Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) Sonatas
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Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) Sonatas 1 Sonata XII a quattro (violin, cornett, sackbut, dulcian & bc) 5:29 2 Sonata a due violini e gamba II (violin, cornett, sackbut & bc) 7:12 3 Ciaconna per violino solo (violin & bc) 10:17 www.concert-brise.eu 4 Sonata a due violini e gamba III (violin, cornett, sackbut & bc) 7:11 5 Sonata II a quattro (violin, cornett, sackbut, dulcian & bc) 6:39 Le Concert Brisé présente ses vifs remerciements à Martin Erhardt et à la paroisse 6 Sonata a due violini (cornett, violin & bc) 6:54 de l’église St Jean pour leur accueil chaleureux. 7 Sonata a due violini fagotto IV (violin, cornett, sackbut & bc) 3:39 Un grand merci également à Massimo Cialfi pour sa disponibilité 8 Sonate I (cornett & organ) 6:03 pour les accordages de l’orgue. 9 Sonata in d a quattro (violin, cornett, sackbut, dulcian & bc) 11:18 Sources Instruments Antonio Bertali: Prothimia suavissima, Violin: Naples 18th century, family Gagliano Leipzig 1672 (Tr. 1, 5) Sackbut: Ewald Meinl (copy after Drewelwecz, 1595) Le Concert Brisé Herzog August Library / Wolfenbüttel: Dulcian: Guntram Wolf, 2009 (copy after an anonymous Ms 34.7 Aug (Tr. 2, 3, 8, 9) instrument from the collection of the Princely Castle in Anne Schumann violin · Stefan Legée sackbut · Monika Fischaleck dulcian Uppsala University Library / Dueben Collection Merano) Hadrien Jourdan harpsichord (3) & organ (1, 2, 4-7, 9) (Tr. 2, 4, 7) Straight treble cornett: Henri Gohin, 2007 (copy after Carsten Lohff harpsichord (1, 2, 4-7, 9) & organ (8) Bibliothèque nationale de France: Codex Rost, a German instrument from the beginning of the 18th BN Res Vm7.673, Nr. 88 (Tr. 6) century); Cornettino: Henri Gohin, 2008; Mute cornett: Matthias Spaeter archlute (1, 2, 4-7, 9) Henri Gohin, 2007 Temperament 14-course archlute: Maurice Ottiger, 1987 William Dongois Pitch a: 465 Hz Harpsichord: Bernhard von Tucher, 1995 (after Italian instruments from the 17th century) cornett (1, 2, 6), cornettino (4, 5, 7-9) Organ: Italian, five stops, Giorgio Carli, 2011 mute cornett (9) & direction EngliSH Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) The name of this composer appears in many different sites of libraries and private persons offer further spellings (Bertalli, Berthali, Bartali, Barthali, Bertaldi), possibilities for conducting research. of which the version “Bertali” for his surname has ul- When a programme is put together with the focus timately prevailed. This musician was born in March on an individual composer, therefore, one must 1605 in Verona, where he also received his education bring together the traces of his oeuvre, even if – as from Stefano Bernardi. In 1622 he entered the service in the case of Antonio Bertali – no complete edi- of the imperial court orchestra in Vienna; he probably tion of his works exists. Part of his vocal production settled permanently in the Austrian capital in 1624. has been lost, but a list of his works is preserved In the documents of St. Stephen’s Cathedral, he is in the Vienna Court Library: Distinta specificatione listed as an instrumentalist (violinist) of the imperial dell’archivio musicale per il servizio della cappella e court orchestra. He succeeded Giovanni Valentini as camera cesarea (the catalogue of the private collec- court kapellmeister in October 1649. Bertali died in tion of Leopold I). Vienna on 17 April 1669. Numerous Masses for large forces (frequently 8-part and with a double-choir instrumental ensemble of About the prominence of a composer and the strings with violins and gambas as well as winds use of sources with cornetts, baroque trombones and sometimes When a musician specialises in Early Music, he must trumpets) and several motets are preserved in the inevitably be interested in musicological questions library in Kremsier, Bohemia (today Kromĕříž, Czech and different sources. Amongst other things, he must Republic) and in the University of Uppsala Library also investigate the repertoire. Today, this is found (Düben Collection). Bertali’s instrumental music is Recorded 5-8 July 2012, Evangelische Johanneskirche, Halle (Saale), Germany in collections compiled by musicologists and in new also distributed over various manuscripts (in the Recording producer: Manuel Dörr · Assistant engineer: Giacomo Papini issues of editions made during the time of origin of libraries of Kromĕříž, Uppsala and Wolfenbüttel); Executive Producer: Michael Sawall the works. Moreover, one finds pieces worth con- there is also a printed edition of 1672 entitled Pro- Organ tuning: Massimo Cialfi (www.organipercontinuo.com) sidering in anthologies containing works of differ- thimia suavissima. If a musician wishes to perform Front illustration: Equestrian Portrait of Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor (Habsburg court painter, 17th century) ent composers; these