Heinrich Schmelzer was one of the most interesting and original musicians of his day. He grew up in an army camp because his father was an officer. Quite probably it was there that he received his first impressions of music besides regular violin instruction. The Polish, Hungarian, Croatian and Bohemian soldiers of the Austrian army, after all, had their musicians with them, and some were surely excellent and virtuoso folk musicians. All through his life Schmelzer was most closely attached to folk music; most of his works reflect his youthful impressions while in the army camp. Before he was twenty years old his violin technique must already have been so good that he was engaged as violinist in the imperial court orchestra, His unusual talent then soon came to the attention of the ernperor. He had to compose the ballet music to nearly all of the operas. Leopold held him in such high esteem that in 1679, he made him his first non-Italian conductor at the court. - The works on this record are taken in part from "Sacro-profanus concentus musicus" (a collection of his works that was printed in 1662) and in part from the Kromeřiz archives. The latter are so extreme in their technical and musical demands that surely he had written them especially for the virtuosi of this orchestra. - Formally speaking, all of these one-movement sonatas are in the Italian style. The various sections with differing rhythmic signatures are not separated from one another by end-of-movement pauses, but rather are joined together without a break. At times the form is concluded by a reprise.
The Christmas Sonata "Natalitia" is, despite its shortness, a work of monstrous tonal richness, with three choirs - it was probably thought of as pastoral music. A choir of four piffari (oboes with bassoon) and a choir of two flutes and three trombones answer the five-part string choir that is also supposed to be provided in choirs. Interestingly enough, according to an explanatory note in the instrument parts the recorders may also be replaced by soft zinks - a further indication of the dynamic possibilities of the instruments of that time.
Sonata II in the "Concentus" is written in the old Venetian manner for two separately placed orchestral choirs; the instruments used in the choirs also reflect the old Venetian style: one violin and three violas in the first choir against a zink (cornetto) and three trombones in the second choir, with organ and violone (double bass) accompaning. The violone and zink clearly have duties to perform as concert soloists. Alternation between the two choirs is less in the form of a dialogue than of imitation and echo.
The sonata La Carioletta is a typical Kromeřiz work. It was composed in 1669, and its solos for trombone and bassoon (actually still a late form of the dulciana) are decades ahead of its time. Of especial interest is the bassoon part, that diminishes the bass in obligatory paraphrases. Such extreme scorings prove the dynamic flexibility and homogeneity of the old instruments time after time.
In the eight-part Sonata I (of the Concentus) the thematic motifs of the trumpet are taken over by the violins and gambas; the middle section (without trumpet) offers the opportunity to change key and to introduce characteristic string figures. The dance-like final section is again dominated by the valveless trumpet.
It is true that the Sonata for Violin, Clarino and Trombone has come down to us in Kromeřiz without the composer’s name; yet the style of writing is so very Schmelzer-like that I personally hold it to be one of his works. For all practical purposes it is a prelude and chaconne over a step-wise descending bass that had been repeatedly used since Monteverdi. Every instrument has solo variations with technical demands that border on the limits of what is humanly possible.
In Sonata IV (of the Concentus) it can be noticed most clearly that Schmelzer’s inspiration steemed from eastern lolk music. This work is pure Hungarian gypsy music in which there are many of the special features and rhythms that today are still identified with that kind of music.
Another also extremely difficult work is thc Sonata a 5. Once more the bassoon part far exceeds the normal requirenients for the bass instrument. The themes of this work are determined by the valveless trumpet. The two violins are placed like a choir against the two wind instruments. In the middle section each soloist has to perform a "breakneck" solo - a characteristic of nearly all Kromeřiz Sonatas - before they all join in to play the dance-like closing movement.
Although the Sonata a 3 has come down to us without the name of its composer, it is still impossible for me to imagine its composer as having been anyone other than Schmelzer. The instrumentation is subtly worked out: each of the four different string instruments received a task that was typical for Schmelzer. The violin is the dominating solo instrument, the violetta (a viola) and the garnba are juxtaposed like two choirs. There is surely a concrete program underlying this piece, one that is built on the thoroughly complicated rhythms in the bellringing that returns twice. The almost romantic melancholy of the interludes, the rich harmony and the themes of the Allegro parts obviously show a strong Hungarian influence.
Completely unlike the other works described up to this point is the last Sonata for Three Violins. In this fugal work there are no main or secondary parts; the three solo violins are of fully equal rank and constantly pass the lead from one to another. The middle section is a harmonically bold Adagio that, after a short interlude, runs into the final dance that is written over a basso ostinato.