inteso talvolta forte e talvolta con dolcezza, talvolta rapidamente e talvolta lentamente, e di saper alzare la voce laddove le parole richiedono enfasi, moderandola in altre. Egli deve esprimere ogni sentimento con l'appropriata inflessione vocale, adattandosi al luogo in cui parla; infine deve conformarsi a tutte quelle regole che portano al successo i talenti dell'eloquenza. Di conseguenza bisogna che egli osservi accuratamente i precetti che la sua arte ha stabilito al fine di realizzare le differenze che intercorrono tra un'orazione funebre, un panegirico, un discorso faceto ed uno serio e così via. A tutte queste qualità si deve infine aggiungere un aspetto gradevole. [...]Infatti sono risaputi gli effetti che un discorso ben pronunciato produce sugli spiriti degli uditori; d'altro canto non ignoriamo quale torto una malvagia declamazione possa arrecare ad un discorso, quantunque ben ascritto. Si sa inoltre che se lo stesso discorso viene pronunciato da diverse persone, lo si preferisce sempre declamato da una invece che da un'altra. Ugualmente avviene per l'espressione musicale: lo stesso brano, cantato o suonato da differenti persone, produce sempre effetti diversi. [...] Gli italiani non si pongono limiti nella composizione. Il loro modo di pensare è grandioso, vivace, espressivo, raffinato ed elevato; inoltre sono piuttosto bizzarri, liberi, audaci, arditi, temerari, sfrenati, stravaganti, talvolta trascurati nel metro, ma le loro idee sono cantabili, delicate, tenere toccanti e ricche d'invenzione. Essi scrivono più per i conoscitori che per gli amatori.[...] La maniera di cantare all'italiana è raffinata ed artificiosa; essa è capace di commuovere e nello stesso tempo di suscitare ammirazione, stimola lo spirito musicale, è piacevole, incantevole, espressiva, ricca di gusto e d'espressione e riesce a condurre gradevolmente l'ascoltatore da una passione all'altra. [...] La maniera di suonare degli italiani è arbitraria, stravagante, artificiosa, oscura, spessissimo ardita e bizzarra e di esecuzione difficile; essa permette l'introduzione di molti abbellimenti ma presuppone una grande conoscenza dell'armonia, e suscita, in chi non ne possiede, più ammirazione che piacere. [...] Il buon effetto della musica italiana è determinato quasi tanto dall'esecuzione quanto dalla composizione e, in certi casi, dalla stessa esecuzione dipende anche di più....Attualmente tanto le opere quanto la musica strumentale italiana incontrano grande approvazione, non solamente in Germania, ma anche in Spagna, in Portogallo, in Inghilterra, in Polonia ed in Russia.

Pier Francesco Tosi
"Opinioni dei cantori antichi e moderni, o sieno Osservazioni sopra il canto figurato"
(Bologna 1723 - Londra 1742 - Berlino 1757 - Parigi 1774)

[…] Il cantar franco e a rigor di tempo non basta; il cantore non si avvede che la maggior difficultà, e tutta la bellezza della Professione consiste in ciò, che ignora; gli manca quell'arte, che insegna di guadagnare il Tempo per saperlo perdere, che è un frutto del Contrappunto, ma non così saporito come quello di saperlo perdere per ricuperarlo: produzione ingegnosa di chi intende la composizione, e di chi ha miglior gusto. Chi non sa rubare il Tempo cantando, non sa comporre, né accompagnarsi, e resta privo del miglior gusto, e della maggiore intelligenza. Il rubamento di Tempo nel patetico è un glorioso ladrocinio di chi canta meglio degli altri, purchè l'intendimento e l'ingegno ne facciano una bella restituzione.

