Giovanni Battista Sammartini
Compact Disc 2
1701–1775
1 2 3
Symphony in D JC11 I. Allegro maestoso II. Andante III. Presto
5’05 3’29 2’18
4 5 6
Symphony in E flat JC28 I. Allegro assai II. Andante allegrino III. Allegrissimo
4’42 3’30 2’52
7 8 9
Symphony in D JC17 I. Spiritoso assai II. Andante allegrino III. Presto
2’49 5’07 1’59
Late Symphonies Compact Disc 1
2
58’41
53’51
1 2 3
Symphony in A JC63 I. Presto II. Andante piano III. Presto
4’16 4’16 3’10
4 5 6
Symphony in D JC22 I. Presto II. Assai andante III. Allegrissimo
4’44 2’22 2’54
7 8 9
Quintet No.5 in E for 3 violins, viola, cello and basso continuo I. Allegrissimo II. Allegrino III. Allegro moderato
3’35 4’55 4’13
Symphony in G JC40 10 I. Presto 11 II. Allegrino 12 III. Presto
5’14 2’08 2’20
Symphony in E JC31 10 I. Allegro assai 11 II. Andante 12 III. Allegro spiritoso e brillante
5’31 2’43 2’41
Symphony in E flat JC26 13 I. Allegro assai 14 II. Allegrino 15 III. Allegrissimo
6’03 2’37 3’25
Symphony in A JC60 13 I. Allegro moderato 14 II. Allegrino 15 III. Allegro brillante
5’45 3’40 3’25
Accademia d’Arcadia Alessandra Rossi Lürig Performed on period instruments. Pitch A=430
3
Sammartini’s late symphonies: styles and sources Giovanni Battista Sammartini was the seventh of eight children of Girolama de Federici and Alexis Saint-Martin, a French oboist who emigrated to Italy. His death certificate gives his age as 74 so he was presumably born in 1700 or early in 1701. Unlike most of his musical contemporaries he spent all his life in his native Milan, and devoted himself mostly to instrumental, chamber and sacred vocal music, writing only three stage works. Famous during his lifetime, performed and published throughout Europe (many of his works – including the collection of Sonata a tre stromenti dedicated to Don Filippo Infante of Spain – were published in Paris and London, especially by Leclerc, Venier and Walsh), and the teacher of Gluck from 1737 to 1741, he frequented the leading musicians of his time (including Mozart) and was highly regarded by foreign visitors (consider Charles de Brosses’ and Quantz’s enthusiastic judgements). At the threshold of 60, Sammartini was not only an official member of the court orchestra, but was also active in several Milanese churches, regularly devoted time to the composition of string quartets and symphonies, and was well acquainted with the city’s intellectual and cultural circles (particularly lively at that time). Indeed, these were the years in which Giuseppe Parini published Matino (1763) and Mezzogiorno (1765), and Cesare Beccaria – together with the brothers Pietro and Alessandro Verri, Count Lambertenghi, Count Biffi and Abbot Alfonso Longo – founded the Accademia dei Pugni, anonymously printing his Dei delitti e delle pene (‘On Crime and Punishments’) in 1764. 1764 also saw the publication of Il caffè, which, during the two years of its existence, made ample room for philosophical and literary studies, sustaining a large argument against the old culture of rhetoric. Milan was thus a truly prolific cultural epicentre, and Sammartini worked there in a leading role, both as a composer and as a performer. Against this background, the form of the symphony was becoming increasingly popular – thanks to the printed collections in France and London and to manuscripts, which were much more common than prints and usually transmitted in parts rather than scores. From 1757 onwards, for example, Parisian publishers put out the first symphonies of Johann Stamitz, and a few years later the symphonies of Joseph Haydn, Johann Christian Bach and – most importantly – François Joseph Gossec, in whom a new vision of instrumental genres was taking shape. During this time Sammartini was also pursuing his conception of a symphonic form; considered by modern musicologists to be a key figure in the development of the Classical style and dubbed the ‘father of
4
the symphony’ by musical textbooks, he was in fact the first to develop the form out of the concerto and the trio sonata (i.e. the chamber music forms of Baroque music) rather than out of the opera overture. Indeed, Sammartini was the first composer of symphonies with a known date of composition (1732), and which used an instrumental ensemble that quickly became fixed for the Classical period. The merits and significance of Sammartini’s symphonies are fully recognised today, thanks largely to the work of two American researchers, Newell Jenkins and Bathia Churgin, who published the Thematic Catalogue of the Works of G.B. Sammartini in 1976. As well as 74 symphonies with uncertain authorship, 68 were catalogued that were confirmed to be by Sammartini, and these