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Mozart and the Netherlands is a special book celebrating and illustrating the profound
and long relationship between Mozart and the Netherlands since 1765. It is a beautiful
collection of two types of works: 1. works treating the relationship of the family Mozart and of Mozart's music with the Netherlands; 2. works presenting the activity of Dutch scholars on Mozart or of International scholars strictly linked to the Dutch institutions. |
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CONTENTS 1. In Memoriam Arie Peddemors (Link) 2. Salzburg & the Netherlands: origin and importance of the Dutch Mozart Society (Link) 3. Leopold Mozart (300th Anniversary: 1719-2019) as seen in this book (Link) 4. Wolfgang Mozart as seen in this book (Link) 5. The Mozarts visit the Netherlands (September 1765 - April 1766) (Link) 6. The composers/musicians in the Netherlands during the visit of the Mozarts 1765-1766 (Link) 7. This book as a reference book (Link) 8. Mozart as keyboard composer and the Mozart reception (Link) 9. Conclusions (Link) _______________________________________________________________ |
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1. In Memoriam Arie Peddemors. Arie Peddemors was born on 23 January 1937 in Kebumen on Java, Indonesia. He studied prehistoric archaeology in Utrecht and Leiden and worked as curator at the RMO, Rijksmuseum of Antiquities there. And published many articles and catalogues on the Medieval archaeology in the Netherlands and held many lectures, as well as guided tours in Europe. But his heart really was with music and Mozart. He couldn't live without his piano and I remember well the concerts at his home with musical colleagues performing. Settled at work in the RMO he got involved with the Dutch Mozart Society and became its very active president. His pride being to win the approval of and membership of the International Mozart Society (Salzburg), visiting the Mozart festival at Salzburg frequently. Arie was also editor of Pro Mozart, the magazine of the Dutch Mozart Society. After university we lost touch for a couple of decades as my husband and I moved to a different part of Europe, but eventually we met up again sharing our love for archaeology and music and always Mozart. He inspired me to read the Mozarts' family letters and to write an article for his book on the culinary aspects. However, the material was enough for a separate book, Mozarts Menu (2006). By then his extensive book had been published in Dutch and English for after his retirement at the RMO his focus was mostly on Mozart. Arie Peddemors was scientific editor and co-author of Mozart and the Netherlands (2003) and Mozart in Nederland (2005), with musicologist Leo Samama on the connection between Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and the Netherlands. He was also a very active member of the Dutch-Israel society (Genootschap Nederland-Israel). In recognition of his constant endeavours for music, archaeology and the Society he was decorated as Officer in the Order of Orange Nassau. Sadly his health wasn't strong and he passed away in Sassenheim, 30 05 2010, at the age of 73 years. Lizet Beijersbergen van Henegouwen – Kruyff Chateau-Thierry, December 2019 |
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2. Salzburg & the Netherlands: origin and importance of the Dutch Mozart Society. As very well put by Angermüller in the Preface: Wer hundert Jahre alt wird, kann seine eigene Geschichte schreiben. And this is the real spirit of this book. A very interesting tryptich of essays written by Wennekes, Mensink and Peddemors defines the various milestones of the activity of the Dutch Mozart Society since the first interests and attempts to carry on an organic project of Mozartian promotion already at the end of the 19th century. Yes, the two essays on Scheurleer and the Dutch Mozart Society and on The Weal and Woe of the Centenarian Nederlandsche Mozart Vereniging must be read in combination with the Elements of Mozart Reception in 19th Century Holland to have a 360° visualization of the great passion and vision which existed behind the will of developing a public program of Mozartian promotion, which, since the beginning!, felt the necessity of having better scores, more scores, the best performances possible and more performances of more musical genres from the repertoire by Mozart. Despite the long lasting relationships established by Leopold and Wolfgang with various people in the Netherlands and which granted Mozart's music a rather wide and continuous performance