Johann Sebastian Bach: sonate autografe

Johann Sebastian Bach: sonate, ohranjene v avtorjevem rokopisu, za traverso in basso continuo ali obligatni cembalo Tik po prehodu v 18. stoletje se je Johann Jacob . Bach {ljubljeni starejsi brat Johanna Sebastiana, kateremu je posvetil slavni Capriccio sopra la lontananza del suo fratello dilettissimo BWV 992) nahajal v Konstantinoplu, kjer je bil kot glasbenik in castni gardist del spremstva svedskega kralja Karla XII. Tam se je spoznal s Pierom Gabrielom Buffardinom, slavnim francoskim flavtistom, ki je bil prav takrat gost francoskega veleposlanika v Turciji. Pisalo se je leto 1713. Jacob je kmalu postal njegov ucenec, ko pa je Buffardin leta 1714 postal solo flavtist v dresdenskem orkestru -in se je pri njem zacel uciti tudi J. J. Quantz -je pogosto prihajal na obisk k Bachovi druZini v Leipzig, kjer je bil gotovo tudi gost zdruZenja Collegium Musicum. In prav to nam pojasnjuje, kako se je razvilo Bachovo navdusenje za pihala in se prav posebej za traverso. Od 1717 do 1723 je Bach sluZboval kot kapelnik na Koethenskem dvoru na Saskem, kjer je napisal vecji del svojega instrumentalnega opusa. Ob orkestralnih kompozicijah (brandenburski koncerti, uverture) so nastale stevilne komorne skladbe za solo instrumente (triosonate, sonate, suite, partite za violino, celo, traverso, gambo, cembalo). Vsa ta dela so nastala po narocilu samega princa Leopolda, ki je, kot je bilo za aristokracijo takrat v navadi, dobro obvladal violino in violo da gamba. Pregled Bachovih skladb za flavto pokaze, da je ohranjenih kakih 100 umetnin: okoli 20 jih je za kljunasto flavto (a le kot orkestralni instrument), medtem ko so preostale pisane za precno flavto (flauto traverso), primernejso za ustvarjanje pestrosti v orkestralnih, komornih in solisticnih skladbah. Bach je bil med prvimi nemskimi skladatelji, ki so pisali za ta povsem novi instrument, ki so ga ob koncu 17. stoletja razvili v Franciji izdelovalci flavt Hotteterre. Pogosto ga je uporabljal v orkestralnih partiturah (koncerti, uverture, kantate, pasijoni, oratoriji, mase), posvetil pa mu je tudi 11 solisticnih skladb: tri sonate s continuom, stiri z obligatnim cembalom, eno »solo sonato brez basa« ali partito in dve triosonati, ki sta sestavni del velikega dela Das musikalische Opfer (Glasbena daritev). Tri sonate so dvomljivega izvora in so najverjetneje delo Carla Philipa Emmanuela. Prave umetnine poznega instrumentalnega baroka pa so stiri sonate in partita, ki so ohranjene v avtorjevem rokopisu. Napisane so bile med letoma 1720 in 1747. Vse so cudovite in zelo zahtevne, razodevajo pa razlicne slogovne znacilnosti, tehnike pisanja in umetnikova razpolozenja, tako da naravnost idealno predstavljajo kreativno pot tega velikega mojstra. Sonato v A-duru BWV 1032 (verjetno ji je za osnovo sluZila triosonata v C-duru za flavto, violino in basso continuo iz Koethna) lahko pripisemo leipziskemu obdobju, a v njej se zrcali posebno nagnjenje do italijanskega koncerta, ki je Bachov rezultat weimarskih let. Prvi del rokopisa, izgubljen med drugo svetovno vojno, je bil prekinjen pri 61. taktu in se je nadaljeval sele pri zadnjih dveh taktih. Problem so resili z rekonstrukcijo, ki je zajamcila dobro formalno ravnotezje spredelavo obstojecega gradiva. Po bolecine polnem stavku largo e dolce v a-molu (ki po slogu spominja na triosonate za orgle, poznane tudi v razlicici za violino, violoncelo in continuo) sonata doseze vrhunec v prelepem, po izpeljavi glasov in po bogatem tematskem materialu cudovito zgrajenem triosminskem allegru. Sonata v e-molu BWV 1034 je iz koethenskega obdobja. Prvic je izsla v Leipzigu leta 1865. Grajena je v slogu sonate da chiesa s tipicnimi izmenjavami pocasnih inhitrih tempov, ki sledijo harmonsko izrazitemu prvemu stavku (tipicnemu za Bachovo umetnisko govorico) z viskom na tricrtanem gv 21. taktu. SIedi allegro, ki razodeva italijansko strukturo koncertnega stavka z izrazitim izmenjavanjem solo in tutti partov, nato pa andante, zgrajen na kontrapoziciji basa (ki je oblikovan kot ostinato na razlozenem akordu), in neskoncne melodicne linije z avtorjevimi originalnimi okraski v zgomjem glasu. Sk1adbozak1jucuje virtuozni dvodelni allegro v tricetrtinskem taktu, oblikovan kot zgoscen dialog, prepolnkontrapunkticnih imitacij in harmonsko drzen. Sonata v h-molu BWV 1030 se nam je ohranila v rokopisu, ki ga lahko datiramo okrog leta 1735. Po pravici je cenjena kot ena najpomembnejsih sk1adb, namenjenih flavti v poznem baroku. Natisnjena je bila prvic v Erfurtu leta 1855 v priredbi za harmoniko (!). Delo je v treh stavkih: zacne z obsimim andante, osnovanim kot dvojni koncert, ki je poln imitacij v kanonu in tematicnih invencij v koncertantnem slogu. Ta stavek je bil zaradi oblikovnih razmerij in neverjetnih numerolosko- kabalisticnih povezav velikokrat predmet matematicnih in kabalisticnih analiz. Drugi stavek je dvodelni siciliano, v katerem je flavta v glavnem obravnavana solisticno, cembalo pa igra vlogo continua (ki pa ga je avtor sam izpisal!). V tretjem stavku se pod nazivom presto skriva triglasna fuga s kadenco na dominanti, ki ji sIedi virtuozna gigue v dvanajstsestnajsttinskem taktu s prav neverjetnimi ritmicnimi ucinki. Sonata v E-duru BWV 1035 bi lahko nastala prav v casu Bachovih obiskov pri Frideriku n. v Potsdamu tik pred letom 1747. Kot nam je znano, je bil kralj zelo dober flavtist, obdan z imenitnim krogom najbolj znanih takratnih intelektualcev in umetnikov. Razpolagal je z orkestrom pravih virtuozov, med katerimi so bili Quantz, Benda, Gravn in Ch. Ph. E. Bach (prav on je med letoma 1740 in 1747 predstavil starega Mojstra kralju). S sonato imajo izvajalci zelo velike tezave in prav zaradi tega je videti kot »iskren« poklon kralju. To je verjetno Bachovo zadnje »lahkotno« komorno delo, oblikovano kot sonata da camera. Uvodni adagio ma non tanto je v »fantasticnem stilu« z razkosnimi okraski, ki jih je ze v partituro dodal avtor sam. Sledijo aIIegro v slogu francoskega rigaudona, zanosni siciliano v obliki kanona v oktavi in junaski aIIegro assai v duhu poloneze. (Priredila Marina Horak)

Antonio Vivaldi und Giovanni Sebastiano Bach
Fortuna e diffusione dello stile vivaldiano nella Germania nel primo '700

"....nel 1714, in Germania, ebbi modo di conoscere per la prima volta i concerti di Vivaldi. Essi mi fecero un'impressione non piccola, trattandosi di un genere di composizione affatto nuovo. Non tralasciai pertanto di metterne insieme una discreta raccolta. I meravigliosi ritornelli di Vivaldi mi sarebbero serviti, per il futuro, da buoni modelli......"