have been divided by Churgin into three periods: an early period up to 1739, a second period from 1740 to 1758, and a late period (which this 2-disc set is dedicated to) from 1759 to 1775. Whereas the early symphonies are composed in a hybrid Baroque-Classical idiom, with Classical elements predominating, the middle symphonies are very much in the early Classical style, with the orchestration becoming more complex and sophisticated. In the late symphonies, wind instruments (horns and oboes) are added, oboes have independent parts (thus avoiding simple violin doubling), basses and cellos also have separate parts and some symphonies call for divisi violas. Sammartini’s symphonies have three movements, the first and third longer than the central movement, with sonata form ubiquitous except in the minuet section of Minuet-Trio movements. The later symphonies also have longer and more varied periods and a more balanced phrase structure. With regard to the opening movements, the motivic-figural nature of his earlier style gives way to a highly diversified melodic and rhythmic one which is coupled with a complex and nuanced harmony, including many secondary dominants, secondary triads, major-minor contrasts, dissonant chords, sequential progressions and suspension-based dissonances. There is an emphasis, unusual for the time, on instrumental dialogue and much use of canon and imitation – especially in the slow movements. Sammartini avoids large-scale thematic repetitions, preferring understatement to the merest hint of redundancy. The frequent elision of themes and sections produces a continuity that is the essence of his style. Despite being famous during his lifetime, Sammartini’s music met with a curious fate due to the historical events that wracked Milan at the end of the century: not one known autograph manuscript survives in the Milan archives, since they ended up in Vienna or Paris during the upheavals of the first French occupation. For the next 150 years, with the composer’s works
5
scattered across Europe, cataloguing became a serious problem that only began to be solved in 1968 with the publication of Churgin’s key study, The Symphonies of G. B. Sammartini. The 12 late symphonies may also have been little known in the 18th century, since ten survive in only one or two sources, the original parts for nine having been lost or destroyed in the Second World War. All the symphonies in this set, together with the quintet for three violins, viola and cello (from the collection of six quintets dated 1776), are unpublished – except for JC26 which has been published by Churgin as part of The Symphony 1720–1840. Apart from JC17, all are kept in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France – Fonds du Conservatoire in Paris in two sources: a series of contemporary, dated manuscript parts that make up the main source, and a group of manuscript scores made from the original parts in 1882 for the librarian of the Conservatoire at that time, J.B. Wekerlin. Symphony JC17 can be found in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France in a collection of manuscript parts bought for Otto Jahn in 1880, and in manuscript scores in Prague and Vienna libraries. Compact Disc 1 At times Sammartini abandoned his usual Andante, replacing it with an Allegrino (a term, with a Milanese flavour, identical in meaning to Allegretto) in the form of a scherzo. This is exactly the case with JC60, where two oboes are summoned to enrich the sonority of the string quartet and personalise the affecting theme with embellishments. The initial Allegretto moderato also gives evidence of new elements not only because of the fully Classical spirit of the themes, but also because of the ‘block’ approach to the use of instruments: string phrases are answered or integrated by wind instruments according to the bithematic / tripartite structure of the recapitulation. The final Allegro brillante is a Minuet in sonata form, in which there are numerous concertante examples of strings and wind instruments: solo passages of great interest are entrusted to the violas in particular, and it is these that probably earned the composition its title ‘Sinfonia per Camera Concertata’. After the rousing initial Presto of Symphony JC63 in A, there follows an Andante piano in which the main role is given to the first violin, regularly supported by the rest of the string section and its melody interrupted occasionally by the oboes. The prominence accorded to this instrument is conserved to some extent (at least for the part in the major key) in the tripartite Presto which follows, even though the phrases are far shorter and more diversified.