through the years well into the 19th century (and some role here was played also by Aloysia Weber in the Netherlands; she who was a first love interest of Mozart and the sister of his wife Constanze), at some point the Mozartian tradition fell into a sort of decadence, when, for instance, the Concertgebouw Orchestra in the 1880s usually avoided Mozart's music for other types of repertoire. However, the undeniable public success of Mozart's operas (like his Figaro) still at the beginning of 1900 after 100 years, the arrival of W. Mengelberg (a true passionate Mozartian) at the Concertgebouw Orchestra and the strong interest of Scheurleer eventually began changing the scenario drastically. It is important here to notice that the very first problems of the newly born Dutch Mozart Society (1902) through an agreement between Scheurleer/various Dutch people of the cultural and musical world and a few representatives of the Mozarteum from Salzburg, were problems that still today affect the knowledge and performance of other undeservedly neglected composers of the 18th century and problems that had also dramatically affected a correct reception of Haydn, as the Haydn's advocates well know: 1. a very very limited knowledge of the real complete music production of Mozart; 2. the necessity of having more scores; 3. to identify and to have the so called rarities known and in score; 4. to correct a long tradition of bad performances: many Dutch intellectuals and musicians were not very satisfied with the fact that, for example, the piano concertos by Mozart were practically forgotten, neglected or, when performed, very badly or strangely performed; 5. to establish a correct tradition and purity both in the scores and in the performance; 6. to correct a long tradition of extremely bad translations of Mozart's vocal texts, which had radically altered the reception of certain works by Mozart by the great public; 7. to have a better knowledge of the various events of Mozart's life especially in relation to his music production. The first Dutch Mozart Society, under the leadership of Scheurleer, tried to create a first action of Mozart promotion, but had to face difficulties of any type, well described and discussed by Mensink. Here the account, then, follows, in details, the life and the many and multifarious cultural activities of this incredible figure of banker, Mozartian scholar and Maecenas: Scheurleer, the first throbbing heart of a season of Dutch Mozartian Renaissance (his 1883 book on Mozart in the Netherlands is still today fundamental). At this point the story of the Dutch Mozart Society and of his successful flourishing among difficulties of any kind (the Society knew some periods of stoppage and reorganization) gets fully unfolded, thanks to the strictly annalistic essay by Peddemors, founder and promoter of the official periodical magazine of the Dutch Mozart Society, Pro Mozart. So through the pages by Peddemors (marked by the annual organization of the Mozart Days), you will see legendary Dutch and/or International musicians and scholars make their appearance within the activities of the Dutch Mozart Society: Marius Flothuis, Lili Kraus, the Leonhardts, Frans Bruggen, Maria Joao Pires, Ronald Brautigam, Ton Koopman, Christian Zacharias, Emma Kirby and many others. Probably the most impressive fact of the organizations of these annual musical seasons by the Dutch Mozart Society, as described by Arie Pedemors in his paper, is that certain choices may be considered still today audacious and avant-garde for public concerts: and this is an incredible characteristic of that special cultural ferment within the Dutch Mozart Society. First of all, the necessity of working on original instruments since the 1930s (i.e. the piano must be a piano of the 18th century and better if an Anton Walter, the type used by Mozart) and, secondly, a choice of composers and music works (and since the 1940s!), that still today are considered rather neglected, even though we are talking about great composers and masters with marvellous compositions: J. Haydn and M. Haydn, C.P.E. Bach, J.C. Bach, Leopold Mozart. The special relationship between the Mozarteum of Salzburg and the Dutch Mozart Society remained a solid foundation stone upon which a centenarian monument of facts-based and operative collaboration has been built. Whenever the Mozarteum has launched projects, like the NMA, the Dutch Mozart Society has been always present and ready to support and to operate in the most active way possible. The work of Marius Flothuis, in this respect, is certainly exemplary. 
