Le Ballet Imaginaire Baroque Masterworks Around 1730 Bach, Chédeville, Handel and Telemann

Le Ballet Imaginaire Baroque Masterworks around 1730 Bach, Chédeville, Handel and Telemann Jeremias Schwarzer, Recorder Ralf Waldner, Cembalo Le Ballet Imaginaire Baroque Masterworks around 1730 Jeremias Schwarzer, Recorder Ralf Waldner, Cembalo Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Partita in C minor, after BWV 997 01 Preludio . (03'18) 02 Fuga . (04'29) 03 Sarabande . (03'55) 04 Gigue-Double . (05'45) Nicolas Chédeville (1705–1782) Sonate in G minor Il Pastor Fido 05 Vivace . (01'18) 06 Fuga da Capella . (01'45) 07 Largo . (01'18) 08 Allegro ma non presto . (04'14) Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767) Fantasia X pour flute seule, TWV 40: 2–13 09 A Tempo Giusto . (01'56) 10 Presto . (00'54) 11 Moderato . (01'13) George Frideric Handel (1685–1759) Sonata in B-flat major, HWV 377 12 Air . (01'46) 13 Adagio . (01'16) 14 Allegro . (02'17) Johann Sebastian Bach Sonata in A minor, BWV 1020 15 Allegro . (03'32) 16 Adagio . (02'27) 17 Allegro . (04'47) Georg Philipp Telemann Fantasia III pour flute seule, TWV 40: 2–13 18 Largo—Vivace—Largo—Vivace . (01'41) 19 Allegro . (01'24) George Frideric Handel Sonata in F major, HWV 369 20 Grave . (02'00) 21 Allegro . (02'00) 22 Alla siciliana . (01'23) 23 Allegro . (01'52) Georg Philipp Telemann Trio Sonata in B-flat major, TWV 42: B4 24 Dolce . (01'43) 25 Vivace . (01'39) 26 Siciliana . (02'29) 27 Vivace . (01'39) Georg Philipp Telemann Fantasia XI pour flute seule, TWV 40: 2–13 28 Allegro—Adagio—Vivace . (01'55) 29 Allegro . (01'11) Johann Sebastian Bach Sonata in A major, BWV 1032 30 Vivace . (04'48) 31 Largo e dolce . (03'04) 32 Allegro . (04'11) Total Time . (79'26) Elegance and Esprit European Baroque Music Around 1730 hough music-historical categorizations are sometimes helpful, they also have their pitfalls . When we notice, for example, that beyond the characteristic per- sonal styles that seem to lend easy classification to composers such as Bach or T Vivaldi, many surprises can be found in their works as well . Unclear instrumen- tations for some pieces, incomplete movements, or even counterfeits discovered later meant that some works had to relinquish their status as “masterpieces.” Here the fixation on the extraordinary “original work” as it was understood in the nineteenth century seems to be the real problem. Late Baroque instrumental music around 1730 is difficult to understand through categorizations that are geared toward the “extraordinary ”. It would be better to speak of a “European” style: composers around 1730 were familiar with both learned coun- terpoint and Italian operas and concerti . There was a European musical taste that did not stop at national borders . The sophistication of French music and knowledge of its ornamen- tation formed the general basis for tasteful musical composition: just as French was the language of cultivated conversation throughout Europe in 1730, the esprit and elegance of French music also shine through in the sonatas of Bach, Handel, and Telemann. We can lis- ten to the works on this recording as we would to a European concert around 1730 featuring elegant, refined, and dance-like music: un ballet imaginaire. 5 Johann Sebastian Bach Partita in C minor, after BWV 997 Preludio – Fuga – Sarabande – Gigue-Double According to the sources available, this highly complex and enigmatic work was not as- signed by Bach to any specific instruments, and thus offers room for speculation. Some, for example, consider it to be a lute suite, though it exceeds the scope of this instrument . For the majority of the movements, the combination of melody instrument and basso continuo offers the most convincing version. The expressive and insistent opening motif of the first movement, the elegant fugue, and the Sarabande, which quotes a famous motif from the St. Matthew Passion, offer ample opportunity for communication and dialogue between two equal partners . The Double of the last movement, however, is more reminiscent of a work for solo keyboard instrument, in the vein of the concertante virtuosity of Domenico Scarlatti . In his solo here, the harpsichordist gives occasion for the highest admiration . Nicolas Chédeville Sonata in G minor Il Pastor Fido Vivace – Fuga da Capella – Largo – Allegro ma non presto The collection Il Pastor Fido, published in Paris in the mid-eighteenth century, was long considered to be a work by Antonio Vivaldi . It was only at the end of the twentieth century that it became clear that the six sonatas were not by Vivaldi, but that the compendium was a counterfeit authored by the French composer Nicolas Chédeville . This “Vivaldi style” was thus produced specially for the French public . The Sonata in G minor recorded here has always been the most popular piece from the collection . A beautiful motif over a G-minor triad opens the first movement and is developed further in all the other movements in a