musica Dei donum
CD reviews
Music for viola da gamba from Germany and Austria
[I] William YOUNG (? - 1662): "Englishman in Tyrol"
Ensemble Art d'Echo
rec: Feb 10 - 13, 2020, Berlin, Andreaskirche
Querstand - VKJK 2003 (© 2020) (64'02")
Liner-notes: E/D
Cover & track-list
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Air for 2 viole da gamba and bc;
Air I for viola da gamba;
Air II for viola da gamba;
Allemande for viola da gamba;
Courante for viola da gamba;
Courante for viola da gamba;
Courante for viola da gamba;
Fantasy à 3 for three viole da gamba No. 1;
Fantasy à 3 for three viole da gamba No. 2;
Prelude for viola da gamba;
Sonata I à 3 for 2 violins, viola da gamba and bc;
Sonata II à 2 for violin, viola da gamba and bc;
Sonata III à 3 for 2 violins, viola da gamba and bc;
Sonata 29 à 2 for violin, viola da gamba and bc;
Suite for 2 viole da gamba in D (allemande [XIII]; air [XIV]; courante [XV]; courante [XVI]; air [XVII]; sarabande [XVIII]; air [XIX]; allemande [XXI]; courante [XX])
Source:
Sonate à 3.4.5. con alcune allemand, correnti e balletti, 1653
Elfa Rún Kristinsdóttir, Kaori Kobayashi, violin;
Juliane Laake, Irene Klein, viola da gamba;
Thor-Harald Johnsen, theorbo;
Carsten Lohff, harpsichord, organ
with: Frauke Hess, viola da gamba
[II] "Triumvirat"
Ensemble Art d'Echo
rec: August 14 - 16, 2018, Berlin, Andreaskirche
Querstand - VKJK 1815 (© 2019) (64'43")
Liner-notes: E/D
Cover & track-list
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Conrad HÖFFLER (1647-1696):
Suite I in F;
August KÜHNEL (1645-c1700):
Partita XIII in a minor;
Sonata II à 2 in e minor;
Johann SCHENCK (1660-c1712):
Sonata 4 solo;
Sonata I in b minor, op. 8,1;
Suite IX in G, op. 6,9 (ouverture);
Sources:
[1] Conrad Höffler, Primitiae Chelicae, 1695;
[2] August Kühnel, Sonate ô Partite, 1698;
Johann Schenck, [3] Scherzi musicali, op. 6, 1698;
[4] Le Nymphe di Rheno, op. 8, 1702
Juliane Laake, Júlia Vetö, viola da gamba;
Johannes Gontarski, lute;
Carsten Lohff, harpsichord
The viola da gamba was one of the main instruments in the Renaissance. It was used as part of an instrumental ensemble, and in the course of the 16th century it became also a solo instrument. In particular Diego Ortiz's Trattado de glosas, published in Rome in 1553, bears witness to that. However, it was in the 17th century that virtuosic music for the viola da gamba was written. There is a clear parallel here with the violin. Whereas Italian composers were the first to write idiomatic and virtuosic music for the violin, English composers paved the way for a comparable development in music for the viola da gamba. It seems that only two true virtuosos were active in England: Tobias Hume and Christopher Simpson. Others moved to the continent, and one of them was William Young.
Little is known about him; we know neither the year of his birth nor from whom he learned to play the viola da gamba. We also don't know when and why he left England. However, there are several indications that he was a Catholic, and he may have been one of several composers who left their homeland for religious reasons. From around the mid-17th century until his death, Young worked at the court of Archduke Ferdinand Karl in Innsbruck. How he came there is again not known. His appointment as a member of the court is remarkable, given that almost all its members were from Italy. Their presence had a strong influence on Young's development as a composer. His acquaintance with Italian music also came from a journey of his employer whom he accompanied during visits to Parma, Modena, Mantua and Florence. When Charles II returned to England after the Restoration, Young also travelled back to his native country, probably in the hope of finding a position at the King's court. However, soon he returned to Innsbruck, where he died in 1662.
Young was held in high esteem. Both Emperor Ferdinand III, for whom he played during the Imperial Diet in Regensburg in 1654, and the Swedish Queen Christina, who heard him in 1655 in Innsbruck, after her abdication of the throne, were highly impressed by his playing. The French author Jean Rousseau ranked him among the leading gambists of Europe in his Traité de la Viole (1687). The presence of his compositions in archives and libraries across Europe testifies to their wide dissemination. Only one collection of music was printed, the Sonate à 3.4.5. con alcune allemand, correnti e balletti, published in Innsbruck in 1653. Juliane Laake, in the liner-notes to her recording of a selection from his oeuvre, characterises it as Tafelmusik, music to be performed during festivities, especially banquets. The scoring varies from two to four violins, each with one viola da gamba and basso continuo. The writing for the violins bears witness to the influence of the Italian style and the style of playing that had developed in the German-speaking world.
