Johann Mattheson - 12 Suites for Harpsichord - Gilbert Rowland (2017) {Athene ATH 23301 Official Digital Download}
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© 2017 Athene / Gilbert Rowland / Divine Art | ATH 23301
Classical / German Baroque / Harpsichord
Following the fine critical praise for his pioneering recording of the complete Harpsichord Suites of G.F. Handel, Gilbert Rowland moves to the lesser known but equally inspired Johann Mattheson (1681-1764) who composed these suites in 1714. Although generally following the then current Dance Suite format used so much by Bach, Handel and others, Mattheson created variety with different dances (such as the Tocatine) and varying numbers of movements.
Certainly very musical and original, these Suites deserve to be considered on a level with those of Handel at the very least. Masterful performances by Gilbert Rowland who plays a 2-manual French-style instruments by Andrew Wooderson (2005) after an original from 1750 by Goemans.
The name of Johann Mattheson (1681-1764) appears frequently in books and articles about Baroque music, though seldom in connection with his own. As the most prolific and wide-ranging writer on music of his time he is still cited today, while Handel biographies rarely fail to mention how their man was nearly skewered by his friend Mattheson in a duel following a brief but fiery disagreement. As a composer, however, he is rarely discussed. Nearly all of his vocal output – eight operas and 26 oratorios – was lost to bombs in the Second World War, but among his surviving published compositions are these 12 harpsichord suites issued in London and Hamburg in 1714, works whose influence on the slightly later and stylistically kindred suites of Handel (and perhaps Bach) seems probable; Handel is said to have shut himself away and played them through from beginning to end when he received his copy.
They turn out to be worth reviving. Skilfully made and loosely varied in form and texture, they encompass elegant broken-chord allemandes, a brash concerto-like Prelude (No 7), delicate and imaginative sarabandes such as that of No 8 and a full-textured Air with Doubles in No 6 reminiscent of the ‘Harmonious Blacksmith’. And if they come across as a touch ordinary at first, I found them growing on me as Mattheson’s personality became more apparent. There is a charm about the way his music sometimes makes quaint little stops and starts, and he even reveals a sense of good humour if the perhaps deliberately bad fugue that opens No 11 is anything to go by. I’ve not come across a boutade before but I like the one in Suite No 9.
Gilbert Rowland’s playing is assured, robust and reliable, and if his tread is a sometimes a touch earthbound, maybe such moments reflect dips in Mattheson’s own creative concentration; certainly he is more successfully fired up by movements such as the ouvertures and the driving gigues of Nos 7 and 8. The fact that he is not note-perfect wouldn’t really matter were it not irritating to think that the small smudges he makes could easily have been repaired. The French-style harpsichord is deep-toned and clear if lacking in distinctive character.
A tangier set was recorded by Colin Booth for Soundboard in 2007, more careful in places but in general more rhetorically eventful, while Cristiano Holtz’s sprightlier and slicker single disc of seven suites (not all complete) for Ramée from 2006 is a worthwhile option if three hours of Mattheson suites seems a daunting dose.
chandos.net INFO
Musicians:
Gilbert Rowland - Harpsichord
Track Listing
CD1
01 - Pieces de clavecin, Suite No. 1 in D minor I. Prelude
02 - Pieces de clavecin II. Allemande - Double
03 - Pieces de clavecin III. Courante - Double
04 - Pieces de clavecin IV. Sarabande
05 - Pieces de clavecin V. Gigue
06 - Pieces de clavecin, Suite No. 2 in A major I. Tocatine
07 - Pieces de clavecin II. Allemande
08 - Pieces de clavecin III. Courante
09 - Pieces de clavecin IV. Gigue
10 - Pieces de clavecin, Suite No. 3 in D major V. Air
11 - Pieces de clavecin I. Allemande
12 - Pieces de clavecin II. Courante
13 - Pieces de clavecin III. Sarabande - Double
14 - Pieces de clavecin IV. Gigue
15 - Pieces de clavecin, Suite No. 4 in G minor I. Allemande
16 - Pieces de clavecin II. Courante
17 - Pieces de clavecin III. Courante a la Franc?oise
18 - Pieces de clavecin IV. Sarabande
19 - Pieces de clavecin V. Gigue
20 - Pieces de clavecin VI. Menuet
CD2
01 - Suite No. 5 in C minor I. Fantasie
02 - II. Allemande - Double
03 - III. Courante
04 - IV. Air - 2 Doubles
05 - V. Menuet
06 - Suite No. 6 in E flat major I. Prelude
07 - II. Allemande
08 - III. Courante
09 - IV. Air - Double
10 - V. Gigue
11 - VI. Menuet
12 - Suite No. 7 in B flat major I. Prelude
13 - II. Allemande
14 - III. Courante
15 - IV. Gigue
16 - V. Menuet
17 - Suite No. 8 in D minor I. Allemande - Double
18 - II. Courante - Double
19 - III. Sarabande
20 - IV. Gigue
CD3
01 - Suite No. 9 in G minor. I. Boutade
02 - II. Allemande
03 - III. Courantes I-II
04 - IV. Air
05 - V. Loure
06 - VI. Gigue
07 - Suite No. 10 in E minor I. Symphonie
08 - II. Allemande
09 - III. Courante
10 - IV. Sarabande
11 - V. Gigue
12 - Suite No. 11 in C major I. Fugue
13 - II. Ouverture
14 - III. Allemande
15 - IV. Courante
16 - V. Sarabande
17 - VI. Menuet
18 - Suite No. 12 in F minor I. Ouverture
19 - II. Allemande
20 - III. Courante
21 - IV. Sarabande
22 - V. Gigue
23 - VI. Menuets I-II
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