Tomaso Albinoni: The Venetian Composer and His World

322 Pages·1990·39.557 MB·English

by  Michael Talbot

T O M A S O
A L B I N O N I
The Venetian Composer
and His World
MICHAEL TALBOT
//'
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Tonuuo Afbi,,oni: the VrMtlan,compMtr ,md hif IPOr,ld.
,, 11'1/ion music. Albinoni, Tomaw, 1671- 1751
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Tcmaso Albfnoni: tht Vtntllan tompoJtr and hil world
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PREFACE
Asked to identify the composition by Albinoni thilt first sprang to mind,
most music-lovers would probably name tbe Adagio in G minor for strings
and organ, a piece originally published in 1958 and ever since a mainstay of
record catalogues and chamber orchestra programmes. This is ironic, for
the pieee's actual composer, the musicologist and Albinoni scholar Remo
Giazotto, has never claimed that the Adagio is based on more than a tiny
original fragment; moreover, the existence of even that fragment has
frequently been doubted since all efforts to trace it have failed. Whether this
con1position is minimally by Albinoni or not by Albinoni at all is ofs mall
concern; what matters is that its style-is so totally unlike Albinoni's that it
-invites, us to explore his music under false premises. Whereas· the Adagio is
in.
unashamedly lachrymose, copying the idea of a pizzicato bass striding
-octaves (evocative ofs obbing) from a common way of performing Bach's
so-called •A ir on the G string', Albinoni's real Adagio movements .are
dignified and classical in expression, even tending in his less inspired
momenrs to dryness. The wonder is that Giazotto's Adagio has been so
successful a catalyst in bringing Albinoni's instrumental works to the
attention of the concert-going and record-buying public. Perverse as the
basis of this achievement has been; it is none the less real
When l first became an Albinoni enthusiast, also in the late 195 0s, his
sonatas and especially his concertos were well represented on record and in
concert performances, and modern editions ofh is instrumental works were
numerous. This heyday, wliich owed a lot to the advocacy of chamber
orchestras such as I Musici and the Virtuosi di Roma, has now passed; in
compensation, however, Albinooi's vocal music, which includes some of
his greatest achievements, nowadays attracts more interest, particularly
among the increasing number ofs ingers who aspire to an authentic style of
performanc'C. If, as l hope, there is to be a second surge in Albinoni's
popularity, it is h'"kely to be the vocal music that leads the w:,.y.
My interest in Albinoni resulted first in a doctoral thesis (Cambridge-,
r968) devoted to the instrumental music. Many years later, when l had
revised some of my earlier conceptions and was far more familiar with the·
music ofh is contemporaries, I wrote a medium-length study of Albinoni's
life and works. Circumstances caused it to appear not ln English but in
German, as Albinoni; Leben u,id Werk (Adliswil, Edition Kunzelmano,
1980). Eight years further on, 1 have continued, albeit more selectively, to
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vi PREFACE
develop and sometimes review my ideas; in the mean time, I have made a
few discoveries that are presented in these pages for the first titne in any
book. I imagine there will not be many people reading these words who
have also had the opportunity to consult·my earlier Albinoni.study, but I
can at least reassure them that they will not find the present book merely a
rehashed version of the one :they already know.
Like its prcdeccssqr, this is a study that considers-both Albinoru's life and
his works. Quite deliberately, however tbe·emphasis falls on che music,
1
since in a book offaidy modest dimensions aimed at a wide readership this
has .to be the first priority. All the same, one cannot overlook the fact that,
as ,a Venetian composer, Albi.noni lived and worked in a very distinctive
social and cultural environment that inevitably left a strong mark on him.
For this reason J have found it nec;essafY to discuss the Venetian backg~ound
