Trendsetters
Late in the eighteenth century the instrument known as a piano forte, forte piano or ‘square’ piano was brand new technology. At first developing in fits and starts, like the car or the telephone, the piano forte soon became a ‘must have’ for all and sundry. And composers grabbed the opportunities that the new technology offered with pieces that recognized their different qualities.
Come and see what we mean as we transition from the old to the new, from the ‘baroque’ to the ‘classical’.
Tested the waters but still old-school – Carl Philip Emanuel Bach, ‘Sonata for viola da gamba and continuo’
Maybe/maybe not – Carl Friedrich Abel, Sonata in F major from Six Sonatas for Harpsichord Op. 2 with Accompaniment for a Violin and a Violoncello (viola da gamba)
Setting the trend – Johann Christian Bach on a Zumpe, the first public performance, London, 1767.
Compare directly his ‘Sonata for Harpsichord and viola da gamba obbligato’ with ‘Sonata for Piano forte and viola da gamba‘ from the same collection.
In the swing and recognizing a business opportunity – Ignace Pleyel, Sonata in G major for Harpsichord or Piano Forte with an accompaniment for violin.
Shaun Ng (viola da gamba), Tara Hashambhoy (violin), Diana Weston (harpsichord, piano)
Saturday May 22 at 4 pm, Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman Saturday June 12 at 3 pm, Wesley Music Centre, Canberra
Tara Hashambhoy, Diana Weston, Shaun Ng
Program details
Carl Philip Emanuel Bach
Sonata in D major Wq 137 for viola da gamba and continuo
Adagio ma non tanto, Allegro di molto, Arioso
Carl Friedrich Abel
Sonata in F major from Six Sonatas for Harpsichord Op. 2 with Accompaniment for a Violin and a Violoncello/viola da gamba
Andantino, Allegro assai
Johann Christian Bach (1735-1782)
Sonata in B flat major Warb B 2b for Harpsichord and Viola da Gamba obbligato
Allegro, Rondeaux
Johann Christian Bach
Sonata in F Warb B 6b for Piano Forte and viola da gamba
Allegro, Rondeaux Tempo di menuetto
Ignace Pleyel
Sonata in G major for Harpsichord or Piano Forte with an accompaniment for violin
Allegro moderato, Andante, Rondo/allegro assai
Shaun Ng – viola da gamba
Tara Hashambhoy – violin
Diana Weston – harpsichord and piano
In 1769 Johann Christian Bach was the first to perform publicly on a small ‘square’ piano forte, made by Zumpe, thereby giving the new technology a convincing stamp of approval. Piano fortes had been in the process of development for years. His older brother Carl Philip Emanuel had often played one in the court of Frederick of Prussia, and had advised in his ‘Treatise on Art of Accompaniment’ that the possible accompanying instruments were the organ, the harpsichord, the clavichord and the Fortepiano.
Lying somewhere in the generation between Johann Sebastian Bach’s second son, Carl Philip Emanuel, and his youngest Johann Christian, Carl Friedrich Abel’s own instrument, the viola da gamba, was fast fading in popularity. Probably more at home with the styles of the harpsichord, he nevertheless certainly knew about the trending new piano forte, as his partner and friend John Christian, with whom he ran a successful concert series in London, had promoted it in public performance, and had composed a volume of six sonatas which highlighted its capabilities. John Christian also composed a series of four sonatas which directly compared the stylistic variations between music for harpsichord and that for piano forte (two for harpsichord, two for piano forte, all with viola da gamba obbligato). It is likely that the piano forte was limited to small gatherings at this stage due to the limits of its volume, but it was soon to gather strength.
While Emanuel Bach, John Christian and Carl Abel all in their own way appreciated the virtues of the new keyboard, Pleyel recognized not only its stylistic and sonorous qualities, but its potential as a business opportunity. As a composer he became extremely popular during the short period 1783-1795, composing works for piano forte that were particularly suited to it. When the French Revolution forced him to change focus, he went into business publishing the latest in compositions, including works for piano forte by Beethoven, Cramer, Dussek, Hummel, Mozart, Clementi and many others. As ‘Pleyel & Son’ his music business encompassed both contemporary compositions and the latest in piano fortes, some examples of which survived into the twentieth century. Chopin thought well of them and used them on occasion.
Diana Weston