Gurn's Classical Corner

[Antoine Marchand]

That aspect of Haydn (and Bach too, of course) where he was like "a new symphony tomorrow evening? Certainly your Highness? Just the one? Ah, another in the relative minor? Very well"; just blows me away. Not that they could do it; they all could do it, it was their job. But that they could do it so well, consistently so much better than everyone else was doing it. I am supposing that is what genius consists in.

Well, that's exactly my point of view. Haydn was probably the last musician of a genre. Because after him (IMO, with Mozart, but I don't wait you share this opinion  ) was born what it would be the Romantic prototype of the misunderstood genius, fighting against society which denies to him the acknowledgment that he deserves. I think this is a consequence of the musician considered like a freelance professional, after the awakening of the individualism post-French Revolution, where the old and well regulated (I don't imply desirable) estates of the realm (where, for instance, musicians were considered a part of the domestic service) were drastically transformed and the poor individual was left alone in front of the Society and the State.

[DavidW]

Herman?

Herman still posts right?  I was thinking Molman, but I can thank Herman for Brahms chamber works and thank both for Faure.

[SonicMan46]

Yeah, don't have that one, have this one though:

 

and this one with those same guys:

I like trios too. Like the balancing act the composer has to do to make them sound right. Boccherini did it better than most.

Leo - I have the same recordings as Gurn (I think that we've exchanged posts on these Luigi discs in the past -  ).

BTW- I would NOT advertise on a public forum that you're getting copyrighted music from either friends or other online sources - this is illegal, so best to send a PM - but only my opinion - Dave 

[DavidW]

Too late Dave, I've already reported Leo... they're sending in police to break down the door as we speak.  Luckily he has an entire shelf of the complete works of Boccherini to put behind the door.

[Gurn Blanston]

Too late Dave, I've already reported Leo... they're sending in police to break down the door as we speak.  Luckily he has an entire shelf of the complete works of Boccherini to put behind the door.

That's not the 'Complete Works', just the string quintets. It should be enough though....

[Leo K.]

Ha ha! You guys 

[Florestan]

the poor individual was left alone in front of the Society and the State.

Say it again! 

[(poco) Sforzando]

Herman still posts right?  I was thinking Molman, but I can thank Herman for Brahms chamber works and thank both for Faure.

Very interesting. Does Molman know of this? He and I are still in frequent communication outside the walls of GMG.

[DavidW]

I don't know but I still email him from time to time, he got me into Xenakis a few months ago.  I've tried a few times to get him to come back to gmg, but ah heck he'll never come back!

[Leo K.]

I'm pulling this off my shelf today to give another listen. I think the completion by Levin works rather well. Well, okay, I LOVE IT. 

What do folks here on the Corner think?

[DavidW]

There are several completions and I do wonder what everyone's favorite is... I haven't heard this work in many years but I recently acquired a copy of the Krivine recording and will be listening to it soon.

[Que]

Notes on music I listened to today. 

Johann Muthel: Sonata No.1 in F, Sonata No.2 in G Major, Sonata No.3 in C Major
Menno van Delft (clavichord)

I can't praise this recording and these sonatas enough. Where van delft goes with Muthel and the clavichord, into the depths of human experience and questioning, is such a experience to behold. The music is subtle, serious, pondering and other qualities the sensitive listener will receive with beauty and reflection.

We are obviously like minded on this recording, Leo!



Q

[Leo K.]

We are obviously like minded on this recording, Leo!



Q

Awesome to hear! Yeah, this recording is truly a great experience 

[Leo K.]

This morning I am listening to:



Johann Gottlieb Naumann: Mass No. 18, in D minor (1794), Mass No.21 in C Minor (1786-1806)
Collegium Instrumentale, Dir. Peter Kopp

These works are modest masses with great beauty. The period instruments, and the clarinets in particular, give the flavor of autumn to the orchestration. I really love this recording, and this is a very valuable addition to my 18th Century Mass collection, of which I turn to all the time for peace and reflection. Naumann's liturgical music is not flashy, but solid and very devotional.

Here is a review from fanfare:

Although little known today, during his lifetime Johann Gottlieb Naumann (1741–1801) occupied a very respected niche in the world of late 18th-century music. Born and raised near Dresden, his career was largely made there; after moving to northern Italy in 1757 for further musical training (his teachers there included Padre Martini), he was called to the Saxon imperial court in 1764 on the recommendation of Johann Adolf Hasse as second church composer, attaining promotion to Kapellmeister in 1776. Between 1777 and 1786 he was also active as a musical reformer of opera along Italian lines in Stockholm and Copenhagen; to retain him in Dresden, the Saxon elector promoted Naumann to Oberkapellmeister in 1786. Naumann remained there for the rest of his life, dying a wealthy and respected man. (For further details see Brian Robins's review of the composer's oratorio Betulia liberata in Fanfare 30:2.)

