JOSEF MYSLIVEČEK: VI SINFONIE CONCERTANTI O SIA QUINTETTI PER DUE VIOLINI, DUE VIOLE, E BASSO OP. 2 , One can hardly think of a large Baroque collection of sacred music that by Daniel E. Freeman needs recording worse than this one [and] this is an incredibly good start. […] Leaving nothing to bothersome uncertainty for consumers coming to grips with this literature for the irst time, as most will be, the book supplied with Telemann: Harmonischer Gotes-Dienst, Vol. 1, will As one of the leading composers of opera, symphonies and chamber music in satisfy even expert listeners. Full texts and translations are provided, Italy during the 1760s and ’70s, the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček (1737–81) along with a discussion of the text authors […]. All in all, Telemann: demonstrated a remarkable ability to absorb and perfect the modes of expression Harmonischer Gotes-Dienst, Vol. 1, is a great start to what looks to be fashionable in his adopted country. Ater his arrival in Venice near the end of the year a promising series, and if subsequent volumes maintain this level of inspiration and dedication, then Telemann fans are going to have to 1763, he scarcely ventured outside of Italy again; the only extended absence was a make a lot of room on their record shelves. stay in Munich in the years 1777 and 1778. Reinement, not innovation, was generally All Music Guide Mysliveček’s strong suit, but he was a true pioneer in the composition of two major TOCC 0037 species of chamber music: wind octets and string quintets scored for two violins, two violas and cello. A speciality of Mysliveček’s chamber writing was his knack for These delightful trio sonatas by Georg von Bertouch (1668–1743), interspersed with pieces from “The Music-Book of Jacob Mestmacher”, enriching textures with gestures from symphonic style. In many cases, his chamber tumble blinking into the light courtesy of Toccata Classics […]. works can be performed just as successfully (or even more successfully) as orchestral Italianate in design, these sonatas compare favourably with Bach’s pieces with multiple players per part. The dual performance potential is sometimes (with whom Bertouch was a regular correspondent), though without conirmed in eighteenth-century prints and manuscripts, as in the case of the ive-part Bach’s extensive motivic development. One would never have guessed that Bertouch, a gited violinist, conductor and composer, was actually works for string ensemble recorded here. a career soldier, having fought in 22 batles before ending his days as Mysliveček began to compose ive-part string works only a few years ater he took commandant of Akershus Castle in Christiania (now Oslo). […] up residence in Italy (whereas his octets were one of the most remarkable results of Bergen Barokk provides extra colour by varying the instrument- his contacts with northern musicians in Munich). A irst set of six compositions for two ation in accordance with the principles of the day; the ensemble mixes violins, two violas and cello was brought out by the Parisian publisher Jean-Baptiste and matches violins, recorders, transverse lute, cello, viola da gamba, TOCC 0006 and harpsichord, oten to beautiful efect […]. The performances Venier under the title VI sinfonie concertanti o sia quinteti per due violini, due viole, e overall are irst-rate [...]. basso about the year 1767 as the composer’s Op. 2. Exactly what it was that prompted Classical Source Mysliveček to compose these works with two viola parts can only be guessed at, but 2 Recorded in the Kazakh Theatre, Uralsk, Kazakhstan, 2, 3 and 5 September 2004 Producer: Gary Brain Engineer: Sergei Lobanov Mastering: Richard Black Booklet text: Daniel E. Freeman German translation: Jürgen Schaarwächter French translation: Baudime Jam Cover background: Prague – the view from the Charles Bridge to Mala Strana, virtually unchanged since Mysliveček’s time in the city Cover design: Roberto Bereta Booklet lay-out and design: Paul Brooks, Design and Print, Oxford Executive producer: Martin Anderson TOCC 0023 P 3 it is possible that it was related to a common practice in Italy of dividing viola parts in est né en Nouvelle-Zélande et a fait de Paris son port d’atache depuis quelques années ; symphonic music and operatic music, a procedure that can be found occasionally in il est désormais un citoyen britannique. Il a étudié à la Hochschule für Musik de Berlin dans la classe Italian music dating back to the early eighteenth century. By the 1760s, it is encountered de Rafael Kubelík, Eugen Jochum et Lorin Maazel (direction), et de Boris Blacher (composition). Il a here and there almost everywhere that symphonies were being writen, though usually achevé ses études à l’Université d’Indiana et dans la classe de direction du Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. Il est diplômé en musique et en psychologie clinique. for