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3. Leopold Mozart (300th Anniversary: 1719-2019) as seen in this book. Those who want to celebrate the 300th Anniversary of the birth of Leopold Mozart (1719-2019) can find in this book a series of articles which treat the life and the figure of the father of Mozart. This is due principally to the fact the Leopold reached the Netherlands, first of all, as a great master and theorist of violin playing, thanks to the publication of his method (1756). But also to the fact that, as van der Elst pointed out, Leopold's life was dominated by a curious series of coincidences of dates that put him in close relation to the Dutch Enschedé family and to Breitkopf & Härtel. There are mainly four essays in this book that let the reader get a more profound comprehension and knowledge of the life, of the work and of the personal character of Leopold Mozart: From Leopold and Johannes I... to the euro, The Story of the Enschedé- and Mozart Families through three centuries by Nancy van der Elst, The Mozart Family in the Netherlands by Bastiaan Blomhert, Mozart in Paris and Versailles by Rudolph Angermüller and Mozart and Automatic Music by Jan Jaap Haspels. Nancy van der Elst writes a paper by adopting a Plutarchian approach based on the parallel lives. Thus van der Elst builds two lives accounts which are strictly intertwined both in the real story of their events and in the literary form. The story of Leopold starts from the life of his grand-father David Motzhart who reached Augsburg, to stay there, 1643. David was a Master Mason. van der Elst then follows, in details, the whole evolution of Leopold as a violinist, as a man with an important level of education, as a composer and as a father up to the felicitous encounter with the members of Enschedé family in the Netherlands. The Mozarts and the Enschedés are both families of that singular type of homines novi, who, living the experience of the Enlightenment in the perspective, ideals and expectations of the truest Ancient Greek First Sophistics, found primarily in the printed book, in the ultimate technical handbook or manual, which becomes the ultimate reference in its field, the very reason of the personal progress of humanity through the knowledge and, first of all, through the transmissibility of knowledge and the successful promotion of human kind through the success of that transmissibility of knowledge. But the coincidences in dates and life professional experiences and in professional achievments and in Enlightenment ideas, do not end here. Leopold Mozart was born in 1719, when the Enschedé started the great expansion of their activity to reach, the following years, those professional levels that made them that great business they became; and in the same year 1719 Breitkopf & Härtel was founded. In 1756 Wolfgang Mozart was born to Leopold, in 1756 Leopold publishes his famous Method for Violin Playing, for which he will be asked to become a member of the secret society of composers (the Society of Mizler: 1711-1778) and which will carry him to the Netherlands and in collaboration with the Enschedé; in the same year 1756 Breitkopf & Härtel invents a new revolutionary method of printing music, but it's the Enschedé family that fully understands the importance and the future that this new method can have within the publishing industry. Thus it was the Enschedé family that, in the end, really further developed to perfection that new method of printing, through their own personal inventions and passages and, first of all, by the creations of series of most exclusives printing fonts, which have always remained private for the use of Enschedé firm only. The astonishing quality of the Enschedé work can be seen infra with two pages in comparison: the German edition of Leopold's manual (1756) and the wonderful Dutch edition of Leopold's manual (1766). Leopold remained highly impressed and enthusiast by the magnificent and beautiful work carried on by Enschedé with the translation and printing of his method. As an interesting epilogue, the reader will discover that Enschedé used that revolutionary and exclusive set and system of printing to become an official money printer. Enschedé still today prints euros and all thanks to its revolutionary innovation of 1756-1759! Other aspects and details of Leopold as a composer, as a man and as a father, can be found in the other essay by Blomhert. Here we discover the Leopold who is interested in medicine and remedies, the Leopold who speaks Latin in order to establish a dialogue with Dutch learned people, the Leopold who admires the great Eramus in Rotterdam, the Leopold (the famous author of the Violin Method) who judges the level of quality reached by other composers and musicians, the Leopold who enjoys architecture, buildings of public or aesthetic interest and the paintings of great art! For other essays treating Leopold Mozart, see also: 8. Mozart as keyboard composer and the Mozart reception (Link) 
