FOOTNOTES
[1] Musikalisches Lexicon oder musikalische Bibliothek.
[2] Among the four-movement sonatas of Op. 1, No. 6 (in B minor) has the peculiar order: Grave, Largo, Adagio, Allegro.
[3] The Preludio Adagio only consists of four chords, or two bars; the Adagio, again, only consists of four bars. The sonata, therefore, may be considered as of three movements.
[4] 1680-1762.
[5] 1693-1764.
[6] 1685-1750 (Veracini is regarded as of the Corelli school, yet it should not be forgotten that his uncle, Antonio Veracini, is said to have published "Sonate a tre, due violini e violone, o arciliuto col basso continuo per l'organo" at Florence, already in 1662).
[7] 1692-1770.
[8] It is important to distinguish between sonata and sonata-form. The first movement of a modern sonata is usually in sonata-form; but there are sonatas (Beethoven, Op. 26, etc.) which contain no such movement. Sonata-form, as will be shown later on, has been evolved from old binary form. By sonata is understood merely a group of movements; hence objection may certainly be taken to the term as applied to the one-movement pieces of Dom. Scarlatti, which are not even in sonata-form.
[9] It must be remembered that Corelli spent some time in Germany between 1680 and 1683, the latter being the year of publication of his first sonatas at Rome.
[10] In J.S. Bach's 2nd Sonata for Flauto traverso and Cembalo (third movement) there is a return to the opening theme in the second section; also in the Presto of the sonata for two violins and figured bass we have an example very similar to the "Hoboy" sonata of Handel.
[11] Krieger, by the way, studied under Bernardo Pasquini at Rome.
[12] Cf. Corelli: Corrente in 10th Sonata of Op. 2; also Allemande and Giga of the next sonata.
[13] Cf. Scarlatti: No. 10 of the sixty sonatas published by Breitkopf & Härtel.
[14] When there is clearly a second subject, that of course offers the point of return. (See Nos. 24 and 39.)
[15] See V. Schoelcher's Life of Handel, p. 23.
[16] See, however, [chapter] on the predecessors of Beethoven.
[17] See [ch. iii]. on Pasquini.
[18] "Seit einigen Jahren hat man angefangen, Sonaten für's Clavier (da sie sonst nur für Violinen u. dgl. gehören) mit gutem Beifall zu setzen; bisher haben sie noch die rechte Gestalt nicht, und wollen mehr gerührt werden, als rühren, das ist, sie zielen mehr auf die Bewegung der Finger als der Herzen."
[19] The public did not support the undertaking, and the other five never appeared.
[20] The copy in the British Museum has no violin part, which was probably unimportant.
[21] Emanuel Bach's predecessor as clavecinist at the Prussian Court.
[22] This name is not in Mendel, Riemann, Grove, nor Brown. Fétis, however, mentions him as Joseph Umstadt, maître de chapelle of Count Brühl, at Dresden, about the middle of the eighteenth century, and as composer of Parthien, and of six sonatas for the clavecin.
[23] See, however, the early Würtemberg sonatas.
[24] Examples to be found in Rolle, Müthel, and Joh. Chr. Bach, etc.
[25] Gluck's six sonatas for two violins and a thorough bass, published by J. Simpson, London (probably about the time when Gluck was in London, since he is named on title-page "Composer to the Opera"), have three movements: slow, fast, fast,—the last generally a Minuet.
[26] E. Bach did some strange things. One of his sonatas (Coll. of 1783, No. 1) has the first movement in G major, the second in G minor, and the third in E major.
[27] Galuppi, No. 4, first set: Adagio, Spiritoso, Giga Allegro.
[28] Sometimes the last movement was a Tempo di Menuetto, a Polonaise, or even a Fugue.
[29] Wagenseil's Op. 1, Sonatas with violin accompaniment. No. 4, in C, has Allegro, Minuetto, Andante, and Allegro assai.
[30] As this experiment of Seyfert and Goldberg, in connection with Beethoven, is of special interest, we may add that Goldberg has all the movements in the same key, but Seyfert has both the Trio of the Minuet, and the Andante in the under-dominant. This occurs in two of his sonatas; in both, the opening key is major.
