Il Gardellino - Carl Friedrich Abel & Johann Christian Bach: Chamber Music (2010)

In 1764 a couple of German musicians lodged together in London. They shared a sort of common background, for one was the youngest son of Johann Sebastian Bach, newly arrived in town to write opera, and the other, Carl Friedrich Abel, had been Bach’s student back in Leipzig more than a decade earlier. He was in town to make his living as a composer of instrumental works and as a performer on that now-anachronistic instrument the viola da gamba. The two apparently hit it off quite well, for they soon conspired to develop the famed Bach-Abel concert series that became a fixture in the city for more than a decade and a half. Given that they also contrived to perform as well, it is not surprising that both men created a wide variety of works for their instruments, Bach on the keyboard and Abel on his gamba. Given that the latter was hardly fit to compete against larger ensembles, it of necessity was confined to smaller chamber works, which were often published for general consumption among musical cognoscenti. These concerts lasted up to Bach’s death in 1782 and a tad beyond, although both leaders had gone their own separate ways some time before and the series was in decline.
This disc presents a nice set of unusual chamber works that typify the sort of music that one might have found either on the programs of the series or in the intimate soirées that may have been held in the homes of one or another patron on a warm English summer evening (and yes, it can be warm in London during the summer). The grouping is eclectic, but focused on Abel’s instrument along with a flute and/or oboe to provide tone color. The works, a pair of solo gamba sonatas, three quartets, a quintet, and Bach’s larger sextet, offer a nice variety of pieces that go well together. It is worth noting that in two of the quartets, the Bach with oboe and the G-Major Abel with flute, there are only two movements, a rather substantial sonata-form opening and a gentle rondo. Both include the gamba in place of the viola, which allows for a greater range since the instrument is quite versatile, even if it is rather soft. The Abel quartet, as the sextet, is a bit of a pasticcio, with the movements actually drawn from other works, but they fit together so well in this context that it is as if they were intended to belong as a single unit. The final theme and variations of the G Major has a nice contrast of textures provided by the various instruments as they take turns varying the theme in between the principal section. Bach’s sextet, of course, is a wonderfully integrated work, with the horns ever so politely providing some harmonic support in the outer movements; the fortepiano part slips in and out, now complementing the long lyrical oboe passages, now providing that sort of nice Alberti-style accompaniment that moves the outer movements along and gives body to the inner Larghetto. The two solo gamba sonatas, of course, seem almost old-fashioned in their single-movement display evoking the elder Bach. Abel probably used these to demonstrate the virtuoso capabilities of the instrument, as well as, in the first D-Minor piece, its softer side. It may not have awakened any revival of the gamba as an instrument of choice in the late 18th century, but at least Abel shows that it was not entirely incapable of adapting to the new classical style.
The performance by the chamber group Il Gardellino is very smooth. In tune and sensitive to each other, the players create a nice set of intimate interactions that bring out the nuances of this finely detailed music. I miss the names of the horn players in the final work, though. Perhaps they were ringers brought in? No matter; their parts are so simple that anyone could have handled it. I do have a few minor quibbles, though. The opening oboe quartet by Bach seems to have added to it a subtle harpsichord continuo, although it is clearly for violoncello, not basso. Bach certainly knew enough not to have required this by 1774 or so. Abel’s “tenor” part for the flute quartet from the op. 8 (WKO 62) is almost certainly a viola, not a gamba part. Performing it on the latter thins out the texture, but since Il Gardellino has chosen to use the alternative instrumentation using a flute instead of the original first violin, maybe it was a necessary alteration not to overpower the upper lines. The contrast doesn’t disturb, however, and these points are only made in passing. If you are into a nice, quiet evening of soothing and lyrical chamber music from this period, you will want to own this disc. Nothing exciting or dramatic, nothing outrageous, but rather an hour of very civilized drawing room music.

–Bertil van Boer