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4. Wolfgang Mozart as seen in this book. One of the most useful and interesting articles on Wolfgang Mozart is certainly Mozart in Paris and Versailles by Rudoplh Angermüller. Through an analytical study of the people met by Wolfgang in his various stays in Paris and thanks to the letters and notes left by Leopold in primis, Angermüller manages to identify people and places of the Paris of Mozart (1764/1766-1778) and to reconstruct, in this way, the environment within which Leopold and Wolfgang conducted their musical activities. It is a fact that those who study the lives of the Mozarts, tend to always see the Mozarts in foreground, underestimating the background. This article, instead, let us understand that the background within which Leopold and Mozart found themselves was and IS extremely important to also understand certain choices of the Mozarts. The scholars will appreciate, in particular, the various identifications of people and institutions of the Paris of the 1778. You'll discover, so, that most of the musicians and composers working in Paris were members of the Freemasonry and members of famous lodges like Les Neuf Soeurs or Saint-Jean d'Ècosse du Contrat Social (the Concerts de la Loge Olympique linked to Haydn and his symphonies will be founded later). From here the question: why the French freemasons apparently rejected Mozart and his music? It was because they were all freemasons and Mozart was not yet in 1778? Or it was the bad memories of French freemasons on Mozart's stay in 1778 that led them to choose Haydn for a series of Paris Symphonies in 1785/86 and not Mozart, who was, at that time, a well received freemason in Vienna? At the state of the art of the studies it is difficult to give an answer, but it's sure that this work by Angermüller has finally created a finely detailed scenery in the correct direction. This intriguing Paris scenery of the year 1778 is completed by Angermüller by a rigorous analysis and detailed presentation of all the theatres and concert seasons available in Paris at that time and of all the people, managers, composers and musicians attached to them. Another interesting article of the section Mozart on travel is that by Leo Samama on Mozart and Counterpoint. Samama reminds us that, in the case of Mozart, some part of his technical musical instruction must have occurred de facto on travel. As a matter of fact, little Wolfgang is already capable of writing some good polyphony at 9 years old, during his grand tour across Europe. A couple of his compositions written in England and in the Netherlands show signs of this ability: God is our refuge K20 and the Quodlibet Gallimathias Musicum with an impressive final fugue on a Dutch anthem. Other strong moments of relationship Mozart/Polyphony are those in Italy: first of all, in Rome the incredible episode of young Mozart and the transcription of Miserere by Allegri by heart and then, in Bologna, the completion of his contrapuntal studies with Padre Martini, the maestro dei maestri. From this point on, Samama carries on an analysis of Mozart's music under the light of the polyphony treatment. The compositions taken into considerations for his study are: Misere K85, Quaerite Primum Regnum Dei K86, the series of canons K89 and K89a, the masses K167, K192, K220, K262, K317 (within this group K192 features the most interesting polyphony treatment). At this point, a third journey (the passage from Salzburg to Vienna) marks the beginning of a new dimension of the polyphony in Mozart. Thanks to the study days spent with van Swieten and his group in Vienna, Mozart attains a complete knowledge of the polyphony as treated by Handel and by J.S. Bach. From here the great masterpieces rich in an impressive polyphony combined with chromaticism: Mass in c minor K427, K426, the Haydn Quartets, Requiem. In conclusion, Samama presents an exemplary case of study: the use of polyphony in the Gigue in G major K574, since this only apparently simple and short piece well represents one of the highest points of the master's (the experienced master Mozart) confidence in his own polyphony technique ability. For other essays treating Wolfgang Mozart, see also: 8. Mozart as keyboard composer and the Mozart reception (Link) Mozart, Gigue in G major K574 (Alexander Lonquich) 