only a passage or two within a movement. Chamber music with soli passages for violas Gary Brain a débuté sa carrière professionnelle comme instrumentiste. Il occupe le poste de as extensive as those found in Mysliveček’s Op. 2 did not exist in Italy by 1767, as far as timbalier et percussionniste à l’orchestre du Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, et au BBC Training existing research has been able to establish, although in the late 1760s and early 1770s Orchestra ; il s’est également produit occasionnellement dans d’autres orchestres britanniques. Il there was a true vogue for divided violas in Italian symphonies, a trend that afected the devient premier timbalier et premier percussionniste de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Nouvelle- work of composers such as Mysliveček, Mozart and Giovanni Batista Sammartini. Zélande ; il co-fonde et dirige le groupe de musique nouvelle « Music Players ». Gary Brain a aussi Venier’s use of the rather vague term sinfonia concertante so beloved of eighteenth- fondé les Jeunesses Musicales du Paciique Sud ce qui lui a valu un OBE en 1983 et une Winston century Parisian music-printers raises some questions about stylistic orientation and also Churchill Fellowship, qui lui a permit de reprendre ses études avec Kubelík. the best way to perform the pieces he published. The term could have several diferent Sa carrière de chef d’orchestre ne débute qu’en 1992, à Paris, où il est associé à David Robertson, meanings, but it usually denotes some sort of amalgamation of symphonic music and alors directeur artistique de l’Ensemble Intercontemporain, travaillant pour lui comme assistant, solistic music. It can mean a chamber piece in symphonic style to be realised by only ainsi qu’il l’avait fait à Berlin pour Kubelík quelques années auparavant. Un an plus tard, il réalise son premier enregistrement orchestral avec la Symphonie et d’autres œuvres du compositeur anglais one player per part; a symphony enlivened with solo passages; or, as in the most famous Harold Truscot (1914–92) : le CD, paru chez Marco Polo, est salué par la presse musicale du monde sinfonia concertante of them all, Mozart’s k364 of 1779, a concerto with two or more soloists entier. Son projet suivant concerne l’enregistrement, en trois CD pour le label Koch, de l’œuvre (in that instance violin and viola). Christian Cannabich’s own set of VI Sinfonie concertanti orchestrale intégrale du compositeur polono-suisse Czesław Marek (1891–1985) : le premier CD, au o sia quinteti, scored for two lutes, violin, viola and cello, was brought out only a year programme duquel igurent les Méditations, la Suite et la Sinfonia de Marek, a remporté en 1997 le or two later than Mysliveček’s Op. 2, and by the same publisher. In Cannabich’s case, the Preis der deutschen Schallplatenkritik comme « meilleur enregistrement symphonique ». Parmi ses designation conforms to the irst meaning: they are clearly ‘symphonies for soloists’. The autres enregistrements, on citera notamment un CD d’œuvres rares de Ippolitov-Ivanov chez BMG meaning for Mysliveček’s Op. 2 is as lexible as the designation sinfonia concertante itself. ainsi que le premier enregistrement mondial des œuvres orchestrales d’Henri Collet chez Claves. When performed with one player per part, Mysliveček’s pieces can also be ‘symphonies Il a été invité à se produire en Allemagne, en Espagne, en Grande-Bretagne, en Finlande, en for soloists’, like Cannabich’s quintets, but when performed with multiple players per France, en Islande, en Italie, en Norvège, en Pologne, en République Tchèque,en Roumanie, en part, they become ‘symphonies with soloists’, the soloists being the violists, who are given Russie (où il a dirigé la Philharmonie de Saint-Pétersbourg dans la première russe de la Troisième Symphonie d’Elgar à Saint-Pétersbourg dans « l’élaboration » qu’en a réalisée Anthony Payne), en special soli sections to permit the sonority of the viola to stand out. Slovénie et en Suède. The title page of the Venier print may leave open the possibility of performance Pour Toccata Classics, Brain a enregistré un autre CD de musique pour cordes de Mysliveček et with one player per part (as ‘quinteti’), but performance with multiple players per part l’intégrale de la musique orchestrale de R. O. Morris. (as ‘sinfonie’) seems optimal, in particular due to the presence of tremolo efects that Traduction : Baudime Jam © 2006 4 fut probablement composé à Venise. Or il se trouve que Venise fut la résidence principale do not come of as well when executed by single players. Another important sign that de Mysliveček entre 1763 et 1767, et il est presque certain que ces œuvres furent achevées Mysliveček was thinking more in terms of symphonic than chamber style is the absence à la in de cete période. Si leurs origines vénitiennes se conirment, on doit les considérer of counterpoint.