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Home , Franz Benda, Giuseppe Torelli, Johann David Heinichen, Johann Georg Pisendel, Johann Paul von Westhoff, Sylvius Leopold Weiss

PISENDEL

Tomasz Aleksander Plusa violin · Robert Smith Earl Christy and · Ere Lievonen 1687-1755 Johann Georg Pisendel was born on the 26th December 1687 in Cadolzburg, a Violin Sonatas small town in Bavaria where his father had settled as Cantor in 1680. At the age of ten he joined the Ansbach court chapel as a chorister. Destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, he entered the local court chapel of Ansbach as a chorister in 1697, SILVIUS LEOPOLD WEISS for solo violin in A minor studying singing with Francesco Antonio Pistocchi and the violin with Pistocchi’s 1687-1750 11. [without tempo indication] 2’46 great friend and fellow Bolognese, . To have studied with so great a 1. Ouverture (from Sonata 12. Allegro 5’31 master as Torelli at such a young age must have been fundamental to the development for lute No.39 in C) 4’46 13. Giga 4’36 of Pisendel both as a violinist and . 14. Variatione 5’41 At the age of sixteen he was a violinist in the court orchestra of Ansbach. In March JOHANN GEORG PISENDEL 1709 Pisendel left Ansbach for to study law. His stay in Leipzig enabled him 1687-1755 SILVIUS LEOPOLD WEISS to enter into two friendships which were to continue throughout his life. Sonata for violin and b.c. in C minor 15. Presto (from Sonata On the way to Leipzig, his path led through , where he made the 2. Adagio – Andante 1’53 for lute No.39 in C) 6’30 acquaintance of , who was at that time in service there. Here, 3. Allegro 4’40 Bach gave Pisendel a copy in his own hand of a double violin by Telemann 4. Largo 2’43 JOHANN GEORG PISENDEL (TWV52:G2). Pisendel’s technical wizardry impressed Bach so much so that his 5. Allegro assai 5’06 Sonata for violin and b.c. in C minor violin writing would for evermore bear the imprint of Pisendel’s prowess. Indeed, it 16. Adagio 2’56 is difficult to imagine Bach’s works for unaccompanied violin without Pisendel’s own SILVIUS LEOPOLD WEISS 17. Presto 3’43 fiendish unaccompanied sonata, a work that survives in Pisendel’s hand and partially 6. (from Sonata 18. Affettuoso 2’18 in a publication by his great friend . for lute No.40 in C) 7’18 19. Vivace 4’09 Shortly after his arrival in Leipzig he met Telemann, who was on his way from Eisenach to Sorau. Pisendel’s and Telemann’s friendship lasted until Pisendel’s JOHANN GEORG PISENDEL death on which Telemann published an ode in honour of his friend. Telemann Sonata for violin and b.c. appears to have sent works directly to Pisendel for a number of years. Four of in G minor Pisendel’s surviving letters to Telemann from what must have been an extensive 7. Larghetto 3’43 Tomasz Aleksander Plusa violin correspondence lasting over four decades are published, complete with commentary 8. Allegro 3’37 Robert Smith cello in Hans Grosse and Hans Rudolf Jung, Georg Philipp Telemann: Briefwechsel: 9. Largo 4’16 Earl Christy lute and theorbo Saemtliche erreichbare Briefe von und an Telemann. (Leipzig: VEB Deutscher Verlag 10. Allegro 2’58 Ere Lievonen harpsichord fuer Musik, 1972). In 1712 Pisendel joined the court orchestra as a violinist. He remained complete sets of parts for 15 further concerti. He also made copies of concerti by in service at Dresden until his death in 1755. His duties meant that he was amongst Benedetto Marcello and Albinoni who also dedicated a concerto to him. These works the musicians who accompanied the Crown Prince on the Grand Tour, visiting were all acquired on Pisendels death in 1755 by the Electress Maria Josepha and (1714), Berlin (1715) and (1716/1717). Music making in Venice had reside in Pisendel’s private collection in the Sachsische Landesbibliothek except one a profound effect on Pisendel and the length of his stay enabled him to study with RV19 that is curiously held in the Paris Conservatoire. , with whom he also became friends. Whilst in he also studied Pisendel is believed to have shown Johann Sebastian Bach a sonata of his with Montanari in Rome and travelled to Naples and other Italian cities. He re-visited composition in A minor for unaccompanied violin following his Venetian trip which has Venice in 1717 and renewed his friendship and study with Vivaldi. been claimed (plausibly) as the model for Bach’s sonatas and partitas for solo violin. Their association is recorded in two uncorroborated anecdotes by Hiller. The first After 1718 Pisendel’s trips abroad became