© Michel Cardin
The London Manuscript

Ensemble Works

The complete and updated version of 'London unveiled' by Michel Cardin can be downloaded as pdf files: 'London unveiled'

All the ensemble works of the London Ms are from unique source, with the exception of the first Concert, also found in the Dresden ms. Three different copyist handwritings, aside from the hand of Weiss himself, have been identified. More than mere accompaniment, the lute parts provide at least two complete voices in a trio sonata context, sometimes even more, to the point of sounding almost like solo works. This ensemble music would be equally beautiful with the addition of harpsichord and viola da gamba, which would give the works a whole new dimension, as well as added ampleness. However, the important aspects to consider in my view were the intimacy of the musical dialogue, the full, rich sonority of the lute, as well as Weiss’s writing style, which puts lute and flute in close relation. I deliberately chose to record the concertos without the ‘cello or viola da gamba and I was also counting on the capability of the lute to project a consistent, stable bass line. The fluid sonority of the flute works well in combination with the plucked strings and the well-separated basses of the lute, to give an amply sonorous musical envelope. Except for the first movement of Duo 4, the dimensions and developments of the musical themes are substantial to the point where it was deemed necessary to take all of the repeats.

In notable duets with flute, Weiss first played with Pierre Gabriel Buffardin (1690-1768), appointed to the Dresden court in 1715. Buffardin served as professor of the brother of J. S. Bach, Johann Jakob “il fratello dilettissimo” and later of Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773). Already at age 16, Quantz was proficient at violin, oboe, trumpet, cornet, trombone, horn, flute, bassoon, cello, viola da gamba and double bass, not to mention his studies in harpsichord and composition. Quantz has left us with hundreds of pieces, including numerous flute concerti. He also transcribed the courante of the sonata S-C 11 by Weiss for solo flute. It is in Dresden, while working as third oboist in the orchestra, that he first studied the flute with Buffardin and was named first flute of the orchestra after only a few months. Subsequently, he and Weiss were regularly sent to royal functions as star soloists, such as in Prague to play in Fux’s opera Costanza e fortezza presented on the occasion of the crowning of Charles VI in the year 1723.

For today’s Baroque flautist, it may be surprising to see that all the works with flute in the London Manuscript are in flatted keys, which are comfortable on the lute but seemingly strange for the Baroque traverso, given the husky, veiled tone obtained on certain notes due to ‘fork fingerings’ – which do not hinder a rich and convincing sonority. It must be said however that Quantz, who performed regularly with Weiss, possessed a flute with an extra key (see his Méthode, 1752). Quantz, unsatisfied by the flutes at his disposition (flutes with one key), added a second key in 1726 in order to correct the pitch of the semitones. He wished to use the differential minor/major semitone technique, which he found to be impossible on the conventional flute. According to this theory, the minor second is calculated unequally : for example, c sharp raises c by 4 commas, and d flat lowers d by 4 commas, which leaves a difference of one comma between c sharp and d flat, a whole tone being made up of 9 commas. In his method, Quantz states :  “Until then the flute had but one key; but when I learned to know the nature of this instrument, I found that there was still always a small imperfection in the pureness of certain tones, that could not be remedied without the adding of a second key, which I added in the year 1726 ”.

The Concert d’un Luth et d’une Flute traversiere. Del Sig.re Weis (S-C 6) in B flat is the first of three Concerts in the manuscript. It is also the fourth ensemble work of the eight found in the last fascicle of the Dresden ms entitled Weisische Partien. In the Dresden ms it is clearly a duo for two lutes, because the tablature carries the indication Leuto 1.mo (primo). It is fortunate that this version exists because half of the last movement – in fact all of the last page – is missing in the London ms. Tim Crawford hazards a guess that Weiss didn’t have his chamber music with him when he went to Prague to re-copy the pages lost by the proprietor of the manuscript. As is the case with the second lute part in the Dresden manuscript, the flute part has been lost and had to be re-composed for all the duos (See the General Context).