Apart from the spread of music works with the help of the printing press or copyists, travel provided another important means of connection and exchange among musical centers Sojourns in Italy, France, The Netherlands, and England provided German musicians with the opportunity to study the latest developments of different music styles in Europe in situ and thus gain new ideas for their creativity. Venice was long a primary destination of German artists (Diirer) comes to mind-but it was largely after the study sojourn of the German composer Heinrich Schiitz with Giovanni Gabrieli that musicians from "across the Alps" were more frequently sent to Venice by their masters to complete their education, attain greater artistic inspiration, and to hire opera singers, instrumentalists, and composers Personal contacts with Vivaldi are well documented in the cases of Stolzel, Treu, and Pisendel, and it can be said with certainty, notwith- standing the lack of written testimonies, that many other German musicians got to know the "Red Priest" as well. Particularly detailed descriptions of personal meetings with Vivaldi and facts about the Venetian opera world can be found in the diaries of Johann Friedrich Armand von Uffenbach. It is not positively known whenJohann Sebastian Bach began to show an interest in Venetian music. Comparisons with the composing tradition and interpretative technique of city organists, cantors, and musicians of centrai Germany inspired Bach to search for his ideal in the organ artistry of northern Germany masters. The influence of Venetian composers prior to 1710 is only recognizable in the fact that when composing fugues Bach occasionally leaned on themes by Albinoni and Legrenzi, while as far as'ri:eiichjnstrumental music was concerned, he had already had an opportunit~in 1700 to get to know it through performances he attended at the celÌd court. Similar experiences regarding Venetian music can be presumed from 1708 onwards. As an organist and a member of the Court chapel orchestra in Weimar where he was Concertmaster after 1704, Bach probably had more frequent contact with Venetian concert literature; however, the only proof we have been able to find is a small fragment of a copy of an Albinoni concerto transcribed by Bach. In the middle of 1713, the situation changed: Prince Johann Ernst of Saxony-Weimar returned from his educationa1 tour of France, The Netherlands, and England bringing with him new music materia1, among which were numerous concertos by composers such as Viva1di ( opera IIJ) and Marcello, concertos that the Concertmaster subsequently adapted and committed to a specia1 solo performance. This encounter unquestion- ably had many consequences for Bach's future work: the impetuous yet concise themes of the great Venetian, their extensive and varied structure, their admirable combination of skills in the instrumenta1 refrains-a1l these encouraged imitation, development, and systematiza- tion that had positive effects in every creative field from concertos to chamber music, from works for keyboard instruments and choirs to arias, cantatas, and major church compositions. In October of 1717, during an opportune meeting in Dresden with Johann Georg Pisendel, the greatest German violinist of the period and a friend and pupil ofViva1di, Bach was able to become familiar with new Viva1di concertos with bril1iant instrumentations for a larger number of instruments. The Brandenburg Concertos, a major work from this period, were supposedly inspired by the Venetian's model. The change of post from Concertmaster in Koethen to Cantor at the St Thomas church in Leipzig did not at a1l imply a break with the art of Viva1di. On the contrary, some sources point to the conclusion that in addition to composing his owns concertos, Bach was transcribing and arranging Viva1di's compositions from 1730 onwards and performing many of them with his Collegium Musicum. The assertion by Johann Nikolaus Forkl, Bach's first "romantic" biographer (1803), that only by transcribing Viva1di did Bach learn to think in music is certainly very risky, but it effectively underlines the important role that the Venetian's work played in many European musica1 milieus and in Bach's work in particular. (trad.StefanoB)

Poleg sirjenja glasbenih del s pomocjo tiska ali prepisovalcev, so drugo pomembno obliko povezovanja in izmenjave med glasbenimi centri predstavljala potovanja. Bivanje nemSkih glasbenikov v Italiji, Franciji, Holandiji in Angliji jim je nudilo priloZnost, da so "pri izviru" prouceval zadnje znaCilnosti razlicnih glasbenih slogov v Evropi in tako crpali nove zamisli za svojo ustvarja1nost. Benetke so bile od nekdaj glavni cilj potovanj nemskih umetnikov (Diirer). Predvsem pa so po studijskem bivanju nemskega skladatelja Heinricha Schiitza pri Giovanniju Gabrieliju njihovi gospodje pogosto posiljali v Benetke "prekalpske" glasbenike s ciljem, da bi izpopolnili njihovo izobrazbo, pridobili vecji umetniski navdih, najeli operne pevce, instrnmentaliste in skladatelje. Osebne stike z Vivaldijem lahko dokumentiramo v primerih Stolzela, Treua in Pisendela; vendar ceprav ne primanjkuje pisnih pricevanj lahko z gotovostjo trdimo, da so mnogi drugi nemski glasbeniki spoznaJi "Rdecega Zupnika". Posebej natancne opise osebnih srecanj z Vivaldijem in dejstva iz beneskega opernega sveta lahko srecamo v dnevnikih Johanna Friedericha Armanda von Uffenbacha.Ne vemo zagotovo, kdaj je Johann Sebastian Bach zacel kazati zanimanje za benesko glasbo. Primerjava s skladateljsko tradicijo in interpretativno tehniko mestnih organistov, kantorjev in glasbenikov osrednje Nemcije je Bacha spodbudila k iskanju svojega ideala v organisticni umetnosti severnonemskih mojstrov. Vplivi beneskih skladateljev pred letom 1710 so razpoznavni samo na podlagi dejstva, da se je pri komponiranju fug Bach priloznostno naslanjal na teme Albinonija in Legrenzija. Francosko instrumenta1no glasbo pa je ze leta 1700 imel priloznost spoznati preko izvajanj, ki jim je prisostvoval na dvoru Cel1e. Analogne izkusnje v zvezi z benesko glasbo lahko dornnevamo samo od leta 1708 dalje. Kot organist in clan Dvorne Kapele v Weimarju (od leta 1704 koncertni mojster) je Bach verjetno imel pogostejse stike z benesko koncertno literaturo. Vendar pa je edino dokazno pricevanje, ki smo ga zasledili, samo delcek kopije Albininijevega koncerta, ki jo je napisal Bach. Od sredine leta 1713 se je situacija spremenila. Princ Johann Ernst SaSki-Weimarski se je vrnil iz svojega informativnega potovanja po Franciji, Holandiji in Ang1iji. S seboj je prinesel novo glasbeno gradivo - stevilne koncerte skladateljev, kot sta Vivaldi ( opus III) in Marcello. Koncerte je kasneje koncertni mojster predelal injih zaupal posebni solisticni izvedbi. Za nadaljnje Bachove stvaritve je bilo to srecanje polno posledic: ognjevite in klene teme velikega Benecana, siroka in razClenjena struktura, obCudovanja vredna kombinatoriCna spretnost v instrumentaliilnih-vse to je spodbujalo k posnemanju, k razvoju, k sistelni1/aciji. Imelo jè pozitivne uCinke na vsakem ustvarjalnem podroCju:pd koncertov do komorne glasbe, od del za instrumente s klaviaturo do zborov in arij kantat ter velikih cerkvenih skladb. Fudi ob srecanju z Johannom Georgom Pisendlom -najvecjim nemskin1 violinistom tistega casa, Vivaldijevim prijateljem in ucencem -oktobra 1717 v Dresdenu, je Bach lahko spoznal nove Vivaldijeve koncerte z zivahnimi instrumentacijami za vecje stevilo glasbil. Thdi Brandenburske koncerte, najvecje delo tistega obdobja, naj bi navdahnili beneski modeli. Menjava sluzbe od kapelnika v Kòthenu do kantorja v cerkvi Svetega TomaZa v Leipzigu, ni nikakor prinesla razdora z vivaldijevsko umetnostjo. Iz nekaterih virov lahko sklepamo, da je -poleg skladanja svojih koncertov -prepisoval in predeloval Vivaldijeve skladbe do leta 1730 in naprej, ter da jih je tudi sam izvedel s svojim Collegium Musicum. Trditev Johanna NÌkolausa Forkla, prvega Bachovega biografa (1803), da se je Bach samo s prepisovanjem Vivaldijevih del naucil razmisljati v glasbi, je sigurno zelo tvegana, ceprav uCinkovito poudarja velÌko vlogo, ki jo je delo Benecana imelo v mnogih evropskih glasbenih okoljih in se posebej pri Bachu. (Priredila dr.Klemen Ramous)