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5. The Mozarts visit the Netherlands (September 1765 - April 1766). Thanks to the two papers The Mozart Family in the Netherlands (by Bastiaan Blomhert, p. 53) and, in part, From Leopold and Johannes I… to the Euro: The story of the Enschedé and Mozart Families through three centuries (by Nancy van der Elst, p. 43), we can follow the movements and the visits of the Mozart family within the geographically peculiar territory of the Netherlands of the 18th century. Due to the condition of the Netherlands as strips of land surrounded by water, the itinerary followed by Leopold Mozart and his family was: 1. Antwerp (here they had to leave their coach) 2. The Mordyk (a water way to reach Rotterdam) 3. Rotterdam 4. The Hague 5. Amsterdam 6. Haarlem 7. Utrecht 8. The Mordyk (a water way to reach Antwerp) 9. Antwerp (back to their coach to reach Paris) We leave you to the delightful readability of this paper by Blomhert to discover the Mozarts doing this and this in the Netherlands, attending concerts and ceremonies, the little Mozart playing and writing up to 12 new compositions (even 2 new symphonies), like an old (!) pro, and visiting the major Dutch monuments and buildings. It is interesting to notice here that Blomhert tries, once more, to interpret the financial status of the Mozart: poor or rich? (not an easy task, indeed, due to the controversial data of letters, notes and memorabilia!). It is a fact, anyhow, that, as Blomhert points out, the money management during this segment of journey across the Netherlands apparently seems not to have been really successful, after all. Errors or a sort of carelessness by Leopold? Or it was rather some extremely bad circumstances like the problems of health of Nannerl and Wolfgang? The Dutch community, the princes of Orange and the court conductor/composer C.E. Graaf were very generous and helpful to the Mozarts and assisted and supported them in many ways. It seems, according to the lists written by Leopold, that Wolfgang had composed even more works in the Netherlands (and not only 12), but evidently these works must be considered lost. A particularly precious gift to Wolfgang was a book of Georg Benda's harpsichord sonatas given to him by a certain Kuhlman: Wolfgang will always admire the compositions by Benda. Wolfgang retained beautiful memories of this journey in the Netherlands and tried to organize one for himself and Constanze, but unfortunately the occasion never came into being. Here we offer a collection of images about the Mozarts and the Netherlands strictly inspired by and related to the contents of this beautiful paper by Bastiaan Blomhert on the visit of the Mozarts in the Netherlands. TAB. 1 A depiction of the dangers of the Mordyk water way: the first and the last impression of the Mozarts in the Netherlands.  TAB. 2 Aerial view of the most important cities and towns of the Netherlands in ca. 1650 (Amsterdam 1538; The Hague 1740), which can give an idea of how these places appeared to the Mozarts in 1765/1766.    TAB. 3 Prince Willem V and Princess Carolina from the house Orange-Nassau, more or less at the age they were, when the Mozarts met them in 1765/1766.  TAB. 4 Places visited by the Mozarts in 1765/1766.   TAB. 5 These are the 6 original pages with the notes by Leopold Mozart about the people, the composers, the musicians and the places in the Netherlands.    TAB. 6 The trekschuit (Horse-drawn barge) as in use in the Netherlands for traveling at the time of Mozarts' visit. On the water (1730) and interior (1760).   |
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6. The Composers/Musicians in the Netherlands during the visit of the Mozarts 1765-1766. At p. 289 you find a long list of composers and musicians, who were working and active in the Netherlands in the period 1765-1766, that's to say during the visit of the Mozarts. Leopold himself had also written about them in his letters and in his notes. This list is particularly interesting, because, when it appeared in 2003 in this book, a few of this composers and musicians were still just names. The intense work of historians, musicologists, musicians and others (involved in the process of scores treatment or of professional recording) have changed this situation a bit: now, in 2019, we have the original scores of those composers/musicians available to study, associations of appreciation have been created and also various CD Albums have been produced and published. In conclusion, nowadays we can have a better perspective on these authors and on their music than in 2003... and... ... and once again the Dutch Mozartian School was a step forward in 2003... ... with its peculiar and distinctive capability of foreseeing the correct path that scholars should follow to develop the knowledge and the enjoyment of the musical panorama of the 18th century in the MozartEra. Now we present those composers/musicians, who are in the list at p. 289 and who proved to be composers particularly interesting for their music production or for their music theory production (and so a possible