That Vienna was already a center of music in the baroque period is probably chiefly due to the extraordinary enthusiasm shown by several Hapsburg emperors for music. In the case of Leopold I, Austria’s baroque emperor par excellence, enthusiasm grew steadily into fanaticism. This strange man, who was emperor for nearly fifty years, was by no means a born ruler. Since he was sickly and weak, had a strong brother (Ferdinand IV) and was furthermore highly pious, he was educated for the priesthood. The sudden death of his brother thus forced ihm into a role for which he was completely unprepared. Nonetheless, or perhaps for just that very reason and despite all of its dissonant tones, the period of his reign was thoroughly fruitful and in no wise less successful than that of his brilliant French counterpart, Louis XIV, whose reign was just about as long. Leopold was not at all war-like. A lovely concert meant more to him than winning a battle. His generals complained that, although he had no money for the army, he still gave out huge sums for his opera performances. - Since court life was more or less a public affair, every provincial nobleman tried to emulate the customs and fashions of the high aristocracy. As a result, in France and Germany there were numerous small courts that imitated Versailles in its style of living and in the architecture of its palace and gardens. In Austria and Bohemia patronage of music was among the things in which the imperial court was imitated. Even minor rulers maintained court orchestras with permanently employed musicians. (Abraham à Sancta Clara wrote in 1679: "...the sound of trumpets and the music that could be heard coming out everywhere from the courts and palaces of the nobility always made such pleasant noise that one stopped in front of them: a hole must have been made in heaven, through which joy fell peck-wise upon the city of Vienna.") Splendid music was also to be heard every Sunday in the many churches in Vienna and in the convents and monasteries of Lower Austria, that were supposed to represent both the ecclesiastical and secular residences of God during the baroque period.
Leopold not only had a passionate ear for music, he himself was also a composer, and not a bad one. He wrote masses, oratorios, dances, German songs and many additions to the compositions of his court musicians. Frequently he was satisfied in inventing the melody and left the instrumentation to his court composers Berthali or Ebner. Although the Austrian state coffers were always empty, often even in debt, the Italian musicians in the court orchestra received princely salaries. In every respect they were the predecessors of today’s highly paid "star" musicians.
Gottlieb Eucharius Rinck, a captain in the imperial army, wrote about Leopold and his court orchestra: "The emperor is a great artist in music... if there was anything in this world that gave the emperor pleasure, it was unmistakably good music. It increased his joy, it diminished his worries, and one can say of him that he never had any more pleasurable hour among any form of diversion than that which a well-fitted concert gave him. This could be seen particularly in his rooms. For when he, as was his custom, changed residence four times a year-namely, from the castle to Laxenburg, from there to the 'Favority' and then to Ebersburg, there was always a costly spinet in each of the emperor’s rooms, upon which the emperor spent all of his leisurely hours. His band can well be called the most perfect orchestra in the world, and that is surely no wonder wince the emperor himself held the examination. Whenever an applicant was accepted, then he had been judged according to his merits and not by inclinations... One can judge from the number of experienced musicians how expensive they must have been for the emperor. For many of these people were barons and were paid such salaries that they could live as befits their station... Whenever the emperor was in a concert of his incomparable orchestra, he enjoyed himself so much that he gave unlimited attention, such as if he were hearing it for the very first time... When a passage came that particularly pleased him, he closed his eyes tightly so as to listen with greater attention. His ear was so keen that he could detect among fifty players which one had bowed incorrectly."
Aside from the court capella in Vienna there were several other orchestras in countries under Hapsburg rule; they were built in accordance with the personal tastes of their respective employers and enjoyed the special attention of the emperor. The most important of these orchestras belonged to the Archbishop of Olmütz, Carl Liechtenstein-Castelcorn. This wealthy prince of the Church had built for himself a colossal residence in Kromeřiz. Apparently his preference in music was given over extremely to solo performances. For several years his famous court orchestra was conducted by Biber, who was one of the foremost violinists of the time. Biber’s successor was the legendary court trumpeter Vejvanovsky, beside whom there were excellent trombonists, bassoonists and flutists.
The string instruments were ordered from the best instrument-maker of the time, Jacobus Stainer of Absam. This orchestras - in which not only German and Austrian musicians were engaged, but also many Bohemians - was the chief cause of Leopold’s many visits to Kromeřiz. Apparently the emperor also took active part in the music-making there from time to time, for inserted sections in a number of compositions found there were composed by him.
European music saw the development of two main stylistic currents in the period following the Thirty Years’ War: the French and the Italian. The chief characteristics of the French style were its short and clearly transparent forms, extreme simplicity and short movements; ornamentation was strictly schematic. The music was primarily dance music, the form of which has been compared with the highly rational and straight-line forms of French palace and garden architecture. Mainly as a result of Lully’s excessively strict instructions, even the manner of playing was minutely prescribed, right down to detailed rules for bow-strokes. - On the other hand, Italian music was cheerful and outgoing; instruments were always expected to strive toward emulation of the singing voice; the musical forms were expansive and splendid; the string sound dominated. Rich ornamentation was improvised extemporaneously by highly imaginative interpreters. Hence, in every respect, these two musical styles provide a faithful reflection of Italian and French temperaments. A blending of the two was, at first, considered impossible; indeed, Italian musicians refused to play French music and vice versa. And rightly so, incidentally, since in those days music was thought of as tonal conversation, and one could not "converse" musically in a language that one neither had at command nor liked.
