Wind Chamber Music I

Baroque Experiments

Performers

Rosa Finkbeiner, Jule Helmkamp Recorder
Eva Barkova, Umberto Panullo Flute
Yuki Ito, Clement Letetu, Yiyi Wang, Boyang Zheng Oboe
Tamás Hatházi, Teodor Lionte Clarinet
Maren Hahn, Davide Porta, Natsumi Sato, Konstantin Simon Bassoon
Laura Ferreira, Tommaso Perotti Horn
Nikolaj Trivukas, Ben Yitzhak Schönhardt Double Bass
Gabriel Henschen Harpsichord
Michael Hasel Rehearsal Director and Conductor

Program

Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach 3 Marches and 3 Sonatas, Wq. 184/185, for wind ensemble
Georg Philipp Telemann Quartet in D minor from “Tafelmusik, Part 2” for recorder, 2 flutes, and basso continuo
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach 6 Sonatas, Wq. 92, for harpsichord, clarinet, and bassoon
Johann Joachim Quantz Trio Sonata in C major, QV2: Anh. 3, for recorder, flute, and basso continuo
Jan Dismas Zelenka Sonata in F major, ZWV 181.5, for 2 oboes, bassoon, and basso continuo
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach 3 Marches and 3 Sonatas for Wind Ensemble, Wq. 184/185

In 1768,Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach succeeded his late godfather, Georg Philipp Telemann, as City Music Director and Cantor at the Johanneum in Hamburg. There, in addition to large-scale symphonies, concertos, chamber music, and sacred works, he composed numerous smaller pieces, such as the marches and sonatas for wind ensemble or the sonatas for harpsichord with accompaniment by a clarinet and a bassoon.

What is unusual in all three groups of works is the use of clarinets. This instrument—or rather its predecessor, the chalumeau—only gradually found its way into art music toward the end of the 18th century, but then rapidly became the defining timbre of the woodwind section by the mid-19th century.

The marches—none of which is longer than a minute—and the sonatas, which are also short, single-movement pieces of a cheerful and playful character, were likely intended for performance by a military band in a choral arrangement.

Here, Bach anticipates what would become established in the Classical period as the “harmony music” ensemble: oboes, clarinets, bassoons, and horns arranged in pairs. These mini-orchestras were able to bring arrangements of the latest operas and symphonies to small aristocratic households or to the salons that were springing up everywhere.

The trio sonatas consist of the same musical material as the ensemble pieces, in a form that was likely simplified to meet the needs of amateur musicians. The harpsichord serves as the leading instrument here, complemented or doubled by the two wind parts.

 

Georg Philipp Telemann’s*Tafelmusik* is a collection published in 1733 in three parts (“productions”), each of which follows the same structure:

• Suite for a large orchestra
• Quartet for three instruments and basso continuo
• Concerto for several solo instruments and orchestra
• Trio for two instruments and basso continuo
• Solo for one instrument and basso continuo
• Conclusion for the same instrumentation as the Suite.

These works were not intended to be performed in this order, nor were they intended as background music for banquets. Rather, they constitute a collection for wealthy music lovers, nobles, merchants, and musicians, which could be purchased through a subscription paid in advance (at a price that was immense for the time). Among the more than two hundred buyers were, among others, Handel and Quantz.

In this collection, Telemann experiments with various extravagant combinations of instruments. In the quartet from the “2nd Production,” he combines two transverse flutes with a recorder in the first, third, and fourth movements, employing a wide variety of voice leading and timbral combinations, while the second movement is essentially a virtuosic mini-concerto for recorder accompanied by the other instruments.

 

Johann Joachim Quantz was a master of both flute instruments and , with his trio sonata for recorder and transverse flute with basso continuo, a sonata that already approaches the galant pre-classical style and elegantly showcases the distinct timbres of the flute instruments. It dates from his time as a flutist with the Dresden Court Orchestra. There he met Frederick II, who summoned him to Berlin in 1741 as a flute teacher and court composer, where he also collaborated with C.P.E. Bach as a chamber harpsichordist, among others.

Quantz had also taken composition lessons from Jan Dismas Zelenka, who spent most of his life in Dresden working as a double bassist and esteemed composer. After his death, Zelenka’s trio sonatas lay in the archives for more than 200 years until Heinz Holliger brought them back into the musical world’s consciousness in 1973 with an inspiring recording, sparking a Zelenka revival. The demands in terms of virtuosity, musicality, rhythmic precision, and stamina are enormous. Particularly in the sonata performed here, the bassoon is liberated from its bass role and becomes a highly virtuosic partner in the sophisticated and complex interweaving of voices.

Michael Hasel