Much of Naumann's oeuvre remains unpublished; a catalog compiled by Heinrich Mannstein in 1841 lists 27 Mass settings, of which those in D and C Minor presented here are numbers 18 and 21. However, since it was a customary practice of the Hofkirche to combine parts to various masses by different composers for liturgical use, manuscript dates suggest that individual Mass movements may have been composed at various times and only later assembled into complete Mass settings. The D-Minor Mass is an apparent exception, with all its movements bearing the date of 1794; the various parts of the C-Minor Mass, by contrast, range from 1786 to 1801. The D Minor was once a well-established work; between 1876 and the mid 1930s it was performed almost annually on December 26, following a Mass on Christmas day by Hasse, and evidence suggests the practice may go back to Naumann's own lifetime. Psalm 96 dates from Naumann's return to Dresden in 1786, and Psalm 103 and the brief one-movement cantata Kommt herzu from 1790. While Naumann himself was a Protestant, the Dresden court was Catholic; Psalm 96 and the cantata are rare instances of Naumann having an opportunity to set German-language texts for Protestant devotions—the psalm for Duke Friedrich von Mecklenburg-Schwerin, and the cantata for the Herrnhuter Brüdergemeinde of the Moravian Church, inspired by a visit of Naumann to that devout Pietistic community (after its founding in 1727 it practiced an uninterrupted watch of prayer by its members for 100 years). Gustaf Wasa, an opera on the Swedish king who liberated his country from Danish thralldom, was for decades after its premiere the Swedish national opera (ArkivMusic has reissued the complete Virgin Classics recording with Nicolai Gedda). For unknown reasons the 1803 Breitkopf & Härtel edition of Psalm 96 included the opera's overture as a musical preface, and so it is offered here.

During a visit to Dresden in 1789, Mozart peremptorily dismissed a Naumann Mass as "very poor stuff," and doubtless that verdict affected Naumann's posthumous fortunes. A typical representative of the galant style, his music is neither fish nor fowl for typical expectations regarding either Baroque or Classical-era music; its straightforward simplicity lacks the complexity of the former's use of polyphony and the latter's emphasis upon extended thematic and formal development. Even in his own day, Naumann's music was stylistically in the conservative rearguard (which ideally suited him for the Dresden court); the Wasa Overture sounds startlingly like a work of Handel, and the various psalm and Mass movements demonstrate only a nodding acquaintance with the music of Haydn and no contact with that of Mozart. The harmonies are unenterprising, the melodies ordinary, the rhetorical gestures predictable. Somewhat surprisingly, however, Naumann's music is not dull; while only moderately pleasant rather than memorable, it fulfills its intended ecclesial functions ably and even winningly. Unlike, say, the Mozart, Berlioz, and Verdi Requiems or Beethoven's Missa solemnis, these are psalm and Mass settings that are subordinate to liturgical purposes; they do not draw attention to themselves in ways that distract one from devotional concentration, but rather humbly support it. They simply are not constructed to sustain the concentrated scrutiny of independent listening in the concert hall, and this as much as other factors explains why they have fallen largely into oblivion.

These two CDs are reissues, the first originally released in 1996 and the second in 1999. All the recordings are premieres and remain the sole versions available. The performances (by the same groups in both cases, despite their changes of names) leave nothing to be desired. The instrumental ensemble uses period instruments and plays with refined polish; the chorus is first-rate in every way; the soloists (Kai Wessel and Werner Güra having since achieved greater prominence) without exception all sing their brief parts ably. The digipaks contain informative booklets with texts in the original German and Latin with English translation. An online search has also located these two releases as a combined two-CD budget set for about the same price as each item individually, though I was not able to determine any product details such as inclusion of libretti. For those interested in filling in their collections with music from the secondary ranks of later 18th-century music in general and the galant composers in particular, these discs can be safely recommended.

FANFARE: James A. Altena

I'm requoting this to say again, how special this recording of (relatively-unknown) masses is! Especially the clarinet writing, very autumnal and serene. The reviewer is almost correct in saying Naumann's masses are more Haydn influenced, with no Mozart to be heard, but I think I can hear some Mozart stylings here and there. Yet it's interesting to hear how another composer takes inspiration from Haydn and creates his own voice.

[Leo K.]

