© Michel Cardin
The London Manuscript
Solo Sonata 11 in A Major
(Smith-Crawford 16)
The complete and updated version of 'London unveiled' by Michel Cardin can be downloaded as pdf files: 'London unveiled'
Of the six movements of this sonata, all but the pastorale can be found in other manuscripts. The Vienna and Dresden versions contain all five of the other movements while replacing the pastorale with the gigue from the eighth sonata. The Podebrady and Haslemere manuscripts have two pieces each. The London copy is written entirely in the hand of the composer. The Vienna and Dresden manuscripts are entitled, respectively, Partita Mons. Weiss and Suonata del Sigre S.L.Weisfs. As Tim Crawford pointed out, this sonata could be called the "Weiss Christmas sonata". Pastorales, paysannes and echo effects were indeed associated with the theme of the Nativity. As with the eighth sonata, I have not found that the key of A major has inspired the passions described by Mattheson, with the possible exception of the allemande which offers, truthfully enough, moments of melancholy. I have not however given the complete quotation of this author who goes on to explain that “ A major is very appropriate for the violin”. It is also my belief that Mattheson was in the habit of describing tonalities with a view to their orchestral context.
The allemande (Allem: ) begins in melancholy while at the same time conveying an imposing assurance of majesty. As is the case with its analogous movement in the preceding sonata, the lower register is used profusely. This holds equally true for the other movements of the sonata, with the composer seemingly drawing enormous pleasure from the resultant richness of timbre. The Air en echo comes as a bit of a surprise since it is sub-titled as Largo whereas in the other three manuscripts it is clearly indicated as Vivace. What is one to make of this ? Four considerations should be taken into account. First, the air occupies the same space normally reserved for a courante and is in three of four sources marked Vivace. Secondly, the score of this “echo” piece alternates continuously and clearly between f and p (loud and soft), which is extremely difficult to realise at a quick tempo (even the more so when the ornamentations are brought to bear). Thirdly, let’s not forget that for the 17th century lutenists, it was normal to play sometimes a piece in completely different tempi. A good example is the Testament de Mézangeau, an allemande by Ennemond Gautier however convincingly presented as a gigue in other manuscripts. Ideally, one might play the piece twice in a row, very slow and very fast. The fourth consideration is quite simply that the piece has all the essential ingredients (accents, phrase lengths, etc.) of a minuet. All things considered, a performance of this piece at a largo tempo would seem inappropriately slow coming after an allemande while a vivace tempo would be too rapid. My preferred compromise solution to date has been to perform the work as a moderate courante, close in spirit to the feel of a minuet.
The Paisañe is very lively, incorporating a regular alternation
between leaping
thematic ideas and short fleeting lyric themes. Appearing as it does in four different sources,
there are four different articulations indicated for one of the phrases in this work:
In my opinion this underscores once more the fact that finer interpretational details
were left to the discretion of the performer. Serenity, calm, and simplicity are the hallmarks
of the sarabande (Sarab: ), wherein the first measure reminds us in all respects (except
register - it is much lower here) of its equivalent movement in the fourth sonata. Meanwhile,
the frivolous minuet (Men: ), which bears the sub-title Madame la Grondeuse
(the scolding woman) in the Vienna version reminds one, in a melodic sense, of a game of leap-frog that is
constantly being interrupted by a grumpy person, characterised by the descending bass
figure. The delightful concluding Pastorrell is in 6/8, in the manner of a gigue with a
rustic rhythmic figure of
,
substituting for the more usual continuous flow
of notes commonly associated with the aforementioned dance form. This piece is unusual
(perhaps the spirit of Christmas) in that it is constructed with one entirely repeated section
whereas the conventional format would require the usage of two repeated sections.
Copyright © 1998-2006 Laurent
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