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1 LP -
6.41929 AW - (p) 1975
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Kompositionen für Altus
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Johann Christoph Bach
(1642-1703) |
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Lamento "Ach daß ich Wassers
genug hätter" |
--' --" |
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A1 |
Solokantate für alt, 2
Violinen, 2 Bratschen und Basso
continuo |
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Dietrich Buxtehude
(1637-1707) |
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Jubilate Domino (Psalm 98,
4-6)
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--' --" |
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A2 |
Solokantate für Alt, Viola da
gamba und Basso continuo
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Christoph Bernhard
(1627-1692) |
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Was betrübst du dich, meine
Seele (Psalm 42, 6)
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--' --" |
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A3 |
Geistliche Kantate für
Alt, Viola da braccio, Viola da gamba
und Basso continuo |
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Marc'Antonio
Ziani (um 1653-1715)
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Alma Redemptoris Mater |
--' --" |
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B1 |
Geistliche Motette für
Alt, 2 Posaunen, Fagott und Basso
continuo |
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Georg Philipp Telemann
(1681-1767) |
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Ach Herr, strafe mich nicht
(Psalm 5) |
--' --" |
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B2 |
Kantate für Alt, 2
Violinen und Basso continuo |
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Paul Esswood,
Alt / Countertenor
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CONCENTUS MUSICUS
WIEN (mit
Originalinstrumenten)
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Alice Harnoncourt, Violine (1,5),
Violetta (3)
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Eduard Hruza, Violone (1,2,3,4)
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Walter Pfeiffer, Violine (2)
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Ernst Hofmann, Posaune (4) |
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Peter Schoberwalter, Viola (1) |
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Horst Küblöck, Posaune (4) |
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Josef de Sordi, Violietta (1) |
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Milan Turkovic, Fagott (4)
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Kurt Theiner, Viola (1)
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Herbert Tachezi, Orgel |
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Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Violoncello
(1,4,5), Viola da gamba (2,3)
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Nikolaus
Harnoncourt, Gesamtleitung |
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Luogo
e data di registrazione
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1974 |
Registrazione
live / studio
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studio |
Producer
/ Engineer
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-
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Prima Edizione CD
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Prima
Edizione LP
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Telefunken "Das
Alte Werk" - 6.41929 AW
- (1 lp) - --'
--"
- (p) 1975
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Programme Music of the
Baroque Era
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The famous music
theorist Glareanus in his
“Dodecachordon" (1557) praises the
melismatic richness of the alto voices
in the motets “Domine non secundum”
and “Victimae paschali” by Josquin
Desprez. Other works of the period
around 1500 are also marked by the
preferential treatment accorded to the
,,altus“ (or counter-tenor) part.
Altus was the description given to the
high male voice, since alto as a
female voice did not become a reality
of musical life until the 18th
century. As regards the history of
composition, the altus emerged around
1450 as the second highest part of the
four-part chorus, as the counterpart
to the tenor as the carrying voice.
Originally it referred to a technique
of style, but also meant a tonal
equivalent.
Since the vocal range of the male
altos extended from middle tenor to
middle soprano pitch, and in
exceptional cases even beyond this,
the alto was a highly favoured voice
range, in addition to the soprano of
the prima donnas, not least of all
because of the advanced degree of
vocal culture displayed by the trained
singers. The part of Orpheus in
Christoph Willibald Gluck’s “Orpheus e
Euridice” (1762) is the best example
known today from the comprehensive
opera literature of the l7th and 18th
centuries. However, the castratos who
had emigrated from Spain to France and
Italy since the middle of the 16th
century failed to find acceptance in
either the Catholic or Protestant
church. The altos in the papal chapel
were falsetto-singing men, the
tenorini. In the Latin schools of
Protestant Germany the choral alto
parts were mainly sung by boys, while
soloist passages, such as in the
sacred concertos and
extending as far as the solos in some
of Bach’s works, were transposed for
falsetto males. Nevertheless the vocal
art of the castratos and the style of
opera also had a modifying effect on
concertante church
music. In the late 17th and early 18th
centuries four-part singing was one of
the especial musical pleasures in
Leipzig student circles; in addition
to the alto, the soprano was also sung
falsetto, since women had no access to
private music making of this kind.
