Luogo e data di registrazione		Musée, Chartres (Francia) - aprile 1978
	Registrazione: live / studio		studio
	Producer / Engineer		Andreas Holschneider / Heinz Wildhagen
	Prima Edizione LP		Archiv - 2533 419 - (1 lp) - durata 62' 25" - (p) 1979 - Analogico
	Edizione "Collectio" CD		Archiv - 437 080-2 - (1 cd) - durata 62' 25" - (c) 1986 - ADD
	Note		-

AUSTRIAN BAROQUE COURT MUSIC The reign of the Emperor Leopold I (1658-1705) was a golden age for all the arts, and for music in particular. The misery of the Thirty Years' War was over, and as though to cumpensate for its orrors, artists created an illusory world of beauty and splendour. The monarchs of Europe competed with one another in the magnificence of their palaces, at their head the great rivals Louis XIV of France and Leopold I of Austria. The Hapsburgs had always loved music, and in Leopold I this love grew until it became an almost unbridled passion. The Emperor, who was himself a composer of considerable attainments, placed great importance on choosing personally between applicants for musical positions at his court; even when the treasury was empty, and he could not pay his soldiers, he always found the means to provide for his musical requirements. A contemporary wrote about him: "...for if there was anything in the world to delight the Emperor, it was certain to be good music. It increased his joy and lessened his cares, and it may assuredly be said of him that no other pleasure gave him such enjoyment as a well-ordered concert... his musical establishment may probably he described as the finest in the world... When a particular passage occurred which pleased him, he closed his eyes in order to listen more attentively..." Owing to the fact that thorough musical training was regarded as part of a general education at that time, a similar passion for music also spread to many smaller courts; the Arcbishop of Olmütz, Prince Liechtenstein, maintained at his residence Kremsier a large orchestra of carefully picked virtuosi which was in no way inferior to time Imperial orchestra, and in some respects even outshone it, while the Archbishop of Salzburg, like many another spiritual and temporal rulers, kept a brilliant court “Capelle'. These princes also built themselves magnificent palaces, within whose marble-covered walls music had not only an architectonic equivalent, but also an ideal sounding board. The love of music among the nobility naturally spread throughout the whole of society. There was music making in most middle-class homes, in many churches Mass was celebrated daily with instrumental accompaniment, and music was widely cultivated in the Jesuit schools. Thus gifed musicians had ample opportunity and encouragement to exercise their art. Georg Muffat, who was born in Savoy, studied with Lully, the most illustrious musician of the age, in Paris, then he went to Wenna, where he enjoyed the patronage of Leopold I. He later became organist to the Archbishop of Salzburg, who sent him to Rome to master the Italian style of music. Thus he was probably the first musician who consciously drew for his compositions on a combination of the Frenth and Italian styles, both of which he had studied under the guidance of their principal exponents. In the foreword to his “Florilegium" he gave precise directions for "...easier understanding of how such a ballet is to be performed in the true and most elegant manner,,,", placing the greatest emphasis on the numbers of instruments to be employed, the decorations, and in particular the correct methods of bowing. Ihe suites making up the Florilegium were written as “ballets in accordance with the ideas of the late M. Joann Baptist de Lully...", that is to say in the French style. The “Eighth Part in E minor, or major with the major third, named Indissolubilis Amicitia or Indissoluble Friendship, was produced in 1695 as a, ballet founded on a play concerning the friendship between Damon and Pythias". In the 4th part, "Les Gendarmes", "four mounted dancers fired off pistols à tempo” at a moment indicated by asterisks. - "The first Concerto in D, entitled Bona Nova (Good News), composed at Salzburg in l689", is one of Muffat's "Twelve Concertos devised with great diligence in a hitherto unfamiliar manner for the rare delectation of the ears..." He was inspired to the composition of these works while studying in Rome, where he "...heard with the greatest delight and wonder some concertos of this kind most carefully produced by the artistically fruitful Arcangelo Corelli." In these works Muffat deliberately blended the French and Italian styles: "... I strove so to balance profound Italian feeling with French gaiety and charm that neither the one should colour the music too darkly, nor the other make it too frivolous." The spirit of the Italian concerto is here skilfully brought together with the form of the French suite. In the succession of movements the two normally conflicting styles alternate amicably: "In the opening sonatas and the affettuoso slow movements the Italian manner may be observed, while the intervening dances are founded on the French style." Heinrich Biber, one of the most gifted composers of the 18th century, was born at Wartenberg in Bohemia. We know nothin about his musical training, but he probably studied the violin and composition under Schmelzer, who later became Court Capellmeister in Vienna. Both his style and the fact that Schmelzer was closely associated with Biber's first employer Prince Liechtenstein, Archbishop of Olmütz, suggest that Schmelzer was his teacher. Although Biber left this first position against his employer's wishes, the Archbishop had such a high opinion of his artistic genius that he asked for copies of all Biber’s works to be sent to him. From Olmütz Biber went to Salzburg, where he became Vice-Capellmeister. Numerous concert tours won him a worldwide reputation as a virtuoso violinist, and he was raised to the nobility by Leopold I. He was on friendly terms with the most famous violin maker of the period, Jakobus Stainer. In his instrumental works he brought out the tonal and technical possibilities of each instrument to splendid effect. The four sonatas selected for inclusion in this recording demonstrate the diversity of forms in which a sonata could be written at that time. The Sonata VIII from the "Fidicinium"' and the Sonata for 2 violins, trombone and continuo are wholly