As a confirmed Mozartian it is natural that Müller's concertos for Flute and Or...(+)
As a confirmed Mozartian it is natural that Müller's concertos for Flute and Orchestra should follow the classical pattern and the E minor work published here for the first time since 1801 is an attractive and virtuoso piece in the less usual minor tonality. It is edited by Nikolai Jaeger and Christopher Hogwood with a useful introduction including points of performance practice drawn from Müller’s Flute tutor. A Keyboard reduction of the Orchestral part is also available.
George Berg’s eight keyboard suites Op. 5 were published in London aroun...(+)
George Berg’s eight keyboard suites Op. 5 were published in London around 1760 while the composer was travelling in Italy. They are his most varied and resourceful compositions following generally in the tradition of Handel’s suites but adding stylistic elements culled from Italian German and French music in a playfully eclectic manner. This is sparkling idiomatic music suitable equally for private enjoyment and concert use but until now hardly known even to specialists in the keyboard repertoire.
In Sonata 7 in D major Balicourt opens with a suave intricately rhythmic Adag...(+)
In Sonata 7 in D major Balicourt opens with a suave intricately rhythmic Adagio. The following Presto with its delightful interplay between flute and bass including both octave doubling and stretto imitation is the most skittish movement to emerge from the composer’s pen. The finale is a ‘sandwich’ movement in which a Minuetto encloses a duple-metre Cantabile in D minor. Although the minuet could be said to exemplify one of those ‘easy’ movements referred to in Balicourt’s prospectus for subscribers its complex prescribed ornamentation requires sensitive handling. Sonata 8 in E minor is strategically placed as the final work inthe set being one of the longest as well as the most conservative; adopting the traditional four-movement configuration it continually harks back to the grand Handelian style. An eloquent Andante ushers in a Presto containing many slightly academic contrapuntal touches and much chromaticism. The subsequent Largo is only five bars long: its plain melodic line in minims and crotchets is the skeleton around which the flautist is expected to weave an elaborate embroidery. For the finale Balicourt introduces in effect a new version in triple metre of the second movement. The fact that all four movements are in E minor heightens the sense of unity which is expressed very concretely through their sharing of some thematic material.
Francois Devienne's music has long been highly rated for its grace and balance. ...(+)
Francois Devienne's music has long been highly rated for its grace and balance. One of the first professors of flute at the new Conservatoire in 1795 Devienne's Flute Concertos played by the composer at the Concerts Spirituels in the 1780s reflected the elegance and brilliance of classical music in Paris and earned Devienne the title the 'French Mozart'.
Scheibe’s three sonatas for flute (or violin) and obbligato harpsichord we...(+)
Scheibe’s three sonatas for flute (or violin) and obbligato harpsichord were published by Haffner in the late 1750’s but were probably composed much earlier; they contain a significant quantity of elaborate imitative writing that is out of character with Scheibe’s later music. Although rooted in the same tradition as the sonatas for flute and obbligato harpsichord by J.S. Bach C.P.E Bach and composers at Berlin court of Frederick the Great these are more substantial works each having four movements in the traditional slow-fast-slow-fast scheme. For the most part they are trio sonatas the right hand of the harpsichord acting as the secondtreble voice but several movements feature idiomatic writing for the keyboard. Also interesting is the large amount of ornamentation called for particularly in the harpsichord part. While Scheibe disapproved of the excessive embellishments that Bach actually wrote into his melody lines these sonatas are nonetheless heavily ornamented albeit through the insertion of notational symbols; in addition to turns and mordents Scheibe uses no less than three different trill symbols!
J.B. Cramer's Sonata In C Major for Piano dedicated to Joseph Haydn is a model ...(+)
J.B. Cramer's Sonata In C Major for Piano dedicated to Joseph Haydn is a model of classical clarity and Cramer exploits the full range and sonority of the Fortepiano with exact indications of pedalling and dynamics.
Den lille danserinnen (‘The Little Ballerina’) evokes a charming gr...(+)
Den lille danserinnen (‘The Little Ballerina’) evokes a charming gracious light-footed dancer while Nocturne makes the piano sing in the romantic tradition. Both these delightful small pieces are ideal encores!
Devienne's sonatas for solo instrument and bass date from between 1788 and 1803 ...(+)
Devienne's sonatas for solo instrument and bass date from between 1788 and 1803 the year of the composer's death in a lunatic asylum at Charenton. They would certainly have contributed to the didactic material used at the new Paris Conservatoire established in 1795 whose first professors taught the six-keyed Clarinet (then the most widely available instrument) to the large number of military musicians in Napoleon Bonaparte's regimental bands.
Cramer felt himself a Mozartian by temperament and intellectually a devotee of J...(+)
Cramer felt himself a Mozartian by temperament and intellectually a devotee of J S Bach. Beethoven considered he was the best of all living pianists and recommended him as a teacher.
When Zinck's sonatas first appeared in print in 1783 the publication was greete...(+)
When Zinck's sonatas first appeared in print in 1783 the publication was greeted as exceptional by the best European critics. Their interesting melodic style highly developed turns of phrase great diversity of musical ideas unified into one great sonata style far removed from the routine and finally very descriptive tone-painting elevate them and make them worthy of the approval of connoisseurs.
Following the public success of the first set of Petites Pièces arranged from...(+)
Following the public success of the first set of Petites Pièces arranged from Mozart the Leipzig publishers Peters issued a second collection in 1804 drawing on the little-known repertoire of basset-horn trios and horn duos; three extracts from the choruses of Le Nozze di Figaro would have been the only material familiar to the general public. All the pieces were arranged with a clear eye to the amateur market with no great technical demands or wide stretches and where Mozart had left few dynamic markings the arranger carefully marked suitable and stylish expressive effects. This repertoire would be effective today on the modern piano the fortepiano or theclavichord.Contains Polonoise in D major ABRSM Grade 4 examination piece