musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Giovanni Filippo Maria DREYER (1703 - 1772): "Sacred Music"
Rossana Bertinia, Elena Cecchi Fedib, soprano
Le Tems Revientc; Baroque Lumina
Dir: Giacomo Benedetti
rec: June 11 - 13, 2021, Florence, S. Giorgio e Spirito Santo alla Costa
Brilliant Classics - 96405 (© 2022) (58'19")
Liner-notes: E; no lyrics
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Domine ad adiuvandum a 4 con Gloria a canto soloac;
Inno a 4 voci per San Filippobc;
Salmi brevi à 4 voci con strumentic;
Verbum caro a due sopraniab
[LTR] Letizia Padrini, Elena Mascii, soprano;
Elena Coscia, contralto;
Niccolò Landi, alto;
Neri Landi, Luca Mantovani, tenor;
Francesco Foppiani, Andrea Berni, bass
[BL] Giacomo Granchi, Paolo Cantamessa, violin;
Manuela Masenello, viola;
Jean-Marie Quint, cello;
Petru Gabriel Horvath, violone;
Alessandro Artifoni, harpsichord, organ;
Cecilia Iannandrea, organ
The name Dreyer may ring a bell with some lovers of organ music. Now and
then his name appears on the programmes of organists, but then we are
talking about Johann Melchior Dreyer (1747-1824). The disc under review
here is devoted to music by Giovanni Filippo Maria Dreyer, who was born
in Florence. However, his family name suggests that he was of German
origin, and that is confirmed by his nickname, 'il tedeschino' - the
little German. Both have an entry in New Grove, but whether they were related in any way remains unclear.
Dreyer was born into a family of musicians, and at a young age he was
notable for his beautiful voice, which made his parents decide to have
him castrated. It allowed him to enjoy success as an opera singer in
theatres across Italy. In 1723 he participated in the premiere of
Vivaldi's opera Ercole su'l Termodonte in Rome. For some time he
worked in Breslau (today Wroclaw, Poland), not only as a singer, but
also as a composer and impresario. He was then invited to enter the
service of tsarina Iovanovna in St Petersburg, together with his
brother, who was an oboist. Several times they travelled to Italy to
collect new talents, but on one of his journeys (in 1735) an incident of
unknown nature during a stay in Prague made him return to Florence for
good. Two years later he was admitted to the convent of the Servants of
Mary of SS. Annunziata. There he was appointed maestro di cappella
in 1738. At the age of 66, he started to suffer from illnesses, and his
duties were occasionally taken over by Bartolomeo Cherubini, the father
of Luigi.
Dreyer's musical heritage has suffered from a flood which destroyed many
musical manuscripts. It has taken much effort to save as many as
possible. In the booklet, Giacomo Granchi, leader of Baroque Lumina and
responsible for the research that has resulted in this recording,
describes the search for the restoration of Dreyer's music and his
revival as a composer. This production is undoubtedly a work of love.
The booklet does not list what has come down to us, and in the entry in New Grove
a work-list is omitted. Therefore I don't know whether what is on offer
here is representative of Dreyer's extant output. A thorough assessment
of his oeuvre is also made rather difficult because of a lack of lyrics
to the present disc. According to the booklet they should be available
for download from the Brilliant Classics site, but I did not find them.
The programme opens with Verbum caro, as short motet in two
sections for two sopranos, where Dreyer cleverly explores the harmonic
possibilities of this scoring. It is followed by a setting of the
response Domine ad adiuvandum, to which is added a Gloria. It is scored for four voices and basso continuo and written in the stile antico; the second section is a solo for soprano. The Inno a 4 per San Filippo
is dedicated to Filippo Benizi, a religious of the Order of the
Servants of Mary (OSM), proclaimed saint in 1671. The opening and
closing sections are for alto and choir, the second is for soprano, and
the third for choir, all accompanied by strings and basso continuo.
The largest part of the programme is taken by a collection of Vesper Psalms, the Salmi Brevi a 4 voci con Strumenti,
which date from 1740. They have never been published because the rules
of the congregation forbade the diffusion of music outside the church
for which it was written. These psalm settings are rather short indeed:
the first, Domine, takes just 1'21", whereas the closing Magnificat
is the longest piece, at 5'11". Their shortness and relative technical
modesty may be inspired by pedagogical purposes. In these settings
passages for tutti and for solo voice(s) alternate. They are written in
the then common galant idiom, which we know from much music by
Neapolitan composers. Their brevity does not leave much room for text
illustration, but these pieces are very well-written and enjoyable. It
is especially this set of Psalm settings that makes me curious for other
parts of his oeuvre.
The positive impression this disc is leaving is also due to the
performances. With Rossana Bertini and Elena Cecchi Fedi, Giacomo
Benedetti has engaged two seasoned performers of early music. However,
their role is limited. The vocal ensemble Le Tems Revient plays the main
role here. It was founded in 2017 by amateurs and singing students with
the aim of performing renaissance and baroque music. It consists here
of eight very fine voices. Not only is the ensemble very good, the
members also deliver excellent performances of the solo passages. The
instrumental ensemble - recently founded - is the perfect partner of the
singers.
This disc is well worth being investigated. I hope that more of Dreyer's
oeuvre will be made available on disc in the near future. I also look
forward to further projects by these fine ensembles.
Johan van Veen (© 2022)
Relevant links:
Rossana Bertini