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CD reviews
Johann Christian SCHICKHARDT (1682 - 1762): Trio sonatas & Quartets
[I] "Sonate a quattro op. 22"
Epoca Barocca
rec: Feb 5 - 7, 2021, Lehrberg, Dorfmühle
CPO - 555 450-2 (© 2024) (73'07")
Liner-notes: E/D/F
Cover & track-list
Scores
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Sonata in F, op. 22,1;
Sonata in D, op. 22,2;
Sonata in c minor, op. 22,3;
Sonata in G, op. 22,4;
Sonata in d minor, op. 22,5;
Sonata in a minor, op. 22,6
Eva Morsbach, Daniel Rothert, recorder;
Alessandro Piqué, oboe;
Katrin Lazar, bassoon;
Klaus Dieter Brandt, cello;
Matthias Spaeter, archlute;
Andrea Perugi, harpsichord, organ
[II] "Corelli after Schickhardt - Triosonatas"
Serendipia Ensemble
rec: Jan 15 - 18, 2023, Granada, Auditorio Manuel de Falla
IBS Classical - IBS42024 (© 2024) (79'00")
Liner-notes: E/ES
Cover, track-list & booklet
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Moisés Maroto, Rita Rógar, recorder;
José Arsenio Rueda, bassoon;
Calla Álvarez, viola da gamba;
Jon Wasserman, [plucked string];
Darío Tamayo, harpsichord
Johann Christian Schickhardt is one of those composers whose name only now and then appears in concert programmes and in anthologies on disc. Especially players and lovers of the recorder know him well, as many of his compositions include a part for this instrument, which Schickhardt played himself professionally. And as the recorder was one of the favourite instruments of amateurs in his time, his music was published by the renowned music printer Étienne Roger in Amsterdam, and later by his successor Michel-Charles Le Cène. The fact that they were published in pirated editions in London soon after they came onto the market further attests to the popularity of his music.
Taking this into account, it is rather odd that he seems never to have been able to find a fixed position. The relatively sparse biographical data indicate that he was mostly active in Germany, the Netherlands and England, and maybe also Scandinavia. He was born in Brunswick, where he received his musical training at the court on recorder, transverse flute and oboe. He spent some time in the Netherlands, in the service of Prince Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, Princess Henriette Amalie of Nassau-Dietz and her son John William Friso. When the latter died in 1711 he moved to Hamburg, where he seems to have moved among the circles of the bourgeoisie, witness the names of the godparents of his children and the dedicatees of his works.
Around 1720 he seems to have been in contact with Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen, whose Hofkapellmeister was Johann Sebastian Bach. He dedicated a set of flute sonatas to Leopold. At least in 1732 he was in England, where he participated in a concert. In 1735 he published L'alphabet de la musique, a set of 24 sonatas in all keys for transverse flute or violin as his Op. 30. That was the last printed edition of music from his pen. It is likely that he spent the rest of his life in the Netherlands, at least from 1745 until his death in 1762.
As the opus number 22 indicates, his oeuvre is pretty large. The part that was printed consists of chamber music for wind instruments: recorder, transverse flute and oboe. At least one concerto for recorder and orchestra has been preserved in manuscript. Printed editions of chamber music were aimed at the growing market of musical amateurs. This explains why many of them offer alternatives in scoring, for instance oboe or violin. An alternative to the oboe made much sense, as in the time Schickhardt published his music, this was a relatively new instrument and not very common among amateurs.
The two recordings to be reviewed here, both offer music for two recorders. They are different in character, but also have some similarities. The six sonatas Op. 22 were published around 1718 by Le Cène. They are dedicated to the Franconian Count John Frederick of Castell-Rüdenhausen and his wife Catharina Hedwig of Rantzau. These pieces are in fact quartets, a genre that was highly revered in the first half of the 18th century. Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Friedrich Fasch were among the main composers of such pieces, which attested to the composer's command of counterpoint. That is also the case here, although in these sonatas the two recorders often move in parallel. The connection between the three instruments is different. Sometime the oboe takes the lead, there are short solo episodes for one or two instruments as well as passages in which the basso continuo keeps silent. In the Sonata No. 3 the fourth movement, marked cantabile, is scored for recorder and basso continuo.
The influence of Corelli is unmistakable, but Schickhardt takes some freedom, for instance in the number and character of the movements. Three of the sonatas are in four movements, the other two in five. Each sonata has only one slow movement, either the first or the second. Several movements are dances: allemanda, giga and rigadon (sic).