Del sonar con ogni sorte de flauti
Musiche veneziane à flauto solo

Als Zentrum steten Flusses von Verkehr und Handel hat Venedig seine künstlerische Produktion immer als wunderbare Mischung aus unterschiedlichen Stilen und Ausdrucksformen charakterisiert. Sie alle vereinen sich zu iner Wesenheit, bei der der Eklektizmus einern aussergewohnlichen Typus Platz macht. Es ist bekannt, dass bis zum Niedergang des Byzantinischen Reichs, Ende des 15. Jh., der Osten einen weit grösseren kulturellen Einfluss auf die Serenissima hatte als die Kultur in Mittelitalien. Venezianische Malerei, Bildhauerei und Architektur des gesamten Mittelalters sprechen hauptsachlich von toskanischen und griechischen Einflüssen-denkt man beispielsweise an die Kuppeln und Mosaiken von San Marco oder gar an die metaphysische Reinheit der Visionen Carpaccios. Ebenso ist es gewiss kein Zufall, dass der venezianische Patriarc -sieht man einmal vom Papst ab auch heute noch der einzige Patriarch der Ostlichen orthodoxen Kirche ist. Natürlich war Venedig niernals orthodox, doch seine engen Beziehungen zum Orient tragen sicherlich zu seiner einzigartigen und seit langem bestehenden Autonomie gegenüber der Kirche von Rom bei. Und selbst wenn in der stadt von San Marco der romische Kult immer den byzantinischen Kult dominiert hätte, müsste man kein abnorm entwickeltes Ohr haben, um bestimmte Modulationen innerhalb der Cìregorianischen Hymnen der Marciana-Kapelle zu unterscheiden, die die Uturgie der nahegelegenen Kirche von San Giorgio dei Greci (der griechischen Kirche von San Giorgio) massgeblich beeinflusst haben. Peinlich genau kodifiziert in jeder Modulation ihrer Aufführung und durch eine Fülle detaillreicher Omamente charakterisiert, war die Musik des byzantinischen Orients zu grossen Teilen auch mit instrumentellen Aufführungen betraut. Wie wir wissen, geschah dasselbe auch im abendlandischen und gregorianischen Repertoire, dessen Melodien-weit davon entfemt, nur auf religiose Anlasse beschrankt zu sein gleichzeitig in sakularen Vertonungen parodiert wurden. Vor diesem Hintergrund praesentieren wir Ihnen drei stücke aus dern gregorianischen Repertoire in dem Versuch, ein Konzept der Rote als ein stimmen imitierendes Instrument wieder aufleben zu lassen und gleichzeitig ihre Fahigkeit her vorzuheben, Modulationen zu variieren und dabei der Melodielinie unterschiedliche Farbigkeit zu verleihen. Die Hymne „Ave Maris stella" hat ihre Ursprünge wahrscheinlich im 7 oder 8. Jh. und wurde in der Abendmesse des Marienfestes gesunngen. Jahrhundertelang sehr bekannt, wurde sie von berühmten Komponisten wie Adrian Willaert „Hymnorum Musica", Venedig (1543) und Claudio Monteverdi „Vespro della Beate Vergine", Venedig, 1610) als cantus firmus verwede -beide Komponisten waren zu jener Zeit bereits Kapellmeister der Basilica von San Marco, Die "Sequentia in die Resurrectionis" gehort zum Brauchtum der Stadt Aquileia und ist uns durch das venezianische "Graduale" von 1527 (heute im Besitz des Konservatoriurns von Triest) uberliefert. Der dritte Hymnus „Veni Creator Spiritus", schliesslich wurde für die Pfingstabendandacht geschrieben und wird in der volksrumlichen Tradition eigentlich Carlomagno zugeschrieben, Es ist jedoch sehr viel wahrscheinlicher, dass er von einem seiner Proteges und Mitarbeiter, dem Dichter und Patriarchen Paolino d' Aquilea, komponiert wurde. Die instrumentelle Version, praesentiert in einer Sammlung venezianischer Ballmusik aus dem 16. Jh.,ist recht interessant (das Manuskript von 1520 befindet sich in der nationalen Marciana- Bibliothek). Der "Kodex Vaticano Rossi 215" ist ein fundamentales Werk zum besseren Verstandnis des musikalischen Schaffens der venezianischen Ars Nova. Obwohl es wahrscheinlich ist, dass die darin enthaltenen Kompositionen ihre Urspruenge im kontinentalen Gebiet Venetos (hauptsachlich Padova und Verona) haben, konnen wir uns durchaus vorstellen, hier ziernlich eindeutige Beispiele venezianischer Musik des 14. Jh, vor uns zu haben. Die Traversflote war unter den Dichter-Musikem dieser Zeit bekannt und sicherlich wegen ihrer Ausdruckskraft, ihres feinen Klangs und ihres Ausdrucksrepertoires geschatzt. Die für die drei Stücke aus dern „Vaticano Rossi 215" verwendete Aote ist eine Tenortraversfloete, die hinsichtlich Grösse und Tonhohe so nahe wie keine andere an die spaetrnittelalterliche Flöte heranreicht.Die überaus reiche Sammlung der Accademia Filarmonica von Verona veranschaulicht nicht nur den im Veneto weit verbreiteten Gebrauch des Instruments, sondem auch die enorme Vielfalt der verwendeten Grössen. Das Iasst uns vermuten, dass die Traversflote (traversa, fjffaro) bei instrumentellen Aufführungen eine wichtige Rolle spielte. Die Aufführungspraxis der Renaissance (wie auch häufig des Barock) erkannte nicht immer die einzigartige und unveranderbare Beziehung zwischen musikalischem Stück und vom Komponisten spezifiziertem Instrument und bediente sich grosszügig der Theorie einer Aufführung "mit irgendeinem Instrumententyp". Der Venezianer Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontegara (geb.1492) spielte Aote sowie Viola da Gamba, schrieb musikalische Abhandlungen und komponierte. Bekannt wurde er vor allem durch das "Fontegara", das erste Musikbuch der Geschichte, das sich insbesondere mit der Blockflöte und der Praxis der Diminution beschaftigt. Dabei wird besonderes Augenmerk auf Variation und Ornamentierung der Melodielinie gelegt, die in der Aufführungspraxis der Renaissance eine "harte Nuss" darstellte. Zwischen 1542 und 1543 veroffentlichte Silvestro in Venedig die Schrift "Regola Rubertina", in der er sich musikalisch der Viola da Gamba widmet. Aus dieser Abhandlung stammt das "Ricercare", das auf dieser CD zu horen ist, wobei hier die Traversflote den Part der Viola überimmt. Giorgio Mainerio(1535-1582), Kapellmeister der Basilica von Aquileia wie auch Duomo von Udine, veroffentlichte sein "Erstes Buch der Tanze" 1578 in Venedig. Es ist eine Sammlung von Tänzen und Motiven, die grossteils mittelalterlichen monodischen Ursprungs sind und hauptsachlich aus dem Gebiet der adriatischen Alpen stammen. Es handelt sich hierbei um kurze, volkstümliche Kompositionen, die sich aus sich heraus behaupten, indem sie durch ein einzelnes, nicht begleitetes Instrumen