influence on the musical formation of a young Mozart, with his characteristic ability of absorbing and personalizing any suggestion coming from the world around him). Composers working in the Netherlands in 1765-1766: 1. Fischer, Johann Christian (1733-1800) ** 2. Graaf, Christian Ernst (1725-1802/04) ** 3. Groneman, Albertus (1710-1778) 4. Kreusser, Georg Anton (1743-1810) 5. Reinders, Jacob (see 1766) 6. Ricci, Francesco Pasquale (1732-?1817) ** 7. Schetky, Johann Georg Christoph (1737-1827) ** 8. Wassenaer Obdam, Unico Wilhelm Count of (1692-1766) ** 9. Zingoni (Singoni), Giovanni Battista (ca. 1718-20 - 1811) ** with 2 asterisks composers particularly important and/or interesting, whose works are today available also through scores and CD Albums. You will notice that a group of these composers working in the Netherlands were somehow in direct and personal connection with J.C. Bach (friends, pupils/protegées or collaborators), J.C. Bach who was working in London. Only Ricci probably already knew J.C. Bach, thanks to the years spent in Milan. While Ricci is considered a member of the Milan school of Sammartini (like Gluck), J.C. Bach (like Mozart, Jommelli and many others and up to Rossini and Donizetti, through Stanislao Mattei) was a pupil of the Bologna school of Padre Martini. _________________ 1. Fischer, Johann Christian (1733-1800) oboist & composer The Mozarts met Fischer at The Hague in 1765/66. It seems they were impressed by Fischer's virtuoso technique and compositions and Wolfgang wrote a set of 12 Variations in C on a Menuett by Johann Christian Fischer (K.179 [189a]) on music from one of Fischer's Oboe Concertos. However, when Mozart met Fischer again in 1787 in Vienna (twenty years later and twenty years of Mozart's own music later!), he was less impressed by Fischer (4 April 1787). Nonetheless, Fischer had his own high level circles: as oboist, he was a virtuoso, pupil of the Italian school of Besozzi, worked a lot with J.C. Bach & Abel in London, becoming a favourite composer and musician of the queen. His portrait is well preserved thanks to great Gainsborough himself, who was his father-in-law, but not for a long time: the marriage to Gainsborough's daughter proved unhappy and was rapidly dissolved. WARNING: Both Naxos & Allmusic and also other sites create a confusion between this Fischer (1733-1800) the oboist and Johann Carl Christian Fischer (1752-1807) copyist, musician, and theatre director: they are two different composers. MAIN LINKS: J.C. Fischer at IMSLP J.C. Fischer at Allmusic (CD Albums) J.C. Fischer at Prestomusic (CD Albums) J.C. Fischer: Virtuoso Oboe Concertos (CD Album) J.C. Fischer: Solo Pour La Flute Traversiere (CD Album)   2. Graaf, Christian Ernst (1725-1802/04) conductor & composer C.E. Graaf was the conductor at the Hofkapel in the Hague (from 1762) and then court conductor of Willem V and Anna von Hannover (1759-1790) and conducted several concerts during the stay of the Mozarts in the Netherlands. C.E. Graaf helped the Mozarts on various occasions in the Netherlands and Leopold left pleasant notes about him. C.E. Graaf is buried in the Grote Kerk in The Hague. He composed the work Laat ons juichen, Batavieren! (see infra Video with a recording by tenor Nico van der Meel), used by Mozart to compose his famous variations (8 Variations on Laat ons juichen, Batavieren!, K 24). His brother Friederich Hartmann, also a composer, was the first flautist at the Hofkapel (later, in 1769 and ff. years) and met Mozart on other occasions in the ca. 1779 in Augsburg: Mozart defined him a lean composer of flute concertos. Friederich became an important orchestra conductor in London (1780s) and then Doctor of Music at University of Oxford. MAIN LINKS: C.E. Graaf at IMSLP C.E. Graaf at Allmusic (CD Albums) C.E. Graaf at Prestomusic (CD Albums) C.E. Graaf: Cello Concertos and Sinfonias (CD Album) WARNING: Due to a common misattribution, the portrait, that is generally labelled as Christian Ernst, is, in reality, his brother Friederich Hartmann. See also in the video infra. C.E. Graaf's music and works (certainly under the influence of Mannheim and of C.P.E. Bach) are particularly interesting, as you can hear, thanks to these recent recordings of his works: C.E. Graaf, Symphony C.E. Graaf, Cello Concerto C.E. Graaf, Laat ons juichen, Batavieren! (1766) Nico van der Meel   3. Groneman, Albertus (1710-1778) town carilloneur/organist & composer MAIN LINKS: A. Groneman at Allmusic (CD Albums) A. Groneman at Prestomusic (CD Albums) A. Groneman: Virtuoso Rococo Flute Music (CD Album) A. Groneman: Baroque Concerti of the Netherlands (CD Album)   4. Kreusser, Georg Anton (1743-1810) viola/doublebass player & composer G.A. Kreusser (with his elder brother Adam, first violin in Amsterdam) is mentioned by Mozart in friendly terms in his letters from Italy (1770s). MAIN LINKS: G.A. Kreusser at IMSLP G.A. Kreusser at Allmusic (CD Albums) G.A. Kreusser at Prestomusic (CD Albums) G.A. Kreusser: 6 Quintettos Op. 10 (CD Album) Infusion Baroque present the Quintettos Op. 10 by Kreusser: Joyful and elegant, these pieces for flute, violin, viola, cello, and basso continuo feature the instruments engaged in a lively musical conversation that are sure to delight and charm listeners.  