From Concerto to Symphony: About the Program
By Thomas Gerber
Orchestra patrons have always taken pride and pleasure in having their most prominent players shine in public. From around 1700, concertos for one or more soloists with orchestra became rose to prevalence throughout Europe, often based upon the great examples of Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi. During his time in London in the early 18th century, G.F. Handel composed Concerto Grosso Op. 6 No. 6 in g-minor, which features a small group of two violins and cello in contrast with the full orchestra. In the middle of the 18th century, Johann Gottlieb Graun wrote for a quartet of soloists, including the flute, violin, viola da gamba, and cello, in Concerto Grosso in G-Major. At the time, Berlin was the only German city were the viola da gamba, an instrument more usually associated with France, was held in high esteem. Franz Benda, the great Berlin violin virtuoso, mostly wrote for one solo violin or flute, as is featured in Concerto in e-minor.
As the century progressed, the fashion of the concerti grossi decayed in favor of symphonies, which often required greater virtuosity from the whole orchestra. In the case of his 1773 Hamburg symphonies, C.P.E. Bach was encouraged by the Viennese commissioner Van Swieten to write freely, without avoiding any difficulties – this is exactly what he did! We therefore conclude From Concerto (grosso) to Symphony with C.P.E. Bach’s Symphony in C-Major.
George Frideric Handel is one of few Baroque composers whose music and fame have been continuously celebrated from the 18th Century to today. Even Antonio Vivaldi and J.S. Bach faded from view for many decades after their deaths in 1741 and 1750, respectively. Like Bach, Handel drew inspiration from the music of Italy, where he lived for a short stint in the first decade of the 18th century. One of history’s greatest opera composers, and the man responsible for reimagining the oratorio for the 18th century, Handel also composed a large corpus of instrumental music. In these extant works, we find his 12 concerti grossi - Op. 6, which opens today’s program, was composed in 1739. Following the model established by Arcangelo Corelli earlier in the century, these large or grand concertos contrast soloists (the “concertino”) with the full orchestra (the “ripieno”). The five movements of Concerto Grosso No. 6, in G minor, features beautiful Handelian melody, polyphonic imitation, stylized dance, and even a Musette, channeling the character of the namesake little French bagpipe, replete with drones.
One of three musician brothers, Johann Gottlieb Graun appeared in the generation following Handel. In the 1730s Johann Gottlieb and brother Carl Heinrich served as members of the musical establishment surrounding the Prussian crown Prince Frederick, who became King Frederick “The Great” in 1740. Johann Gottlieb served as Konzertmeister at this court until his death in 1771. He was also recognized as an esteemed teach of the violin. Most of Graun’s extand composition remain in manuscripts or sketches – very little has been edited or printed.
From an even larger contingent of musicians in a single family, Franz [Frantisek] Benda grew up singing and only later dedicated his studies to violin. Though his father made him learn the trade of linen weaving, Benda moonlighted as a fiddler, and could be found playing dance music in taverns. After several years of various employment, Benda, at age 24, was selected by Crown Prince Frederick of Prussia to join his musical entourage. Franz Benda assumed the Konzertmeister position upon Graun’s death in 1771. Interestingly, Franz’s younger brother Joseph, also a violinist, assumed the Konzertmeister position upon Franz’s death in 1786.
Like his father Johann Sebastian Bach, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach produced a massive amount of music in virtually every genre, save one: music for the stage. J. S. Bach’s second surviving son grew up under his father’s tutelage, worked for nearly 30 years as harpsichordist-composer in King Frederick’s musical court. In his mid-50s, C.P.E. flourished in a second career as director of church music in Hamburg, where he was active in church and civic concerts right up to his death in 1788. That year is significant, in that both Haydn and Mozart, although younger, were writing symphonies at the same time as C.P.E. Bach. If the concerto is thought to be the characteristic orchestral genre of the Baroque era, the symphony emerged to dominate orchestral composition during the Classical period.
