6767 7 6 s s 6 s CIETY . O s 7 Ss F 7 . O s Cs R I 6 S . 6 s E U s I 7 G M s 7 s H . SECM 6 T Y s s 6 R E 7 E U s s N T 7 T N NEWSLETTER E s H s - C s s 6 6 7 7 6 6 7 ISSUE NO. 9 OCTOBER 2006 “Genre in Eighteenth-Century Music” opment within the Neapolitan commedia per musica, especially in the libretti of Francesco Zini, giving insight into the inner work- SECM Second Biennial Conference ings of Neapolitan intellectual life. Williamsburg, Virginia, 21–23 April 2006 The session on Saturday morning presented two very different approaches to a consideration of London opera. Richard Hardie focused on instrumental partbooks issued by John Walsh, and R. Todd Rober convincingly demonstrated these publications were designed to The sights and sounds of the restored historic area of Colonial coordinate with vocal partbooks to accommodate a variety of per- Williamsburg provided the backdrop for the venue for SECM’s formance situations, suggesting a thriving life of amateur perfor- second biennial conference entitled “Genre in Eighteenth-Cen- mances of operas (or sections thereof ) across England. Michael tury Music.” While rain put a damper on some of the sightseeing Burden argued in his paper that a unique combination of the com- possibilities during parts of the weekend, the quality and diversity plexity and flair of the Italian opera with the simpler song style of of the fourteen paper presentations, a fortepiano concert by Mal- English opera helped Thomas Arne’s Artaxerxes remain popular colm Bilson, and a special presentation on instrument conservation over more than sixty years. more than compensated for the weather. The conference drew over After two sessions on opera, the third session turned its focus forty participants, representing a truly international group from the on genre and instrumental music, especially that of C. P. E. Bach in UK, Italy, New Zealand, as well as the United States. Thanks go to the first two papers. Joshua Walden examined Bach’s satiric char- Paul Corneilson and the program acter piece for harpsichord titled committee and to Steven Zohn, La Bach, which might have been Sterling Murray and the members a portrait of one of his broth- of the arrangements committee for ers, portrayed through humorous their hard work in putting together gestures, key juxtapositions, and a well-organized event. an unremitting murky bass. Ste- Participants who arrived by Fri- phen C. Fisher traced the vari- day morning were treated to a tour ous incarnations of a work Bach of the conservation lab at the Co- titled sonatina (Wq 109/H 453). lonial Williamsburg Foundation by In between an original suite-like John Watson, who addressed ethi- work and a final version more like cal issues concerning his restora- a concerto, a process of revisions tion of an 1816 Broadwood piano spanning over twenty years en- owned by the College of William sued, posing a challenge to pro- and Mary. In many cases, his job ducing a modern critical edition as a conservator means preserving that reflects Bach’s continued re- historic instruments in non-play- interpretations of the work. ing condition, demonstrated by the The final papers of the ses- variety of unique American folk Members and guests of SECM enjoy dinner at historic sion presented two approaches instruments in the lab that were a Christiana Campbell’s Tavern. for understanding genre designa- treat for the eyes if not the ears. tions, in this case capriccio and The first paper session Friday afternoon titled “Eighteenth- serenade. The first approach, garnered through a close analysis of Century Neapolitan Comic Opera: Production, Convention and the music, explored the significance of the term capriccio in An- Innovation” began fittingly with a paper presented by Pierpaolo tonio Rosetti’s symphonies by Sterling E. Murray. While move- Polzonetti that examined plots based on North American subjects, ments designated as capriccio in Rosetti symphonies of the early especially slavery, in the decades around the American Revolu- 1780s have a fantasia quality, after 1786 the term seemed to in- tion. Paologiovanni Maione explored the evolution of comic opera dicate some type of structural ambiguity. The second approach to that emerged in Naples during the early years of the 18th century understanding genre was demonstrated in Andrew Kearns’s paper, through a critical reading and interpretation of the prefaces placed in which he parsed out dictionary and encyclopedia entries dating in contemporary libretti. The last two papers of the session shifted from 1619 to 1835 for the term serenade and linked it to its many to Neapolitan opera of the later part of the century. Anthony Del- other related terms. Donna’s focus on the one-act comedies by Giambattista Lorenzi A delightful concert by Malcolm Bilson on Saturday evening written for Carnival celebrations revealed Lorenzi’s incorporation featured piano works by Johann Cramer, Jan Dussek, Joseph