PIETRO LOCATELLI

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the musical heRitaqe society me.

SONATA for FLUTE and GUITAR in D MAJOR, Op. 2 No. 5

SONATA for TWO VIOLINS, CELLO and HARPSICHORD in G MAJOR

SONATA for OBOE and GUITAR in G MAJOR, Op. 2 No. 4

SONATA for TWO FLUTES in E MINOR

Brigitte ZACZEK, Guitar

Helmut RIESSBERGER, 1st Flute • Gerhard PERZ, 2nd Flute

Alfred HERTEL, Oboe • Richard HARAND, Cello

Manfred GEYRHALTER, 1st Violin . Manfred KUHN, 2nd Violin

Hilde LANGFORT, Harpsichord

MHS 1037 MHS 1037

Side 1:

PIETRO LOCATELLI (1695-1764)

Side 2:

1. SONATA for Flute and Guitar in D Major, Op. 2 No. 5 (a) Vivace (b) Largo (c) Allegro

2. SONATA for Two Violins, Cello and Harpsichord in G Major (a) Andante (b) Largo andante (c) Allegro (d) Vivace

1. SONATA for Oboe and Guitar in G Major, Op. 2 No. 4 (a) Adagio (b) Allegro (c) Largo (d) Allegro

2. SONATA for Two Flutes (a) Largo (b) Allegro (c) Andante (d) Presto

Brigitte ZACZEK, Guitar Helmut RIESSBERGER, 1st Flute • Gerhard PERZ, 2nd Flute Manfred GEYRHALTER, 1st Violin • Manfred KUHN, 2nd Violin

Alfred HERTEL, Oboe • Richard HARAND, Cello Hilde LANGFORT, Harpsichord

Pietro Locatelli was born in Bergamo, Italy; also the birthplace of the opera composer Gaetano Donizetti. In addition to its two native sons of music, the area surrounding Bergamo was also the birthplace of a once popular dance called the bergamesca. The melody of this dance was used as a theme for a set of famous keyboard variations by Frescobaldi and the dance itself is men¬ tioned in Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

In 1711, when Locatelli was 16, he was sent by his father to Rome to study with Corelli. Although Corelli died a little over a year later, Locatelli remained in Rome where it appears that he made some form of livelihood for himself as a musician. In 1721, his Opus 1 (12 concert! grossi) were published in Amsterdam. As a result of the publication, Locatelli’s stature as a composer and violinist was greatly increased and he received many invitations to royal courts which proved financially very rewarding. An official decree, dated March 15, 1725, signed by Philip Landgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt, the military governor of Mantua, describes Locatelli thusly:

"The virtuosity of Pietro Locatelli, the violinist, is so unique that it merits the great applause and also the honor expressed by the munificence of the princes. And since he evinces a profound veneration of the most August Imperial and Royal House, we are moved by our heart to confer on him our particular testimony of our kind disposition. By virtue of this decree, which we sign with our own hand and confirm with our privy seal we elect and declare said Locatelli as our virtuoso. Thus he shall in the future be recognized, treated and respected with participation in and enjoyment of all the honors, favors, prerogatives and privileges which enjoy and are accustomed to enjoy our virtuosi.”

Although there is little documentary evidence concerning his life, Locatelli is believed to have traveled extensively when he was a young man, and after the death of his wife. He is supposed to have lived at the Court of Frederick August, Elector at Saxony, at Dresden, and he is known to have been a member of the en¬ tourage which accompanied Frederick August on his travels. In 1728, as a part of the elector’s court, Locatelli played for King Frederick William I of Prussia, the father of Frederick the Great.

Locatelli’s reasons for eventually settling in Amsterdam are not known, though it is likely that the rich cultural heritage of that city may have coincided with his own diverse interests. In 1729 Locatelli’s Opus 1 was reissued, and in 1732 his Opus 2 (containing two of the works on this recording) was published. Most, if not all, of Locatelli’s subsequent publications were at first brought into print by Dutch publishers.

During his life in Amsterdam, Locatelli appears to have become somewhat involved with his housekeeper. Contemporary descrip¬ tions of her personal beauty and social graces are in general agreement and all are considerably less than flattering. It is possible that it was she who suggested that he go into the music business. An advertisement in the "Nouvelles d’Amsterdam” of April 27, 1742 reads in part:

"Pietro Locatelli ... is selling excellent Italian strings for violin, violoncello, viola da gamba, lute and double bass. One can also buy there the following of his works printed with the privilege of the States of Holland and West Friesland: Opus 2, twelve sonatas for flute and bass; Opus 5, six trio sonatas for two flutes and bass; Opus 6, twelve sonatas for violin and bass.’