The four movements have been given Italian titles of the ‘style concertante’ variety, namely, Adagio, Allegro, Grave, and Allegro. Three of them have the musical character befitting their tonality, as proclaimed by Mattheson. The b flat movements do, in fact, express a mood that is ‘divertingly sumptuous, though discreet’ but the Grave in g minor is not at all ‘moderate and peaceful’, but rather sombre and tormented. One gets the impression that the composer was as much at ease in this music as he was in his solo offerings. There is a marvelous suppleness of thematic development, especially noticeable in the instrumental exchanges. The tranquil majesty of the Adagio yields without pause to the largest movement, the first Allegro, which requires considerable agility. The resolutely sad, meditative Grave has more of a Classic than Baroque allure to it. One is tempted to describe it as melancholic ‘style galant’. The final Allegro is freshly exuberant, displaying fully the characteristics of the ‘style concertante’.

The Concert d’un Luth avec une Flute traversiere. Del Sigismundo Weis. (S-C 8) in B flat, exists along with another of Sigismund’s ensemble works, this one being in the Dresden ms, and it is clear that in both, as in his works without lute, his qualities as a composer are impressive. One can sense a steady hand as well as a proven musical discourse that stands up well next to the ensemble pieces of brother Silvius. Both Sigismund and their father Johann Jakob were lutenists at the Palatin court, first in Düsseldorf, then in Heidelberg and Mannheim.

The first two movements, Andante and Presto, are played through without pause. The andante brings to mind the adagio of the first Concert:  it is in the same spirit, as well as the same key, and the theme construction is similar. The presto is made up of a dense exchange of themes with both instruments in constant conversation. The lute part has no cause for envy towards those of Leopold, given its virtuosity. A marked difference with the first Concert, however, is the third movement, also an Andante, that stays in the key of b flat instead of descending into the relative minor key of G. Mattheson’s description of b flat major, ‘sumptuous but modest’, is very fitting here, as a calm serenity reigns for six minutes, while a pastoral atmosphere pleasantly floats in the second section with pedal tones reminiscent of shepherd’s pipes. The concluding Allegro contains no less than two short reprises. Judging from the repeated chords of the lute, Sigismund undoubtedly wished to let the flautist’s virtuosity take the foreground, rather than needlessly embellish the lute part. In fact, the lute only dialogues with the melody from bar 50 onwards, challenging the flautist’s respiratory endurance.       

The Concert d’un Luth avec la Flute traversiere. Del S.L. Weis. (S-C 9), in F major, also wears its naturally noble tonal quality quite well. The initial Adagio has a slow march feel, not unlike that of a wedding march. The following Allegro is a four voice fugue, three of the voices being held throughout by the lute, save for an orchestral style octave passage near the piece’s end. Its joyous exuberance is suddenly interrupted by an enigmatic Amoroso in d minor, conjuring up emotions more tormented than amorous, perhaps even those of an impossible, desperate love. Its passion is abundant, even obsessive, demonstrated by a superb baroque enflé by the flute shortly before the piece’s conclusion. The inconclusive cadence adds to the mystery in that it anticipates a next movement also in d minor. Yet, we return to the key of F major for the final jubilant Allegro.    

We will call the next work Duo 4 in g minor (S-C 14). Nothing, other than clues in the music itself, indicates that this work is a duo. Perhaps Weiss also played this work in duet with violin, or Baroque oboe. While the initial Adagio is connected to the Concerts by its title and its spirit, the other movements are similar to most of the solo works in this manuscript. The adagio is perhaps Weiss’s most beautiful ensemble piece along with the chaconne whose thematic cells can already be found here. With its well chosen modulations and entrancing flute part enriched by colourful harmonies on the lute, the piece is permeated with the wisdom of a profound incantation.       

