Bach and His Pieces PDF
Bach and His Pieces PDF
Bach and His Pieces PDF
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ArdalPowellwith David Lasocki
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demonstratethe range of influences on the instru- J. J. Rippertmade woodwinds for customersin Lon-
mental sonata:Corelliand Caldaraare his models in don and Frankfurt,those made for London (to sup-
Italianinstrumentalstyle, and Lullyand Camprain plement ones by Nicolas (Colin) Hotteterrealready
suites, and he writesdirectimitationsof both Corelli in use) being tuned to the higher pitch standard
and Lully. The Mattheson, Telemann and Quantz there.27
pieces have a low tessitura and avoid the highest Three-joint flutes made in Berlin, Nuremberg,
range,while those by Blockwitz/Braunuse the whole Berchtesgadenand Leipzigsurvive to show that at
compass of the instrumentand a wide rangeof keys, this early date more than one centre of excellent
includingB6minor. woodwind making activityexisted within Germany,
The diversity in the music of this period is one of them in Saxony."8In NurembergJacobDen-
matched by the variety of instruments availableto ner, whose father Johann Christoph had begun to
Freytag, Wtirdig, Buffardin, Quantz, Friese and imitate the new French-styleoboe and recorderby
Blockwitz,the flautistsBachknew or had occasionto 1696,29 madetwo three-jointfluteswhich survivedto
meet in his pre-Leipzigperiod. Recent work, which this century.Both have alternativefoot-joints,one of
has largelybeen on Frenchsources,might lead us to which plays low c'; this associatesthem with a pan-
expect a list of French makers' names here, but a European vogue for extended foot-joints which
broader view (see appendix 2.1) reveals that flute seems to have occurredaround 172030 and certainly
making in Germany, the Low Countries, Italy, would have helped extend the flute's rangefor play-
Switzerlandand even Englandwas alreadyhighlyde- ing oboe or violin music:31besides Denner they were
veloped by 1720, and that certain makers, perhaps made by Bressan(London) and J. J. Schuchart(Ger-
many of them, had reputationsnot confined to their many, then London). German makers associated
immediate geographicalarea. The Parisian maker with three-joint flutes are J. Denner (Nuremberg),
21,000 inhabitants.It is partlyexplained by the fact forming had thoroughly absorbed and naturalized
that instrument making in Leipzigwas at no time the 'violinistic' influence by the time the Sonates
regulatedby a guild. Anyone who wished could set mAlkes de pi ces by the virtuoso Michel Blavet were
up in business, without serving an apprenticeship, published in 1732.Composersfrom Dresden and its
submitting a masterpiece,or even holding citizen- environs, including Bach, wrote concerto-likesolos
ship. This must have made for more diversitythan in a form stronglyinfluencedby Vivaldi.46
was the case in guild-controlledcities where estab- Bach's survivingLeipzigchamber music for flute
lished Masters had a say in the attitudes, lifestyles begins with the continuo sonata in E minor,
and work of their junior colleaguesor competitors. Bwvlo34, dated c.1724, the same time as featured
The merchant Mathias Hirschstein (c.1695-1760) flute parts began to appear in the cantatas. Later
took advantageof this plethora to set up a trade in Leipzig compositions are the C major (c.1731), Eb
1744in which he bought instruments (at least some major (1730-34), B minor and A major sonatas
stamped with his own name)43from many of the (c.1736). Of these the B minor and C major are en-
makers and shipped them to his warehouse in tirely or partially based on earlier works. The G
Frankfurtan der Oder for distribution to eastern major trio sonata for two flutes, BWV1o27, is dated
parts. c.1729-31.A number of these works have a distinctly
Many of the Leipzigwoodwind makershad per- lower tessiturathan others:the G majortrio sonata,
sonal connections with one another, and with the Bwvlo27, the E minor and A major sonatas and even
Thomaskantor.The violin maker Johann Christian the B minor sonata if played in its originalkey of G
Hoffmann,who shareda house with J.Poerschmann minor.47Like many of the flute solos of Telemann,
from 1721,deliveredinstrumentsto the Thomas and Blavet and others, these pieces seem a good match
Nikolai churches,and bequeathedhis 'good friend' with the most comfortable and effective range of
Bach another instrument in his 1748will. Poersch- some of the larger-boredfour-jointflutes made dur-
mann's wife, the merchant Hirschstein and Bach's ing Bach'slifetime, which have a very powerfuland
oboist J. C. Gleditschwere godparentsto childrenof direct low register,though in a few cases at the ex-
Eichentopf,who in turn stood godfatherto children pense of ease in the highest. Bwvlo30 in G minor fits
of Poerschmann along with Christian Noack and on a three-joint instrumentwith a C foot; of those
J. C. Hoffmann and his sister. The oak leaves sug- mentioned above, the flutes of J. J. Schuchart,who
gested by Eichentopfs name and used by him as a began his career in Germany before 1720, have a
decoration also appear (suggesting a continuity of characteristicallylarge bore especiallysuited to the
'trademark')in the work of other makers,including low range of the piece in this key. Jeanne Swack48
A. Bauermanand, later,C. F. Sattler. reads Bwvlo32's low tessitura and avoidance of the
Influenceson the style of writingfor the flute con- highest registerto indicate Quantzas the performer.
tinued to multiply during Bach's Leipzig period, These featureswould apply equallyto any contem-
while the effect of others was moderatedby contin- porary flautist who used a large-boredinstrument:
ued use. If Telemann's early sonatas were already Quantz stands out only becausewe have unique in-
eclectic, the 'methodical sonatas' of 1728 and 1732, dications of his tastesin flutes. The rangeand copy-
Der getreue Music-Meister (Hamburg, 1728-9) and ing errors may indicate transpositionfrom another
XII Solos (Hamburg, 1734)drew on an even wider key of a part originallywritten for another instru-
array of highly distinctive genres, including Polish ment, as MichaelMarissenhas argued.49
folk music.44The 'mixed taste' became practicallya The low chamber pitch50introduced by Kuhnau