vorgetragen werden. Giovanni Bassano (1560-1617) schliesslich kam aus einer eingeburgerten venezianischen Familie von Musikem und Holzblasinstrumentenbauem (wahrscheinlich askenasisch-judischen Ursprungs), die auch in London zur Zeit Henry VIII aktiv waren. Bassano war sowohl Komponist als auch Zinkvirtuose-und in Anbetracht der damaligen Zeiten konnen wir uns vorstellen, wie viele Instrumente er darüber hinaus noch beherrschte. Venedig im 16. Jh. war ein bedeutendes Zentrum judischer Kultur. Viek Juden suchten nach ihrer Vertreibung aus Spanien um 1492 in Venedig Zuflucht und erweiterten das musikalischE Spektrum der Stadt um Güter sephardischer Musikkultur, die arabische, spanische und mediterrane Enflusse in sich verein. te. So wurde das "Zamiroth Israer in Wirklichkeit 1599 in Venedig von Mose Israel Madjara veröffentlicht. Das 18. Jh., Venedig und die Musik sind so fraglos miteinander verbunden, dass es eigentlich uberflussig ist, dies noch zu erwahnen. Auch an der Tatsache, dass die Musik es fertigbrachte einer der Stützpfeiler zu sein, um den sich das Leben in der Stadt zu einer Zeit okonomischen Verfalls und kulturellen Glanzes drehte, ist nicht zu rütteln. Mit Oprnhäusrn un Ospedali, offentlichen Festivitaten und privaten Universitaten. kirchlichen und weltlichen Kompositionen, Kultur und breiter Masse, Melodramen, Oratorien, Konzerten, Kantaten, Sonaten, musikalischen Festivals und den Gesangen der Schiffer war die Serenissima eine wahre Goldmine an Möglichkeiten für Musiker und Komponisten, gleichgültig, ob Profi oder Amateur. Unter den Letzteren ist der Adelige Benedetto Marcello zweifellos der berühmteste. Stolz distanzierte er sich vom Stand eines Musikers, der als gewohnlich angesehen wurde.Er verachtete die Opemhauser und ihre schlechten Sitten und widmete sich lieber seinen theoretischen Studien und Harrnonie-Experimenten. 1712liess Marcello seine „XII Sonaten fijr Soloflöte" in Venedig drucken. Ursprünglich fijr die Blockflöte gedacht, erlangten sie auch durch die Traversflöte derartige Bekanntheit, dass sich 20 Jahrte spater ein Englander namens Walsh dazu aufgefordert fühlte, diese Stück,in einer neuen Version nur fijr die Traversflote herauszubringen, nachdem er sie in geeignetere Tonarter transponiert hatte. Natürlich wurde die so genannte "Germanan Flute" im Paris Ende des 17. Jh. aus einer Modifikation der Traverse geboren und kam von dort nach London, wo sie zum sine qua non jedes Adeliger,wurde und die Blockflüte ersetzte. Doch auch in Venedig bahnte sie sich den Weg in die musikalische Praxis. Es lasst sich mit Bestimmtheit sagen, dass dieses Instrument von Waisenkindem der Pieta-Kirche gespielt wurde. Doch unbe streitbar wirkten in Venedig auch berühmte Virtuosen der Traversflüte. Man muss nur an die Arie mit „Flauto obbligato" denken, die Antonio Vivaldi für sein "Orlando" schrieb, wobei er einen Part für Traversflote integrierte, der sicher nur vor einem Meister des Instruments gespielt werden konnte. Die Sonate für Soloflöte ohne Bass war im Europa des 18. Jh. ein ziemlich gewohnliches Genre (Hotteterre, Telemann Quantz, die Bachfamilie etc.), und sogar Tartini führte Sonaten ohne Bass auf. In diesem Umfeld finden wir auch Pietro Grattoni d'Arcano  (1698-1760),einem weiteren Adeliger und Amateurflötisten, der als Botschafter zwischen London, Versailles und Venedig fungierte. Seine „Sonate für Soloflöte ohne Bass" beschlisst er mit einer charakteristischen Furlana, einem venezianischem Tanz, der aus dem Friaul stammt. Auf der CD kommt die kleine Flöte (Piccolo oder Ottavino) bei diesem Stück zum Einstatz, die schon in Paris der ersten Hälfte des 18. Jh. Gespielt wurde. Die zwei Sammlingen venezianischer Lieder und Tänze, derem Manuskripte in der Querini-Stampalia in Venedig und in der Joppi in Udine aufbewahrt werden, stammen beide aus der ertsen Linie für Blockflöte geschriben, auch wenn die Foundation sowohl eine Traverse aus den 18.Jh. besitz. Die Sammlung aus Udine hingegen zeichnet sich häufig durch ein Gefälle zum D unterhalb der ersten Notenlinie aus, eine Note, die Contralto-Blockflote nicht zueigen ist, die aber die Traversflöte spielen kann. Ebenso sind einige Stücke in einer Tonart mit Kreuzzeichen geschrieben, die dem Spiel der Traversflöte mehr entspricht als dem der Blockflöte. Aus diesem qrund scheint hier der Cìebrauch einer "German Flute" plausibler.  Dank der vielen Reisen venezianischer Komponisten an ausländische Königshöfe und der grenzenlosen Ausdauer der venezianischen Musikverleger verbreitete sich die venezianische Musik des 18. Jh. in ganz Europa wie em Lauffeuer. Sert Beginn des Jahrhunderts begrüste Paris enthusiastisch Kompositionen die aus Venedig kamen, und wahrend Hotteterre stoisch Tomaso Albinonis Werke für die Traversflöte transponierte, wurden andere Rotenkomponisten wie Blavet oder Boisrnortier stark von den fantastischen italienischen Cantabile beeinflusst. Das ging sogar so weit, dass sich diese Elernente mehr und mehr mit dern französischen Stil mischten, der sich durch Eleganz, reiche Ornamentik und extrem exakte Ausfiihrung bis ins kleinste Detail auszeichnete. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Philosoph, Schriftsteller, Komponist und Rotist, war eine der grossen Persönlichkeiten der Autkürung im 18.Jh. Als Sekretdr des französischen Gesandten lebte er von 1744 bis 1745 in Venedig. Dort weitete er sein Studium der venezianischen Musik, ihres Opemrepertoires, ihrer Instrumentalmusik sowie der volkstümlichen Musik aus. Gleichzeitig begann er sich mit Musiktranskriptionen zu befassen, woraus ein Sammelband entstand, der nach seinern Tod unter dem Titel "Der Trost für das Elend meines Lebens" veroffentlicht wurde. Unter jenen Kompositionen befindet sich auch das Konzert "Der Friihling von Vivaldi", eines der berühmtesten Stücke allrI Zeiten, das für die Traversflöte ohne Bass in D-Dur umgeschrieben ist und somit eine Stufe unter dem Original erklingt. Mit dieser wenig bekannten Bearbeitung eines so berühmten Stücks beenden wir unsere Reise durch die venezianische Musik, eine Reise, die es uns-indern wir den Spuren eines Musikinstruments folgten-erlaubte, die tausendjährige Musikgeschichte einer Stadt zu erzahlen, die einzigartig in der Welt ist. (Übersetzung Anna-Dominique Ruschill)