The domain of the altos, especially of
the castratos, was Italian opera,
which was in full bloom at that time
and the standard of which was decisive
for the musical reputation of a court
(excepting Versailles). The singers
encountered respect and highly paid
positions in the rich princely courts
of Italy and of the German-speaking
area, including even Warsaw and St.
Petersburg. The expressive alto voice,
the considerable technical and musical
abilities of the singers, had a
contributory decisive effect on the
tonal criteria of opera seria. Altos
were in every respect the complement
to the prima donna. Heroic roles were
parts for high male voices, as a rule
for castratos, with particularly broad
vocal range, Thus in this connection
Mozart was able to describe the
castrato as “primo uomo", as the first
man (as opposed to the “prima donna”).
The two main performers competed for
the favours of the princes.
The castrato Baldassare Ferri
(1610-1680) was admired by
contemporaries for his breathing and
trill techniques. When
he went from the court in Warsaw to
Vienna in 1655 he made a major
contribution to the advancement and
reputation of the court opera. The
emperors Ferdinand III and Leopold I
overwhelmed him with gifts to such an
extent that he was able to bequeath
600,000 ducats to religious
foundations. Carlo Broschi, with the
stage name Farinelli (1705--1782), was
probably the most famous castrato of
the 18th century. He
received his training from the highly
regarded Neapolitan opera composer
Nicola Porpora, in whose opera
“Eumene” Farinelli scored unparalleled
success in Rome in 1722.
He frequently performed in
Vienna and, on the advice of Emperor
Karl VI, he also studied more serious
styles of singing. On the
recommendation of Porpora he was
engaged by Händel’s
opponents to perform in London, where
his appearance was a decisive reason
for the failure of Händel’s
operatic undertakings, This is
probably also the reason why Händel
in his last operas, from 1735 onwards,
composed the heroic roles for a tenor
voice. In 1737 Farinelli went to the
Spanish court, where his singing is
said to have had a favourable effect
on the depressions of Philipp V.
Furthermore, due to his favoured
position, he was able to influence
political decisions.
For all this, the fate of the
acclaimed vocal virtuosos was combined
with castration, and there was no lack
of detractors. In addition there was
the growing significance of women in
various sectors of musical life; above
all, changes in musical
taste contributed to the end of his
vocal and compositional style. Mozart
had a fine feeling for changes and
applied them without being
revolutionary, but also coming to
terms with practical necessity. Thus
the role of Idamentes in “Idomeneo" is
in this sense the last
major part for high male voice, in as
much as “Idomeneo” marks termination
of opera seria and the style of
singing connected with it. It was not
until the 20th century, under the
influence of historical research, that
the male alto found interpreters for
earlier music, first in Alfred Deller
and then in Paul Esswood.
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Marc'Antonio
Ziani first worked in Italy, gaining a
reputation there as a composer of
opera. In l700 he was
appointed to the Vienna Court Opera
where, in addition to operas, he
composed numerous sacred musical
works.“Alma redemptoris mater” is
conspicuous for the expressive text
declamation, with the virtuoso
rendering of the vocal part, further
supported by the instrumental effects
of the trombones.
Georg Philipp Telemann’s cantata “Ach
Herr, strafe mich nicht" originates
from the collection entitled
“Fortsetzung des harmonischen
Gottesdienstes” (1731/32). The cantatas
in this collection are envisaged for
small ensembles in churches, but also
for music-making in the home.
Dietrich Buxtehude is the most
important composer of Protestant
church cantatas prior
to Bach. “Jubilate
Domino” is particularly demanding from
the singer’s point of view, since
there are no melody instruments for
accompaniment and interludes, the
expression line and representation
being scored solely for the vocal
part.
In his compositions Christoph
Bernhard, a pupil of Heinrich Schütz,
represents in detail the vocal figures
and the transposition of the
theatrical (operatic) style to church
music. His sacred concerto “Was betrübst
du dich meine Seele" is a
representative example of Italian
dramatic vocal art, transferred to
Middle German concertante church
music.
Among the works of the Bach family
prior to Johann Sebastian, the cantata
“Ach, daß ich Wassers
g’nug hatte” by Johann Christoph Bach
stands out for the intensity of its
expression and bold harmony. He was
described in the family cronicles
as the "great and
expressive composer“.
Gerhard Schuhmacher
English translation
by Frederick A.
Bishop
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Nikolaus
Harnoncourt (1929-2016)
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