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Trois suites de pièces pour dessus et basse (Violin, Flute à bec ou traversière, hautbois... et clavecin, théorbe, viole de gambe...) by Robert de Visée; Jean-Claude Veilhan; Sonata, c-moll, für Violine (Querflöte, Oboe), Obligates Violoncello und Basso continuo (Keyboard, Cello) by Nicola Porpora; Giovanni Battista Costanzi Review by: Albert Seay Notes, Second Series, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Sep., 1982), pp. 213-214 Published by: Music Library Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/939293 . Accessed: 14/06/2014 22:01 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:01:57 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Trois suites de pieces pour dessus et basse (Violin, Flute a bec ou traversiere, hautbois... et clavecin, theorbe, viole de gambe...)

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Trois suites de pièces pour dessus et basse (Violin, Flute à bec ou traversière, hautbois... etclavecin, théorbe, viole de gambe...) by Robert de Visée; Jean-Claude Veilhan; Sonata, c-moll,für Violine (Querflöte, Oboe), Obligates Violoncello und Basso continuo (Keyboard, Cello) byNicola Porpora; Giovanni Battista CostanziReview by: Albert SeayNotes, Second Series, Vol. 39, No. 1 (Sep., 1982), pp. 213-214Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/939293 .

Accessed: 14/06/2014 22:01

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

Music Library Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Notes.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.79.78 on Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:01:57 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Music Reviews Music Reviews

latter as its audience. An enormous amount remains yet to be done by either scholars or performers if either group is to be able to use this volume for their special require- ments. The two short sentences quoted above do not do the job, particularly when one of them is, at best, misleading.

Robert de Visee. Trois suites de pieces pour dessus et basse (violin, flute a bec ou traversiere, hautbois . . . et clave- cin, theorbe, viole de gambe .. .). Restitution de Jean-Claude Veilhan (Archives de la musique ancienne). Paris: Leduc (Magnamusic-Baton), 1980. [Notes in Fr., Eng., Ger., score, 36 p., facsims. of original ed., 44 p., on 12 p., $24.50] Nicola Porpora and Giovanni Bat- tista Costanzi. Sonata, c-moll, fir Vio- line (Querflote, Oboe), obligates Vio- loncello und Basso continuo (keyboard, cello). Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichsho- fen (Peters), 1980. [Pref. in Ger., Eng., by Klaus Hinrich Stahmer, 2 p., score, 19 p., and parts, $12.50]

Robert de Vis6e (1650?-1725?) made his reputation as a guitarist and theorbist, be- coming a member of the musical establish- ment of Louis XIV in 1709. He taught gui- tar to the dauphin, later Louis XV in 1719. He is best known for three collections of pieces for guitar, published in 1682, 1686, and 1689. All of these were printed in tab- lature, thus restricting their audience. In order to make certain of the most popular works being available for a larger public, de Visee revised many of them as duos for a treble line and a figured bass, printing these under the title, Pieces de Theorbe et du Luth Mises en Partition Dessus et Basse. This collection came out in Paris in 1716, with dedication to the Regent, the Duke of Or- leans.

Three suites from the Pieces de Theorbe . are given here, each basically tied to

the usual Allemande-Courante-Sarabande- Gigue pattern, but with many extra move- ments, some alternate possibilities for one of the basic four, others additions to the scheme, Gavottes, Minuets, etc. If all these

latter as its audience. An enormous amount remains yet to be done by either scholars or performers if either group is to be able to use this volume for their special require- ments. The two short sentences quoted above do not do the job, particularly when one of them is, at best, misleading.

