1 CD - SK 53 965 - (p) 1993

VIVARTE - 60 CD Collection Vol. 2 - CD 47





Harmoniemusik
70' 39"



Harmoniemusik on Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's "Le nozze di Figaro"


Arr. Georg Sartorius, c. 1800 - for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 bassoons (& double bass)
17' 50"
- Sinfonia 4' 05"
1
- Duettino. Allegro 2' 50"
2
- Duettino. Allegro 2' 40"
3
- Se vuol ballare signor Contino 2' 34"
4
- Non più andrai 2' 56"
5
- Terzetto. Allegro di molto: Susanna or via sortite 2' 45"
6




Gioachino ROSSINI (1792-1868)


Harmoniemusik (Quintet) in F major - for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, bassoon (& double bass)
13' 38"
- Andante · Allegretto 4' 43"
7
- Allegretto 1' 48"
8
- Adagio 2' 14"
9
- Allegro 1' 21"
10
- Polacco · Trio 3' 22"
11




Harmoniemusik on Gioachino Rossini's "Il barbiere di Siviglia"


Arr. Wenzel Sedlak, c. 1820 - for 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 bassoons (& double bass)
36' 14"
- I. Ouverture. Andante maestoso · Allegro vivace 7' 17"
12
- II. Introduzione. Moderato | III. Vivace 2' 01"
13
- IV. Cavatina | V. Allegro 4' 00"
14
- VI. Cavatina. Allegro vivace 2' 09"
15
- VII. Duetto. Allegro maestoso · VIII. Allegro 6' 56"
16
- IX. Cavatina. Andante | X. Moderato 4' 59"
17
- XI. Aria. Allegro 4' 44"
18
- XII. Duetto. Allegro 4' 05"
19



 
Mozzafiato
- Charles Neidich, clarinet
- Ayako Oshima, clarinet
 - Dennis Godburn, bassoon
- Michael O'Donovan, bassoon
 - William Purvis, natural horn
- Stewart Rose, natural horn
- Marji Danilow, double bass
 





Luogo e data di registrazione
American Academy of Arts & Letters, New York (USA) - 1 February & 30/31 March 1993

Registrazione: live / studio
studio

Producer / Recording supervisor
Wolf Erichson

Recording Engineer / Editing
Stephan Schellmann (Tritonus)

Prima Edizione LP
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Prima Edizione CD
Sony / Vivarte - SK 53 965 - (1 CD) - durata 70' 39" - (p) 1993 - DDD

Cover Art
Serenade "Barbier von Sevilla" by Carl Spitzweg (1806-1885) - Photo: Archiv für Kunst und Geschichte, Berlin

