Muffat: Componimenti Musicali per il cembalo (1739) / Loreggian

$8.49
Label
Brilliant Classics
Release Date
February 16, 2024
Format
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    Featuring ⌄
    • COMPOSER
      Gottlieb Muffat
    • PERFORMER
      Roberto Loreggian
    Product Details ⌄
    • RELEASE DATE
      February 16, 2024
    • UPC
      5028421963402
    • CATALOG NUMBER
      BRI96340
    • LABEL
      Brilliant Classics
    • NUMBER OF DISCS
      2
    • GENRE
      Classical
    Works ⌄

    1. I. Overture: Alla breve, ma tempo - Moderato - Fuga: Allegretto - Adagio, R. 85

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    2. II. Allemande: Affettuoso, R. 86

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    3. III. Courante, R. 87

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    4. IV. Air, R. 88

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    5. V. Rigaudon, R. 89

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    6. VI. Menuet et trio, R. 90

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    7. VII. Adagio, R. 91

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    8. VIII. Finale: Allegro, R. 92

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    9. I. Prelude: Tempo giusto - Allegretto - Adagio, R. 93

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    10. II. Allemande: Affettuoso, R. 94

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    11. III. Courante, R. 95

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    12. IV. Sarabande, R. 96

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    13. V. Bouree, R. 97

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    14. VI. Menuet, R. 98

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    15. VII. Fantaisie: Allegro, R. 99

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    16. VIII. Gigue, R. 100

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    17. I. Fantaisie: Grave - Vivace, R. 101

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    18. II. Allemande: Affettuoso, R. 102

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    19. III. Courante, R. 103

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    20. IV. Sarabande: Adagio assai, R. 104

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    21. V. Menuet, R. 105

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    22. VI. Rigaudon Bizarre: Spirituoso, R. 106

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    23. VII. Air: Affettuoso, R. 107

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    24. VIII. Finale: Spirituoso, R. 108

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    25. I. Fantaisie: Tempo giusto - Adagio - Fuga a quatro: spiritoso, R. 109

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    26. II. Allemande: Affettuoso, R. 110

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    27. III. Courante, R. 111

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    28. IV. Sarabande, R. 112

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    29. V. La Hardiesse: Allegro, R. 113

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    30. VI. Menuet I - II, R. 114

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    31. VII. Air: Cantabile, R. 115

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    32. VIII. Hornpipe: Spiritoso, R. 116

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    33. IX. Gigue: Allegro assai, R. 117

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    34. I. Overture: Allegretto - Vivace, R. 118

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    35. II. Allemande: Affettuoso, R. 119

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    36. III. Courante, R. 120

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    37. IV. Sarabande, R. 121

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    38. V. Menuet I, R. 122

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    39. VI. Rigaudon: Spiritoso, R. 123

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    40. VII. Menuet II, R. 124

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    41. VIII. Gigue, R. 125

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    42. I. Fantaisie: Vivace - Adagio, R. 126

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    43. I. Fuga a 4 tro. - Vivace, R. 126

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    44. II. Allemande: Spirituoso, R. 127

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    45. III. Courante, R. 128

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    46. IV. Sarabande, R. 129

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    47. V. La Coquette, R. 130

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    48. VI. Menuet, R. 131

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    49. VII. Air: Vivace, R. 132

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    50. VIII. Gigue: Allegro, R. 133

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    51. IX. Menuet en Cornes de Chasse, R. 134

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian

    52. Ciacona

      Composer: Gottlieb Muffat

      Performer: Roberto Loreggian


Gottlieb Muffat’s oeuvre, dedicated almost in its entirety to keyboard instruments and skilfully straddling the stile antico and stile moderno, deserves more detailed attention than it has ever been afforded. The majority of sources containing music by Muffat are unpublished, with only two collections published at the composer’s own behest during his years in the Emperor’s service in Vienna. One of these is the Componimenti Musicali per il Cembalo (Augsburg, 1739).

This collection contains 6 Suites and a Ciacona with 38 variations for solo harpsichord. The composer describes these seven works as capricci or galanterie to be performed in the stile moderno and to suit modern tastes. Although arranged in the conventional order of Allemande–Courante–Sarabande–Gigue, Muffat also added various optional dances, displaying no shortage of innovation. The first movements are introductory in nature, often fugal in form and varying in style and pace: Ouverture (Suites 1 and 5), Prelude (Suite 2) and Fantaisie (Suites 3, 4 and 6). The seventh piece in the collection, the Ciacona con 38 Variazioni, is a special case. As Christopher Hogwood suggests in his introduction to the modern edition (Orpheus, 2009), the Ciacona could be another tribute to the imperial family, as the number of variations matches the age Charles VI’s niece, Maria Amalia, would have been on 22 October 1739.

Muffat’s interest in contemporary harpsichord composition is most clearly evident in his transcription and reinterpretation of works by George Frideric Handel, based on a manuscript copy of the Suites des pièces pour le clavecin he held in his library. Muffat reworked the suites in Handel’s collection, suggesting new ornamentation, distributing the notes differently between the hands, changing the clefs and sometimes note values, and adding slurs and cadenzas. He then applied everything he had observed while rewriting Handel’s suites to his own Componimenti musicali: including a table of ornaments, which the composer asks be played with ‘art and discretion’; he considers the positioning of the player’s hands on the keyboard in his writing and avoids using multiple clefs on one line to prevent confusion; he describes the optimum way to use the thumb for accidentals; and he provides the correct technical interpretation of trills and slurs.

Study of the Componimenti reveals what could be defined as a pedagogical intent, as well as a clear desire to make the score unambiguous and accessible by means of his introductory instructions. The collection contributed greatly to setting a new benchmark for keyboard writing in the lands of the Viennese Empire.