Robert de Visee. Trois suites de pieces pour dessus et basse (violin, flute a bec ou traversiere, hautbois . . . et clave- cin, theorbe, viole de gambe .. .). Restitution de Jean-Claude Veilhan (Archives de la musique ancienne). Paris: Leduc (Magnamusic-Baton), 1980. [Notes in Fr., Eng., Ger., score, 36 p., facsims. of original ed., 44 p., on 12 p., $24.50] Nicola Porpora and Giovanni Bat- tista Costanzi. Sonata, c-moll, fir Vio- line (Querflote, Oboe), obligates Vio- loncello und Basso continuo (keyboard, cello). Wilhelmshaven: Heinrichsho- fen (Peters), 1980. [Pref. in Ger., Eng., by Klaus Hinrich Stahmer, 2 p., score, 19 p., and parts, $12.50]

Robert de Vis6e (1650?-1725?) made his reputation as a guitarist and theorbist, be- coming a member of the musical establish- ment of Louis XIV in 1709. He taught gui- tar to the dauphin, later Louis XV in 1719. He is best known for three collections of pieces for guitar, published in 1682, 1686, and 1689. All of these were printed in tab- lature, thus restricting their audience. In order to make certain of the most popular works being available for a larger public, de Visee revised many of them as duos for a treble line and a figured bass, printing these under the title, Pieces de Theorbe et du Luth Mises en Partition Dessus et Basse. This collection came out in Paris in 1716, with dedication to the Regent, the Duke of Or- leans.

Three suites from the Pieces de Theorbe . are given here, each basically tied to

the usual Allemande-Courante-Sarabande- Gigue pattern, but with many extra move- ments, some alternate possibilities for one of the basic four, others additions to the scheme, Gavottes, Minuets, etc. If all these

are used, it would make a rather lengthy business to do one suite; for example, the first, in G minor, has in all sixteen dances, for it contains three Allemandes, three Courantes and three Sarabandes, plus other dances as well. In practice, the performer may well have chosen what he felt needed for the particular occasion.

The edition comes in two separate sec- tions, the first a facsimile of the first forty- four pages of the 1716 print, from that now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (Res. 1187). The second part is the "resti- tution" in modern print by Jean-Claude Veilhan, who has provided a short intro- duction in French, English and German. Veilhan has done many editions for re- corder and presumably this reprint is pri- marily for this audience, although the mu- sic is equally suitable for almost any instrument of similar range, violin, flute, oboe, etc.

The problem is that, as the edition stands, the music will not be used by the amateur for whom it is presumably designed. "Res- titution," as seen here, is no more than re- copying the source, the only task the re- writing of the upper voice from "violin" clef with G on the first line into the more normal treble clef with G on the second line. There is no realization of the con- tinuo, no effort to suggest appropriate or- naments at points where ornaments are demanded, and de Visee's dedication and remarks, seen in the facsimile, are not transcribed, let alone translated. For the musicologist, the facsimile alone would have sufficed. For the potential performer, the restitution does nothing at all, that is, not unless he or she knows something about appropriate embellishment and has a friend who can realize a figured bass at the key- board. To do this any other way will re- quire recopying, for no empty stave has been left to enter a realization. It is good to have a legible copy (the facsimile is much reduced, with four pages com- pressed on one and is indistinct at times), but not all the original is given in either facsimile or restitution. Whatever Veilhan's objective may have been is not at all clear. So far as can be seen, it is merely a legible copy. One could get as much by ordering a microfilm of the original (complete!) and at much less cost. As with so many publi- cations of this kind, it is impossible to fig- ure out exactly to whom the publisher

are used, it would make a rather lengthy business to do one suite; for example, the first, in G minor, has in all sixteen dances, for it contains three Allemandes, three Courantes and three Sarabandes, plus other dances as well. In practice, the performer may well have chosen what he felt needed for the particular occasion.

The edition comes in two separate sec- tions, the first a facsimile of the first forty- four pages of the 1716 print, from that now in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris (Res. 1187). The second part is the "resti- tution" in modern print by Jean-Claude Veilhan, who has provided a short intro- duction in French, English and German. Veilhan has done many editions for re- corder and presumably this reprint is pri- marily for this audience, although the mu- sic is equally suitable for almost any instrument of similar range, violin, flute, oboe, etc.