As a center of an uninterrupted flow of traffic and commerce, Venice has always characterized its artistic production as a miraculous mixture of different styles and languages, united together into an entity in which eclecticism makes way for an extraordinary character. It is known that until the fall of the Byzantine Empire (at the end of the Fifteenth Century), the East had a far greater cultural influence than central Italy on the Most Serene Republic. For the entire Medieval period, Venetian painting, sculpture, and architecture speak more of a Greek than a Tuscan influence, from the cupolas and mosaics of San Marco to the metaphysical purity of the visions of Vittore Carpaccio. It is not by chance, certainly, that the Venetian Patriarch is even today, along with the Pope, the only Patriarch of the Western Church.Venice was never Orthodox, obviously, but its very close ties with the Orient certainly contributed to its unique and long-enduring autonomy from the Church of Rome. And if in the city of San Marco the Roman cult always had the upper hand over the Byzantine, one need not have a terribly developed ear to discern in the a Gregorian hymns of the Marciana Chapel certain inflections not altogether far-removed from those of certain through-composed psalm settings that formed the liturgy of the nearby Church of "San Giorgio dei Greci" (the Greek Church of San Giorgio). Minutely codified in every inflection of their performance, and characterized by their abundance of detailed ornamentation, the music of the Byzantine Orient was also entrusted, in great part, to instrumental performance. The same thing, we know, happened also in Occidental and Gregorian repertoire, whose melodies, far from being confined solely to holy occasions, were concurrently parodied in secular settings. On this basis, we are presenting here three pieces from Gregorian repertoire, in an attempt to revive a concept of the flute as an instrument which imitates the voice, and to show its ability to vary inflections and thereby give different colours to the melodic line. The hymn Ave Maris Stella probably has its origins in the seventh to eighth century and was sung for the Vespers of the feasts of Mary. Extremely well-know for centuries, it was used as the cantus firmus by famous composers including Adrian Willaert (Hymnorum Musica, Venice, 1542) and Claudio Monteverdi (Vespro della Beata Vergine, Venice, 1610J, who were already the Chapel-Masters at the Basilica of San Marco. The 5equentia in die Resurrectionis belongs to the Aquilean rite and was passed on to "s by a Venetian gradual from 1527 (which today is the property of the Conservatory of Trieste. Finally, the Veni Creator Spiritus, a vespers hymn from the solemnities of Pentecost, was actually attributed to Charlemagne by popular tradition: more probably, it was composed by one of his proteges and collaborators, the poet and patriarch Paolino d'Aquilea. The instrumental version presented in a collection of Venetian sixteenth-century Ball music is quite interesting (the manuscript from 1520 is preserved in the National Marciana Ubrary. The Code Vaticano Rossi 215 is a fundamental work for greater understanding of the musical production of the Venetian Ars Nova. Although it is probable that the compositions that it contains had their origins in the Veneto-Continental area (mainly Padova and Verona), we can allow ourselves to imagine that it is a reasonably accurate example of music in Fourteenth Century Venice. The transverse flute was known by the poet-musicians of the time, and was certainly appreciated for its expressivity and the refinement of sound and phrasing of which it was capable. The flute used for the four is a Renaissance tenor transverse, which is as close as one comes, both in size and pitch, to the late-medieval flute. The extremely rich collection of the Accademia Filarmonica of Verona plainly shows not only the widespread use of the instrument in the Veneto, but also the great variety in size which were used. This leads us to surmise that the fife or transverse played an important role in instrumental performance. The Renaissance performance practice (and frequently the Baroque) did not always discern the unique and unchangeable rapport between musical piece and instrument that was specified by the composer, and freely applied the theory of performance .with any type of instrument: Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego (b. 1492), a Venetian, played the flute and viola da gamba, wrote treatises, and was a composer. He is famous primarily for the Fontegara, the first treatise in history to concern itself specifically with straight flute and the practices of diminution, and particularly with the variation and ornamentation of the melodic line, which was the crux of Renaissance performance practice. He also published the Regola Rubertina in Venice in 1542-43, a treatise on the viola da gamba from which we have excerpted the Ricercare heard on this disc, played on the transverse flute rather than the viola. Giorgio Mainerio (1535-1582), Chapel-Master of the Basilica of Aquilea and the Duomo of Udine, published his First Book of Dances in Venice in 1578. This consists of a collection of dances and motifs, for the most part of Medieval origin, mainly from the region of the Adrian Alps. These are short popular compositions in strict unison that hold their own when performed by a single unaccompanied instrument. Giovanni Bassano (1560-1617), finally, came from a valid Venetian family of musicians and woodwind instrument makers (probably Ashkenazy in origin), who were also active in London in the time of Henry VIII. He was both composer and virtuoso, and given the times, we can only imagine what other myriad of instruments he was capable of playing. Venice