musica Dei donum
Concert reviews
"The travelling musician"
The Counterpoints
concert: March 10, 2025, Zeist, Church of the Community of Moravian Brethren
anon / improvisation (?):
Ground for recorder;
Ground for violin (John come kiss me now?);
Arcangelo CORELLI (1653-1713):
Sonata in E, op. 4,6 (transposed to G);
Francesco GEMINIANI (1687-1762):
Bush aboon Traquair;
Sonata for cello and bc No. 6 in a minor (?);
George Frideric HANDEL (1685-1759):
Sonata in b minor, op. 2,1b (HWV 386b);
James OSWALD (1710-1769):
Serenata No. 11 in D (transposed to F);
Henry PURCELL (1659-1695):
Sonata in four parts No. 10 in D (Z 811);
Antonio VIVALDI (1678-1741):
Concerto in F (RV 100)
Thomas Triesschijn, recorder;
Noyuri Hazama, violin;
Mátyás Virág, cello;
Asako Ueda, theorbo, guitar;
Aljosja Mietus, harpsichord
In the first half of the 18th century London - and more generally England - was the place to be for professional performers, many of whom were also composers. There were plenty opportunities to play, for instance in the opera and theatre orchestras, or in private and subscription concerts. There was also a fertile ground for music in the Italian style: especially since the violin sonatas Op. 5 by Corelli had been published, England came under the spell of Italian music. The music world fell victim to a true Corellimania. Roger North, a writer about music, wrote: "It is wonderfull to observe what a skratching of Correlli there is everywhere - nothing will relish but Corelli ..." The result was a melting pot of composers and performers from across Europe. Some settled there, and made a career, whereas others passed through, displaying their skills in concerts and then leaving for another country.
Reason enough to construct a programme highlighting the way Italian music was received and embraced in England in the early 18th century. Such a programme was performed by the ensemble The Counterpoints, founded by recorder player Thomas Triesschijn and harpsichordist Aljosja Mietus in 2011. Originally set up as a duo for recorder and harpsichord, it was soon extended as the repertoire for this combination is rather limited. In this concert, the first of a series across the Netherlands, the ensemble included a violinist, a cellist and a player of plucked instruments.
The programme started with one of the trio sonatas by Henry Purcell. These were originally conceived for two violins and basso continuo. They were published in 1697, well before the Corellimania broke out, but written in the Italian style. It was thanks to the Neapolitan violinist Nicola Matteis that England had become acquainted with a whole new style of violin playing, and Purcell's trio sonatas bear witness to that. The combination of recorder and violin in these sonatas seems unusual: I can't remember having heard them this way, and I was rather sceptical, but the performances proved me wrong. That was also thanks to the way they were played, with an excellent balance between two instruments of different dynamic capabilities.
The next piece was then Corelli - not one of the Op. 5 sonatas, but one of his trio sonatas. He published four collections of such works, all conceived for two violins and basso continuo. The recorder seems not to have played a role in Corelli's oeuvre; whereas many composers played several instruments, he was only a violin player. Adapting violin parts for another instrument was common at the time, and it is easy to imagine that in England the trio sonatas may have been played on recorder and violin. However, sometimes such adaptations require a transposition, and that was the case here as well: from E to G major.
Next the ensemble turned to a typical English genre: the ground. That is to say: the term is English, and long before the Italian style manifested itself, such pieces were very popular in England. However, in its form it is not different from what was written on the continent, where pieces based on a basso ostinato were fashionable since the early 17th century. The composer was not mentioned: was it an anonymous piece, or written/improvised by violinist Noyuri Hazama? As far as I can tell she played variations on the popular song John come kiss me now, and she did so brilliantly, with much differentiation in tempo and dynamics. Pieces on a basso ostinato are always something special. The repetition of a bass figure is quite intriguing and can have a spellbinding effect.
The most prominent representative of the Italian style was Antonio Vivaldi. It seems that not that much is known about the reception of Vivaldi's music in England. Notable is that the publisher John Walsh was the first who printed the popular concertos Op. 3 in 1714. However, it is very unlikely that a piece like the Concerto in F (RV 100) was known there, as it was never published. Although the ensemble did not claim to perform only pieces that were known in England, this may have been a rather debatable choice. It is an example of the genre of the concerto da camera, which mixes elements of the solo concerto and the trio sonata. Here three instruments play a solo role, and again the scoring was adapted: the recorder played the part conceived for the transverse flute, and the cello tbe bassoon part. The slow movement was apparently arranged, as I did not recognize it; it was played by recorder and cello alone. The concerto as a whole was performed with much panache as Vivaldi's music requires.
Thomas Triesschijn then was on his own in another ground, which I did not recognize. No composer was mentioned, so this may be another improvisation. A nice one, where Triesschijn could demonstrate his skills and imagination. Fortunately he did so without showing off. That is one of the features of this ensemble I appreciate: brilliant playing but everything at the service of the music.
It seems likely that Francesco Geminiani, who claimed to be a pupil of Corelli, was the most famous Italian composer in England. For many years he was active there as a performer and composer. The performers had selected one of his cello sonatas from his Op. 5, which were published at about the same time in Paris, London and The Hague in 1745/46. It took some time before the cello became a common instrument in England (and from that perspective its use in Purcell is questionable). The programme did not mention which of the six sonatas was played; I think it was No. 6. Mátyás Virág delivered an engaging performance, well articulated, emphasizing the rhythmic pulse through dynamic accents. That was another feature of these performances, to which not only he, but also Aljosja Mietus and Asako Ueda substantially contributed in their realization of the basso continuo.
One of the remarkable aspects of English music life was the popularity of traditional music, especially Scottish songs. Just like English composers embraced the Italian style, Italian composers fell for this kind of music. Geminiani wrote a trio sonata in one movement on such a song, Bush aboon Traquair. If one has not grown up with this sort of stuff, it may be hard to do justice to it, but the performers made the best of it.
Obviously Handel could not fail in a programme like this. He made a name for himself as a composer of Italian operas, and his popularity in the first decades of his English period was such that there was much demand for music from his pen. His trio sonatas were and are verypopular, and in his oeuvre one can find original pieces for recorder and violin. The Sonata in b minor, performed here in full glory, is one of them.
Returning to traditional music, which was a kind of thread in the programme, the concert ended with a serenata by James Oswald, who was of Scottish origin and settled in London, where he published a number of collections of music in which traditional music is never far away. That was also the case here: the piece is clearly inspired by the music of his native Scotland. As they are scored for two violins, this work was again transposed. With his music we were not only at the end of the concert, it was also the latest music in the programme, as it was taken from a collection published in 1768.
It brought to a close a concert by an ensemble I had only heard on disc (the third disc has been released late last year) and which had left a good impression. I'm happy to say that my impressions were confirmed here (and it is also nice to see them play - they visibly enjoy themselves). As I mentioned, its members are outstanding performers with great technical skills, which they use at the service of the music. As far as the selection of composers is concerned, the programme did not look very original, and it would have been possible to make a different choice. However, the top-class performances made up for that, and the large audience was rightly enthusiastic about what they had heard. There is every reason to keep an eye on this ensemble which is a worthwhile acquisition to the early music landscape.
Johan van Veen (© 2025)