5. Reinders, Jacob: Vreugde-Zangen 1766 The importance of Reinders as composer (always during the period of the Mozarts' visit) is substantially linked to only one, but important, piece: Vreugde-Zangen 1766 used to celebrate Willem V of Orange as Stadtholder. MAIN LINKS: Dutch Royal House Official Site: About Reinders's Work  6. Ricci, Francesco Pasquale (1732-1817) composer This is a composer, whose music has been investigated in recent years, especially thanks to the 200th Anniversary 1817-2017. A few groups of appreciation of this composer (who worked in the Netherlands during Mozart's visit) have been created too. CD Albums with his music have been also produced. Officially considered a composer, who belonged to the Milan School of Sammartini, like Gluck. About his importance as music theoretician, let's remember his book on the technique of the harpsichord and the fortepiano (Leduc, Paris 1786). Ricci's manual is considered by some scholars the first one to officially treat the fortepiano as a new independet instrument. Despite the existence of a wide circulating story (originated in the 18th century) of a collaboration of Ricci with J.C. Bach for Ricci's manual, this very story is the subject of a long lasting scholarly dispute, since: 1. probably the collaboration with J.C. Bach never occured; 2. the presence or not of material from C.P.E. Bach; 3. there were various problems with the publication of the editions of Ricci's manual. For a brief and partial treatment of this complicated subject, you may find interesting also to have a look at the site of Harriet St. Clair Jones, who has recorded the keyboard works by Ricci: Ricci & the editions of his Recueil pour le Forte Piano published and dedicated to the Princess of Orange and Nassau (the Netherlands). In the Netherlands (1765) Leopold Mozart met Ricci in person, but afterwards Leopold left some remarks not particularly favourable on Ricci's work and music, by calling him a semi-composer from Como. In London Ricci became famous for his Dies Irae Op. 7, you find infra in a CD edition (unfortunately) with some limitations, but that can cast, in any case, some light on certain interesting passages of Ricci's music. MAIN LINKS: F.P. Ricci at IMSLP F.P. Ricci at Allmusic (CD Albums) F.P. Ricci at Prestomusic (CD Albums) F.P. Ricci: Sacred Music vol. 1 (CD Album) F.P. Ricci: Sacred Music vol. 2 with Dies Irae Op. 7 (CD Album) F.P. Ricci: Sinfonie (CD Album) F.P. Ricci: Recueil (CD Album) F.P. Ricci: Works for Organ (CD Album) F.P. Ricci, Dies Irae Op. 7 (CD Preview) F.P. Ricci, Sinfonie (CD Preview)      7. Schetky, Johann Georg Christoph (1737-1827) excellent cellist & composer Schetky was an important cellist. Strictly linked to the Mannheim group of composers and musicians, he became a protegé of J.C. Bach in London. He was important also as a theoretician of the technique of the cello (see 12 Duetts for Two Violoncellos with some observations on, and rules for violoncello playing). His son George Schetky became one of the first American Composers and was among the founders of the American Musical Fund Society in Philadelphia (1820: in 2020 the Bicentennial), one of the oldest Classical Music associations in US. MAIN LINKS: J.G.C. Schetky at IMSLP J.G.C. Schetky at Allmusic (CD Albums) J.G.C. Schetky at Prestomusic (CD Albums) J.G.C. Schetky: 12 Cello Duets (with an Introduction technically important) J.G.C. Schetky at Prestomusic (CD Albums)   8. Wassenaer Obdam, Unico Wilhelm Count of (1692-1766) diplomat & composer Wassenaer's music proved particularly important and interesting in recent years and CD Albums with his works have been produced, a few of them also critically acclaimed. Neville Marriner with ASMF had already produced an Album with the most famous Concerti Armonici 1-6. MAIN LINKS: U.W. Wassenaer at IMSLP U.W. Wassenaer at Allmusic (CD Albums) U.W. Wassenaer at Prestomusic (CD Albums) U.W. Wassenaer: Marriner's Edition of Concerti Armonici 1-6 (CD Albums) U.W. Wassenaer: Music for Recorder (Critically Acclaimed) (CD Albums)   9. Zingoni (Singoni), Giovanni Battista (ca. 1718-20 - 1811) teacher of the princess The information on Zingoni's life is not always certain. As a tenor, in the period 1762-1763, he was important as singer in the London operas conducted by J.C. Bach. Zingoni was active also as composer of symphonies (published in Amsterdam in 1766). MAIN LINKS: G.B. Zingoni at IMSLP  |