In countries other than France and Italy the personal tastes of the ruling prince dictated which style of music was given preference. The Viennese court was, of course, dominated by the Italians. First of all, the emperor took his political opposition against France so seriously that he did not even allow the French language to be spoken in his presence. But then too, the joyful spirit of Italian music was far more compatible to the Austrian temperament than the emphatically rational music of the French. This meant that for many generations basically only Italian musicians, singers and composers could gain true foothold in Vienna. The advance of two "native" Austrians, Schmelzer and Fux, to the highest posts in the imperial music establishment must be considered almost a minor miracle. Naturally, the Italian musicians at the court wanted to keep "their" orchestra as free as possible of foreign influence. Austrian, German, Bohemian and French composers were sometimes able to ind favor at lesser courts or with the Jesuits. Extraordinary talents like the harpsichordist Wolfgang Ebner, the violinist Heinrich Schmelzer and the composer J. J. Fux had chances of being taken into the court orchestra only if the emperor personally so desired. But of course, Italian music could not maintain a pure monopoly in Vienna. The city was so full of music of every kind: in addition to French music in this melting pot of peoples, Hungarian, Bohemian and Austrian folk music was also found, so that in the end every style influenced and permeated the others. As early as the seventeenth century a higly definite Austrian style was in the making, which injected elements of all the other styles into the Italian form. A compromise that was typically Austrian but, at least in this case, highly artistic.
On looking through Austrian and Bohemian archives, one finds such immense amounts of music, especially from the time of Leopold’s reign, that it can scarcely be imagined when all of it could possibly have been performed. In reality there were even many more compositions since, after all, much has been lost in the course of the subsequent centuries. But the role of music in the daily life of that time was totally different from its role today. One played, exclusively, music of what was then the immediate present, was consequently at home in the musical idiom of the day so that even the slightest nuance was noticed and probably also retained. Thus it may be explained how people did not want to hear works several times, but rather actually expected to hear new compositions at each occasion. That may well have been connected with their notion of instrumental music as tonal conversation - it surely would not be toleranted that a speaker repeat his lectures several times. If one reflects that the year has fifty-two Sundays and that at a music-loving court music was performed four times a week, one can somewhat reckon the enormous and constant demand for new music. In those days, of course, every trained musician was able to compose music that was at least technically flawless. By no means could anyone, nor did anyone want to, consume true masterpieces one right after the other; as the Salzburg court conductor G. Muffat expressly demanded, masterpieces always had to be alternated with easily comprehended and uncomplicated pieces so as not to overtax the listener.
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.
Johann Joseph Fux, too, brought new folk-like strains into the well-guarded world of the imperial court orchestra. The veil of mystery surrounding the life history and musical education of Johann Joseph Fux has still not been lifted. When he was approximately thirty years old, he suddenly appeared as a finished musician in Vienna where he worked mainly as an organist. The emperor heard him at the home of a nobleman and named him Court Composer (the title was created especially for him) in 1698. Later he entered the court orchestra and was named conductor of the imperial court orchestra. - As a composer, Fux has not been held in the esteem he merits. That is probably because he was the author of the famous manual on counterpoint Gradus ad Parnassum (the work from which the \/iennese classicists still drew their technical knowledge), and because no one was willing to believe that a theoretician could also be a full-blooded musician. Even today, a musician who can express himself on the subject of music is usually stamped a dry theoretician. The popular picture of the "artist" shows him surrounded by a magic aureole; intellect does not fit into that picture. Fux personally took another view of himself: "...at the time in which l was not yet in full use of my reason, I was swept away by the vehemence of some urge that could not identify; it directed all of my thoughts and feelings toward music, and even now I am permeated by an almost miraculous desire to learn to master it, indeed, I am pushed in that direction as if I had no will of my own; day and night my ears seem surrounded by sweet rnusical tones, so that I have no reason to doubt the virtue of my choice of profession."
In his "Concentus musico instrumentalis... 1701", that he dedicated to Leopold's son Joseph I, he presented a collection of sonatas and suites with highly varying instrumentations. ln these works the French and Italian styles pervade each other and are blended with influences that stem from Austrian folklore. These works must probably also be considered to be typical of Austria's contribution to the baroque concert of notions.
The Serenade on this record is the opening piece of this collection; it is a suite with sixteen movements. The versatile employment of the valveless trumpet is particularly interesting: in three movements it comes forth festively resounding, in the other movements its line is delicate and cantabile. The composer apparently wanted to demonstrate all of the instruments possibilities. But even aside from the trumpet the scoring is remarltable. There are solo passages for the oboes like those that loter appeared in Handel's Concerti grossi. The individual movements are in part free fantasy forms (Marche, Aria, Aria, lntrada, Finale), in part dances or the movements of the French overture suite (Guigue, Menuet Ouverture, Menuet l, ll, Guigue, Aria [Passepied] Bourrée I, ll, Rigadon, Ciacona, Guigue, Menuet). But Fux by no means kept strictly to a formal pattern in the movements. To the Guigue, Ciacona and Menuet he wrote a free solo part for the trumpet: elements of peasant music from his native Styria can be heard repeatedly, for example, in several minuets, but especially in the completely unorthodox Ciacona that at times sounds just like a Ländler.
The other two pieces on this recording were found in the Dresden State Library; The Rondeau a 7 was included in this collection chiefly for its unusual solo group. A simple dance-like theme (that is played by all instruments eleven times with slight rhythmic and dynamic variation) forms a framework for the soli and duets of the violino piccolo and the bassaon.
The Sonata a Quattro requires exactly the same instruments as Schmelzer's Carioletta, a generation later, however; hence it is considerably clearer and smoother, a masterpiece of four-port chamber musrc, scored for four entirely different sounding instruments; thus the individual voices always remain independently clear and maintain their presence throughout the contrapuntal structure.