in the 5ixteenth Century was a very important center for the Jewish culture: many Jews who were thrown out of 5pain in 1499. came here, bringing to the musical panorama of the city contributions from the 5ephardic culture and its blend of Arab, 5panish, and Mediterranean influences. The Zamiroth Israer was actually published in Venice in 1599 by Mosè Israel Madjara. The Eighteenth Century, Venice, and music are so irrevocably linked that it seems trite to mention it. Yet the fact that music managed to be one of the linchpins around which the life of the city trned in that age of economic decline and cultural splendor cannot be disputed. Through opera houses and Ospedali, public celebrations and private academies, sacred and secular compositions, culture and populace, melodrama, oratorios, cantatas, concertos, sonatas, musical festivals and boat songs, the Most Serene Republic was a veritable gold mine of opportunities for musicians and composers, both professional and amateur. Among the latter, the nobleman Benedetto Marcello is unarguably the most famous. Marcello proudly kept a distance from the profession of a musician, which was considered common, and was scornful of the opera houses and their poor conventions, but he was very involved in his theoretical studies and harmonic experiments. Marcello printed his "XII Sonatas for solo flute" in Venice in 1712. Conceived originally for straight flute, they were quite popular also by players of London in a version just for the latter instrument, transposing them to more suitable keys for the traverso. Of course, in London, the German Flute, as the traversiere was called, having been brn at the end of the Seventeenth Century in Paris from a modification of the transverse, was by then the sine qua non of every nobleman, and was supplanting use of the straight flute. But it also carved a niche for itself in Venice in musical practices. It was definitely an instrument studied by the orphans at the Pietà Church: traversieres are listed among the instruments of the Ospedale in the Eighteenth Century. Also unarguable is the presence in the ctty of famous virtuosos: one needs only think of the flute obbligato written by Antonio Vivaldi for his Orlando, with a part for the traversiere that was definitely too difficult for anyone but a true master. The sonata for solo flute without a bass is a fairly common genTe in Europe in the Eighteenth Century (Hotteterre, Telemann, Quantz, the Bachs, etc), and the practice of performing sonatas without the bass was used even by Tartini. Therefore, we find Pietro Grattoni d' Arcano (1698-1760), another nobleman who was an amateur flautist, who was the Ambassador of the Most Serene Republic to London and Versailles, and who concludes his Sonata for solo flute without bass with a characteristic furlana, a Venetian dance that carne originally from the Friuli region. The small flute (piccolo or ottavino) used for the performance on this disc, was already in use in Paris in the first half of the Eighteenth Century (Corrette.) The two collections of Venetian airs and dances, whose manuscripts are preserved in the Querini Stampalia Library in Venice and the Joppi in Udine, both are from the first half of the Eighteenth Century. They are made up of a long series of musical miniatures, both boat songs and dances, perfectly written and autonomous in their simplicity. It is probable that the Querini collection was written primarily for the straight flute, even though the Foundation also owns an Eighteenth-century transverse and a method for a transverse flute by an anonymous author from the mid-eighteenth century. The collection from Udine, however, frequently features descents to the D below the staff, a note that the contralto straight flute does not possess but that the transverse does, and several pieces written in a key with sharps, which work better on the transverse than on the straight flute. A performance on the German flute, therefore, seems most plausible here. Venetian music from the Eighteenth Century became widespread throughout Europe both thanks to the travels of the lagoon's composers through the royal courts and the tireless perseverance of Venice's musical editors. From the beginning of the century, Paris enthusiastically  greeted compositions arriving from Venice, and if Hotteterre obstinately transposed Tomaso Albinoni's works for the transverse flute, other composer-flautists from Blavet to Boismortier were obviously profoundly influenced by the fanciful ltalian cantabile, enough to incorporate it more and more frequently into the French style, which was so composed, elegant, highly  ornate and minutely codified to the last detail. Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the philosopher, writer, composer, and flautist, was one of the great personalities of the Eighteenth century enlightenment. In 1744-45, he lived in Venice as the secretary to the French Ambassador to the Venetian Republic. Here, he expanded his study of Venetian music, its operatic repertoire, the instrumental music, and the popular music, and here, he began to dedicate himself to transcribing music of every type, which was subsequently collected into a volume published posthumously called "The consolations for the miseries of my life". Among these is "The Spring of Vivaldi", one of the most famous concertos of any time, transcribed into D major for the transverse flute without bass, which is a step down from the original. With this little-known adaptation of an extremely famous piece of music, we conclude our trip through the music of Venice, a voyage that, following the tracks of a musical instrument, has permitted us to tell the history of a thousand years of the music of a city that is unique in the world. (Translation by Liesl Odenweller )