[31] There is, however, one curious exception. The first of the two "Sonates pour le clavecin, qui peuvent se jouer avec l'Accompagnement de Violon, dédiées à Madame Victoire de France, par J.G. Wolfgang Mozart de Salzbourg, agé de sept ans," published at Paris as Op. 1, has four movements: an Allegro in C (with, by the way, an Alberti bass from beginning to end, except at the minor chord with organ point near the close of each section, the place for the extemporised cadenza), an Andante in F (Alberti bass from beginning to end), a first and second Menuet, and an Allegro molto, of course, in C. The brief dedication to Op. 1 is signed:—"Votre très humble, très obéissant et très petit Serviteur, J.G. Wolfgang Mozart."
[32] There is one exception: a sonata in G major, one of his earliest. See [chapter] on Haydn and Mozart.
[33] Scheibe; a return for the moment to a practice which was once of usual occurrence.
[34] Mention has been made in this chapter of a first section in a minor piece of Scarlatti's ending in the major key of the dominant.
[35] In the Sonatas of 1781, for instance, the first movement of No. 2, in F, has a definite second subject, but that is scarcely the case with the first movement of No. 3, in F minor.
[36] This is the date given by Mattheson. In some dictionaries we find 1667; this, however, seems to be an error, for that would only make Kuhnau fifteen years of age when he became candidate for the post of organist of St. Thomas'. Fétis, who gives the later date (1667), states that in 1684 Kuhnau became organist of St. Thomas', but adds: "Quoiqu'il ne fût agé que de dix-sept ans."
[37] This Kittel must surely have been father or uncle of Johann Christian Kittel, Bach's last pupil.
[38] Mattheson, in his Grundlage einer Ehren-Pforte, published at Hamburg in 1740, complains that the names of Salomon Krügner, Christian Kittel, A. Kuhnau, and Hering are not to be found in the musical dictionaries. The first and third have not, even now, a place.
[39] In a letter written by Graupner to Mattheson, the former, after mentioning that he studied the clavier and also composition under Kuhnau, says:—"Weil ich mich auch bei Kuhnau, als Notist, von selbsten ambot, u. eine gute Zeit für ihn schrieb, gab nur solches gewünschte Gelegenheit, viel gutes zu sehen, u. wo etwa ein Zweifel enstund, um mündlichen Bericht zu bitten, wie dieses oder jenes zu verstehen?" ("As I offered myself as copyist to Kuhnau, and wrote some long time for him, such a wished-for opportunity enabled me to study much good (music), and, whenever a doubt arose to learn by word of mouth how this or that was to be understood.")
[40] In the Dictionnaire de Musique by Bossard (2nd ed. 1705) no mention is made under the article "Sonata" of one for the clavier, and yet the above had been published ten years previously.
[42] Nearly the whole of this composer's works are said to have been destroyed at the bombardment of Dresden in 1760.
[43] The sonata is given in Le Trésor des Pianistes with the ornaments, yet even there more than a dozen have been omitted.
[44] The clavier by its very nature tended towards polyphony; the violin towards monody. And, besides, Kuhnau prided himself on the fugal character of his sonatas.
[45] Even in the later "Bible" Sonatas, figures from these sonatas recur.
[46] Cf. The Fitzwilliam Virginal Book, edited by J.A. Fuller-Maitland and W. Barclay Squire (Breitkopf & Härtel).
[47] Johann Jakob Froberger died in 1667.
[48] Meyer thinks he was probably the son of Ercole Pasquini, born about 1580, and predecessor of Frescobaldi at St. Peter's.
[49] Weitzmann and other writers, in referring to the work published at Amsterdam, spell the name Paglietti; it should, however, be Polietti or Poglietti.
[50] This piece was printed from a manuscript in the British Museum, which bears no such title. Judging, however, from the title of the libro prezioso mentioned on p. 71 [Transcriber's Note: p. [73]], that name may originally have been given to it.
[51] The suite is printed in the Pasquini-Grieco Album by Messrs. Novello.
