What I enjoyed most about yesterday's noontime recital by the Juilliard415, the school's period instrument student group, was the opportunity to hear the works of lesser known artists - Dario Castello and Biagio Marini- performed together with those of the more famous composers - Arcangelo Corelli, Georg Philipp Telemann and Antonio Vivaldi - who followed them. It not only made for a more balanced program but also served to focus the audience's attention on the extent to which the former pair had influenced the latter group's style of composition.
The recital first focused on the stile moderno as practiced by Castello and Marini in the early seventeenth century. An article in the Encyclopedia Britannica is quite explicit in emphasizing the importance this movement held in the development of the Western musical tradition:
"One of the most dramatic turning points in the history of music occurred at the beginning of the 17th century, with Italy again leading the way. While the stile antico, the universal polyphonic style of the 16th century, continued, it was henceforth reserved for sacred music, while the stile moderno, or nuove musiche—with its emphasis on solo voice, polarity of the melody and the bass line, and interest in expressive harmony—developed for secular usage. The expanded vocabulary allowed for a clearer distinction between sacred and secular music as well as between vocal and instrumental idioms, and national differences became more pronounced."
While listening to Castello's Sonata undecima and Sonata decima (both from Sonate Concertante in Stil Moderno, Libro II, 1644) and Marini's L'Aguzzona (from Affetti Musicali, 1617), it became readily apparent that Venice must necessarily be regarded at this period in its history as one of the foremost musical centers of Europe. And this not only for the accomplishments of its most celebrated composer, Claudio Monteverdi, but for those of his contemporaries as well. In these short pieces can be heard the very beginnings of the standard repertoire when secular music first diverged from the sacred Church music that had prevailed through the Renaissance. Hearing afterwards the more polished compositions of Corelli, Telemann and Vivaldi, I was better able to appreciate the sources from which these geniuses had drawn their inspiration.
The performance of Corelli's Sonata in E minor, Op. 1, No. 2 (from Sonata a tre, Op. 1, 1681) as arranged yesterday for oboe, violin, cello and harpsichord made it at once clear why this Bolognese composer experienced the overwhelming popularity he enjoyed in his day. Though he may not have invented the trio sonata, Corelli's success in this genre overshadowed that of all other Baroque composers. The work was dedicated to Queen Christina of Sweden who had relocated to Rome following her abdication and had taken Corelli into her service. Corelli's trio sonatas were also sometimes referred to as sonatas da chiesa (as were the first eight of his Concerti grossi, Op. 6), though they had nothing at all to do with church music and were completely secular in character.
Telemann was another composer who was deeply influenced by the stile moderno and who managed to transform it into a truly international style on his travels through Germany. His Quartet in D major (from Musique de table, 1733) was an unusual arrangement for two flutes, bassoon and harpsichord.
The program ended where it had begun - in Venice. The final work was Vivaldi's La Pastorella, RV 95, most commonly arranged for recorder, violin, oboe, bassoon and basso continuo though in yesterday's performance a flute was substituted for the recorder and the bassoon was eliminated altogether. So ubiquitous and familiar to our ears has Vivaldi's music become in our time that it's difficult to believe that his work lay forgotten for centuries after his death. He was certainly popular enough in his own time. According to a footnote in A History of Venice by John Julius Norwich:
"Such was its reputation [referring to the Pietà orphanage where Vivaldi was maestro di cappella] that a plaque was placed in the south outer wall of the church, threatening 'fulmination,' excommunication and other dire penalties on any parents who attempted to pass off their legitimate offspring as orphans to gain them admission. It is still there today."
At any rate, the concerto provided a perfect ending to a fine recital by talented musicians.
No comments:
Post a Comment