The problem is that, as the edition stands, the music will not be used by the amateur for whom it is presumably designed. "Res- titution," as seen here, is no more than re- copying the source, the only task the re- writing of the upper voice from "violin" clef with G on the first line into the more normal treble clef with G on the second line. There is no realization of the con- tinuo, no effort to suggest appropriate or- naments at points where ornaments are demanded, and de Visee's dedication and remarks, seen in the facsimile, are not transcribed, let alone translated. For the musicologist, the facsimile alone would have sufficed. For the potential performer, the restitution does nothing at all, that is, not unless he or she knows something about appropriate embellishment and has a friend who can realize a figured bass at the key- board. To do this any other way will re- quire recopying, for no empty stave has been left to enter a realization. It is good to have a legible copy (the facsimile is much reduced, with four pages com- pressed on one and is indistinct at times), but not all the original is given in either facsimile or restitution. Whatever Veilhan's objective may have been is not at all clear. So far as can be seen, it is merely a legible copy. One could get as much by ordering a microfilm of the original (complete!) and at much less cost. As with so many publi- cations of this kind, it is impossible to fig- ure out exactly to whom the publisher

213 213

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MLA Notes, September 1982 MLA Notes, September 1982

thinks this "restitution" will sell. Certainly, I cannot.

The Sonata in C minor is, as explained in detail by its editor, Klaus Hinrich Stah- mer, a most problematic work. For one thing, it comes from a collection of six son- atas "for two violoncellos and two violins and a thorough bass for the harpsichord," published in London by Walsh around 1745. Both Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) and G. B. Costanzi (1704-1778) are given as composers on the title-page, with no suggestion as to which is responsible for which. The only surviving copy in the Brit- ish Museum is incomplete, lacking one of the violin parts. The order of instruments is also curious, with the violoncellos named before the violins. All of these matters and more are thoroughly discussed by Stahmer and the reasons for his editing the work in the form presented are made clear. The result is a sonata of some interest, for the "obligato" violoncello acts as a true foil for the violin above, not as a duplication of the continuo line.

The work is laid out in the usual slow- fast-slow-fast series of movements, with ideas that allow for true dialogue in the strings. The editing has been well done and Stahmer's continuo realization is both imaginative and appropriate. It is to be re- gretted, of course, that a second violin part was not available, but a reconstruction here would have been problematic, to say the least. Even in the form arrived at, the so- nata is a worthwhile piece and Stahmer has done well in every phase of the editorial process.

ALBERT SEAY Colorado College

Jeannine Richer. Piege 6 pour guitare (La guitare contemporaine). Paris:

Transatlantiques (Presser), 1979. [4 p., $4.00]

Hans-Georg Lotz. Three Faces fur Gitarre solo (Neue Musik fur Gitarre). Herausgegeben von Ehrenhard Skiera. Kassel: Barenreiter, 1981. [4 p., DM10.00]

Irma Ravinale. Improvvisazione [for guitar]. Diteggiatura di Mario Gangi.

thinks this "restitution" will sell. Certainly, I cannot.

The Sonata in C minor is, as explained in detail by its editor, Klaus Hinrich Stah- mer, a most problematic work. For one thing, it comes from a collection of six son- atas "for two violoncellos and two violins and a thorough bass for the harpsichord," published in London by Walsh around 1745. Both Nicola Porpora (1686-1768) and G. B. Costanzi (1704-1778) are given as composers on the title-page, with no suggestion as to which is responsible for which. The only surviving copy in the Brit- ish Museum is incomplete, lacking one of the violin parts. The order of instruments is also curious, with the violoncellos named before the violins. All of these matters and more are thoroughly discussed by Stahmer and the reasons for his editing the work in the form presented are made clear. The result is a sonata of some interest, for the "obligato" violoncello acts as a true foil for the violin above, not as a duplication of the continuo line.

The work is laid out in the usual slow- fast-slow-fast series of movements, with ideas that allow for true dialogue in the strings. The editing has been well done and Stahmer's continuo realization is both imaginative and appropriate. It is to be re- gretted, of course, that a second violin part was not available, but a reconstruction here would have been problematic, to say the least. Even in the form arrived at, the so- nata is a worthwhile piece and Stahmer has done well in every phase of the editorial process.

ALBERT SEAY Colorado College

Jeannine Richer. Piege 6 pour guitare (La guitare contemporaine). Paris:

Transatlantiques (Presser), 1979. [4 p., $4.00]

Hans-Georg Lotz. Three Faces fur Gitarre solo (Neue Musik fur Gitarre). Herausgegeben von Ehrenhard Skiera. Kassel: Barenreiter, 1981. [4 p., DM10.00]

Irma Ravinale. Improvvisazione [for guitar]. Diteggiatura di Mario Gangi.

