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WANTHOLOGIE SONORE A Living History of Western Music from the 9th to the 19th Century

VOLUME IV: FRENCH & GERMAN CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE 17TH & 18TH CENTURIES

RECORD 4;

The Flute at the Courts of Frederick IIT and Lowis XV

JEAN-PIERRE RAMPAL, Flute + ROBERT VEYRON-LACROIX, Harpsichord

FELIX RAUGEL, Artistic Direction

SIDE ONE: POTSDAM

Frederick II was the most musical European prince of his time. From the time he was seven his father, Frederick William, the sergeant-king, had had him taught clavier, figured bass, and the harmonization a chorales for four voices. The flute soon became the preferred instrument of the young prince. He worked seriously under the direction of the celebrated flutist Johann Joachim Quantz and nothing was more pressing to him when he acceded to the throne than summoning his old master to the court, to assure him a com- fortable position. Around Quantz there came to be grouped the violinist Franz Benda, Karl Hein- rich Graun, and Philipp Emanuel Bach. The latter would play the harpsichord while Graun conducted and the king played the flute. Freder- ick composed for his instrument a great many sonatas and concertos in Italian style emphasiz- ing, he wrote to his chamberlain Algarotti, “ra- vishing melody whose mysterious fingers weave the sweet charm of melancholy about the heart, whereby the calmed soul is rescued from short- lived care and tastes the happiness of the gods.”

Every evening between five and six oclock the king gave a flute concert at Sans-Souci. He composed one hundred twenty-one sonatas and Quantz three hundred concertos expressly for these get-togethers. The Englishman Burney, a music-loving traveler who was invited to Pots- dam, recognized in the royal virtuoso “great pre- cision, pure embouchure, brilliant fingering, and a great deal of cleanness in the performance.” It has thus seemed to us of interest to make gen- erally known some beautiful examples of the repertory of these concerts.

1, JOHANN JOACHIM QUANTZ (1697-1778):

Sonata No. 6 in G Major for Flute and Harpsichord, Op. 1, No. 6

Born in the province of Hanover at Oberscheden January 30, 1697, Johann Joachim Quantz was town musician in Dresden before becoming a student of counterpoint with Fux in Vienna. Re- turning to Dresden, Quantz attended the school of the Court’s solo flutist, the Frenchman Buffar- din. He then went on long trips to Rome, Lyon, Paris, and London (where he knew Handel) before finally settling down, in 1741, at Potsdam.

uantz has left an excellent Method for Playing the Transverse Flute, epochal in the history of the instrument which he himself had perfected by adding a key. The illustrious musician died at Potsdam July 12, 1778.

The Sonata in G major is the sixth in the collection of VI Sonates Italiennes, “suitable for training the taste and hands of those who would overcome the difficulties prevalent today.” Quantz adopts here the framework of four move- ments: Grave-Andante, Allemande, Larghetto,

Presto (Giga), and applies himself to the realiza- tion of a “judicious mixture of French and Italian tastes, with the idea that German taste should be a mixed one and made up of the good of both.” Reference: Paris Conservatory Library. Section F.

2. JOHANN ADOLF HASSE (1699-1788): Sonata No. 11 in D Minor for Flute and Harpsichord

Johann Adolf Hasse was born March 1699 at Bergedorf near Hamburg and died in Venice De- cember 16, 1783. Although he was able to ap- plaud Mozart’s first successes, he was himself one of the greatest melodists who ever lived. The unfair neglect of this admirable master is one of history’s incomprehensible injustices which it is the duty of posterity to repair.

Hasse wrote over eighty operas and a large amount of religious and instrumental music, the greatest part of which remained in manuscript. The rest disappeared during the bombardment of Dresden in 1760.

The Sonata in D minor “a Flauto traversiere solo e basso” is the eighth of the collection “XII Sonate, opera prima” published in Paris by Le- clerc le Cadet in 1740. This sonata is made up of four perfectly formed and expressive pieces— Un poco vivace, Allegro, Arioso, Vivace—in which the tender and noble spirit of a great master can be felt.

' Reference: Paris Conservatory Library. A 35428.

8. FREDERICK II, “THE GREAT” (1712-1786) : Sonata in C Minor for Flute and Harpsichord

If one goes through the flute sonatas composed by Frederick II, one is attracted by the strange discovery “of a secret tenderness, of a sentimen- tality one would not expect to find in the friend of Voltaire, in the sceptical hero,” on whose musical faith Romain Rolland has so commented. The Sonata in C minor especially attracts atten- tion. The work seems to have been written in 1747 under the influence of the impression made at the court by Johann Sebastian Bach when he visited Potsdam. This sonata in three parts is made up of a Recitativo bound to an Arioso, of an Andante e cantabile in distinctly Italian style, and of a neatly designed Fugato. If the beginning Recitativo is related to the recitatives found in sonatas Philipp Emanuel Bach dedicated to his sovereign in 1742, the final movement—the only piece in fugal form Frederick II dared to write— seems indeed to be a reply to the Musical Offer- ing of Johann Sebastian Bach. Is this not just of a king-musician?

Reference: Potsdam, Library of the Palace. Realizations of Nos. 1,2, and 8 by Robert Veyron- Lacroix.