6
Symphony JC22 in D, meanwhile, is characterised by an unusual variety in terms of form and thematic construction. This emerges particularly in the first Presto movement, whose sonata form creates a vast range of figurations alternating winds and strings in the exposition as well as the development section (where the author’s creative imagination also gives rise to the introduction of new ideas). While in the Assai Andante in G the wind section only intervenes periodically to emphasise specific phrases, it asserts itself forcefully in the final tripartite Allegrissimo, claiming some highly interesting solos within a widely varied rhythmic structure that includes some surprising harmonies. Symphony JC31 in E incorporates a dense sequence of melodic patterns and rhythmic figurations within a traditionally structured first movement (Allegro assai), whose interweaving of the development – effectively bringing together the original rhythm and new inventions – is no less interesting. Opening with a delicate play of two alternating violins announcing the theme, the central Andante in E minor – a tripartite / bithematic movement – proceeds with specific imitative interventions that involve the whole orchestra. The final Minuet, a tripartite Allegro spiritoso e brillante, arouses the listener’s interest thanks to the well-calibrated interventions of the woodwind section, whose members either double or are used as soloists. Also housed in the Bibliothèque Nationale are Sammartini’s last six quintets for three violins, viola, cello and basso continuo composed between April and September 1773 and probably destined for a group of aristocratic amateur players or for a performance in an Accademia. From this corpus No.5 has been chosen, as it reproduces the distinct features of the entire collection: discreet interweaving of instruments, highly regular harmonic organisation, variety of rhythm, attention to effect in performance – thanks to valuable expressive directions such as saltellate and dolce assai – and its subdivision into three movements. The composition’s unique features are exhibited not only in the specific succession of movements, all fast ones (Allegrissimo, Allegrino and Allegro moderato in the form of a Minuet and Trio), but also in the nature of the themes – which tend to be short and concise, lending themselves well to constant repetition, overlapping, elaboration and contraction. Mainly presented in the first violin, which is the prevailing voice here, the themes are taken up by all other instruments when it comes to elaboration – resulting in an effective build up of tension that is not released until the recapitulation.
7
Compact Disc 2 The Symphony in D JC11 is dated 1770 – an especially fruitful year for Sammartini, who was in his seventies by that time and, having garnered the admiration of Charles Burney and Mozart during their meetings in July and December, was busy with work for the church of San Fedele and the newer Milanese churches. The initial Allegro maestoso presents a compact and imposing homophony, but soon the themes scatter and develop among winds and strings, with a play of contrasts, imaginative superimpositions and sudden progressions. In the central Andante there are no winds, and the strings alternate between playing together and in pairs (two violins; violas and basses). During these moments, located at the beginning and at the end near the repeat, the cellos become autonomous from the basses to make the sonorous fabric denser. The thematic ideas are highly effective and manage to create a true lyrical oasis before the sweeping Presto, an uninterrupted vortex of inventions and agility that definitively takes the place – as in JC 28 and 40 – of the traditional, graceful Menuetto. The Symphony JC28 in E flat probably dates from April 1770, its three movements continually making use of separate cello and bass parts as well as a clear differentiation between the first and second violins. Beginning with an Allegro assai, this initial movement not only fully exploits the sonority and individual timbres of the orchestra, but also presents a very rich tripartite form with varied themes in which the moment of the reprise synthesises all of the founding elements – including the so-called element of development which is presented as a new thematic idea, not as a re-elaboration. The customary central Andante is as freshly conceived as the Allegrino adjective would seem to indicate, the C minor key signature and economical orchestration – oboes and strings – complementing the dense writing, with its motivic exchanges and rhythmic intricacies. The final Allegrissimo, meanwhile, uses a simple thematic motto to open up several imaginative discoveries within the apparently conventional tripartite scheme. Symphony JC17 in D is a most characterful work, probably composed in 1759 and with oboes and horns once again enriching the role of the strings. Whilst the opening Spiritoso assai is compact and intricate, with large sections for divided oboes, the alternation of the solos and collective episodes is expertly done in the sonata form Andantino. The final Presto is a sweeping whirl. Richness and variety in the melodic and rhythmic figurations shape the first movement Presto of the Symphony in G JC40, whose manuscript parts bear the date 1769. The winds’ purpose is to make the sonority of certain themes fuller (for example at the beginning) and to create a timbric
