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Giuliani and friends There are few works indeed by Mauro Giuliani for guitar and keyboard: two major works composed in conjunction with other musicians, one gem which is by him alone, and two later arrangements either of which may or may not be by him. The earliest work, the Grand Duo Concertant, is a joint composition by Giuliani and Ignaz Moscheles, the pianist, and is indeed listed among the works of Moscheles as that composer’s op. 20. It was first published in Vienna by the major publisher Artaria, and advertised by him in the Wiener Zeitung on 2 February 1814. The full title is: ‘Grand Duo Concertant pour le Piano-Forte et Guitare ou deux Piano-Forte composé et dédié à S.A. Impériale Mgr L’Archiduc Rodolphe d’Autriche par ses très humbles et très soumis serviteurs I. Moscheles et M. Giuliani’. So it was dedicated to the Archduke Rudolf of Austria, who was himself a lover of music and a composer, and took lessons from Beethoven, who dedicated to him the ‘Archduke’ Trio, so named. 1814 is an interesting date. First of all, at that moment Moscheles was only 19 years old, having been born only in 1794, which may perhaps be one reason for the tremendous verve and energy of the piano part of this piece. It doesn’t stop. Even when the guitar is prominent, the piano still has music which is full of life. By the way, the Archduke Rudolf was himself only 26 years old at this moment. Giuliani was thirty-three. Also, 1814 is the year when the Congress of Vienna began, starting in September 1814 just a few months after this Grand Duo Concertant, an event so full of music that a famous phrase to describe it was ‘The Congress dances’. There is even a modern book about it with that title. Vienna which was already full of composers and musicians, as is well known, even before the Congress was also full of soldiers, diplomats and politicians from all the major European powers engaged in deciding the arrangement of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon in 1813, and great was their interest in music and especially in dancing (as well, of course, as in the dalliance that went with it). Johann Strauss was 10 years old at the time. So this work of Giuliani and Moscheles fits into that huge and multi-national interest in music of the time. The Grand Duo Concertant has four movements. We can see that Moscheles understood absolutely how to balance the two instruments: in the opening Allegro maestoso, for example, there are passages where the piano very lightly gives all the space necessary to allow the guitar to be heard, then the piano has its own light and rapid tracery which in a way echoes the nature of the guitar which has just been heard, then both instruments are heard together. The Scherzo similarly allows both instruments to shine in turn. By the way, this Scherzo begins like a Ländler, appropriate in this Vienna so captivated by dance. The Largo espressivo of this Grand Duo Concertant must be one of the most romantic movements that exist for guitar with any other instrument. Both instruments have passages of 2
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haunting beauty, again crafted so that each is heard in turn and then together. The final movement, the Allegretto espressivo, picks up the same mood as the Largo at its beginning, and again half way through, with the harmonics on the guitar, before rising to a climax for both instruments at its end. This Grand Duo Concertant is of such high quality that it really should be heard much more in the concert-hall today. Which brings me to the question of the instruments. On this CD original instruments are of course used, so that there is no problem of balance: both instruments sound as they did to the composers and so both of them are heard. But since then both instruments, guitar and keyboard, have evolved and they don’t sound the same now as they did then. My own feeling is that if you are playing on modern instruments, the piano (or other keyboard) should show great restraint in volume, and the guitar should play very lightly (although of course that is only my opinion, and all players must follow their own judgement). The Grand Pot-Pourri National on this CD is from a few years later, from about 1817/18. The Congress of Vienna had finished, but Vienna remained full of music and dancing, and of course full of the memories of the presence of all those people, and of parts of their armies, who had come for the Congress from different parts of Europe. Giuliani had published in February 1814, at exactly the same moment as the Grand Duo Concertant and with the same publisher Artaria, his Originael Maersche, which was a collection of the marches of the different armies that came to Vienna during the fighting against Napoleon: the Russians, the Prussians, the Swedes, the Bavarians, thus showing almost a folklorist’s interest in these sometimes very strange and wonderful musical styles from other countries. Also already in about 1810 he had published a collection of dances of different countries in his 14 Balli Nazionali Op.24. So also here in this Grand Pot-Pourri National on this CD, he shows this same interest: it isn’t just called a Grand Pot-pourri, but a Grand Pot-pourri National, which means that it contains music from various different countries. The guitar used in this composition is a terz guitar, as can be seen from the notation of the original score. That is, a smaller guitar than usual, tuned a minor third higher than the normal guitar. It appears that the keyboard part may have been composed not by Giuliani but by Hummel. On 16 April 1818 Giuliani played it in Vienna, with the keyboard part played, again, by Moscheles. As a pot-pourri, it contains a medley of tunes taken from various places. The score names a polacca and a bolero, and we have identified four more tunes, which you will hear as you listen. In the order in which they appear, the tunes are: Polacca – ‘Rule Britannia’ – ‘Vive Henri Quatre’ – Bolero – The Austrian national anthem, and at the end, the tarantella. As a matter of fact this work contains more tunes than the ones listed above, and if anyone listening to this CD can identify any more, we would be very pleased to hear about it (you can write to the Tecla page on the website quoted below). You will also hear after ‘Rule Britannia’ what sounds very much like a battle, including some strange noises on the instruments and perhaps some cannon shots. Since it appears