Many years later, the composer Simone Mayr, who was long a resident of Bergamo and author of a cultural history of that city wrote:

Syd Taylor, Tape Editor

Columbia Studios

"That woman had on Locatelli the same power that a mother has on her child. It is surprising that a man accus¬ tomed to changing countries and climates has remained for so long a time in a nation so reserved and austere, but the avarice of that woman, her greed for making money for her¬ self, kept him enchained in that very rich city which was full of his admirers. It is also more surprising that a man of so much dignity should allow himself to be subjugated by such a mercenary woman ... he not only yielded to her control of his household, but_ actually subordinated his will to hers. Yet because of her, and contrary to the custom of our fellow-citizens he almost forgot his fatherland.

"If that resigned slavery drew a compassionate smile from some of his friends, yet the general esteem of the people of Amsterdam did not decrease. All his life he was venerated as the outstanding violinist.”

When Locatelli died, on March 30, 1764, the "Nouvelles d’Amsterdam” printed the following notice:

"Signor Pietro Locatelli, born in Bergamo on September 4, 1695, died in this city to the great regret of all music lovers on the 30th of the month past, age 68 years, 7 months and 26 days. Famous both because of his works and the manner of his presentation, he was justly regarded as one of the foremost violinists of Europe.”

Locatelli’s music falls into two distinct categories: 1) Those sonatas and concerti which carry on the tradition of Corelli, and which contain many excellent movements and original musical ideas. In these compositions he made great advances over the works of his former teacher with regard to expressivity and har¬ monic and musical content. 2) In his studies and caprices Locatelli wrote music which seemed designed to show off the performer’s technical skill. This music is so difficult that the effects are neither musical nor beautiful. For this reason he has been called the great grandfather of our modern "finger heroes.” In 1789 Charles Burney described Locatelli as having "had more hand, caprice, and fancy, than any violinist of his time. He was a voluminous com¬ poser of music that excites more surprise than pleasure.” Ditters- dorf wrote that the sonatas of Locatelli "may sound old-fashioned nowadays, but I would earnestly recommend them to every begin¬ ner on the violin — for practice, not for show pieces. Once master of them, he will make great progress in fingering, bowing, arpeg¬ gios, double-stopping, etc.”

An interesting contemporary account of a performance was written on April 14, 1741, by Dr. T. Dampier, Sub-Master at Eton and Dean of Durham:

"Locatelli must surely be allowed by all to be a Terre moto ... He plays his Laberinthe & another piece, which he has lately composed 50 times more difficult, with more ease than I can humm ye "Black Joke;” and what is still more extraordinary, he never pulls off his Coat to play it, as I have observed most great Musicians do. For my part, I look upon him to be as great a Player as Handel, tho’ this latter be so much bigger and taller. He plays with so much Fury upon his Fiddle, that in my humble opinion, he must wear out some Dozens of them in a year: Mr. Smith ye Bookseller here, who is master of a great stock of Learning in all ye Arts & Sciences told us. That he (Locatelli) never was known to play one Note Out of Tune, except once. When in per¬ forming ye difficult piece he has lately composed, he thrust his little Finger thro ye Bridge of ye Fiddle & could not get it out again.”

The Sonata for Flute and Guitar in D, Opus 2/5 is the

Stereo records may be played on modern mono equipment. It is advisable to wipe record with antistatic dust cloth before playing.

most progressive of Locatelli’s works on this recording. It is in three movements instead of the traditional four or more generally associated with the Baroque suite or sonata. With regard to melody and harmony, the first and last movements contain elements of the style galant and the structure of the first movement shows a decided leaning towards an elementary type of pre-classical sonata-form. The first movement, vivace, is in three-part form with two contrasting themes. An unusual feature of this movement is that the first strain ends in the home key. The second section is in the relative minor, and the third section returns again to the tonic key, with a return of both melodies heard in section one. The second movement, largo, is most interesting harmonically and melodically; a curious blend of the pre-classical and the Baroque. The last movement, allegro, is in the nature of a gavotte, although it is not so indicated in the music. Structurally, it is in the two- part form usually associated with the dance forms in the Baroque suite, although melodically the movement resembles some rococo compositions.

The Trio Sonata in G was composed in 1736. Although for¬ mally similar to the sonata da chiesa, because of the number and order of the movements, it also has features of the baroque suite, i.e., the siciliano-like second movement, the dance rhythms with which the third movement opens, and the last movement which is similar to a minuet and trio. The most interesting feature of this sonata, however, is the fact that the first violin part is far more important melodically than the second. The two violins rarely play contrapuntally; rather, the second will play a solo similar to that originally played by the first, or it will play a part rhythmically and melodically so closely related to the first violin that it has little identity of its own. The reason for this type of writing is that when Locatelli composed the sonata the Baroque conception of the trio sonata for the two equal melody instruments and a bass was well on the way to becoming obsolete. This sonata was prob¬ ably written for amateurs to play in the home, and as such it was only necessary that the primary interest be placed in the first violin part, with the second violin and bass playing less challenging but still interesting subsidiary parts.