Note
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The German word “Harmoniemusik” means, simply, music played by groups of wind instruments, or Harmonien. A delightful tradition of music-making by such wind groups reaches back at least several centuries into the past, but only a portion of it has been documented by modern scholarship. Perhaps for this very reason we may enjoy all the more the rediscovery of this repertoire and the instruments that best bring it to life.
A striking feature of much Harmoniemusik - especially when played on historically appropriate instruments - lies in its evocation of certain sonorities of the organ and its modern derivatives such as the harmonium, the harmonica, or even the accordion. Roger Hellyer (Grove 6th ed.VIII: 167-8) points out that Harmonien instruments were usually played in pairs, even where there was only a single part. These instruments were predominantly reeds - oboes, clarinets, bassoons - with horns, occasionally flutes, and some kind of bass instrument. The resultant sound was strikingly like that produced by the reed and flute combinations on the organ. The relationship was intentional, but it may be difficult to say which was the model and which the simulation. The early 17th -century composer Michael Praetorius devoted years to describing the known instruments and their history in his Syntagma musicum (1614-1620). Praetorius emphasized the familial nature of groups of wind and string instruments, and his comparison of those groups (especially the wind groups) to the organ ranks is unmistakable. One important aspect that Harmonien shared with organs was the ability to adapt to different acoustical conditions and needs. For example, given enough “wind power”, both were able to fill a room with magnificent volume and clarity of attack or, on the other hand, to fill the same space with an ethereal softness.
The usefulness of wind instruments in a variety of acoustical settings, especially outdoors, has always been a point in their favor. But other useful aspects include greater mobility (compared, say, to dragging around a cello and a chair), and greater imperviousness to atmospheric conditions. The capability of sheer loudness has gained the winds a permanent place in military engagements, festive and otherwise, but a higher resistance to the effects of both sunlight and dampness must also have gained the Harmonien some superiority to their stringed counterparts. But for whatever reasons, practical or aesthetic, the Harmonien gained a place in numerous European courts from the end of the 17th century until about the middle of the 19th century. They ranged in size from woodwind duos to sextets and octets (with an occasional double bass underneath) to light military bands, and they played diverse engagements from weddings and funerals to concerts, as well as ordinary background music for dinner.
Despite the evidence of most extant scores and parts, Harmonien were not exclusively a feature of the Austro-German culture; they flourished in the courts of England, France, Belgium, Monaco, and other pockets of cultural privilege. Likewise, the repertoire for these groups was diverse. Composers for the English Harmonien, for example, developed unique military “divertimentos”, while the French specialized in operatic potpourris known as pièce d'harmonie. On this recording we hear two German transcriptions of Italian operatic airs and an original composition by Rossini specifically for wind group. The transcriptions are settings of numbers from the “Figaro” operas of Mozart and Rossini - not in potpourri style, but each number complete in itself. They were made by two court Kapellmeisters of the early 19th century, selfidentified on the title pages as Georg Sartorius,“Hochfürstlich Hessen Darmstaedtischer Capell Director” in Darmstadt, and Wenzel Sedlak, “Fürst Johann Liechtenstein'scher Capellmeister” in Vienna. In an age when musical copyrights were unknown, such exploitations of great works were not only tolerated, but were considered good advertising for the original composer as well.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, of course, could not have lived long enough to enjoy any professional symbiosis offered by Sartoriusis transcription. Little is known about Sartorius, but from the title-page dedication of the present work we can assume that he fashioned it during the reign of Ludwig X, first Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt, who ruled from 1790-1830 and built the modern town of Darmstadt. On the other hand, Wenzel Sedlak's transcription of numbers from The Barber of Seville might easily have benefitted the original composer - depending on the date, of course. Sedlak, a well-known clarinettist, was professionally active during the heyday of Rossini. The present transcription could date from between 1816 (the year of the premiere of Il barbiere) and 1836 (with the death of Sedlak”s patron, Prince Johann Josef von Liechtenstein) - but more probably, according to actual events, not later than from 1830.
The two transcriptions, although likely intended for similar occasions, show some interesting differences. The most significant of these differences is that while the Sedlak-Rossini transcription retains the original keys of the operatic numbers, every number in the Sartorius-Mozart transcription has been transposed to suit the relative compatibility of wind instruments to the flat keys. One might initially be tempted to assume from this difference that the Sartorius work, considering its apparent deference to fundamental instrumental convenience, is the earlier work - but this assumption cannot be upheld. One might as easily make the opposite case - that in the early stages of, say, clarinet development, players kept on hand for performances a variety of instruments, barrels, and mouth-pieces - and that, in fact, a restriction to flat keys might indicate the more modern use of fewer, or even single, on-location instruments.
Both transcriptions offered here share an incompleteness favoring the earlier parts of each opera. Mysteriously, Sartorius limited his work to the highlights of Act I of Le nozze, and added only a single piece from the middle of Act II. We miss such favorites as Cherubino's arias,“Non so più” and “Voi che sapete”, and the Countess's great aria, “Dove sono”. The pieces in Sartorius's score are not numbered, and it is impossible to know if he intended to continue the transcription. The following list shows the progress of his work - played on this recording with a “Mozartian” substitution of a string bass for the written contra- bassoon part:
Overture (in B flat, orig. in D)
From Act I:
Duet (in E flat, orig. in G), Susanna - Figaro: "Cinque, dieci"
Duet (in E flat, orig. in B flat). Susanna - Figaro: "Se a caso madama"
Cavatina (in A flat, orig. in F).
Figaro: "Se vuol ballare signor Contino"
Aria (in E flat, orig. in C). Figaro: "Non più andrai"
From Act II:
Terzetto (in E flat, orig. in C). Susanna - Countess - Count: "Susanna or via sortite"
Sedlak, too, left out a large section of Il barbiere di Siviglia from his transcription, which goes no further than the middle of Act I, Scene 2. Fortunately he chose the most enduring of the pieces, many of which occur in the first act. One might only have wished for Sedlak to have finished the brilliant finale of Act I. No score has been found to his work. The parts are numbered as follows:
1 Overture
From Act I, Scene 1:
2-3 Introduction. Fiorello - Count - Chorus: "Piano, pianissimo" and Vivace (Continuation of Introduction after the Count's aria). Count: "Ehi, Fiorello!"
4-5 Aria, Count: "Ecco ridente in cielo" and "Oh sorte!"
6 Cavatina. Figaro: "Largo al factotum"
7-8 Duet. Figaro - Count: "All'idea di quel metallo" and "Numero quindici"
From Act I, Scene 2:
9-10 Cavatina. Rosina: "Una voce poco fa" and "Io sono docile"
11 Aria. Basilio: "La calunnia"
12 Duet. Rosina - Figaro: "Dunque io son"
One might be tempted to speculate that any music not transcribed but actually written for a wind group by the composer himself must be an ideal work to represent the genre. Certainly Mozart's great Serenade in B flat K. 361 (370a) for 13 winds supports this hypothesis. Krommer's 13 Harmonien were also excellent representations of the style. Mendelssohn wrote an appealing Ouvertüre für Harmoniemusik, Op. 24. Rossini's Harmonie in F, heard here, may not have been designed to ensure his immortality, but it is still a channing work. lt is an example of Harmoniemusík derived not from operatic or military music, but from the song, sonata, and dance forms on which the pure instrumental music of the 18th and 19th centuries was based.
© 1993 David Montgomery