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7. This book as a reference book. This book and its articles are themselves a valuable reference book. Moreover, this book offers dedicated reference sections which the scholars will find interesting and useful. At p. 293 you have all the works by Mozart (with detail of the working-groups), but, in particular, at p. 249 we have the section: Publications on W.A. Mozart, namely by Dutch authors (excl. Pro Mozart), that really helps to understand which wonderful Mozartian work has been carried on by the Dutch scholars during the years of activity and also within the Dutch Mozart Society: the first important scholarly Dutch works were published at the end of 19th century! Another fundamental reference section of this book is: Die Internationale Stiftung Mozarteum in Salzburg - Einrichtungen, Tätigkeitsbereiche, Projekte der Zukunft. by Friedrich Gehmacher, President of the IS Mozarteum Salzburg Given the strong collaboration between the Dutch Mozartian scholars and the Mozarteum since the end of the 19th century, this detailed presentation of all the resources, the collections, the archives, the projects available at and through the Mozarteum in Salzburg must be considered a fundamental chapter of this book and a central article of reference for whoever has interest in carrying on any kind of Mozartian Studies or in improving one's knowledge of Mozart, of Mozart's music and of Mozart's world. |
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8. Mozart as keyboard composer and the Mozart reception. An important series of another 9 articles treats two important themes: 1. Mozart as a keyboard composer (from the improvisation technique to the technique of fortepiano to the experiments up to the organ clock music writing) 2. The reception of Mozart and of his music (from Mozart's relationship with the brothers Haydn up to the reception of Mozart in Salzburg, in the Netherlands and in the 20th century through the use of Mozart as music model for the modern and contemporary composers) 1. Mozart as a keyboard composer (MozartCircle - The Bugler) a. Amadeus at his best – According to Mozart b. To speak or to sing: Mozart and Beethoven on the fortepiano c. Wie man ein Stuck brod isst: Mozart und das Improvisieren d. Lili Kraus and the Reception of Mozart’s Keyboard Works e. Mozart and Automatic Music 2. The reception of Mozart and of his music (MozartCircle - Scholar Works) a. Joseph – Wolfgang – Michael [Mozart and the Haydn Brothers] b. Mozart-Rezeption in Salzburg im 19. Und fruehn 20. Jahrhundert c. Kraut-Kitsch or Musical Masterpiece? Elements of Mozart Reception in 19th Century Holland d. Mozart and the 20th century |
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9. Conclusions. This book is an extremely dense book, conceived both as an evaluation book and as a showcase. It is de facto a celebration and a presentation of 200 years of close relationship between the Mozarts, their works and their music and the Netherlands: from here the subtitle A bicentenarian Retrospect; let's not forget that it was Leopold Mozart himself with his book on Violin method the man who the first established a solid relation with the Dutch Nation and with the Dutch intellectuals and who opened the Dutch doors to the good fortune and good reception of his son, Wolfgang. It is a showcase, because this book contains a series of important essays on Mozartian subjects written by famous and even legendary Dutch scholars, in primis Marius Flothuis and Leo Samama. Therefore we can appreciate, and in technical details, the role that a few of these scholars from the Netherlands had in the development of the International Mozartian Studies and of the correct and purified reception of Mozart's music, by defining certain forms of concert and recording performance style, which today have become a common practice by thousands of musicians, but which, only in the 1930s, were still considered inconceivable, due to 100 years of confusion both in the quality of the scores and in the style of free performance. The scholar and the non-scholar who want to visit the Netherlands will find, in this book, the perfect guide, because not only they'll discover the real places where the Mozarts acted, but also the world of the Dutch intellectuals who appreciated the works both by Leopold and by Wolfgang and the world of the Dutch intellectuals, scholars, musician and also of the Dutch Maecenas-style patrons, Mozart amateurs and supporters, who developed the International Studies on the Mozarts and who promoted the accurate knowledge of Mozart's music in all its beauty. |
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MozartCircle S. & L.M. Jennarelli |
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