The Sonata in G, Opus 2/4 was originally composed for flute. The influence of Corelli is particularly noticeable in the first two movements. The short third movement is remarkably operatic for a composer who is not known to have written any vocal music. The lively last movement is not only the most original in the sonata; it is musically the strongest, and paradoxically, it borders on the humorous.

For the composer who chooses to write music for two melody instruments without a bass, the problem is similar to writing a piano composition to be played by the right hand alone, having as the lowest note middle "C” and the highest the "C” two octaves above. Nevertheless, despite the limitation, several composrs have found the problem intriguing and written compositions for two melody (treble clef) instruments alone. Among these composers we find W. F. Bach, Telemann, Pleyel, and Spohr.

Locatelli’s Sonata in E Minor for Two Flutes, without bass, is therefore one of a substantial number of his compositions. The first movement, adagio, is harmonically and melodically in¬ teresting and resembles in some ways the music for two unaccom¬ panied flutes by W. F. Bach. The following allegro is thoroughly charming music and must be delightful to perform. The succeeding andante is melodically related to the preceding movement, and the last movement, presto, is, in its motoric drive, strangely Vival- diesque. Despite the fact that the movement is for only two instruments, one receives the impression that it is divided into tutti and solo sections similar to those found in a concerto movement.

DOUGLAS TOWNSEND

A Musical Heritage Society Recording

produced under the direction of Dr. KURT LIST

the musical heritage society me. Sidel: 7:07 - 12:53 / 20:05 Side 2; 9:44 - 11:15 / 21:04 BBOAOW&y. ncw yORk. n. y. looas Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 77-751093

Sweet Sonatas

The following collection of sonatas is quite diverse. The forms include the trio sonata, the sonata for solo instrument and continuo, and the sonata da camera. The featured in¬ struments include the flute, the organ and, of course, the piano.

ANTONIO VIVALDI

(1678-1741) 6 SONATAS DA CAMERA

FOR TWO VIOLINS, VIOLONCELLO AND HARPSICHORD. OP. 1

Zlatko Topolski, First violin; Richard Harand, Violoncello; Rudolf Kalup, Second violin; Hilde Langfort, Harpsichord.

Vivaldi’s op. 1 is his first published work (probably around 1705), and was clearly in¬ fluenced by the works of Corelli, with regard to themes, order of the movements and choice of instruments. Members’ Price: MHS 804L: Stereo LP at $4.95

JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)

TRIO SONATAS Trio Sonatas: in G Major, BWV 1038; in C Major, BWV 1037; in G Major, BWV 1039; in D Minor, BWV 1036. Helmut Riessberger and Gernot Kury, Flutes; Rudolf Kalup, Thomas Kakuska, Violins; Antal Tichy, Cello; Hilde Langfort, Harpsichord.

Bach wrote sbt trio sonatas for organ, and four for other instruments. It is the latter group which is represented on this record. The Trio Sonata in G is the first version of a work Bach himself later arranged as the first of the three sonatas for viola da gamba (or cello) and harp¬ sichord. Members’ Price: MHS 654X:^reo LP at $4.95

yT PIETRO LOCATELLI J ( (1695-1764) /

SONATAS^ Flute Sonata inDTtWjUl, Op. ZTNo. 5; Sonata for Two Flutes; Sonata for Oboe and Guitar in G Major, Op. 2, No. 4; Sonata for Two Violins, Cello and Harpsichord. Riessberger, Perz, Flutes; Geyrhalter, Kuhn, Violins; Hertel, Oboe; Harand, Cello; Zaczek, Guitar; Langfort, Harpsichord.

According to his contemporaries, Locatelli was “famous both because of his works and the manner of his presentation; he was justly regarded as one of the foremost violinists of Europe.” This recording oontains a sampling of some of his chamber music. Members’ Price: MHS 1037M: Stereo LP at $4.95

(COURTESY NEW YORK PURLIC LIBRARY) JOHANNES BRAHMS

(1833-1897) SONATAS FOR CLARINET & PIANO,

OP. 120

Sonata in F Minor, Op. 120, No. 1; Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2. Harold Wright, Clarinet; Harris Goldsmith, Piano.

Two of Brahms’s last instrumental composi¬ tions. These are somewhat wistful, almost sad, but beautiful works. This recording was made especially for MHS by pianist Harris Goldsmith and clarinetist Harold Wright. Members’ Price: MHS 1496T: Stereo LP at $4.95

57

EXPLORING MUSIC

Some Very Lovely Stuff

One of the greatest benefits to be gained from reading this journal is that it offers infor¬ mation that you won’t find anywhere else. For example, did you know that as a lad Joseph Haydn was employed by the Royal Hungarian Department of Corrections? (That was the out¬ fit that ran the jails, though you’d never guess it from a title like that.) The child’s job was to minister to convicts who had to break up rocks in the broiling sun. When one of them found himself too dehydrated to go on, he would sing out, “Waterboy! Where is you, Haydn?”

