|
Giuseppe Aldrovandini
Two motets for bass, two violins and basso continuo
ed MICHAEL TALBOT
Edition HH 590
ISMN 979 0 708213 05 5
www.editionhh.co.uk
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier
Six sonatas for two violins, Op. 71
ed MICHAEL ELPHINSTONE
Edition HH 603
ISMN 979 0 708213 18 5
www.editionhh.co.uk
These are two new publications from Edition HH (editionhh.co.uk) both issued in
2024.
The first, edited by the eminent musicologist Michael Talbot, is of Giuseppe Aldrovandini’s two motets for solo bass voice, ‘Recedant lacrimae’ and ‘Volate, nubila’ from his Concerti sacri a voce sola con violini, Op. 3, first printed in 1703. As it says on the title, these sacred works are with the accompaniment of two violins and basso continuo, typical of a chamber cantata of that era. They were written either for liturgical use in churches or simply as private devotional music at home. The texts are loosely liturgical and were set anonymously by local poets. Many of the readers may not be familiar with the composer, Giuseppe Aldrovandini. He was born in Bologna in 1671 and trained at the city’s Basilica, after which he was admitted to Bologna’s Academia filarmonica as a composer. Subsequently he became maestro di capella to the duke of Mantua, Ferdinando Carlo. It is thought that his principal instrument was the keyboard. Aldrovandini unfortunately had a tragic end: not only was he living in penury, he also met his death accidentally by falling into a canal following a drunken farewell party for a colleague. These solo motets are set in the format Aria – Recitative – Aria – Alleluia, as was common at this time. ‘Recedant lacrimae’ (Let tears recede) in A minor is slightly repetitive in the outer movements but has some interesting angular motifs in the parts; ‘Volate nubila’ (Fly, you clouds) in G major, is a little more charismatic in my view and perhaps also the more substantial of the two. The violins in both cases offer brief commentaries in between the vocal phrases; they play a short ritornello in the middle of each motet. There is no opening sonata or sinfonia. The basso continuo play throughout and have the most to do in these pieces. The parts supplied - 2 for the violins, 1 each for the bass voice and basso continuo - are all well laid out and easy to read. There are no awkward page turns. I would have liked to see the vocal line printed in the recitatives in the continuo part, particularly when it is rightly suggested that they ‘should be sung in flexible rhythm’. The score is supplied with a realised keyboard part, which although it says in the notes ‘deliberately errs on the side of simplicity’ I found to be very thorough (excuse the pun).
Joseph Bodin de Boismortier’s Op. 71 is somewhat of a new discovery. Although there is a substantial amount of duos published by the composer in his lifetime (22 collections for various pairs of instruments including hurdy-gurdies, musettes and horns!) many of them have been lost, including the present set for violins. In fact these sonatas had been deposited at the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon in 1981 but remained hidden until they were digitised and made available in 2014. The sonatas are ordered, as in the original print according to their level of difficulty: the first three are ‘simple’, without chords, and the latter three require more advanced technique involving multiple stops in both of the parts. The second violin act as bass line accompaniment when not crossing over the top violin at various points: the parts are more or less equal otherwise. These compositions are Italianate in style with evidence from the music to show that they may have been influenced by Vivaldi and Leclair. The simpler sonatas may have had some pedagogical use. Michael Elphinstone is the editor of this set and has supplied a comprehensive introduction and somewhat brief editorial notes at the back; the original was evidently almost error free.
We are grateful to theThe Consort for permission to reproduce this review.
|
Full score and parts