Beautiful and Unknown Baroque Music from the “Partiturbuch Ludwig”

Recommendation

The title of this one-of-a-kind collection of music from the German Accent label is: “Ciacconas, Canzonas & Sonatas – Violin music from the collection ‘Partiturbuch Ludwig’ (1662)”. This “Partiturbuch” or “Score Book” is a collection of manuscripts that were gathered from North German sources by one Jacob Ludwig during the mid-17th century.

It is unknown over what period of time Jacob Ludwig gathered manuscripts for his collection, or what the sources were. It is likely that he visited the surrounding courts and city centers – wherever he might find employed musicians. As such, his Partiturbuch is a self contained and representative slice of music written and performed in North Germany during the mid-17th century.

Of the 114 compositions in the codex, twelve are represented on this program, which focuses on the larger ensembles of three to six stringed instruments with an accompanying basso continuo of theorbo, lute, harpsichord and organ. Roughly half of the works in the program are from anonymous sources. Only one work on the CD has ever been recorded before.

The music to be heard here is diverse as you might expect, and also very original and very, very beautiful. The striking Ciaccona by Antonio Bertali for example, begins with a lute playing a simple six-beat ostinato. The other instruments – organ, viola da gamba and harpsichord, seamlessly cycle in and out of this simple musical fabric while a solo violin extemporizes above. Several striking and sudden modulations serve as attention-grabbing and very effective transitions during this brief and wonderful five minute work.

The excellent performances are provided by the period instrument ensemble Harmonie Universelle directed by violinist Florian Deuter. If you enjoy exploring the back roads of baroque music, you will thoroughly enjoy this generous, 75-plus minute program of music that you have never heard before, but will want to hear again and again.

Album Overview

Only fourteen years had passed since the end of the Thirty Years' War when the musician and collector Jacob Ludwig compiled a comprehensive collection of violin music in 1662 containing contemporary works played at German courts from this period. The collection termed by experts as "Das Partiturbuch Ludwig" was created for the culture-loving Duke August of Brunswick and his wife and was presented to him on the occasion of his 83rd birthday. It is amazing that despite the devastating effects of such a long period of war in Germany, cultural life had never come to a complete standstill, and Jacob Ludwig succeeded in discovering a whole series of musical jewels to add to his collection. The works of Das Partiturbuch Ludwig were arranged according to the number of instruments involved and include sonatas, canzonas, chaconnes and other works influenced by the modern Italian trends of this period. The volume is one of the most valuable sources north of the Alps for works displaying the technical and compositional potential of the violin whose popularity was on the rise at this time. The renowned Baroque violinist Florian Deuter and his ensemble Harmonie Universelle have compiled a selection from the 114 works included in Das Partiturbuch Ludwig which not only demonstrates the incredible variety of music from this source, but also offers listeners a broad palette of different genres and instrumental scoring.

Source: HBDirect.com

Florian Deuter	Performer: Florian Deuter Florian Deuter can look back on a remarkable career in the field of historical performance practice. It began in 1986 with the invitation by Reinhard Goebel Musica Antiqua Köln, where he was… read more
Mónica Waisman	Performers: Mónica Waisman Mónica Waisman completed her violin studies at Oberlin College in Ohio, with Marilyn McDonald and Elizabeth Wallfisch at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague. She began her career as… read more
Harmonie Universelle	Performers: Harmonie Universelle Light and shadow, consonance and dissonance, softness and sharpness: these are the contradictions that converts the ensemble Harmonie Universelle in his artistic vision, and with a lot of youthful energy. His interpretation of the… read more

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