[52] Pasquini was no doubt one of the many composers who influenced Handel. When the latter visited Italy before he came to London in 1710, he made the acquaintance of the two Scarlattis (Alessandro and Domenico), Corelli, and other famous musicians at Rome; of Lotti and Steffani at Venice; and surely at Naples he must have known Pasquini, whose name, however, is not to be found either in Schoelcher or Rockstro. Only Gasparini, who was a pupil of Pasquini's, is mentioned by the former.
[53] "Si puo fare a Due Cembali."
[54] See the Novello Album.
[55] See the Novello Album.
[56] The post was offered to Bach in 1738, while Frederick was as yet Crown Prince, but he only entered on his duties in 1740.
[57] The four sons of Hans Georg Benda (Franz, Johann, Georg, and Joseph) were excellent musicians, and all members of the band of Frederick the Great. Georg, the third son, composer of Ariadne and Medea, two duodramas which attracted the attention of Mozart, was, however, the most remarkable.
[58] Cf. Carlyle's Frederick the Great, vol. iv. p. 134:—"Graun, one of the best judges living, is likewise off to Italy, gathering singers."
[59] The symphonies appear to be three-movement overtures transcribed for clavier. As a rule, the pieces marked as symphonies in this collection have no double bars, and, consequently, no repeat in the first movement. A "symphony" of Emanuel Bach is, however, marked as a "sonata" in the Six Lessons for the Harpsichord, published in London during the eighteenth century.
[60] The king was extremely fond of Hasse's music, but this composer, though German by birth, was thoroughly Italian by training.
[61] Yet, curiously, there is no chord in the later sonatas so large as the two on page 29 (6th Sonata)—
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which, of course, are played in arpeggio.
[62] Excepting in the fifth, which, by the way, was, for a long time, considered to be the composition of J.S. Bach, and was published as such by J.C. Westphal & Co. This return to the opening theme is to be found already in the sonatinas for violin and cembalo by G.P. Telemann published at Amsterdam in 1718. See Allegro of No. 1, in A; the main theme is given as usual in the key of the dominant at the beginning of the second section. Then after a modulation to the key of the relative minor, a return is made to the opening key and the opening theme.
[63] Similar passages are to be found in the opening Vivace of J.G. Müthel's 2nd Sonata in G. He was a pupil of J.S. Bach, and either a pupil or close follower of E. Bach. His six published sonatas are of great musical interest; in his wide sweeping arpeggios and other florid passages he shows an advance on E. Bach. His 2nd Arioso with twelve variations is worth the notice of pianists in search of something unfamiliar. There are features in the music—and of these the character of the theme is not least—which remind one strongly of Beethoven's 32 C minor variations.
[64] A recitative is also to be found in a Müller sonata.
[65] "In tempo in cui ebbi l'onore di darle Lezzione di Musica in Berlino."
[66] "The two sonatas, which met with your special approval, are the only ones of this kind which I have ever composed. They are connected with the one in B minor, which I sent to you, with the one in B flat, which you now have also, and with two out of the Hafner-Würtemberg Collection; and all six were composed on a Claviacord with the short octave, at the Töplitz baths, when I was suffering from a severe attack of gout."
A series of six sonatas by E. Bach is in the Trésor des Pianistes, and is said to have been published at Nuremberg in 1744; the work is also dedicated to the Duke of Würtemberg, and the Opus number (2) is also given to it. There is mention of these sonatas in Bitter's biography of J.S. Bach's sons, but not of the others.
[67] Sechs ausgewählte Sonaten für Klavier allem von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach bearbeitet und mit einem Vorwort herausgegeben von Hans von Bülow (Peters, Leipzig).
[68] In like manner he feels in the Andante, reflection, and in the final Andantino, melancholy consolation.
[69] Leipziger Mus. Almanack, 1783.
[70] The number of sonatas in each collection grew gradually smaller: first six, then three, lastly two. The dates of composition in the last column of above table may be studied with advantage: a later date of publication does not necessarily imply a more advanced work. Thus, of the three fine sonatas in the 3rd Collection (all of which are included in the Bülow selection), one was written eighteen, another fifteen, and the third (though first in order of reckoning), seven years before the date of publication (1781).
[71] See particularly the Sonata in G (collection of 1783).