8
diversion in the exposition of the motifs (in order to achieve the first, the low-pitched strings are also at times divided). As usual, the structure leaves to the reprise the task of synthesising all of the fundamental ideas and rhythmic figurations employed. Whilst the traditional Andante is substituted with an Allegrino in the guise of a Scherzo for strings only, the final Presto is surprising because of its rhythmical composition and the uninterrupted, ingenious flow of melodic designs. The Allegro assai of the Symphony in E flat JC26 declaims a strong-willed, rhythmic theme, and the entire orchestra concurs in stating it. Almost grafted onto the preceding one without any solution, the second motif is characterised by writing that breaks the initial incisiveness by putting forward again that passage of constant capricious variety that is such an intrinsic part of Sammartini’s first stylistic phase, propitiously labelled ‘rhythmic impressionism or instantaneous lyricism’ by Fausto Torrefranca. Changing harmonies for effect and a new thematic urge complete the course of the exposition, repeated again with the appropriate variants in the reprise. The successive Allegrino, in the relative minor, creates a melancholy atmosphere accentuated by the recurrent request for suffused sonority, and recalls the poetic expression used by Jean Jacques Rousseau to voice his appreciation of Sammartini’s slow movements as ‘worthy of Anacreon’. The final Allegrissimo is overwhelming for its inexhaustible rhythmic vitality and uninterrupted thematic genius, further enlivened by a skilful play on timbres. ‘That most capricious Milanese’ Rhythmic energy, attractive themes, a wide variety of development with the insertion of new thematic elements, brilliance and variety of rhythms are thus to be found in the composer’s mature repertory, and is from this that Sammartini – that ‘most capricious Milanese’ as Giuseppe Carpini defined him – is able to emerge clearly as the first important symphonic composer of the 18th century. Though his symphonies were preceded chronologically by those of Andrea Zani and Antonio Brioschi, they represent from an artistic point of view the first real contribution to the dawning symphonic taste which established itself from the Mannheim school onwards. Numerous similarities are to be found, for example, between Sammartini’s symphonies and those of Jan Václav Antonin Stamitz (1717–1757), and it is thus probable that the Bohemian knew and imitated the style of the Milanese – just as it has also been demonstrated that Johann Christian Bach, who worked in Milan between 1754 and 1762, thoroughly assimilated Sammartini’s lessons, rethinking them in his own personal style as early as the Op.3 symphonies published in 1765.
9
Until at least halfway through the 18th century, the Milanese symphonic school (born out of Sammartini’s style) was the most important in Europe, according to De Brosses, providing musicians with an increasingly perfect model for responding to the new orchestral taste. From this point of view, the now legendary comment by Josef Myslivecˇek, made after listening to Sammartini’s music, can still be considered valid: ‘I have found the father of Haydn’s style’. These notes are based on those written by Alessandra Rossi Lürig and Mariateresa Dellaborra (translated by Patricia Hampton) for Brilliant Classics’ previous releases of volumes 1 and 2 respectively.
Accademia d’Arcadia Accademia d’Arcadia was founded in 2005 and is sponsored by Fondazione Arcadia (a foundation devoted to the study and editing of unpublished Italian music) from which it originated. Dedicated to performing previously unknown 18th-century Italian works published by the foundation, the group plays on period instruments and aims to recreate the performance practice techniques used at that time. Accademia Arcadia comprises some of Italy’s best early music musicians, regularly collaborates with celebrated soloists and conductors, and is a frequent visitor to important concert series and festivals. Based in Milan, its performance home is the Baroque church of Sant’Antonio Abate (where Mozart incidentally created Exsultate, jubilate), and Alessandra Rossi Lürig its founder and chief director. www.fondazionearcadia.org
Accademia d’Arcadia Sources Manuscripts: Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Fonds du Consérvatoire Critical edition by Fondazione Arcadia, Alessandra Rossi Lürig Recording: 4–9 July 2005 & 1–4 November 2005 (CD1) and 3–6 October 2008 (CD2), Chiesa di San Vincenzo, Eupilio, Italy Producer: Andrea Dandolo Sound engineers: Michael Seberich (CD1) and Matteo Costa (CD2) Cover image: The Charterhouse near Pavia. Photo: Private Collection/The Stapleton Collection/ The Bridgeman Art Library Original recordings sponsored by Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione Arcadia 2010 & 훿 2012 Brilliant Classics
10
11