compositionally very concentrated and imaginative interplay between the upper voice and bass . The Vivaldi envisioned here by Nicolas Chédeville is not the experimental composer 6 Ralf Waldner und Jeremias Schwarzer 7 of The Four Seasons or the Concerti, Op. X, but the melodious and sentimental one as he reveals himself, for example, in the original Cello Sonatas . Today’s pseudo-arrangements of Vivaldi’s motifs would certainly stand to benefit from the example of Chédeville’s refined salon plagiarism . Georg Philipp Telemann Fantasia X pour flute seule, TWV 40:2–13 A Tempo Giusto – Presto – Moderato Telemann’s Fantasies for Flute Solo have been counted among the ne plus ultra of flute vir- tuosos since the eighteenth century. Johann Joachim Quantz, the flute teacher of Freder- ick the Great and “market leader” of the transverse flute in Europe, already included these works on the program for a public contest with one of his competitors . As was usual in such stories at the time, the latter secretly left the city before the contest began (his version of the events is unknown) . The 12 Fantasies bring together all the styles of European Baroque music in a small space . In the Fantasia X, a vibrant tempo giusto is followed by an Italian presto and a measured French dance, played here on a voice flute (tenor recorder in D, i.e. in the transverse flute’s original register). George Frideric Handel Sonata in B-flat major, HWV 377 Air – Adagio – Allegro Handel’s manuscript of this sonata looks as if he had written the piece down in a few hours . This is quite possible, given that it consists largely of music that he had already used for other works. At the top of the manuscript of the first movement we find the words “Air from Scipione,” and this musical motif is indeed found in the overture to the opera Scipione . However, it is only a small part of the movement . In view of the sheer size and length of 8 Handel’s oratorios and operas, these sonatas, which are so important to the recorder reper- toire, seem like little musical flower petals. But in the few measures of each movement, the entire magic of Handel’s music unfolds . Johann Sebastian Bach Sonata in A minor, BWV 1020 Allegro – Adagio – Allegro This beautiful sonata for obligato harpsichord and violin or flute, originally in G minor, is regarded by musicology with mistrust. It is currently considered to be a flute sonata by Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, but could also have been written by his older brother Wilhelm Friede mann Bach. Whoever the composer may be, the piece is so beautiful that we are pre- senting it here in a version transposed to A minor for alto recorder and harpsichord . The en- ergetic yet playful character at the very beginning of the first movement is quite reminiscent of Johann Sebastian Bach, while the heartfelt second movement evokes, on a small scale, the slow movements of the great flute sonatas of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. In the third movement, the melody instrument follows the virtuoso keyboard instrument . The musical gestures are perfectly tailored to the virtuoso “clavierist ”. Georg Philipp Telemann Fantasia III pour flute seule, TWV 40:2–13 Largo – Vivace – Largo – Vivace / Allegro Telemann divides the first movement of this two-movement fantasy into four contrasting sections: two slow French preludes which consist of few notes, inviting abundant ornamen- tation, stand in stark contrast to fast and fiery Italian passages. In terms of its rhythm and form, the concluding Allegro at first resembles a French Gigue, but then we hear more and more surprising and unconventional passages . 9 George Frideric Handel Sonata in F major, HWV 369 Grave – Allegro – Alla sicialiana – Allegro Here Handel draws effortlessly from the abundance of his inexhaustible wealth of ideas: the solemn yet heartfelt first movement in F major reminds us of an endless vocal line. The spir- ited Allegro is followed by the Siciliano, which resembles a passionate love aria and takes surprising turns (compare with Telemann’s Siciliana in the following piece) . The concluding dance movement is reminiscent of a concerto grosso with large orchestra . Georg Philipp Telemann Trio in B-flat major, TWV 42: B4 Dolce – Vivace – Siciliana – Vivace Here we anticipate a practice that would later lead to a completely new style, namely per- forming a three-part trio sonata on two instruments . This sonata was conceived by Tele- mann for the unusual combination of a melody instrument and two harpsichords, which we reduce to a version for recorder and harpsichord . At the time, the sonata with an obligato keyboard instrument “accompanying” a melody instrument developed from the trio sonata . Movements marked Dolce and Siciliana show how much melodiousness, combined with elegance, Telemann could bring to his slow movements, while the fast movements offer splendid virtuoso entertainment .

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