In Young's music we also find the use of scordatura, which was to become a feature of in particular Austrian violin music. In Courante, Air I and Air II three different tunings are used. As far as its use in music for the viola da gamba is concerned, it has its roots in English music for lyra viol. The pieces for three viols, which are treated on equal footing, are reminiscent of English consort music. The Suite in D seems not to be a fixed suite, but rather a sequence of pieces put together by Juliane Laake for this programme.
It is quite surprising that Young does not have received the interest he deserves. Most of the items included here appear on disc for the first time. This production is a nice sequel to a recording by Simone Eckert and Hamburger Ratsmusik of 2012. Juliane Laake is an excellent player who, with the help of some equally outstanding colleagues, succeeds in displaying the variety in Young's oeuvre and making it crystal clear why the composer earned the admiration of his contemporaries.
The second disc appeared a few years earlier, but can be considered the Young disc's sequel, as it is devoted to three continental virtuosos of the next generation. There can be little doubt that English-born virtuosos had a strong influence on the development of solo music for the viola da gamba in the Netherlands - where Young may have stayed for some time - and Germany, and even France. Again, Juliane Laake states that the music by the likes of Höffler, Kühnel and Schenck has received relatively little attention. That seems a bit exaggerated: only some movements from Schenck's Sonata 4 solo appear here on disc for the first time. Over the years several discs with music by Schenck and Kühnel have crossed by path, but it is true that there are far fewer recordings of their oeuvre than of music by their French contemporaries. For many music lovers the viola da gamba of the baroque era is almost exclusively connected to the names of Marais and Forqueray. Laake suggests that their fame has much to do with the "lasting public relations campaign" of Louis XIV.
The least-known of the three composers in the programme is Conrad Höffler, who was born in Nuremberg and was a pupil of Gabriel Schütz, who on his turn had learned his art from a pupil of the English viol player William Brade. He worked in Bayreuth and Ansbach, and then entered the service of the Duke of Saxe-Weissenfels. His only compositions are the twelve suites for viola da gamba and basso conntinuo, which appeared in 1695 under the title of Primitiae Chelicae. The first six were recorded by Guido Balestracci (Pan Classics, 2012). The Suite No. 1 in F opens with a prelude and fugue, which are followed by four dances.
A little better-known is August Kühnel. He spent his youth in Güstrow, at that time an important musical centre in northern Germany. There he must have become acquainted with the stylus phantasticus, a prominent feature of the North-German organ school. Its influence is clearly recognizable in his oeuvre. He served at various courts, such as Zeitz, Dresden, Darmstadt and Kassel. In 1665 he went to Paris to study, and two stays in London, in 1682 and 1685, are documented. How much Kühnel has written is not known. Only one collection with fourteen sonatas or suites for one or two viole da gamba and basso continuo have been preserved. They were printed in 1698 when he was in the service of Landgrave Carl von Hessen-Kassel. Apparently he took the skills of his employer into account as the collection not only includes virtuosic stuff but also some easier pieces. The Sonata II is for two viole da gamba, and opens with an untitled movement. Two movements are entitled aria, and the piece ends with an adagio. The word partita was often used for a suite, such as the Partita XIII by Kühnel, which opens with a prelude. It is followed by the conventional four dances: allemande, corrente, sarabande and giga. The mixture of Italian and French here is notable. It includes chords and polyphonic episodes.
The best-known of the three composers is Johann Schenck. It is not known exactly where and when he was born: some believe that it was in Amsterdam in 1660, where his German parents had settled, but others assume that he was born four years earlier, in Elberfeld. It is not known who taught him the viola da gamba. In the early stages of his career he lived in Amsterdam, where he played an important role in musical life. He wrote songs on Dutch texts and music for the stage. In 1697 Schenck moved to Düsseldorf, where he became Kammermusikus at the court of the Elector Palatinate Johann Wilhelm. The court poet stated: "No one has ever played this instrument in a more delicate way". The largest part of Schenck's output is for his own instrument. The collection Scherzi Musicali was published in 1698 in Amsterdam, and includes music from his Dutch period, but is dedicated to Johann Wilhelm. In 1702 Schenck published a set of duets for viols, undoubtedly intended to be played by him and his employer, to whom the collection is also dedicated.
The programme also includes a sonata which has been preserved in a Viennese archive. Juliane Laake wonders why it has landed there. No visit in Vienna is documented. However, copying pieces was common practice and explains why compositions are often found at the most uncommon places. It is a nice addition to a compelling programme of pieces which confirm Juliane Laake's assessment that the oeuvre of these three composers is in no way inferior to what was written in France. Laake proves herself to be the ideal advocate of this repertoire, and Júlia Vetö is her congenial partner in the duets.
These two discs are indispensable for any lover of the viola da gamba.
Johan van Veen (© 2022)
Relevant links:
Juliane Laake