Ancona, Italy: Berben (Presser), 1979. [11 p., $4.00]

Einojuhani Rautavaara. Serenades of the Unicorn for solo guitar. New York: G. Schirmer, 1980. [10 p., $4.00]

The most attractive thing about Piege 6 is its visual appearance on the page. The composer uses graphic notation in many places to indicate special techniques and indeterminate pitches. Additionally, in sec- tions of the piece where specific pitches are required, Richer largely eliminates staff lines not immediately adjacent to the note heads. This makes for a striking visual ef- fect, but unfortunately greatly increases the difficulty of reading the notes. Never- theless I can recommend this piece to gui- tarists who wish to be challenged by a va- riety of new techniques without requiring a concomitant wealth of musical material.

Three Faces is mercifully short. Even so, the musical ideas in each piece are ex- hausted by its end, due to the lack of de- velopment. These few ideas are reiterated, not developed, so the result is monotony rather than organic growth. The most dis- sonant intervals and their inversions, as well as chords built on fourths, seemingly inescapable in contemporary guitar music, are the sources of all harmonic and me- lodic material. Without any other audible formal coherence, each piece very quickly seems static and aimless. The third piece is less this way than the first two, due to some variety in tone color and rhythm.

I believe most musicians would agree that improvisation is not synonymous with incoherence. In idioms as diverse as the bebop jazz solo and the classical concerto cadenza, improvisation is an elaboration of, not a departure from previously stated material. In a composition which is entirely an "improvisation" (this itself being a bit of a contradiction) the coherence must be es- tablished internally, i.e. the "previously stated material" must be alluded to in the music itself. This Ravinale fails to do in Im- provvisazione by not creating perceptible links among her many fascinating and di- verse ideas. The result is a sort of Catalogue d'Oiseaux with none of the species identi- fied or isolated. Perhaps this is the com- poser's intention, but it is achieved at the expense of a unified composition, and ren- dered tedious by the considerable length

Ancona, Italy: Berben (Presser), 1979. [11 p., $4.00]

Einojuhani Rautavaara. Serenades of the Unicorn for solo guitar. New York: G. Schirmer, 1980. [10 p., $4.00]

The most attractive thing about Piege 6 is its visual appearance on the page. The composer uses graphic notation in many places to indicate special techniques and indeterminate pitches. Additionally, in sec- tions of the piece where specific pitches are required, Richer largely eliminates staff lines not immediately adjacent to the note heads. This makes for a striking visual ef- fect, but unfortunately greatly increases the difficulty of reading the notes. Never- theless I can recommend this piece to gui- tarists who wish to be challenged by a va- riety of new techniques without requiring a concomitant wealth of musical material.

Three Faces is mercifully short. Even so, the musical ideas in each piece are ex- hausted by its end, due to the lack of de- velopment. These few ideas are reiterated, not developed, so the result is monotony rather than organic growth. The most dis- sonant intervals and their inversions, as well as chords built on fourths, seemingly inescapable in contemporary guitar music, are the sources of all harmonic and me- lodic material. Without any other audible formal coherence, each piece very quickly seems static and aimless. The third piece is less this way than the first two, due to some variety in tone color and rhythm.

I believe most musicians would agree that improvisation is not synonymous with incoherence. In idioms as diverse as the bebop jazz solo and the classical concerto cadenza, improvisation is an elaboration of, not a departure from previously stated material. In a composition which is entirely an "improvisation" (this itself being a bit of a contradiction) the coherence must be es- tablished internally, i.e. the "previously stated material" must be alluded to in the music itself. This Ravinale fails to do in Im- provvisazione by not creating perceptible links among her many fascinating and di- verse ideas. The result is a sort of Catalogue d'Oiseaux with none of the species identi- fied or isolated. Perhaps this is the com- poser's intention, but it is achieved at the expense of a unified composition, and ren- dered tedious by the considerable length

214 214

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