Roberto Loreggian - Muffat: Componimenti Musicali (2024) [Hi-Res]

Tracklist

01. Suite No. 1 in C Major: I. Ouverture
02. Suite No. 1 in C Major: II. Allemande
03. Suite No. 1 in C Major: III. Courante
04. Suite No. 1 in C Major: IV. Air
05. Suite No. 1 in C Major: V. Rigaudon
06. Suite No. 1 in C Major: VI. Menuet et trio
07. Suite No. 1 in C Major: VII. Adagio
08. Suite No. 1 in C Major: VIII. Finale
09. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: I. Prelude
10. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: II. Allemande
11. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: III. Courante
12. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: IV. Sarabande
13. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: V. Bourée
14. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: VI. Menuet et trio
15. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: VII. Fantaisie
16. Suite No. 2 in G Minor: VIII. Gigue
17. Suite No. 3 in D Major: I. Fantaisie
18. Suite No. 3 in D Major: II. Allemande
19. Suite No. 3 in D Major: III. Courante
20. Suite No. 3 in D Major: IV. Sarabande
21. Suite No. 3 in D Major: V. Menuet
22. Suite No. 3 in D Major: VI. Rigaudon bizarre
23. Suite No. 3 in D Major: VII. Air
24. Suite No. 3 in D Major: VIII. Finale
25. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: I. Fantaisie
26. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: II. Allemande
27. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: III. Courante
28. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: IV. Sarabande
29. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: V. La hardiesse
30. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: VI. Menuet I, menuet II
31. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: VII. Air
32. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: VIII. Hornepippe
33. Suite No. 4 in B-Flat Major: IX. Gigue
34. Suite No.5 in D Minor: I. Ouverture
35. Suite No.5 in D Minor: II. Allemande
36. Suite No.5 in D Minor: III. Courante
37. Suite No.5 in D Minor: IV. Sarabande
38. Suite No.5 in D Minor: V. Menuet
39. Suite No.5 in D Minor: VI. Rigaudon
40. Suite No.5 in D Minor: VII. Menuet et trio
41. Suite No.5 in D Minor: VIII. Gigue
42. Suite No. 6 in G Major: I. Fantaisie
43. Suite No. 6 in G Major: II. Fuga a quattro
44. Suite No. 6 in G Major: III. Allemande
45. Suite No. 6 in G Major: IV. Courante
46. Suite No. 6 in G Major: V. Sarabande
47. Suite No. 6 in G Major: VI. La coquette
48. Suite No. 6 in G Major: VII. Menuet et trio
49. Suite No. 6 in G Major: VIII. Air
50. Suite No. 6 in G Major: IX. Gigue
51. Suite No. 6 in G Major: X. Menuet en cornes de chasse
52. Ciacona in G Major

Gottlieb Muffat’s oeuvre, dedicated almost in its entirety to keyboard instruments and skilfully straddling the stile antico and stile moderno, deserves more detailed attention than it has ever been afforded. The majority of sources containing music by Muffat are unpublished, with only two collections published at the composer’s own behest during his years in the Emperor’s service in Vienna. One of these is the Componimenti Musicali per il Cembalo (Augsburg, 1739).

This collection contains 6 Suites and a Ciacona with 38 variations for solo harpsichord. The composer describes these seven works as capricci or galanterie to be performed in the stile moderno and to suit modern tastes. Although arranged in the conventional order of Allemande–Courante–Sarabande–Gigue, Muffat also added various optional dances, displaying no shortage of innovation. The first movements are introductory in nature, often fugal in form and varying in style and pace: Ouverture (Suites 1 and 5), Prelude (Suite 2) and Fantaisie (Suites 3, 4 and 6). The seventh piece in the collection, the Ciacona con 38 Variazioni, is a special case. As Christopher Hogwood suggests in his introduction to the modern edition (Orpheus, 2009), the Ciacona could be another tribute to the imperial family, as the number of variations matches the age Charles VI’s niece, Maria Amalia, would have been on 22 October 1739.

Muffat’s interest in contemporary harpsichord composition is most clearly evident in his transcription and reinterpretation of works by George Frideric Handel, based on a manuscript copy of the Suites des pièces pour le clavecin he held in his library. Muffat reworked the suites in Handel’s collection, suggesting new ornamentation, distributing the notes differently between the hands, changing the clefs and sometimes note values, and adding slurs and cadenzas. He then applied everything he had observed while rewriting Handel’s suites to his own Componimenti musicali: including a table of ornaments, which the composer asks be played with ‘art and discretion’; he considers the positioning of the player’s hands on the keyboard in his writing and avoids using multiple clefs on one line to prevent confusion; he describes the optimum way to use the thumb for accidentals; and he provides the correct technical interpretation of trills and slurs.

Study of the Componimenti reveals what could be defined as a pedagogical intent, as well as a clear desire to make the score unambiguous and accessible by means of his introductory instructions. The collection contributed greatly to setting a new benchmark for keyboard writing in the lands of the Viennese Empire.

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