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3. David R. M. IRVING:'French and Italian Bowholds in the Early Eighteenth Century: Implications for Musical Change within the Dresden Hofkapelle'
From zelenkafestival.cz:
From the 1670s to the 1760s two different styles of bowhold were described by writers on violin technique; these have become known respectively as ‘French’ and ‘Italian’, labels popularised by Michel Corrette in a treatise of 1738. The French bowhold involved placing the thumb under the hair of the bow, or under the frog, with the three middle fingers on top of the stick and the fifth finger beneath or on the side of the stick. For the Italian bowhold, the thumb touched the stick and all other fingers were placed on top of the stick, resembling the conventional ‘modern’ bowhold. Treatises and iconography of the period attest to the prevalence of both techniques, with the former associated strongly with the Italian-born French master Jean-Baptiste Lully. By the mid-eighteenth century, the French bowhold seems to have disappeared entirely from ‘art music’ – although it may have continued as an unbroken tradition in popular fiddling practice – and the Italian technique prevailed throughout Western Europe, including France. Reasons for this shift include the prevalence of Italian and Italian-trained violinists, changes in compositional style which required different kinds of technical capacities, and the emergence of new bow designs with diverse lengths and physical properties. Yet the French bowhold was clearly popular, and remained in widespread use from the seventeenth to mid-eighteenth centuries, especially in French or French-influenced musical centres. It is plausible that Jean-Baptiste Volumier and many violinists of the Dresden Hofkapelle used this bowhold, but equally possible that under the directorship of Johann Georg Pisendel from 1728, the thumb-on-stick bowgrip began to predominate. This paper explores the historical evidence for the use of the French bowhold and co-existence of French and Italian techniques in orchestras of the early eighteenth century, and makes a comparative demonstration of the different aesthetic and timbre through the test case of a violin obbligato from a Mass movement by Jan Dismas Zelenka (“Et unam sanctam” from the Missa Sanctæ Cæciliæ), in a version from 1711 and another from after 1727.
Prof. Irving gave a remarkable lowdown on the history of violin performance technique. There were two competing types of bowhold which can be traced, the French & Italian, and each served the music in very specific ways. Here is a small table to illustrate.
The implications for Dresden's Hofkapelle are significant. During the period of concert master Jean-Baptiste Volumier (the lead violinist and leader of the orchestra), up to his death in 1728, the French style dominated, and there was a transition during the subsequent tenure of Johann Georg Pisendel (†1755) when the Italian style most likely dominated. But this transition may have already have started before the change of concert master.
Dr. Irving gave musical examples from the Dresden court showing how either particular style would have been suited for particular music. It was interesting to see a link form with Dr. Stockigt's paper, as it was clear that there were differences in how Missa S. Caeciliae would have been performed in 1711 vs. 1727.
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4. Jana PERUTKOVÁ:'Oratoria, určená k provádění u Božího hrobu v českých zemích a Rakousku v 18. století a případ Zelenka' (Eng. Trans[Blocked Image: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/0S03KVtne_OIpDrL1kfdNJ-7ll_tXkeaxubCtDLU0pOTW9iTU1iG2cpN-tffSLLO5_peCwO94SVzbMVTe2ZY0DMWiJ4FWgp8n8CB0esg51R0BqmU38G-FT10YVIYlinLqvhy81ib] "Oratorios intended for performance at God's grave [Holy Sepulchre] in Czech and Austrian lands in the 18th Century and the case of Zelenka"
From zelenkafestival.cz:
The review will focus on specific form of oratorios intended for performances during the Holy Week at the holy sepulchre. This form, originally popular at the Viennese court during the reign of Emperor Leopold I., was abundantly performed in the first half of the 18th century in many religions orders (i.e. Jesuits, Capuchins, Augustinians, Oratorians, Cistercians, Benedictines, The Knights of the Cross with the Red Star, Ursulines, Elizabethans, etc.), in parish churches and also in several noble families. The functional point of view, symbolically defined by the place and purpose of the performance, plays a decisive role in further research of this phenomenon. From the symbolic setting is therefore derived the term sepolcro that is used for all mentioned compositions. Apart from terminological tasks, the paper focuses on clients who requested sepolcri for their personal performance, and form of the compositions and language. Types of subjects used in sepolcri, the transfer of specific works or librettos, and the ways of possible stage performances will be presented on several examples as well. Finally, Jan Dismas Zelenka’s compositions written for performances by the holy sepulchre will be inserted in this broad framework.
This was a paper on the Viennese & Bohemian tradition of Sepulcro Oratorios. These begun during the reign of Holy Roman Emperor, Leopold I, so they are also sometimes called the 'Leopoldian Sepulcro'.
When this form of art came to Prague, they were held and patronised by religious orders and noble families. Usually they were structured in one or two parts, exceptionally three. Their language was mainly German or Latin, also sometimes Italian and in Moravia, Czech.
Dr. Perutková argued that Zelenka's Sepulcri are more 'cantatas' than staged 'oratorios' - for example, they have no 'characters' in them.
There was a whole section on the use of the Chalumeau. Perutková referred to Kjartan Óskarsson's 2018 hypothesis (see his published article on this here in clavibus unitis 2019) that there was a trip by the Hartig family in 1708 to Vienna in which a chalumeau may have been obtained.
Perutková suggests that Zelenka may have been the first composer to use the instrument with a melancholic & beseeching effect.
She also pointed to the similarity between the Bass aria 'Deus Dux Fortissime' and an aria by Fux (though I didn't manage to get down which one this was).
[CONTINUED IN BELOW THREAD]