SIDE TWO: VERSAILLES

Since the second half of the 17th century the flute had already had an extraordinary vogue in France. In the following century it was fashion- able in amateur society to play as well as one could and to have one’s portrait painted flute in hand, after the example of princes and the upper bourgeoisie, among whom were King Stanislas, the farmer-general Le Riche de la Popliniére, and the Prince of Carignan. Similarly, virtuosos and composers rivalled one another in their passion for enriching the repertory of their favorite in- strument, accumulating suites, sonatas, concertos and divertissements for flute alone or with ac- companiment.

1. JEAN JAQUES NAUDOT (died 1762): Sonata in B Minor for Two Flutes

Naudot was among the first to play the trans- verse flute in Paris. He was the protegé of the Count of Egmont and conaied a number of works between 1726 and 1745.

The style of his sonatas is simple, lightly orna- mented, but rhythmically alive and piquant. The Sonata in B minor for two flutes without bass, the first work of Opus 6, consists of four move- ments: a Largo which leads to an Allegro in triple rhythm, Sarabande, and Allegro.

Reference: Duos for two transverse flutes, Paris Con- servatory Library.

2. NICOLAS CHEDEVILLE (1705-1783):

Sonata No. 3 in C Minor for Two Flutes, Op. 8

Nicolas Chédeville was born at Serez (Eure) in 1705. He came from a family related to the Hotteterres, the famous chamber flutists of Louis XIV. A virtuoso oboist, Chédeville entered the Opéra in 1725 and succeeded the elder Esprit- Philippe as chamber musician. Much in demand as a teacher, he counted among his pupils the highest titled gentlemen and ladies of the court. In 1789 he edited four works by the flutist Quantz in addition to composing his own works. A great furnisher of pastoral works, he submitted to the ruling fashion of his time for rural instru- ments and wrote sonatas for two musettes, works which he himself declared equally suitable for transverse flutes or violins. It was then the cus- tom to allow complete latitude to performers in the use of whatever instruments were at their disposal.

Nicolas Chédeville retired from the Opéra July 1, 1748, and died 1783 after having composed fourteen works which were the delight of the court and the salons.

The Sonata presented here is the third of Opus 8, a collection entitled “Les Galanteries amu- sants” and containing six sonatas designated as follows: La Frangaise, L’Espagnole, La Tur- quoise, La Chinoise, La Polonaise, and L’Alle- mande, the last of which, in A minor, consists of seven movements: Prelude (lentement), L’Im- pératrice (légérement), La Palatine (musette), Gavotte allemande, Menuet allemand, Sarabande, and Rondeau (légérement). Reference: Les Galanteries amusantes, Sonatas for two

musettes, vielle, transverse flutes or violins. Collection of Félix Raugel, Paris.

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8. JOSEPH BODIN DE BOISMORTIER (1691-1765): Concerto in A Minor for Five Flutes, Op. 15, No. 2

Joseph Bodin de Boismortier alone seems to have exhausted all the combinations of which the flute is capable. Born about 1691 in Perpignan, Boismortier, died about 1765 in Paris after hay-

ing tried his hand at all musical genres. He was, .

indeed, a rival of Rameau in the realm of opera- ballet and of the secular cantata, and of Mondon- ville in that of the motet for large chorus. At the same time he was considered the most active and fertile composer of instrumental music of the period in which he lived.

Le XV Oeuvre de Monsieur Boismortier conte- nant VI Concertos pour cing flutes transversiéres ou autres instruments sans Basse was published in 1727. All these concertos are constructed, on the Italian model, in three parts. This had be- come the rule in the concertos of Vivaldi and other southern masters. Boismortier was the first to use this form in French instrumental music.

Concerto No. 2 of Opus 15, in A minor, is made up of an Allegro in duple time, a Largo in ternary rhythm and a 6/8 Allegro in the form of a gigue. Supported by one flute playing the bass, the concertant flutes often split into groups for dialogues between the tuttis.

In the fast movements Boismortier juxtaposes themes which are lively and full of promise and which he hardly bothers to develop in any scien- tific way. The slow movement is impregnated with a certain elegaic and graciously melancholy poetry.

Reference: Paris National Library.

Note on the Recording of Side Two:

The modern method of magnetic tape recording has made it possible for us to entrust to one virtuoso the interpretation of these works for several flutes. The recording was made in the following way: after the performance of the first flute part, the recording was played back to the artist while he performed the part for the second flute. By hearing the other part, he was able to give to each part the precise value necessary for it in the ensemble. Continuing in this way, the Concerto for Five Flutes was recorded in five steps.

Thus a homogeneity of different sonorities and a perfect unity of performance and style were attained, due to the finish and virtuosity of the artist. These give the recording a special value from the artistic and musical point of view, which was the aim of the undertaking.

This is Recorp 4 of a set of five records:

VOLUME IV: AS-D

FRENCH AND GERMAN CHAMBER MUSIC OF THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

Recorp 1: Chamber Music of Marais,

Couperin, and Rameau AS-16 Recorp 2: French Chamber Music

of the 18th Century, PartI _AS-17 Recorb 8: French Chamber Music

of the 18th Century, Part II —_ AS-18 Recorp 4: The Flute at the Courts

of Frederick II and Louis XV AS-19 Recorp 5: 17th and 18th Century Music

for Clavichord and Organ AS-20

Cover design by JosepH Low

Liprary or Concress Catalog Card Number: R54-1028

WANTHOLOGIE SONORE

manufactured and distributed by THE HAYDN SOCIETY, INC. Boston, Massachusetts

| VOLUME IV, RECORD 4: The Flute at the Courts of Frederick II and Louis XV ;

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