in the traditional Italian style: each is in one movement, whose fast and slow sections are joined without a break. The first of these works is monolithic ensemble music, while the second is a concert piece for three virtuosi, to each of whom is assigned a free, cadenza-like solo. The most unusual of these works are probably the two programmatic pieces. In the "Pauernkirchfahrt" (Country Churchgoing) we can visualise the assembling of the countryfolk, and a rocession arriving from the distance and entering a church ringing with the sound of organ music, after which there follow a vigorous peasant dance and an attractive Aria, probably proceeding from the tavern. - The "Battalia" (Battle) is perhaps the most "modern" work in the whole range of Baroque music. After the warlike introductory Sonata (with its "col legno" effect of striking the strings with the wood of the how) we hear the "Musketeers" singing a hotch-potch of their coarse songs, including "Kraut und Rüben" which Bach used in his Goldberg Variations. Biber wrote of this passage: "Hic dissonant ubique, nam enum sic diversis cantilenis clamore solent" (Here all voices are at variance, as different songs are being roared out simultaneously). After a short Interlude there follows the "March", in which the violin has to imitate a fife, and the double-bass a drum. (Biber wrote: "Where the drum is heard in the bass, a piece of paper must be used on the string..."). Then come a song of horsemen and the farewell before the battle, in which the cannons are represented by "Bartók pizzicati": ("The battle must not be played with the bow, but the string must be plucked strongly with the right hand in imitation of the pieces of cannon!"). The concluding "Lament of the wounded" may seem macabre to us, especially when we reflect that the entire work is dedicated to Bacchus, as Biher stated on the title page. At that time, however, when puerperal fever, smallpox and the plague were a constant threat to mankind, people had an entirely different attitude to suffering and death. The musical representation of the "programme" is extremely concise; in accordance with the custom of the period, Biber expressed himself in the briefest possible way. The instruments used in this recording are very similar to those which Muffat and Biber had at their disposal. The instruments of Jakobus Stainer, the most renowned violin maker of that period, corresponded perfectly with the tonal concepts of his day. Biber was on friendly terms with him, and had the use of various Stainer instruments both at Kremsier and at Salzburg. The adjustment of all the string instruments used in the recording (fitting of fingerboard, neck, bass bar and strings) is either as it was originally, or has een carefully restored accordingly. The woodwind instruments were practically keyless, semitones being obtained by half closing holes or forked fingering, and notes of the second and third octaves by overblowing. The contrast between "open" and "covered" notes produced a variety of tonal effects which was greatly appreciated at the time. Fortunately it was possible to obtain a very weil preserved oboe dating from the first quarter of the 18th century for this recording, and a second oboe was made as a replica of it, both as regards construction and tone quality. The trombone used in Biber's Sonata, a copy exactly modelled on instruments of the period, is considerably narrower in bore than modern trombones, and therefore softer. Thus it did not prove difficult to obtain a faultless balance between the gentle tone of the Baroque violins and that of the trombone. The harpsichord is not fitted with plastic or leather plectra as is customary nowadays, but with quills; so as to produce the brilliant sound of period harpsichords. The tuning of the harpsichord and the intonation of the wind and string instruments are not in accordance with the principle of equal temperament adopted today, but according to the "meantone" system, i. e. in certain keys the major third is tuned absolutely purely. Enharmonic changes are impossible, since each note has only one identity; e. g. G#, which is tuned purely in relation to E, cannot be used as Ab. If remote keys are employed, certain notes have to be re-tuned. The advantages of this system of tuning, which was customary during the 17th century and well on into 18th, are greater purity of intonation when playing in the most commonly used keys, together with the emphasizing of the genuine personal characteristics of different tonalities, which equal temperament tuning renders absolutely imperceptible. In the string sonatas of Biber and the two suites of Muffat the viola da gamba is joined by a violone: "...If the musicians are sufficient in number the large bass known as the violone or double-bass will lend especial majesty, although it is not yet used in the ballets of the school of Lully". The instrumentation of Muffat’s "Concerti" is particularly interesting. According to his own directions they could be played either as chamber music by three to five stringed instruments, or "to make more majestic harmony", with solo and tutti as string concertos. "If, however, there are some among you musicians who can play sweetly and skilfully upon the French oboe, you may well use the best two of chem instead of two violinists, and a good bassoonist instead of the bass player taking part in the continuo. I have often performed the fist... Concerto in this way, to good effect." Muffat was therefore already recommending the oboe, which had been developed in Paris only a short time before, as a solo instrument. In all these works, in accordance with the practice of the period when they were composed, reptitions have been varied by the addition of improvised embellishments, and passages written in notes of equal value have frequently been performed in a dotted rhythm: "...It is to be observed that the values of certain notes are altered somewhat for the sake of greater elegance..." Above all in Muffat's Suite for strings his directions concerning the elegant manner have been followed scrupulously: "The melodies of the ballets in the style of the renowned J. B. Lully are so to be played on the violin... that anything more charming or beautiful coul scarcely be imagined... The embellishments add lustre to the ballet music like glittering precious stones...". Nikolaus Harnoncourt (Translated from the German)