In Wilhelmine’s Footsteps: Music of the Bayreuth Court
Margravine Wilhelmine von Bayreuth is the focus of this album, although the music presented includes pieces by Johann Pfieiffer, Johann Gotthilf Jänichen, Bernhard Joachim Hagen, and Pietro Locatelli. The HIPP ensemble Camerata Øresund is led by the violinist Peter Spissky, in energetic performances, joined by harpsichordist Marcus Mohlin, Dohyuo Sol on lute, and flutist Ceclia Flodén with solos. Josefine Andersson sings two arias by Wilhelmine.
Wilhelmine was the brother of Frederick the Great, who obviously shared his musical talents; for both, their father did not support the cultivation of these talents and they both reportedly led unhappy childhoods. She did, however, study the harpsichord and lute from an early age, and later was able to accompany both Locatelli and Johann Gottlieb Graun on the violin. She eventually found her artistic home in the Bayreuth court.
Both Pfeiffer and Locatelli represent the older guard on this album, both being born in the 1690s; the opening work is a five-movement suite by Pfeiffer for “oboe” or “violin” and strings in G minor, a highly affective piece. It’s joined here by flute. The entire suite opens with a dramatic dotted rhythm, and I immediate warmed up to the sound of the Camerata’s sound. The overture soon turns over to a faster section that is given over to the violin. The remaining movements are short, but this French-flavored suite isn’t too far off in style from Bach’s own second orchestral suite featuring flute; but the third movement, Air en Carillon speaks to its more galant flavor. I couldn’t imagine a better performance.
Credit is given to both Wilhelmine and Jänichen for the G minor keyboard concerto. The length and scope of the concerto is in strong-alignment to the concertos J.S. Bach left us; but as expected, the style is advanced. It starts with a nice ritornello, but the resulting episodes are more melody-focused. Italiante influences, especially with the repeated figures, are hard to miss. What’s missing from this piece is the style that would be adopted by C.P.E. Bach, elongating the structure of a concerto. The opening movement maintains a strong sense of drama without falling into a storm-and-stress type of style, which would later come into vogue. This was clearly written to highlight the capabilities of the soloist. I like how it includes an opportunity for a short cadenza before the ritornello returns.
The two arias from her opera, Argenore, are sung in Italian. Andersson sings in an operatic style, with continuous vibrato. The instrumental component is interesting as they dig into the spirit of the music offering sul ponticello coloration. The liner notes, which provide great biographical information about Wilhelmine, do not offer the lyrics of these arias, although it does suggest that the opera is a reflection of Wilhelmine’s unhappy childhood. The Senza aita aria is especially well-written, I think; despite not knowing the words, I found it highly affective.
We might imagine that the A minor sonata for flute (in three movements) could have been intended for her brother or husband, as the liner notes, mention were both flute players. The Affettuoso did not speak to me very directly, but the Presto seems finely wrought, both for the solo part and running bass. The rhythmic changes near the middle are clever. Better than J.S. Bach, she seems to know to give the flute player places to breathe. Overall, I’d say the Presto is a storm; the final movement, marked Allegro feels like a frolicking walk through the woods after the rainstorm. Both are based upon the Fortspinnung style, wherein the first movement is aligned to the Empfindsamkeit stil.
The lute concerto by Hagen is a world-premier recording. Hagen’s years are 1720-1787; his style as we might expect is even more mature. As the notes suggest, Hagen combines elements of the galant style, Empfindsamkeit, and the Sturm und Drang. As we might expect, all these pieces seem intended for chamber performances, and this concerto for me is not as interesting as the other works presented; like the keyboard concerto, there’s an intent to give the soloist time to engage with the music and their listeners. The writing in the third movement especially reminds me more of guitar, than, say the pieces by Weiss, that were more contrapuntal. This late style of writing for the lute, I think, is interesting to see where composers took the instrument before it fell from interest.
Among the Italian violin composers, Locatelli’s style changes dramatically throughout this life. The concerto grosso included here comes from his earlier stage, from his first opus. Even so, his harmonic language is significantly more evolved than Vivaldi’s; his focus, too, seems to celebrate melody over harmony. I can see why his music would have found favor with musicians like Wilhelmina. It’s easy to see parallels with the Presto in Locatelli’s concerto with the Presto in Wilhelmine’s flute sonata.
This program, featuring music from the Bayreuth court, featuring the music and influence of Wilhelmine von Bayreuth’s music was well-programmed. Her gifts as a musician for me were strongest in her writing for voice; among the pieces on this program, the Pfeiffer and Locatelli were my favorites, alongside Wilhelmine’s flute sonata.
Performance wise, the Copenhagen-based camerata is small (just one viola and cello are used, as seems appropriate) but they very fine-sounding. They play, I think, with ample expression and are technically-assured. I shall look forward to future releases from them.