of specific aspects of the culture and daily life of Naples into the plots. Antonio Caroccia’s paper discussed the last period of devel- continued on page 8 From the Editor Message from the President The SECM newsletter is published twice yearly, in October and Steven Zohn April, and includes items of interest to its membership. Submis- As it completes its fifth year of existence, the Society for Eigh- sions in the following categories are encouraged: teenth-Century Music finds itself in the happy position of building upon already considerable successes. These include well attended • news of recent accomplishments from members of the annual meetings (both independent and under the auspices of the society (publications, presentations, awards, performances, AMS), an increasingly useful web site, an informative newsletter, promotions, etc.) a diverse and growing membership base, continuing relationships • reviews of performances of eighteenth-century music with peer societies, and a series of published conference proceed- • reviews of books, editions, or recordings of eighteenth- ings. Through these undertakings, SECM has established itself as century music an important advocate of eighteenth-century music, particularly • conference reports of non-canonical composers and repertories. When I became the • dissertations in progress on eighteenth-century music society’s president last fall, I therefore welcomed the opportunity • upcoming conferences and meetings to serve what by any measure is a flourishing organization. A year • calls for papers and manuscripts later, I can report that my work for SECM has been both invigo- • research resources rating and challenging. I have been fortunate to work closely with • grant opportunities our past president, Sterling Murray, and with officers and a board of directors who share the same deep commitment to the society’s Contributions should be submitted as an attachment to an aims and continued growth. e-mail (preferably in Microsoft Word) to Nancy November, I can assure you that SECM has not rested on its laurels, but SECM newsletter editor, at [email protected]. Submis- has pressed forward with the initiatives described by Sterling in sions must be received by July 1 for the October issue and by Janu- the fall 2005 newsletter. Those of you who have recently visited ary 1 for the April issue. Claims for missing issues of the newsletter the society’s web site at www.secm.org are aware that the complete must be requested within six months of publication. Annotated text of Charles Burney’s The Present State of Music in France and discographies (in format given in inaugural issue, October 2002) Italy (2nd corrected edition of 1773) is now available electroni- will also be accepted and will be posted on the SECM Web site. cally. This version preserves the original’s orthography, line breaks, Discographies should be sent to [email protected]. and page breaks. Special thanks are owed to our web master, Mark D Knoll, for his hard work on this project, and to those of you who helped proofread the text before it went “live.” Work on Burney’s The Present State of Music in Germany, the Netherlands, and the SECM Officers United Provinces is already underway, and should be completed by Steven Zohn, President; Bertil van Boer, Vice-President; early 2007. The hope is that these two projects will become use- Michael Ruhling, Secretary-Treasurer ful resources for SECM’s membership and for others engaged in eighteenth-century studies. If you would like to suggest additional SECM Board of Directors eighteenth-century texts that might be made available electroni- Paul Corneilson, Stephen Fisher, Emily Green, Jane Hettrick, cally in the future, please contact me at [email protected]. Mark Knoll, Mary Sue Morrow, Nancy November As described elsewhere in this newsletter, SECM’s “Genre in Eighteenth-Century Music” conference at Williamsburg, VA this SECM Honorary Members past April offered formal paper sessions, a fortepiano recital by Eugene K. Wolf (2002), Daniel Heartz (2003), H. C. Robbins Malcolm Bilson, a tour of the keyboard instrument conservation Landon (2004), Malcolm Bilson (2005) lab at Colonial Williamsburg, and a chance to explore the historic area. I wish to thank the members of the Program Committee D (Paul Corneilson, chair, Bertil van Boer, Jane Hettrick, Dorothea Link, Philip Olleson, and Michael Ruhling) for assembling a di- New Members verse and stimulating lineup of papers, and Sterling Murray and members of the Arrangements Committee ( Jen-yen Chen, Gloria Jennifer Cable, Antonio Caroccia, Denis Collins, Homer Eive, and Michael Ruhling) for assisting me with planning the Edwards, Theresa Ellsworth, Helen Farson, Floyd Grave, Melanie details of the conference. Our experience at Williamsburg was Lowe, Paologiovanni Maione, Pierpaolo Polzonetti, and J. M. greatly enriched by our host institution, the College of William Schlitz (lifetime).