less frequent. During this period he became recounts how Vivaldi while walking with Pisendel in St. Marks Square, suddenly broke a pupil of in composition. His compositional legacy, no doubt off the conversation and urged the visitor to return home with him immediately. Privacy due to his performance duties is small but of a high quality. His remaining compositions regained, Vivaldi explained that he had observed four constables shadowing Pisendel show his experience in Italy to be influential and unsurprisingly are dominated by works and asked him whether he had done or said anything forbidden by the authorities. Since for the violin, notably seven violin concerti and sonata’s for solo violin. Pisendel could think of nothing, Vivaldi sought the advice of one of the inquisitors, from Telemann was one of the many people to visit Dresden in 1719 for the celebrations whom he learned that they were looking not for Pisendel but for a man resembling him. surrounding the marriage of the Crown Prince to Maria Josepha. During this visit The second anecdote makes more sense if we know that the Crown Prince was he presented to Johann Georg Pisendel , the man to whom it was dedicated, a violin already familiar with Vivaldi’s work. Vivaldi had dedicated a concerto entitled La concerto in B Flat Major. Judging by the note at the end of the score, “The last Sassiona to him. The Crown Prince asked Pisendel to play a concerto identifiable as Allegro is rather a scribble – better copy follows. Author”, Telemann appears to have RV571 as an operatic entr’acte. During an extended solo passage in the upper register written out the finale in great haste. his accompanists tried to discomfit him by rushing ahead, but he kept his composure On Woulmyers death in 1728 Pisenedel became acting concert master, a position and forced them to slow down by marking the beat vigorously with his foot, much to which was confirmed in 1730. Pisendel, the leading German violinist of his day, the Crown Princes amusement. cultivated musical expression through a sensitive manner of playing. Quantz While in Venice Pisendel collected a large quantity of manuscripts containing the commented on his interpretation of Adagio movements and Hasse on his assured latest works available and particularly those of Vivaldi. Some of these were presented grasp of tempo. His influence ensured the performance of music by Vivaldi, Albinoni, to him by the composer, the autograph manuscripts of three sonatas and six concerti , Telemann, , Graupner, Stölzel and the bear the inscription “fatto per il Sign. Pisendel.” RV340 dedicated to Pisendel bears Bendas and Grauns. the inscription “per li coglioni” – for the blockheads that surely refers to some bass Pisendel’s influence through teaching, his most famous pupils being figures Vivaldi had included for the copyists benefit. The majority of the music and Johann Gottleib Graun must have also been significant particularly with respect however was copied by Pisendel himself, including 22 concerti, 7 violin sonatas and to the court of . The following anecdotal extract provides us with the picture of virtuosi making Pisendel as a composer music for their own pleasure and mentions the pomposa, whose invention is Pisendel studied composition with Heinichen. He wrote a violin concerti, Concerti ascribed to Johann Sebastian Bach. grossi of which one was offered for a new catholic court church in Dresden. “In Carneval of the year 1738, Benda, upon the invitation of the concertmaster Furthermore, there are compositions for a violin solo as well as 4 voiced instrumental (Johann Georg Pisendel), who had friendly correspondence with him, travelled to fuges for the church. His perception was very sharp to the point of putting a rest, or Dresden to hear Hasses’s La Clemenza di Tito. There he became acquainted not, in a musical frase was of great importance to him. His dexterity in composing with the Imperial Russian Ambassador Count von Keyserlingk, who, as a great was tangible. He was never satisfied with his compositions, recomposing and lover and connoisseur of music, was very gracious to him. In this noble household correcting them time and again. This could be a reason why there are so few of his Benda had the opportunity to hear the famous lutenist in all compositions. his power. One day Weiss invited Benda and Pisendel to lunch and secretly had Benda’s Pisendel’s musical ideas influenced the picture of an end of the 18th century music. violin case brought along. In the afternoon he was asked to