[72] All of these consist of two movements; in the first, both movements are marked Andante.
[73] For the benefit of readers who may not possess Pohl's J. Haydn, we insert in brackets, after the Pohl numbers, those of the Holle edition.
[74] Cf. C.F. Pohl's J. Haydn, vol. ii. p. 311. They are in the keys of D, E flat, and A, and are interesting. The Tempo di Menuetto of the second presents a strict canon in the octave. In the last, too, there is a curious canon.
[75] The treble of the tenth bar of the second section has been frequently printed a third too high.
[76] This Sonata in E flat (Op. 78) was dedicated to Mrs. Bartolozzi, wife of the famous engraver, and to her Haydn also dedicated one in C major, marked as Op. 79,—a bright, clever and showy work, in which the influence of Clementi is sensibly felt. The development section of the opening Allegro, together with the return to the principal theme, is interesting. The Adagio, in the key of the subdominant, is one of Haydn's best, while the final movement (Allegro molto) is full of life and humour.
[77] "Clementi is a charlatan, like all the Italians" (Letter to his sister, June 7, 1783).
[78] It is thirty-five years since the fine one in B minor was performed at the Popular Concerts; and eighteen, since a Clementi sonata has appeared on a Popular Concert programme.
[79] The three Sonatas in E flat, F minor, and D, dedicated to Maximilian Frederick, Elector of Cologne, and published at Speyer in 1783, are not here taken into account.
[80] In mentioning any of them we shall first give the Breitkopf & Härtel numbers and then the Holle numbers in brackets, so that either edition may be referred to.
[81] At the time of their production Dussek was not born, Hummel was still a child, and Beethoven an infant "mewling and puking in the nurse's arms," if, indeed, the Beethovens were able to afford the luxury of a nurse. Even Emanuel Bach had not published any of his Leipzig Collections, neither had Haydn written his best sonatas. As Clementi was not only the survivor of Beethoven, but also his predecessor, a reminder as to the state of the sonata world, when Clementi first entered it, is not wholly unnecessary.
[82] London Symphony in E flat, No. 8 (No. 1 in Breitkopf & Härtel Catalogue).
[83] See p. [187] concerning Beethoven's conversation with Schindler.
[84] Schindler, Biography of Beethoven, 3rd ed. vol. ii. pp. 223-4.
Hamburgh, June 12, 1801.
Mr. Clementi,
Mon Cher Clementi,—
J'ai reçu avec un extrême plaisir votre lettre, aussi que L'Autoscript dans celle de ma femme, je suis extremement touché du désir que vous témoignez de me revoir à Londres, mais etant une fois dans le Continent je ne puis résister au désir de faire une visite à mon Père, d'autant plus qui je Lui ai déja écrit que je viendrai pour Sure le voir cette eteé, je sçais par Ses lettres qu'il attend ce moment comme la plus grande, et peut-être, la dernière jouissance de sa Vie; tromper dans une pareille attente un Viellard de 70 ans, ce serait anticiper sur sa mort, d'ailleurs en arrivant en Angleterre tout de suite je ne ferais également que manger mon argent, ou bien celui de ma femme jusqu'à l'hiver prochain, aussi ma resolution est prise de faire le Voyage de la Boheme; voire en passant Dresde, Prague et Vienne, ou je sçais que je puis gagner de quoi me defrayer de tout mon voyage, et au dela: et de revenir a Londres vers le Novembre, vous pouvez compter ladessus, mais surtout sur le plaisir que j'aurai de revoir et d'embrasser un ami tel que vous—Mardi prochain part d'ici pour Londres un commis de Mr. Parish un des premiers Banquiers d'ici qui vous remetra en mains propres, par un de vos associés, mes trois nouvelles Sonates,—je suis occupé a metre au net. Les trois Concertinos qui vous recevrez aussi dans une quinzaine au plus tard, dont j'espere qui vous serez assez content, etant le meilleur ouvrage que j'ai jamais fait in the Selling Way, adieu mon cher Clementi, Les oreilles doivent souvent vous tinter, car je parle constamment de vous a tout le monde, car tout le monde aime qu'on leur parle de leurs connaissances, or vous êtes de la connaissance de tout le monde, adieu.