ì

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: un grande talento tra Barocco e Classicismo

“…un musicista commuove gli altri soltanto se egli stesso è commosso: è indispensabile che provi tutti gli stati d’animo che vuole suscitare nei suoi ascoltatori, perché in tal modo farà loro comprendere i suoi sentimenti e li farà partecipare alle sue emozioni. Nei punti languidi e tristi diventerà languido e triste; ciò si dovrà udire e vedere. Anche eseguendo frasi vivaci e gioiose, ecc……l’esecutore deve mettersi nello stato d’animo appropriato. Alla calma seguirà l’eccitazione e viceversa con varietà continua d’espressione, deve essere certo di provare le stesse emozioni che l’autore provava nel comporre soprattutto nei pezzi molto espressivi…dalla ricchezza d’emozioni che la musica può suscitare si capisce quali doti particolari debba possedere un buon virtuoso e con quanto giudizio egli debba usarle per tener conto simultaneamente dei suoi ascoltatori, della loro opinione, della vera essenza dell’interpretazione, del luogo e di altre circostanze ancora…”(C.Ph.E.Bach: Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen, Berlin 1753-62)

Per secoli gravitanti nel centro-nord della Germania, i Bach ebbero senza dubbio in Johann Sebastian il più illustre esponente. Fin dal ‘500 Hans e Veit, e nel ‘600 Georg Christoph, Johann Christoph e Johann Michael contribuirono decisamente alla vita musicale tedesca, ma ancor più importanti furono i numerosi figli di Sebastian che, forti dell'insegnamento e della protezione della paterna, vivendo in un'epoca dove forse era più facile d’oggi emergere in campo musicale, ebbero un ruolo centrale nel mondo della cultura tedesca ed europea del XVIII secolo. Johann Sebastian ebbe 20 figli (11 morirono in tenera età), sette dalla prima moglie e seconda cugina Maria Barbara Bachin. Di questi furono il figlio maggiore ed il secondogenito, ovvero Wilhelm Friedemann e Carl Philipp Emanuel, a riuscire nella carriera di musicista. Dalla seconda moglie, Anna Magdalena Wilke, Sebastian ebbe invece 13 figli, i musicisti furono Johann Christoph Friedrich e Johann Christian (l’unico “viaggiatore” della famiglia: Milano, Napoli, Londra…). Carl Philipp Emanuel, "Il Bach di Amburgo" o "Il Berlinese", nacque a Weimar in Turingia l’8 Marzo 1714. Inizialmente fu allievo del padre, poi studiò alla Thomasschüle e all’Università di Lipsia, in seguito si trasferì a Francoforte sull’Oder ove completò il corso di giurisprudenza presso all’Università, tenendo già concerti e Accademie come cembalista e compositore. Terminati nel 1738 gli studi accademici., dal 1740 al 1767 a Berlino fu clavicembalista del Re “flautista” Federico II. Nella raffinata corte prussiana conobbe i più famosi virtuosi e compositori tedeschi (Marpurg, Kirnberger, Quantz, Benda, Graun e altri) e molti degli intellettuali europei del tempo. Immerso in questo background culturale (unito ad una profonda cultura filosofica, letteraria e religiosa) nacque in lui il desiderio di stendere un trattato, che gli valse per lungo tempo gran notorietà: “Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen...“ (Berlin 1753-62). Nel 1767 Emanuel vinse un concorso diventando dall’anno successivo “Kantor” d’Amburgo, vale a dire direttore dell’attività musicale delle chiese, incarico coperto precedentemente da Georg Philipp Telemann (amico di famiglia nonché suo padrino di battesimo). Sposatosi nel 1744 con Johanna Maria Dannemann, ebbe tre figli: Johann August (giurista), Anna Carolina Philippina e Johann Sebastian, quest’ultimo promettente pittore morì appena trentenne a Roma. Emanuel chiuse la sua esistenza il 14 Dicembre 1788. Musicalmente Carl Philipp Emanuel assimilò e sviluppò presto le posizioni stilistiche del tardo barocco, cercando un linguaggio del tutto nuovo, dirigendosi verso uno spiccato senso drammatico ricco contrasti dinamico-armonici, il tutto nobilitato da una gran chiarezza ed espressività delle linee melodiche (d’ovvia ispirazione italiana). By-passando dunque i vincoli degli “Antichi”, ma tenendo anche le giuste distanze dalle leggerezze dello "stile galante", Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach divenne uno dei piu' tipici esponenti di quello “Empfindsamer stil” (stile sentimentale) che caratterizzo’ nella seconda metà del secolo le scuole strumentali del Nord della Germania. Avvicinandosi certo piu' di quanto non avesse fatto il padre ai nuovi ideali estetici e musicali dell'epoca, ritenuto un eccezionale clavicembalista e un grandissimo improvvisatore, Carl Philipp Emanuel ebbe una brillante carriera e la sua opera fu studiata e apprezzata perfino da Haydn, Mozart e Beethoven. Fu proprio lui a gettare le basi strutturali di quello svolgimento dialettico bitematico della Forma Sonata (“Sanguineus und Melancholicus”, titolo proprio di una sua triosonata), che sarà poi fondamentale per tutta la musica della scuola classica viennese. Come il padre, fu un prolifico compositore: 2 oratori scritti ad Amburgo, 20 Passioni, 10 Magnificat, 90 Cantate, 20 Salmi per Coro a Cappella, 120 Corali, 20 Sinfonie, 60 Concerti per clavicembalo (alcuni trascritti per flauto o violoncello), 200 Lieder (spirituali e profani). Ricca la produzione cameristica con 300 Sonate per clavicembalo (o meglio klavier, ovvero anche clavicordo, fortepiano, organo…), molta musica per violino, viola da gamba, oboe, clarinetto, fagotto, arpa ecc…l’opera per flauto comprende, oltre il vasto repertorio orchestrale, un solo senza basso, una ventina di Sonate (con basso o cembalo concertato), varie Triosonate (con violino o flauto), 3 Quartetti e decine di pezzi vari. (2002)

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si ringrazia / thanks to:

Cecilia Gargano, Riccardo Domenichini, Antonio Baratti, Renato della Torre, Pier Francesco Tosi, Klemen Ramovs, Rafael Espinosa, Anna-Dominique Ruschill, Giovanni Sebastiano Bach, Liesl Odenweller, Giovanni Gioachino Quantz, Jan Vermeer, Nicolò Vicentino, Maurizio Grattoni d’Arcano, Vera Deotto, Dan Laurin, Matteo Costa, Parrocchia di San Trovaso Venezia, Federico Maria Sardelli, Carlo Ipata, Gianni Martino Hotteterre, Dario Luisi e Susanne Scholz, Parrocchia di San Quirino Udine, don Claudio Como, Ruth van Baak Griffioen, Alain Weemaels, Fulvio Canevari, Marco Perini, Rudolf Tutz, Candace Smith, Alejandro Fidalgo, Willelm van Aelst, Andrea Marangon, Ruggero Prospero, Ivanna Canova, Michel van Goethem, Carlo Filippo Emanuele Bach, Biblioteca Vaticana, Sergio Azzolini, Bibliotheque Nationale de Paris, Accademia Filarmonica di Verona, Berkeley University of California, Parrocchia di San Vito al Tagliamento, Martinus Agricola, Curia di Pordenone, Fogolars Furlan, Conservatorio di Venezia, Conservatorio e Università di Padova, Stockholm KMA Bibiotek, Biblioteca Antoniana di Padova, Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Ospedale della Pietà Venezia, Museo Correr Venezia, Fondazione Levi Venezia, Museo Correr Venezia, Fondazione Basilica di San Marco Venezia, Conservatorio di Trieste, Biblioteca Civica di Udine, Fondazione Querini Stampalia Venezia, Curia di Venezia, Musei e Biblioteche di Firenze, Roma, Mantova, Milano, Napoli, Bologna, Norimberga, Vienna, Parigi, Madrid, Monaco, Strasburgo, Londra, Oxford, New York, Budapest, Kiev, San Pietroburgo e molti altri…