play a solo on the violin, Hasse, didn’t compose any opera without a preliminary consultation with a which Pisendel accompanied with the . After the first solo another concertmaster considering bowing, articulation, expressive marks and other technical was demanded, and so it went until midnight. Benda had twenty-four solos in his demands. Pisendel looked through the voices compiled by the copyist with a great case, and he had to play all twenty-four. In the meantime, Weiss played eight to ten attention and marked them carefully, so that they could be ready to an execution. sonatas on the lute.” When one saw Pisendel’s orchestra at work, executing the compositions, it seemed as Pisendel was also a close friend to , Telemann described if the arms of the violinists were all led by a hidden mechanism., in uniform motion. Pisendel as Zelenka’s “bosom friend”. After Zelenka’s death Pisendel, with This had an enormous influence on the future shape of the orchestra in Europe. Telemann’s help attempted to publish some settings of Zelenka’s Responsoria. Pisendel went about this in a very discreet manner as a letter of 16th April 1749 requesting that the print be kept incomplete so that no-one could establish the provenance of the copies testifies. In contrast to his treatment when he was alive Zelenka’s works were closely guarded and regarded as the courts possessions. Telemann wrote on the 17th April 1756 about the Responoria, which was never published that “the complete manuscript will be at the Dresden court, kept under lock and key as something rare…”, nothing escaped the Dresden lions! German Polyphonic Music for Unaccompanied Violin Why I chose to record Pisendel’s music. The advanced technique of German violinists of the Baroque Period probably explains Pisendel seems to me to represent the ideal of the 18th century Virtuoso. Nowadays why the polyphonic complexity they achieved was unequalled by from any we associate the word Virtuoso with someone whose skills in playing instruments other country. Around the middle of the 17th century, German violinist-composers are very high, and it is very good, but not enough back then. To deserve the name began pushing the boundaries of far beyond the standards established virtuoso in the 18th century one must have reached three requirements. To be a great by the early 17th-century Italians Biagio Marini and . Thomas Baltzar, player one needed to be skilled in one’s instrument, to have knowledge and be a moral and later Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, Johann Paul von Westhoff, Johann Jakob person, and to pursue ethical principles. Walther and Georg Friedrich Pisendel were widely considered the leading German Pisendel meets these three categories. In his biography we often find confirmation violinists of their generations. Walther’s Scherzi (1676) and Hortulus Chelicus (1688) of his attitude which fulfils the word virtuoso. That the music had a proper resonance offer a virtual catalogue of their technical innovations, particularly in the areas of and impact, the person who represents it should be genuine, who’s moral skills are extended range, double stops and chords, special bowings, and descriptive effects. good, otherwise the art which that person creates cannot have a proper effect. What The first known experiments in composition for unaccompanied violin were written emanates through art is the reflection of the inner properties of a person. by German violinists: Johann Schop’s Praeludium (published in 1646), the movements There are many examples in Pisendel’s biography which reflect his moral attitude. in the Breslau manuscript (c. 1640 –1650), and the Two Preludes and Allemande He took one very talented violinist to his house, who didn’t have the means to afford of Schop’s student Baltzar (published after his death in 1663). Their expanding the violin lessons. He was teaching him for free and was able to live in his house technical capabilities allowed them to create increasingly more complex repertoire. As without paying. violinist composers began to conceive of the violin as more than essentially a melodic There are many times when Pisendel didn’t put his name on his compositions, instrument, they often drew from the body of repertoire for unaccompanied viola da which has created confusion of whether these works actually belong to him. Instead gamba. The extraordinary manuscript collection from this time, GB-Ob Mus. Sch. he used the signature AΩ, which is the symbol of God, meaning that God has a F.573, contains