Later, when he grew up, Haydn wrote - besides all those symphonies, quartets, oratorios, and other masterpieces - a vast amount of diddlypoo music to keep publishers and his employers happy. (Con¬ sidering the money they had, it would be un¬ fair to expect the EsterhSzys to have Taste.) Fortunately, what was diddlypoo for Haydn would have been a masterpiece for, say, Dit- tersdorf.

Of course a lot of it attributed to him he didn’t write. In The New Grove the Haydn work-list runs to 30 pages of minuscule print, about half of which is devoted to “Works At¬ tributed to Haydn” and “Selected Doubtful and Spurious Works.” In the instance of the works at hand, such doubts seem to be pretty well obviated by the presence on the set of parts in the British Museum - made up by a copyist, it is true-of the words “de me Giuseppe Haydn” in the composer’s own hand.

Nevertheless, there are some other puzzles. The opus number given here and on a long- deleted Vanguard recording by some great Danes is 38, under which the pieces were published in London in 1784. But I note that Schwann lists the extant commercial versions as op. 100, under which number they were published elsewhere. (One should pay no at¬ tention to Haydn opus numbers, which are a jungle; the modern Hoboken numbers, which here are H,1V:6 - 11, do not appear on either set under my scrutiny.) Nor is all of the music “original”: three of the pieces contain movements based on material from Haydn’s 1777 comic opera II mondo della luna (The world on the moon), and another (the fourth) is transcribed from the baryton trio H.X1:97.

Like the baryton pieces, these works were

58

conceived as divertimenti. As the generic name indicates, divertimenti were intended to divert or amuse rather than to edify. The first

known musical title to use it-the composer was the Vicenzan Carlo Gross! (ca. 1634-1688) - tells all (or almost all). It goes II divertimento de’ Grandi: musiche da camera, o per servizio di tavola all'uso delle reggie corte (The diversion of the Great: music for the [bed?] room or for dinner service intended for the royal courts). In other words “music to gab¬ ble over.” But gabbling music became very popular at the royal courts and wherever else there were enough musicians to make a con¬ certed effort at dinner- or bed-time. No doubt the Haydns and Mozarts who ground it out (and very lovely stuff it often was) had some regrets about its fate, but it was a living.

Joseph Braunstein, in his notes for the Vanguard record, reminds us that at the time Haydn published these pieces the flute provid¬ ed a more active diversion for gentlemen amateurs, and that the Manchester musical organization that eventually became the Hall6 Orchestra originally consisted of 26 such flutists. William Forster, Haydn’s London publisher, was therefore (adding Haydn’s popularity to the demand) taking no great risk. Dr. Braunstein also notes that Forster arrived in London with a herd of cattle, got a job in a music shop, took up his pappy’s trade of fiddle making, and did so well that he was able to open his own publishing house, to whose suc¬ cess Haydn contributed not a little.

Considering the last three releases, the Kui- jken Brothers seem to be with us to stay for a while. Here we have the three together, play¬ ing instruments that were around in Haydn’s day - a mid-century Rottenburgh flute, a 1700 Grancino violin, and an Amati cello from the 1500s.

I recently objected in these pages to what seemed to me the misleading use of “original” instruments as descriptive of all non-modern instruments, old or new. David Way, the pre¬ sent manufacturer of Zuckerman harp¬ sichords, who knows such instruments if anyone does, argues- that the term is perfectly clear and challenges me to find a better. Though I recognize it as a neologism, it seems to me that “period,” by analogy with the widely used “period furniture,” is less likely to puzzle. What do you think? Anyhow, the Kuijkens play their old instruments beautifully, as usual.

David M. Greene

MUSICAL HERITAGE

PIETRO LOCATELLI

SONATA for Flute and Guitar in D Major, O (a) Vivace (b) Largo (c) AMegrc

SONATA for Two Vioiins, Cello t Harpsichord in G Major \ (a) Andante (b) Largo andante \ (c) Allegro (d) Vivace \ Brigitte ZACZEK, Guitar

k \ Manfred GEYRHALTER, First Vio ^ \ Manfred KUHN, Second Violin

\ Richard HARAND, Cello \ Hilde LANGFORT,

MUSICAL HERITAGE SOCIETY

PIETRO LOCATELLI

SONATA for Oboe and Guitar in G Major, Op. 2 (a) Adagio (b) Aiiegro (c) Largo (d) Alie

SONATA for Two Flutes (a) Largo (b) Allegro (c) Andante (d) Pre

Brigitte ZACZEK, Guitar , Alfred HERTEL, Oboe \ Helmut RIESSBERGER, \ First Flute \ Gerhard PERZ, Second Flute