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The
development of European
harpsichord music between
the end of the 17th and the
middle of the 18th century
can be traced in the works
on this record, which
perfectly exemplify the
decisive changes that took
place in the types of work
written for the harpsichord,
their form and the technique
of the instrument. Georg
Böhm (1661-1733) occupies
the foremost place among
those forerunners of Bach
who prepared the way for the
universal musical language
of this towering genius. His
harpsichord music is still
dominated by the traditional
suite form, but within this
form Italian and French
elements are welded into a
new unity. Strangely enough,
the harpsichord would appear
to be the most personal
means of expression of the
organist of Lüneburg's St.
John's Church; at any rate
his eleven Suites form a
climax not only of German
but also of European suite
composition. They have
borrowed from the
Italian-South German
tradition its restricted
selection of types of
movement, usually limited to
the "classical" sequence
Allemande-Courante-Sarabande-Gigue;
from the French
harpsichordist tradition
they have acquired their
embellished character, the
clear symmetry of their
movements and, above all,
the tendency to sublimate
and subjectivize traditional
dance characters into
characteristic pieces. But
instead of the descriptive
"programma music" of the
French harpsichordists, Böhm
introduces exclusively -
thus creating a new style -
a characteristic piece
anchored in the emotions, a
subtle, expressive kind of
music that is constantly
overshadowed by a tender
melancholy. The two suites
on this record are among the
most important of these
works. The Suite in E flat
major has its climaxes in
the solemn, melancholy
allemande and the robust
Gigue; the Suite in F minor,
in which the Gigue is
missing, culminates in a
turbulent, chromatic Courant
and ends with a dignified
Sarabande that combines
Bachian subtlety and
Handelian majesty.
Whereas the classical order
of movements still prevails
in Böhm's compositions,
Handel (1685-1759) wrote
harpsichord suites that
burst the bonds of tradition
with a wealth of forms and
orders of movements which
would seem to have arisen
from the inspiration of the
moment and out of an
inexhaustible imagination
regarding the instrument's
possibilities. Their
full-chorded harmony does
not aim so much at strict
part-writing - not even in
gufato movements - but
rather at a harmonically
attractive fullness of tone;
the terseness and
melodiousness of their
thematic invention show
Handel to be an incomparably
gifted melodist in this
field again, whose works
live more from "invention"
than from "working out". The
suite in F minor, published
in 1720, begins with a
"Prelude" strictly written
in four parts, whose
melancholy dignity is
strangely reminiscent of
Böhm. It is followed by a
mighty Fugue and three suite
movements that are
thematically related to each
other: an Allemande, a
Courante and a Gigue.
The little pieces by Rameau
(1683-1764) clearly
illustrate, with an
inexhaustible wealth of
ideas and vitality, the
transformation between the
baroque and the classical
periods of that French
tradition which Böhm also
assimilated into the finely
chiselled "programme piece".
While preserving the
heritage of Couperin in the
conciseness and playful
elegance of their forms,
they bring new blood into
this type of composition,
which was dying of too much
courtly refinement, in the
form of striking rhythms,
bold harmonies,
full-chorded, only seemingly
polyphonic writing and an
increased power of pictorial
representation. Whether with
or without "programme"
titles, the works played
here are among the most
characteristic and lively
pieces in the two printed
collections of 1724 and
1727-31.
Just as Rameau develops a
new harpsichord style that
looks into the future, based
on a poetic or anecdotal
programme, Scarlatti
(1685-1757) approaches his
art from the formal side,
frees the suite movement
that has come down to him
from traditional order and
character of the movements
and, by means of ever
greater differentiation of
form and expression,
transforms it into the early
classical sonata movement.
His one-movement sonatas,
more than 500 in number and
mostly written after 1720,
adhere to the symmetrical
binary form of the baroque
suite movement, but they
elaborate this traditional
pattern in the smallest
possible space with an
infinite abundance of formal
transformations.
Technically, they are of a
virtuosity which had been
unimaginable up till then,
yet they sublimate all
technical 'bravura' in the
service of a highly
differentiated and already
quite "modern" type of
expression, at the same time
disciplined by the Latin
sense of proportion and
form. The four sonatas on
this record: the two-part
work in A minor with its
bold chromaticism, the
extremely concentrated
Sonata in D minor, the
Andante work in E major with
its amazing modernisms and
the brilliant, virtuoso
Allegro Sonata in E major,
are perfect specimens of
this refined yet vital art,
carefully finished
miniatures with the greatest
possible wealth and
exactitude of expression and
a conciseness of form in
which improvisatory
enjoyment and strict
adherence to the laws of
composition are perfectly
blended.
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