Votre ami,
Dussek.
Messrs Longman, Clementi, & Co.,
Gentelmen And Friends,—
I beg you would do your possible to send to me the two grand instruments immediately, for the two Gentelmen whom I have persuaded to purchase them after they have heard my own, are very impatient about it, and I am afraid if I do not receive a decided Answer from you about it or the connoisement, wich I may Show them, they will be induced to Buy some of their German Instruments as they are pretty well influenced by the Capel Master of this Town who is a tolerable great As in Music and an illnatured Antianglomane, besides I expect it as the means to make my Journey to Bohemia, therefore I hope you will be so good, and make the greatest Speed you can—you will see by the above that I intend to be in London about November Next, when I will be very happy to settle with you what may Balance in our account and to continue faithfull to our agreement.
Believe me,
Gentelmen and Friends,
Yours faithfully,
Dussek.
You have no Idea how many proposals I have received from London about my Compositions, some of them will make you Laugh.
At the General Quarters of the Prussian Army in Saxony, the 4th 8ber 1806.
Dear Sir,—
I have lately composed three Quartettos for two Violins, Tenor and Violoncello, and confess to you that I think this work above all that I have composed, they are neither in the Stile of Mozart, or Haydn, nor that of Pleyel, they are in the Stile of Dussek and I will hope make some noise in the Musical World—the Price for the Propriety of them in Britain is 60 guineas, wich I think highly moderate considering the scarcity of good new Quartettos—I have particularly chosen you Sir for the publication of this work, because I allways found you very reasonable in the few Business I have had the pleasure to make with you, and as my Contract with Clementi & Co. finishes the 4th November this year, I should be very glad to continue with you the publication of all my Works in futur—These Quartettos are for you a publication so advantagous that I have not the least doubt but you will make the Bargain of them, since there is such a long time that nothing has been published of my composition—I wish them to appear about the middle of January, and to be dedicated to His Royal Highness the Prince Louis of Prussia with whom I am at this moment at the Army against the French—If you wish to write to me, give the letter to the Gentelmen who shall deliver to you the quartettos—I beg You to give my best greetings to Mr. Crassier, Sheener, Tonkinson and all Those that remember me, and believe me,
Your very obedient Servant,
and sincere friend,
Dussek,
Privy Secretary to His Royal Hs.
the Prince Louis of Prussia.
The above letter is addressed to Mr. Birchal, Music Seller, New Bond Street, London.
[87] Musical Times, September and October 1877.
[88] Here is one, in the 8th Variation—
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[89] Mendelssohn, too, complained that Dussek was a prodigal.
[90] The one in D minor has often been performed at the Popular Concerts.
[91] 1822-1892.
[92] The original title is: "Sonata per il Cembalo ò Fortepiano di F.W. Rust, 1788."
[93] It is curious to note that in the supplement of the Breitkopf & Härtel edition of Beethoven's works there are two little pieces entitled "Lustig und Traurig."
[94] E. Bach published six easy clavier sonatas in 1765, but Neefe probably refers to earlier and more important works.
[95] Besides those mentioned, he published in 1774 six new sonatas, also variations on the theme "Kunz fand einst einen armen Mann."
[96] "As your Royal Highness seemed to be pleased with the sonata in C minor, I thought it would not appear too bold to surprise you with the dedication of it."
[97] The opening theme of that same symphony—
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recalls, curiously, the last movement of Beethoven's 8th Symphony; and still more so in the form in which he first sketched it—
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[98] Schindler, by the way, relates in his Biography of Beethoven (3rd ed. 2nd Part, p. 212) that, already in 1816, when there was a proposal made by Hoffmeister to Beethoven to issue a new edition of his pianoforte music, the master conceived the intention of indicating the poetic idea ("Poetische Idee") underlying his various works. And the biographer adds: "This term (i.e. poetic idea) belongs to Beethoven's epoch, and was used by him as frequently as was, for example, the expression 'poetic contents' by others—in opposition to works which only offer an harmonic and rhythmic play of tones. Writers on æsthetics of our day declaim against the latter term; with good reason, if it refer to programme-music; without reason, if they extend their negation to all Beethoven's music, and deny its poetic contents. Whence that tendency, which so frequently manifests itself, and that strong desire to give pictorial explanations, especially of the Beethoven symphonies and sonatas, if they contained nothing but a well-ordered harmonic and rhythmic play of tones, and if they—or, at least, some of them—were not based on some special idea? What other composer creates this almost irresistible desire?"
