Starter Packs

Complete your collection with these curated titles, grouped at a special discount.

Shop Now
Brilliant Classics

Grünewald: 7 Partiten / Fernando de Luca

$14.99

Details

Composer
Gottfried Grunewald
Artist
Fernando De Luca
Format
CD
Label
Brilliant Classics
Released
Sep 06, 2024
Catalog #
BRI97290
UPC
5028421972909

About

Gottfried Grunewald was a successful opera singer in 18th-century Germany, based at the theatre in Hamburg for many years, but a familiar figure in German courts and theatres across Germany. When he died in 1739, the composer Christopher Graupner (his colleague in Darmstadt) destroyed most of Grunewald's music, according to an agreement they had apparently made. Only seven keyboard partitas are known to have survived to modern times, and they receive their first complete recording here in the spirited hands of Fernando de Luca, who has done so much to rescue forgotten names from obscurity with his albums for Brilliant Classics. The loss of Grunewald's output becomes especially regrettable once close attention is paid to these Parititas. They reveal a deep knowledge of the instrument's technique and a refined compositional taste. Stylistically close to German composers of the time such as Kuhnau and Fischer, they also bring to mind the suites composed in Germany by the young Handel (preceding the Eight Great Suites), and the music of the young Graupner. Grunewald shows some skill as a contrapuntalist within the restrictions of the suite genre. The preludes of these partitas are not uniform in form; for example, the Prelude in D minor incorporates broad arpeggiated chords, which begin and end a strict fugue but then dissolves into free motivic play. Another is purely figurative, a third mixes movement with short imitations. Grunewald's allemandes build up like intricate etudes, including one example constructed in an organistically contrapuntal manner. The courantes are interwoven with imitative passages, the sarabandes are melodically appealing, sometimes breathing in the spirit of Handel's nobility of gesture. The doubles and minuets almost give the impression of variations. Some pieces have strongly emphasised French rhythms, others avoid it completely. Potentially incomplete, but certainly striking, is the two-movement Fourth Suite, with it's spacious Allemande followed by an imposing Chaconne, presenting a complete contrast to the nine brief dances of the Fifth Suite, which find Grunewald at his most French-accented. Reviewing the recent set of the harpsichord music by Pierre-Thomas Dufour on Brilliant, Fanfare noted: 'De Luca does a fine job in his performance, with a good sense of phrasing and registration.' - Gottfried Grunewald (1673 -1739) was a German opera singer, harpsichordist and composer. Nothing is known about his youth and training. From 1703 he was a singer and composer at the Oper am Gansemarkt in Hamburg. From the beginning of 1709, he worked as Vice-Kapellmeister at the court of Johann Georg von Sachsen-Weissenfels, where he married Johann Philipp Krieger's daughter. From 1711, he worked as vice-chapelmaster at the court in Darmstadt as Christoph Graupner's deputy. Around 1717, several journeys as a pantaleon virtuoso are documented. He remained active at court until his death. - Of his works, only seven partitas for harpsichord have survived, written in the style customary for the time. The suites consist of the usual order of Prelude-Allemande-Courante-Sarabande-Gavotte-Menuet-Gigue. - "too many performers confine themselves to the standard repertoire. Fortunately, there are artists who look beyond the obvious; Fernando de Luca is one of them and we should be thankful for him. de Luca is a good interpreter; I very much enjoyed his performances, they are as differentiated as possible, also in his treatment of the tempi. He has the advantage of a fine instrument, a copy of a Blanchet of 1754. That is as 'authentic' as one could wish for." Thus wrote Musicweb International about de Luca's recording of harpsichord works by Foucquet.