exist in printed or manuscript works of Bertali, then, he or she must refer to these Artist pictures: Patrick Charbon form and are only rarely re-issued. Nonetheless, ever sources. In our case, works for large forces could not Layout: Joachim Berenbold · Booklet editor: Susanne Lowien more frequently, there are performance materials or be considered, but there are so many sonatas (even CD manufactured in The Netherlands complete editions of a composer containing sonatas for an ensemble as specific as ours) that it would be & © 2013 note 1 music gmbh of the 17th century. In addition, numerous internet easy to exceed the temporal scope of a CD. 5 EngliSH EngliSH One element in the manuscript of the library in recording. At the end of a vocal or instrumental cha- certain reference works is frequently obscured Wolfenbüttel was to engender a certain distrust conne there is usually a coda - especially if the work nowadays by the existence of monumental in regard to what is called a “source” and to the is of a certain length, in triple metre and in a major editions subdivided according to the individual attribution of a work to a given composer. In this key. The coda is then written in duple metre and con- composers. Musicians and music lovers, there- manuscript, Sonata No. 25 is attributed to a certain tains a brief modulation into a minor key which con- fore, profit from the new compilation of works “Berthaly”, but this work is in fact the sonata La cludes the work. The presence of such a coda is one that were originally widely scattered in various Cesta of Giovanni Pandolfi-Mealli. Such errors seem of the customary characteristics of a chaconne. At collections (as found in the Rost Codex, in the to occur quite frequently in manuscripts. Whether this point, our curiosity as musicians led us to a new Wolfenbüttel manuscript or in the Düben Col- the mistake in this specific case was intentional – discovery and to the question as to why this coda lection, for example), but they miss the origi- e.g. in order to lend greater prestige to the col- does not appear in modern editions of the piece. As a nal context – the history, indeed sociology – in lection – or unintentional, we shall perhaps never small historical “twinkle in the eye”, the Wolfenbüttel which they first appeared. know. The rather Northern German character of So- manuscript contains a Chaconne for violin and viola The existence of a variety of compositions nata XII, too, makes one suspicious. It is also found by Samuel Capricornus which once more brings to- in a single collection teaches us a great deal under Number 76 in the Wolfenbüttel manuscript, gether the names of these two composers. about the taste of the times. Some compila- but David Pohle is named there as composer. In ad- Thus our “Bertali project” soon turned into a panora- tions are heterogeneous, and one poses the dition, it appears in a collection issued by Samuel ma of German music from Austria and from Northern question as to who played and heard this Capricornus in 1671. Germany. The lost unity (the concentration on a single music, and where it was played. The differ- We only became aware of the existence of this col- composer) was found again at another level: not only ence between printed music and that handed lection entitled Continuation der neuen wohl anges- are all the works by Bertali or attributed to him writ- down in manuscript form is also obscured in timmten Taffel Lustmusik shortly before making this ten in the “stylus fantasticus”, but they reveal differ- modern anthologies, even when the editors recording. It also contains several sonatas attributed ent facets of this style. Moreover, for today’s listener, refer to the sources. If a comparison between to Antonio Bertali in the manuscripts of Wolfenbüt- they are representative of the development of Italian the printed and written version of a work is tel and Uppsala, but also, quite definitely, several music in its “migration phase” towards the North. possible, this is usually very revealing. Very works from his sonata collection Prothimia suavis- This is proven by the wide distribution of their works often, the manuscript is considerably more sima (Leipzig 1672). and extreme mobility of the musicians, amongst oth- precise in the area of accidentals, even if it When one examines the Wolfenbüttel version of the er things. Sonata No IV, as we have named it in ac- contains copying mistakes, for the handwrit- large Chaconne by Antonio Bertali, one discovers cordance with its designation in the Uppsala manu- ten notation is not subject to the constraints a virtuoso coda above a pedal point that does not script, is found in three sources: in Uppsala in three of a page layout. Petrucci’s music printing appear in any of the known modern editions of this slightly different versions (!), in Wolfenbüttel and in method with movable type, invented around work - not even in those that are ostensibly based Capricornus.