[99] Mr. E. Pauer, in his preface to Ernst von Elterlein's Beethoven's Pianoforte Sonatas explained for the lovers of the musical art,—a valuable and interesting book,—remarks: "Herr von Elterlein's design is not so much to describe the beauties of Beethoven's sonatas, as to direct the performer's attention to these beauties, and to point out the leading and characteristic features of each separate piece" (the italics are ours).
[100] The Finale of a Sonata in A flat by Cramer, one of three dedicated to Haydn, is said to have suggested to Beethoven the Finale of his Sonata in A flat (Op. 26). Dr. Erich Prieger, who has recently published a facsimile of the autograph of Beethoven's sonata, in his preface quotes some passages from the Cramer Finale, which certainly seem to show that the Bonn master was to some extent influenced by his predecessor. Here is the second of the three passages quoted:—
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[101] Woelfl's "Ne plus Ultra" Sonata would have long been forgotten but for Dussek's "Plus Ultra." See [chapter] on "Predecessors of Beethoven."
[102] In Steibelt's two sonatas (Op. 62), for instance, the airs "If a body meet a body," "Jesse Macpharlane," and "La Chrantreuse" [Transcriber's Note: So in original, probably should be "Chartreuse">[ are introduced. In his Op. 40 we also find "The Caledonian Beauty," "The Maid of Selma," "'Twas within a mile of Edinbro' town," and "Life let us cherish." Woelfl's sonatas (Op. 35, 38) also contain Scotch airs, and his "Ne plus Ultra" has variations on "Life let us cherish."
[103] 1773-1853, court organist at Heldburghausen.
[104] 1766-1826, court organist at Freising.
[105] Notice, in each case, the falling interval in the second and fourth bar.
[106] Verstohlen geht der Mond auf, blau, blau Blümelein, etc.
[107] The long arpeggio leading up to the first note is omitted.
[108] In the British Museum copy the "XII. Sonate da Chiesa, Opera Quinta" of Bassani are bound up with "Sonate a Tre" by Giacomo Sherard. In plain English, the latter composer was a certain James Sherard, an apothecary by profession. The Bassani sonatas here mentioned were published at Amsterdam. Hawkins tells us that "an ordinary judge, not knowing that they were the work of another, might mistake them for compositions of Corelli." The first violin book has the following entry:—"Mr. Sherard was an apothecary in Crutched Friars about the year 1735, performed well on the violin, was very intimate with Handel and other Masters." This copy, which possibly belonged to Sherard, contains also the following, written apparently by the person into whose hands the book passed:—"Wm. Salter, surgeon and apothecary, Whitechapel High Street." The various sonatas, too, are marked in pencil—some as good; others, very good. The date, 1789, is also given—the year, probably, in which the volumes became the property of W. Salter.
[109] These sonatas were afterwards published at Amsterdam as Corelli's, being marked as his Opera Settima. On the title-page was written "Si crede che Siano State Composte di Arcangelo Corelli avanti le sue altre Opere."
[111] She was surely the daughter of François Hippolite Barthélémon (son of a Frenchman and of an Irish lady), who was on intimate terms with Haydn, to whom the sonata above mentioned is dedicated.
[112] Samuel Wesley (1766-1837), nephew of the Rev. John Wesley, was a gifted musician, and is specially remembered for his enthusiastic admiration of John Sebastian Bach. The letters which he wrote to Benjamin Jacob on the subject of his favourite author were published by his daughter in 1875. He also, in conjunction with C.F. Horn, published an edition of Bach's "Wohltemperirtes Clavier."
[113] He is described on the title-page as "formerly Composer to several Cathedral Churches in France." Buée's name is neither in Fétis nor the Pougin Supplément.