I'm really enjoying the trumpet concertos of Johann Molter this morning, especially the beautiful slow movements! Love the sound of Sauter's bright trumpet! Here are the works I'm hearing:

Trumpet Concerto in D, MWV IV-12
Trumpet Concerto in D, MWV IV-13
Trumpet Concerto in D, MWV IV-14
Trumpet Concerto in D, MWV VI-35

--from the web:

Johann Melchior Molter (10 February 1696 – 12 January 1765) was a German baroque composer and violinist.Molter's surviving works include an oratorio; several cantatas; over 140 symphonies, overtures, and other works for orchestra; many concertos, including some of the first clarinet concertos ever written; and many pieces of chamber music. One of Molter's many Trumpet Concertos is the signature piece of C-SPAN's Washington Journal.

[Gurn Blanston]

Interesting, Leo. Never heard of him. Where was he based? Dresden or Potsdam seem likely...   Cool.



----------------
Now playing:
Concentus Musicus Wien / Harnoncourt - K 317 Mass in C "Coronation" pt 3 - Credo

[Leo K.]

Interesting, Leo. Never heard of him. Where was he based? Dresden or Potsdam seem likely...   Cool.



----------------
Now playing:
Concentus Musicus Wien / Harnoncourt - K 317 Mass in C "Coronation" pt 3 - Credo

Gurn, I had to check the Wiki, and here is what I find:

He was born at Tiefenort, near Eisenach, and was educated at the Gymnasium in Eisenach. By autumn 1717 he had left Eisenach and was working as a violinist in Karlsruhe. Here he married Maria Salome Rollwagen, with whom he had eight children. From 1719 to 1721 he studied composition in Italy. From 1722 to 1733 he was court Kapellmeister at Karlsruhe. In 1734 he became Kapellmeister at the court of Duke Wilhelm Heinrich of Saxe-Eisenach.

Maria died in 1737; by 1742 Molter had married Maria Christina Wagner. In that year he returned to Karlsruhe and began teaching at the gymnasium there. From 1747 to his death Molter was employed by Margrave Carl Friedrich of Baden-Durlach, the son of his first employer. He died at Karlsruhe.




I find Molter's music very much of his time, and relaxing, as well as deeply moving in the slow movements.

[Leo K.]

Moscheles: Grosse Sonate op. 41
Tom Beghin (fortepiano)

My ongoing exploration of the history of the piano sonata continues with this epic work by Ignaz Moscheles (1794-1870). How fascinating for me, a Schubert fanatic, to explore the music of his contemporaries, and discover new worlds, vastly different from Schubert, with sound worlds lost in time, to be found by the eager seeker. This sonata by Moscheles, played on a period fortepiano, is expressive, epic, delicate, and the tone of the fortepiano is well captured in this recording. I particularly love the lower resister of the fortepiano, with the upper register SO sweet, and engaging! This piano sonata has the beautiful "wandering" sound I love about Schubert, but Moscheles speaks with his own musical voice. The texture is full, harmonically direct and, at certain moments, adventurous. This work is quite a unique journey into a world of light and intimate experiences. Who knows what stories lay behind these abstract sounds, but the images that come to mind take me far away in another world, a world large with many corners in which to explore and search within.

[Leo K.]

I'm pulling this off my shelf today to give another listen. I think the completion by Levin works rather well. Well, okay, I LOVE IT. 

What do folks here on the Corner think?

After another listen this afternoon, I am convinced that this recording and completion, along with the Gardiner and Hogwood accounts, is my favorite recording of this amazing mass.

Levin's seemless reconstruction is breathtaking, and totally Mozartian in tone. I am fan of radical reconstructions. For instance, Duncan Druce's reworking/composing of Mozart's Requiem is another favorite of mine, as is Richard Maunder's edition on Hogwood's recording. These reconstructions are interesting musical thesis' and arguments, and provide 'what if' scenerios onto the uncompleted work in question.

Indeed, musiciologists, who recompose and reconstruct, are practically post-modern composers in their own right. Composers completing the unfinished works of dead composers are the new composers of our unique age. In this train of thought, Franz Sussmayr, taking on the task of completing Mozart's Requiem, is a forefather of this kind of post-modern composer! I go too far I think  But it is fun to ponder!

[Leo K.]

I listened to the Clavichord disk, lost in a reverie over the organic tone of the instrument on this recording. I am totally in love with this box!



The Eberl Sonata set came in the mail on Thursday, and now I'm just starting to explore the first disk. The sound of the fortepiano is supreme in the sonics as presented here. Detail, closeness, and atmosphere are all here. The music is a joy. Eberl's sonatas are very engaging to say the least. There is always something interesting at every turn.  I'm listening to his Op.1, Op.12 and Op.15. I was expecting a Mozartian sound, especially in the early works, but that's not the case. The music is more romantic and emotional than I was expecting, almost like Schubert. This is good news! Man, I love this late classical/early romantic era.