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Side 1 Boccherini

Quintet in E Minor

Julian Bream, Guitar The Cremona String Quartet:

Hugh Maguire, Violin

Iona Brown, Violin

Cecil Aronowitz, Viola

Terence Weil, Cello

JULIAN BREAM AND HIS FRIENDS

Introduction and Fandango Julian Bream, Guitar

Haydn

George Malcolm, Harpsichord

Quartet in E, Op. 2, No. 2

Julian Bream, Guitar Members of The Cremona String Quartet:

Hugh Maguire, Violin Cecil Aronowitz, Viola Terence Weil, Cello

Side 2 Boccherini— Bream

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ith the end of the 18th century the era of the flented aristocratic amateur that had begun in the Renaissance drew to a close. Concerts by professionals became the norm, and much of the earlier chamber mu- sic, which technically was relatively simple, was for- gotten. Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805), who spent most of his career providing quartets and quintets for noble soirées, was one of the first victims of this change.

Born in Lucca, Italy, Boccherini became famous in his teens as a virtuoso cellist. While on tour in France with a friend, the violinist Filippo Manfredi, he was: per- suaded by the Spanish ambassador to go to Madrid to seek patronage at court. Patronage was slow in coming, however, and after a year in Spain and many efforts to attract attention to his compositions he was still without a job. Finally Manfredi brought him to the notice of the Infante Don Luis (brother of Carlos III), who was so im- pressed with his work that he appointed the composer “violoncellist of his Chamber and composer of music with the authorization of H. M. Carlos III.”

Boccherini spent the rest of his life in Spain. For fifteen years, from 1769 to 1785, he enjoyed the patron- age of Don Luis. When the Infante died, the composer, once more on his own, moved from the palace at Las Arenas back to Madrid, where he became music director for the salon of the Duke and Duchess of Osuna. Al- though his chamber music was not played in Spain out- side of aristocratic circles; Boccherini had by then achieved great fame in Germany and Austria, mainly through publication of his music by the Viennese firm of Artaria, which was also Haydn’s publisher. Because of this, Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia became interested in him and in 1786 appointed him ‘composer of his Chamber.” Most of Boccherini’s finest late quartets and quintets for strings or piano and strings, including those from which the works on this record were adapted, were written for the Prussian king.

The native music of Spain undoubtedly influenced Boccherini to some extent, but the influence was much more subtle than in the case of Scarlatti, possibly be- cause of the difference of mediums. Like Scarlatti, how- ever, Boccherini heard the fabulous fandango improvi- sations of the court guitarist Padre Basilio, and in his Quintet for two cellos, Op. 50, No. 2 (Janet et Cotelle

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catalog), written in 1788, he imitated him in the opening movement, Grave e Fandango. He also reused the music in another Quintet, published posthumously as Op. 12, No. 6 (J. et C.). Julian Bream has reworked this Intro- duction and Fandango for guitar and harpsichord for the present recording. -

Boccherini himself arranged a number of his piano quintets as guitar quintets at the request of the Duchess of Osuna’s brother, the Marquis of Benavente, in 1799. Unpublished until the present century, only six of these have survived. The Quintet in E Minor recorded here is both a delightful and a profound work which amply sup- ports the composer’s reputation during his lifetime as one of the foremost pioneers of the string quartet. Fhe poignant, lyrical melodies are supported by disquieting harmonic textures, and the guitar, far from being an exclusively solo instrument, is integrated into the whole musical fabric. The movements are Allegro moderato, Adagio, Menuetto and Allegretto.

Although Boccherini was largely unappreciated in Spain, his adopted country, he had a surprisingly. vast reputation in the rest of Europe for one so secluded. In 1790 a German dictionary described him as “‘one of the greatest of Italian instrumental composers....It seems that we have nobody but Haydn to oppose him.” Like Boccherini, Haydn (1732-1809) had a great following among talented amateurs because of his chamber music. As a young, struggling artist he had gotten his start on the rdad to fame by composing sonatas, trios and quar- tets for isolated patrons and pupils. According to his autobiography, he “had to eke out a wretched existence for eight whole years” from the age of 17, when he left the choir at St. Stephen’s, until he was 24.

The young Haydn played at dances and in public sere- nades on street corners, for which he composed diverti- mentos. He also served for a time as a valet to the com- poser Nicola Porpora, putting up with the crotchety old man’s vagaries in return for musical instruction and introductions into wealthy households. His patience finally paid off. A pupil, Countess Thun, introduced him to Baron Karl Joseph von Fiirnberg, a nobleman who played the viola in his own quartet. He employed Haydn as both violinist and composer between 1755 and 1759, and it was for the Baron that Haydn wrote his first ie quartets, Op. 1 and 2.

Several of Haydn’s early string uaricts exist in inanu- script arrangements for lute and strings. When or by

Other recent RCA recordings by Julian Bream you will enjoy:

20 Century Guitar ee es LSC-2964

Dances Of DOWIANG (3 ie ae ee a, LM/LSC-2987

© 1968, RCA, New York, N.Y. e Printed in U.S.A.

whom these arrangements were made is not known, but they could very possibly have been done by the com- poser himself. The lute, even the big thirteen-course baroque lute for which the quartets were adapted, was a very obsolete instrument in the second half of the 18th century, and it would be safe to surmise that the tran- scriptions were done fairly close to the time the quartets were composed and for a special patron, now no longer known.

The Quartet in E was arranged from Op. 2, No. 2 (Hob. III, No. 8). There are five movements in the original, but only four in the lute version: Allegro, Adagio, Menuetto e Trio and Finale (Presto). The work is more a diverti- mento than a quartet in the sense of Haydn’s later work in the genre—light, cheerful and a bit baroque in its blocklike constructions and ornamentation. Just the piece for a pleasant evening of playing after a big dinner. Because of the scarcity nowadays of big baroque lutes, the work is usually played on the guitar.

—JUDITH ROBISON

GAD

Julian Bream’s recent album “20th Century Guitar’ gave stunning proof of his interest in the composers of our time. The present recording reflects Mr. Bream’s interest in “what’s new” among his fellow musicians. Four of his longtime friends in London’s musical com- munity decided to form a string quartet two seasons ago. The immediate high standard of their performances prompted Bream to invite them to make this recording with him. Preparation for the sessions spanned many months in the congenial atmosphere of Mr. Bream’s country home, a factor which no doubt gives this album the relaxed and intimate quality which characterizes chamber music at its best.

George Malcolm is recognized as one of Britain’s fore- most keyboard artists. His association with this record- ing was inspired by a joint concert with Bream at a re- cent Aldeburgh Festival. Since the literature for guitar and harpsichord is, to say the least, limited, Bream de- cided to write for the concert a short and brilliant clos- ing number, based on a rather catchy tune by Bocche- rini. The resultant Introduction and Fandango brought the house down: a most authentic example of Gebrauchsmusik! — PETER DELLHEIM

Library of Congress Card Numbers R68-2923—24 apply to this recording.

Timings: Side 1—7:10, 4:50, 4:19, 6:40 * Side 2-5:57 (ASCAP); 18:18

Cover photos: Terence Weil—Sandra Lousada 2 Hugh Maguire—Allegro Photographic Studios

George Malcolm—Lotte Meitner-Graf