It is easy to understand why Schickhardt's music was received well. The sonatas are very well-written, thematically differentiated and interesting, and technically not too challenging. They receive here the best-possible performance by the ensemble Epoca Barocca. Technically the playing is immaculate, and the players show a good sense of rhythm. This is a most entertaining disc to which one may regularly return.
The second production is different in that we have no original music, but rather arrangements of music written by Arcangelo Corelli. He was highly revered in his time and for generations to come, and his concerti grossi, solo sonatas and trio sonatas set the standard other composers aimed to follow. The popularity of Corelli's music was such that arrangements of his concertos and sonatas were printed across Europe. Among the best-known are an English edition of his sonatas Op. 5 in arrangements for recorder, and Francesco Geminiani's arrangements of these sonatas as concerti grossi.
Schickhardt arranged Corelli's concerti grossi as trio sonatas for two recorders and basso continuo. They were dedicated to the English bass John Gostling. The date of publication by Roger seems not to be known (the liner-notes don't mention the year of publication), but the dedication may give us a clue. Around 1715 Schickhardt published his treatise The Compleat Tutor to the Hautboy in London, and it seems likely that at this occasion he was in London and may have become acquainted with Gostling. Publishing arrangements at the time that Corelli's concerti grossi had only been published recently (1714) was commercially profitable.
It is interesting to see what Schickhardt has actually done. Rather than arranging the concertos as they came, he treated them with considerable freedom. First, only the Sonata No. 8 corresponds to the Concerto grosso No. 8, the famous 'Christmas concerto'. In other cases, the numbers of the sonatas and concertos are different. The Sonata No. 3, for instance, is an arrangement of the Concerto grosso No. 11.
Second, Schickhardt does not arrange each movement. In the Sonata No. 8 he omits the opening movement of the concerto grosso. He also does not bother to change the original order. The Sonata No. 12 is an arrangement of the Concerto No. 5; here the fourth movement is omitted, and the others are included in the order I, III, II and V.
Third, Schickhardt mixes movements from different concertos. Take Sonata No. 1: it opens with the first movement from the Concerto No. 9. This is followed by the second movement from the Concerto No. 10. Next are the sixth movement from Concerto No. 9 and the fifth movement from the Concerto No. 6. The sonata closes with the only original movement: a giga. The Sonata No. 9 consists of only three movements, and each one is taken from a different concerto. Here Schickhardt goes even further in his liberties: the first movement is the second section of the fourth movement from the Concerto No. 4, which causes a rather abrupt opening. The entire movement of this concerto is also used as the last movement of the Sonata No. 7.
Lastly, the number of movements does not correspond with that of the concertos, and many movements are considerably shorter than the original movements in the concerti grossi. The fact that these twelve sonatas take just one disc, whereas all recordings of Corelli's concerti grossi need two is telling (assuming that the performers did not omit repetitions themselves; the liner-notes don't mention this issue). I don't know whether Schickhardt also transposed Corelli's concertos; the track-list does not include the keys.
These features indicate that one probably should call these sonatas 'reworkings' rather than 'arrangements'. In fact, they are sonatas in their own right. Corelli's concerti grossi are very well-known, and most listeners will recognize them. It is nice that the booklet includes a complete list of sonata movements with their corresponding concerto movements. The scoring for two recorders and basso continuo also lends them a character which allows them to stand on their own feet. And they are very well made. I don't know whether they are available in a modern edition. They should be, because this is good stuff; recorder players should investigate these pieces and consider adding them to their repertoire. They will certainly find a good reception with audiences.
The Serendepia Ensemble was founded in 2019 and this is their first recording. I have nothing but praise for this release. First, it cannot be appreciated enough that they have turned to this repertoire rather than music that has been recorded a number of times before. They are breaking new ground with this recording. Second, the playing is outstanding, both by the two recorder players and the basso continuo group, which is a real driving force and sets accents, as it should. I have thoroughly enjoyed this recording, thanks first to Corelli's irresistable concertos and to Schickhardt's interesting and compelling reworkings, and second to the brilliant performances by the Serendepia Ensemble, of which I hope to hear more in the years to come.
Johan van Veen (© 2024)
Relevant links:
Epoca Barocca
Serendipia Ensemble