Tracklist 42 tracks

  1. 1 I. Preludio I 00:54
    Track
    1
    Title
    I. Preludio I
    Duration
    00:54
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  2. 2 II. Preludio II 00:27
    Track
    2
    Title
    II. Preludio II
    Duration
    00:27
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  3. 3 III. Allemande 02:50
    Track
    3
    Title
    III. Allemande
    Duration
    02:50
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  4. 4 IV. Courante 02:39
    Track
    4
    Title
    IV. Courante
    Duration
    02:39
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  5. 5 V. Sarabande 01:44
    Track
    5
    Title
    V. Sarabande
    Duration
    01:44
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  6. 6 VI. Gavotta 00:51
    Track
    6
    Title
    VI. Gavotta
    Duration
    00:51
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  7. 7 VII. Menuett I-II 01:58
    Track
    7
    Title
    VII. Menuett I-II
    Duration
    01:58
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  8. 8 I. Prelude 01:34
    Track
    8
    Title
    I. Prelude
    Duration
    01:34
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  9. 9 II. Allemande 03:36
    Track
    9
    Title
    II. Allemande
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  10. 10 III. Courrante 02:23
    Track
    10
    Title
    III. Courrante
    Duration
    02:23
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  11. 11 IV. Sarabande 03:10
    Track
    11
    Title
    IV. Sarabande
    Duration
    03:10
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  12. 12 V. Aria 01:54
    Track
    12
    Title
    V. Aria
    Duration
    01:54
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  13. 13 VI. Ciaconne 02:37
    Track
    13
    Title
    VI. Ciaconne
    Duration
    02:37
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  14. 14 I. Allemande 03:36
    Track
    14
    Title
    I. Allemande
    Duration
    03:36
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  15. 15 II. Courrente 02:31
    Track
    15
    Title
    II. Courrente
    Duration
    02:31
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  16. 16 III. Sarabande 01:53
    Track
    16
    Title
    III. Sarabande
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  17. 17 IV. Air en gavotte 01:23
    Track
    17
    Title
    IV. Air en gavotte
    Duration
    01:23
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  18. 18 V. Gigue 02:24
    Track
    18
    Title
    V. Gigue
    Duration
    02:24
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  19. 19 I. Allemande 07:05
    Track
    19
    Title
    I. Allemande
    Duration
    07:05
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  20. 20 II. Ciaccona 05:42
    Track
    20
    Title
    II. Ciaccona
    Duration
    05:42
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  21. 21 I. Praeludium 01:08
    Track
    21
    Title
    I. Praeludium
    Duration
    01:08
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  22. 22 II. Allemande 03:44
    Track
    22
    Title
    II. Allemande
    Duration
    03:44
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  23. 23 III. Courrente 01:50
    Track
    23
    Title
    III. Courrente
    Duration
    01:50
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  24. 24 IV. Sarabande 02:38
    Track
    24
    Title
    IV. Sarabande
    Duration
    02:38
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  25. 25 V. Gavotte 01:10
    Track
    25
    Title
    V. Gavotte
    Duration
    01:10
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  26. 26 VI. Menuet 02:50
    Track
    26
    Title
    VI. Menuet
    Duration
    02:50
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  27. 27 VII. Bourèe 01:57
    Track
    27
    Title
    VII. Bourèe
    Duration
    01:57
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  28. 28 VIII. Passepied alternativement avec le trio - Trio 04:04
    Track
    28
    Title
    VIII. Passepied alternativement avec le trio - Trio
    Duration
    04:04
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  29. 29 IX. Gigue 02:14
    Track
    29
    Title
    IX. Gigue
    Duration
    02:14
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  30. 30 I. Allemande 03:47
    Track
    30
    Title
    I. Allemande
    Duration
    03:47
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  31. 31 II. Courrente 01:53
    Track
    31
    Title
    II. Courrente
    Duration
    01:53
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  32. 32 III. Sarabande 02:27
    Track
    32
    Title
    III. Sarabande
    Duration
    02:27
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  33. 33 IV. Air en bourèe 01:30
    Track
    33
    Title
    IV. Air en bourèe
    Duration
    01:30
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  34. 34 V. Menuet I-II 03:02
    Track
    34
    Title
    V. Menuet I-II
    Duration
    03:02
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  35. 35 VI. Gigue 02:51
    Track
    35
    Title
    VI. Gigue
    Duration
    02:51
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  36. 36 I. Prelude 03:09
    Track
    36
    Title
    I. Prelude
    Duration
    03:09
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  37. 37 II. Allemande 03:23
    Track
    37
    Title
    II. Allemande
    Duration
    03:23
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  38. 38 III. Courrente 02:16
    Track
    38
    Title
    III. Courrente
    Duration
    02:16
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  39. 39 IV. Sarabande - Double I-II 04:45
    Track
    39
    Title
    IV. Sarabande - Double I-II
    Duration
    04:45
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  40. 40 V. Air 01:24
    Track
    40
    Title
    V. Air
    Duration
    01:24
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  41. 41 VI. Menuet I-III 05:30
    Track
    41
    Title
    VI. Menuet I-III
    Duration
    05:30
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca
  42. 42 VII. Gigue 02:59
    Track
    42
    Title
    VII. Gigue
    Duration
    02:59
    Composer
    Gottfried Grünewald
    Performer
    Fernando de Luca