The Gavotte is bouncy but gracious. The themes skip almost humorously through a somewhat contradictory and omnipresent melancholy. The contrast of very low bass notes on lute and soaring passages on the wooden flute creates a very unique blending of timbres. While on paper, both the Sarabande and the Menuet seem like short pieces of little interest, they prove themselves as striking, mature musical constructions under the fingers of the performer. At bars 3, 5 and 7 of the sarabande, we find proof, in my opinion, that appoggiatura in Baroque tablature, at times, simply cannot be executed other than in long note values. It is clear that playing the ornaments rapidly in this case would interrupt the flow of the musical discourse. As mentioned above, the minuet is almost identical to the solo piece in F of the same name at page 11. In the second part, despite my wish to create a non-contrasting flute part in a passage sounding no more no less like…Poulenc (!), the feeling of a ‘nod’ to a future time remains nonetheless. This comes as no surprise when one takes into consideration the “20^th century style” themes in ancient music, notably in 17^th century French lute music. A feeling of galanterie is omnipresent in this minuet, accentuated by chromaticism in my flute part inspired by Weiss himself (see for example the prelude and fugue in E flat major). This effect will be repeated in the chaconne, and I defend it in any context where themes are easily predictable. Weiss is a composer, as is his colleague and friend Telemann, who feels comfortable inside a pre-established mold, but offers delightful surprises at certain moments to spice up an otherwise traditional musical vocabulary.

Exceptionally, the Bourée is placed after the sarabande and even after the minuet. Could it be because the final chaconne starts off slowly?  Whatever the case, it is obvious that this order creates a logical rhythmic balance. This bourree is very technically demanding, due to the incessant exchange of melodic lines between lute and flute. The last movement, a magnificent Ciacona, by sheer beauty, transcends the need for repetition of variations, incidentally not indicated in the tablature. Both lutenists and guitarists have been playing this work for years as a solo. Indeed, if we vary the chordal sections with arpeggios and ornamentation, the result becomes a very satisfactory solo, which brings me to reiterate the possibility of Weiss playing such versatile pieces in one format or another. If the piece were played as a solo, the reprises would be justified. However, it is clear that as a duet, the result is splendid.  

With the Duo 5 in d minor (S-C 20), our presentation of the London Manuscript’s works ends. Three of its movements bear the inscription Weis 1719. We have added the Largo p.117, an isolated piece located seventy five pages prior to this duo, which serves perfectly as a sarabande. As was the case with Duo 4, only the musical structure of the lute part indicates in all likelihood that these pieces are duets, with its sudden alternation between voluble melodic motifs and simple chord progressions. Nevertheless, the Prelud: presto is visibly for lute solo, but acts as an excellent introduction for the following movement. A true whirlwind in the style of Bach’s toccatas, it unleashes its fury by passing through an Adagio section that builds tension before releasing it again in another presto sequence. In this dramatic context, the effects of verre brisé (vibrato) and percussive “buzzing” bass (one could say alla Bartok) are of course intentional given their typical Baroque spirit. The Un poco andanteis majestic yet reserved. Pedals on the dominant at section ends enhance a dreamlike quality. Dialogue is tight between the two instruments, as it is in the following La Badinage, with reason, given its title: ‘The Jesting’. This movement serves as a courante, and has all its characteristic traits. It brings to mind Bach’s closely titled Badinerie, also for flute (and orchestra).

With its dialogue composed of rapidly ascending exchanges creating a harrowing conversation effect, the Largo simply astonishes the listener. In the aforementioned spirit of comparing similarities between themes from different musical periods, I unabashedly mention that the initial melodic motif found for the flute is inspired by a song from the seventies progressive pop group King Crimson. This largo could have contained reprises for the two sections, the first ending exactly at the halfway point of the piece in a conclusive cadence. However, Weiss preferred continuity without repetition, the drama already having been spent, so to say. And so by ending the largo with an inconclusive, as opposed to a conclusive, cadence, therefore suggesting complementary movement, continuity is preserved. Luckily, the following movement, Le Sicilien, rallies perfectly with the end of the largo and even creates a sort of epilogue. In addition, by placing this largo in a sonata, we create a similar situation as in the third Concert, where a movement also ends inconclusively. This sicilienne expresses a kind of bitter sweetness, or perhaps unrequited tenderness. The rich harmonic progression gives the discourse a certain bounce. What a change of scenery the Menuet offers us ! In the relative major key of f, its mood is of the greatest nonchalance. Finally, a spirited and resolute Gigue brilliantly ends this last of S.L.Weiss’s duets.  

< 35 Individual Pieces II

 

  Copyright © 1998-2006 Laurent Duroselle, Markus Lutz

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