dozens of dance movements for unaccompanied violin, most of which precedence and a composer, performer serves, mirrors God’s grace. are transcriptions of pieces for (viola de gamba). In these works, polyphony is He was an outstanding performer and leader of one of the greatest orchestras in emphasized through many devices including imitation, suspension, appoggiatura, Europe at that time in Dresden, a great composer, who was very humble and never passing-tone, pedal, and auxiliary notes. satisfied with his work, always improving his compositions. Pisendel’s style of composing is a fusion of styles. Rooted in a German polyphonic The little he composed is of a very high quality. From the onset when he took the tradition, is influenced by Italian and French techniques. position of leader of a Dresden orchestra, where he remained until the end of his life, he entirely dedicated himself to that position and fulfilled the needs of that function genuinely. Everyone who played in the Dresden Orchestra met with the very friendly character technically demanding, and a musical challenge. It was like a great journey together of Pisendel and a harmonious atmosphere in the orchestra prevailed. All were treated with that piece which I undertook and the more inside of that piece I was the more well. The orchestra under his lead played in a very organized manner, the parts were it brought me big satisfaction in discovery. The deeper I went, the more layers, always prepared and worked out. dimensions and richness I found. I was growing together with that piece. It is a great pleasure to evoke his person to our consciousness from whom we might This piece was an incentive to discover more works of Pisendel. I started a research learn a lot, not only from the aspect of a good musician, but as a whole person. of His works. The other sonatas came to my hands. Each one was as surprisingly beautiful as the previous, and also unique. Sonata a minor for solo violin I experienced richness and felt that the whole idiom of a violin is brought to its peak. My first encounter with music of Pisendel was his solo sonata in A minor for violin To record it brought me a great satisfaction to experience Pisendel’s musical wisdom. solo. It was written in 1716 or 1717 during a period of extensive European touring. I will be very happy to be able to share it with others who will listen to these The technical demands are far more advanced than anything previously written for compositions. They recall a very valuable musical heritage which will resonate in our unaccompanied violin. The Allegro and feature flying staccato. The Gigue also minds and souls for a long time, I hope. demands double-stops in intervals up to and including the tenth. Ease in the higher © Tomasz Aleksander Plusa positions is assumed. The Sonata is longer and less chordally dense than Westhoff’s Suites. It mixes aspects of Italian rhythm and melody with serious German . The formal scheme is unusual, neither a church sonata nor a dance suite. The first movement is untitled, but is clearly in a slow tempo. Richly ornamented, all of the embellishments are fully written out. The chord changes are occasionally quite startling, and the effect is at turns rhapsodic and declamatory. Lombardic rhythm (short-long) is used in all three movements and in extended passages in the second movement. The Allegro and Giga are in binary form. Written mostly in a single voice, the Allegro is not polyphonically complex but exhibits spirited character and numerous rhythmic contrasts. The Giga and Variation are in counterpoint for two voices, with interesting examples of contrary motion. The Variation is essentially a double, an embellished version of the original movement that follows its harmonic outline. From the very first moment I felt an affinity with his music. I knew there was something special about it. I begin to work on that piece and it took me a while to work it out. It is a very complex work, with enormous richness in harmony, Tomasz Aleksander Plusa received traditional Robert Smith is an English baroque cellist and training in violin performance at the Academy viola da gambist. In 2012 he won the Bach-Abel of Music in Łódz, where he attained his Viola da Gamba Competition in Köthen, taking Master’s degree. the 1st Prize, Audience Prize and Special Prize. His Early during his studies Tomasz recognised performance of a heavy-metal transcription was the interpretive potential of historically especially noted. Robert is a founding member of informed