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after ‘Rule Britannia’ and before ‘Vive Henri Quatre’, was it a battle between the French and the British, perhaps even Waterloo? The tarantella which ends this work with a flourish is of great interest. Giuliani had included the tarantella already in his 14 Balli Nazionali Op.24 as the last piece, making a climax at the end of the set of dances, and he does the same again here: it is the last piece in this Grand Pot-Pourri National and provides a splendid climax. The tarantella is famous for your not being able to stop dancing, and it is curious that in the 14 Balli Nazionali no ending is notated, it just says ‘Sempre Da Capo a piacere’. Here, though, an end is notated. As well as these two major works, this CD includes the Two Rondos Op.68 for guitar and keyboard, the only known work by Giuliani for this medium which bears his name alone without any other composer. It is a charming smaller-scale work, full of humour, first published after the others, in about 1818/19. Finally, an arrangement of Giuliani’s set of variations on ‘Partant pour la Syrie’ Op.104, which he composed originally for solo guitar and published in that form in about 1819. This arrangement for guitar and piano was only published in about 1840, years after the composer’s death, and may or may not be by him. All the works on this CD are played from the facsimile edition of Giuliani’s Complete Works in 39 volumes, published by Tecla Editions (www.tecla.com). C Brian Jeffery, 2011 CLAUDIO MACCARI – PAOLO PUGLIESE Born in 1970, Claudio Maccari and Paolo Pugliese started their studies and researches in 19th century music in 1988. Since then they have been redefining the musical language of the classic and romantic periods using original instruments and historical methods. Maccari and Pugliese are cited in the 1997 guitar history book, “The Classical Guitar”. After playing their New York debut at Carnegie Recital Hall in 1992 they have been asked to give concerts and masterclasses by famous Institutions and important international Festivals such as the Royal Academy and the Great Britain International Guitar Festival of London, the Academy of Music in Gröningen, the Darwin International Guitar Festival, the Sydney Guitar Society, the Guitar Foundation of Australia, the Parco della Musica in Rome, and many American Universities and Societes. Their natural artistic talent, together with constant musicological research, have allowed them to cooperate with world wide famous artists such as John Williams and Malcolm Bilson. They teach 19th century guitar at the Accademia Internazionale della Musica (International Academy of Music) in Milan.
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They are artistic directors of the ‘Ensemble Ottocento’, an Italian orchestra specialising in 19th century music performed on authentic instruments. Maccari and Pugliese play original guitars: Mauro Giuliani’s and Nicolò Paganini’s guitars (Fabricatore), Guadagnini, Lacote, Panormo, Vinaccia and Garganese, with gut strings according to historical criteria. www.maccaripugliese.com ‘...Your Sor DVD has everything I want from a guitar duet – virtuosity, sensitivity to phrase and nuance, a beautiful sound, a finely developed sense of ensemble. A listener would have to have cloth ears and a heart of stone not to be profoundly affected by this superb performance of music’ COLIN COOPER ‘…E’ stato un gran bel concerto, perché la dottrina dei due interpreti, che hanno studiato veramente a fondo la prassi esecutiva e se ne sono resi padroni assoluti, invece di incarnarsi in pose sacerdotali o professorali, si tramuta in gioia di suonare, contagiosamente trasmessa al pubblico…’ ANGELO GILARDINO ‘…They are indeed first-rate virtuosi with a wonderful sense of style and musicianship…marvellous performances of various operatic arrangements.’ SOUNDBOARD Discography on Brilliant Classics Giuliani Complete Concertos for guitar and orchestra, 2005 (2CD) Mauro Giuliani: Complete works for guitar duo, 2007 (3CD) Awarded ‘Chitarra d'oro’ as best CD of 2007 Mauro Giuliani: Rossiniane, Pot Pourri (complete), 2008 (3CD) Fernando Sor / Napoleon Coste: Complete Works for guitar duo, 2009 (2CD)
GIOVANNI TOGNI Giovanni Togni was born in Bergamo and studied piano. Subsequently he studied composition, organ and graduated with top marks in harpsichord under the tutelage of Laura Alvini, who introduced him to the study of early pianos. He also graduated with top marks in polyphonic composition and choir direction under the tutelage of Eros Negri. In 1991 he was awarded the ‘Mozart and Milano’ Prize and played continuo in the European Community Baroque Orchestra. In 1993 he won the Bologna Harpsichord Competition. He has performed with Ensemble Concerto, Il Complesso Barocco, Ensemble Aurora, La Venexiana, Accademia Bizantina, Orchestra Mozart (under the direction of Claudio Abbado) and other orchestras, as well as with distinguished soloists specialized in early repertoire. In such formations and as a soloist, he took part to several early and chamber music festivals, acting as an harpsichordist and, more recently, also as fortepiano player. He has made recordings for (among others) Tactus, Dynamic, Stradivarius, O-live music, Glossa, Panasonic, Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, Virgin Classics and Deutsche Grammophon (Arkiv Produktion). In 2003, with the flute player Marcello Gatti, he founded a chamber-music ensemble with an emphasis on late-Baroque and Classical music. This collaboration led to the release of a recording of Johann Christian Bach’s sonatas for fortepiano and flute, which received critical praise. He has taught the International Music Academy of Milan, the Italian Lute Society, the early music courses in Urbino and Pamparato, the Giorgio Cini Foundation in Venice, the University of Musicology of Cremona and the CNSMD of Lyon. From 1997 to 2004, he taught harpsichord and historical keyboards at Cagliari Conservatoire. Since 2004, he has taught the same disciplines at the Conservatoire in Como. Pitch: a’= 430 Hz Recorded: October 2009 – Auditorium BPL, Lodi, (Italy) Producer: Claudio Maccari, Paolo Pugliese · Sound engineer & editing: Marco Taio Thanks to TECLA Editions Inlay photo by www.albertobortoluzzi.com
Original instruments Gaetano II Guadagnini, Italy 1830, guitar Vito & Antonio Garganese, Italy 1880, terz guitar Gut strings according to historical criteria Mathias Kramer, copy after Louis Dulcken (1810), fortepiano to Mauro 6
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