performance and decided to begin the ensemble Fantasticus, and plays and records studies on the , and to participate regularly with the Amsterdam in early music courses and masterclasses. amongst many others. In 2013 his playing was His artistic personality has been shaped described by The Strad as “intensely expressive, by artists such as Lucy van Dael, Christoph highly dramatic”. In 2014 Robert released his Rousset, Wilbert Hazelzet, Simon Standage, first solo recording of music for viola da gamba, Judy Tarling, Sigiswald Kuijken, Enrico Onofri, ‘Tickle the Minikin’. The recording received many and Antoinette Lohmann, amongst others. enthusiastic reviews and was the BBC Music He moved to the Netherlands to further his growing interest in this area, and Magazine’s Instrumental Choice. studied with Elizabeth Wallfisch and Ryo Terakado at the Royal Conservatoire of The Instrument: Cello by Viktor Koos, 2013 Hague. In June 2015 he completed his Master’s degree studies at the baroque violin and viola class of Antoinette Lohmann in Utrecht. Within the framework of his artistic pursuits Tomasz Aleksander Plusa combines the roles of soloist, chamber musician and orchestral musician. He has worked as a chamber and orchestra musician in numerous European early music orchestras: Arte dei Suonatori, Capella Cracoviensis, The Wallfisch Band, Contrasto Armonico, Musica Poetica, Holland Baroque Society, Florilegium Musicum, Collegium Ad Mosam, De Nieuwe Philharmonie Utrecht, Furor Musicus, Concerto Ibérico, De Swaen. He has performed in concerts and festivals across Europe, in countries such as Slovenia, Croatia, Switzerland, England, the Netherlands, , Austria, France, Denmark, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Poland. Instrument: Violin after Egidius Snoek 1700, by Koen Boschmann Earl Christy is an American Ere Lievonen is a harpsichordist, lutenist and theorbist. He fortepianist, pianist and organist, currently has studied with some of the living in Utrecht, the Netherlands. He most respected lute teachers is specialized in historical keyboard (Toyohiko Satoh, Nigel North, instruments and their performance practice Paul Beier, Edward Martin) and as well as in contemporary music. Born has been awarded his B.Mus in Finland, he studied harpsichord, piano, and M.Mus degrees from the and organ at the Sibelius Royal Conservatoire in The Academy in Helsinki, and then in the Hague, as well as his Post- Netherlands at the conservatories of graduate Specialization from Amsterdam, Utrecht and The Hague. the Accademia Internazionale He has since performed in festivals and della Musica in Milan. concerts of early and contemporary music As a soloist Earl specializes in the music for baroque lute from the late 17th and around Europe and the USA. Currently he 18th centuries. He has given numerous concerts throughout Europe, North America is much in demand as a soloist and as a and the Middle East. As a continuo player he is frequently called to perform in chamber musician with several ensembles festivals and concert series throughout Europe and North America. and orchestras in the Netherlands and In addition to performance, Earl is an active composer for the baroque lute whose Finland. Since 2009 he is the organist at works have been published by Musica Repartita Editions. He has conducted extensive the Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ concert hall in research throughout Europe and has helped bring to light, through publications Amsterdam. A fruitful collaboration as a harpsichordist and fortepianist with violinist in scholastic journals, many neglected aspects of the lute. His articles have been Tomasz Aleksander Plusa begun in 2014. Ere Lievonen is also an internationally published by the American Lute Society and the Lute and Early Guitar Society performed composer of contemporary concert music. of Japan. He has been invited to give masterclasses on baroque performance and Instrument: Double-manual harpsichord after Dulcken, by Jonte Knif 1998 interpretation in both Europe and North America. Earl currently resides and teaches in the Netherlands. Instruments: 13-course baroque lute after Hans Burkholtzer, by Richard Berg, Ottawa, Canada 2001 Theorbo after Matteo Sellas, by Richard Berg, Ottawa, Canada 2012

Total time: 79’20 Recording: 25–28 January 2016, Oude Dorpskerk, Bunnik, the Netherlands Recording producer and engineer: Peter Arts (Arts Music Recordings, Rotterdam) Cover: Soap Bubbles (1733-34), by Jean Siméon Chardin (1699–1779) p & © 2017 Brilliant Classics