in some detail.
Si.nee this volume reptesencs not much a new project as one that h,as
50
occupied me intermittently over a period of more than twenty yean, the
list of people who have at various times given me assistance and
encouragement would run to several ,dozen names. If1 may be allowed to
be selective and confine my tha.nks to those who have belped me with the
preparation for the book in the most recent period, l should like to record
my gratitude to Carlo Guaiu for his donation ofa copy of his illuminating
thesis on Albinoni's cantaus, to .Brian Crosby for facilitating my study of
manuscripts in Durham Cathedral Libtary and answering my many
qgestions, to Gastone Vio for keeping me \qformed-of his work in progress
on Albinoni's biogr-aphy, to Maurizio Grattoni for supplying photocopies
of some ,arias, to Colin Timms for his comments on Chapter 5, to Carole
Taylor and Thomas Walker for their comments on part of Chapter 8, and
to my wife. Shirley for relieving me of many chores that would otherwise
have caused me to rise guiltily from the Word-processor.
Liverpool M.T.
1989
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CONTENTS
List ofPlates
VIII
Fame, Oblivion, and Revival
I. [
2. Life and Career 26
.3. Alblnoni's Musical Style
44
4. The Early Instrumental Works (tQ 1700) 77
s.
The Cantatas rrs
6. The Mature Instrumental Works, 1701- 1714 144
7. The Mature Instrumental Works, 1715- 1722 157
8. The Operas and Sere.natas
191
9, The Late lnstrumental Works (from 172.3) 250
IO·. Conclusion 265
Appendix A: A Short Catalogue of Albinoni's Works 268
Appendix B: Modern Editions of Albinoni'.s' Worlcs
283
Bibliography
289
Index
291
1JI!, 1 ,1! l•u111
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LIST OF PLATES
(between pages I so and Is 1)
First page of the autograph manuscript of Albinoni's vlolin sonata in B fiat
1.
major, So 34 (Sifrhsische LandeJbibliothtlt, Drtskn)
l . Detail with the heads ofA lbinoni, Giz:ri, and Colla &om the engraving 'Pamaso
italiano' after a drawing by Luigi Scotti (Ci.vlco RllCcolta Stampe' A. BerlarelW,
Casttllo Sforztsco, Milan)
J. Anonymous oil painting of Albinoni (private colltclfon of Professor C. Mandel,
J.
Milan: Artephot, P. Ziolo)
4. Title-page of the Violoncello part from the 1706 Sala edition of Albinoni's
Balletti a Ire, Op. 3 (Musiltsamm/ung der Grafen van Witsentheid, Witsenthtid),
5. Extr~cts from Albinoni's Conttrti a rinque, Op. ro, indudc,d in Michel
Corrette's L' Art dt se peifettionner dons It v/oloil (1782) (Bibliolh~l/lit Nationale,
Paris)
6. Opening of the text of the comic interm.,,:ii Pimpinone as it appGars in the
libretto of the original production (Venice, 1708) (Civito Musto Bibliogrefuo
Musicale, Bologna)
7. First page oft he aria with obbligato oboe '·Cereo l'oggctto delmio furor' from
the opera I vtri amiri (Munich, 172.2) (Bodltian Library, Oxford)
8. Third page of the aria with obbligato archlute 'Con cetra piu senora' from the
serenata fl nq,cimtnlo de /'Aurora (c. 1710) (0,terrtich/sche Notiona/b/bliothek,
Vittrna)
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1
FAME, OBLI VION, AND REVIVAL
TOMA so A LB I NONI, a Venetian, was originally a maker ofc ards, but having an
c,arly properuity to music, and having been taught the violin in his youth, he
became not only an excellent performer on that instrument, but also an excellent
composer (Hawkins, 1776).'
Regarding the quality ofh is works, my study ofs ome of b.is scorCS' has shown me
that his iryle i< dry, bis ideas dull or trivial, and the expression of the words in most
of his operas ahnost nil (Feds, 1835).'
Few musicians reveal such profession2I skill u composers. He wrote not a single
movement which contains careless or even mediocre workmanship, and very few
which fail to demonstrate an unusual command of organic form (Hutchings,
1961).>
As the above quotations illustrate, Albinoni's reputation over the last two
cer1turies has described a curve whose shape is familiar from the
posthumous experience of so many other composers of his generati<;>n.
lndeed, the changes in the music"al world's view of Albinoni after his death
olfer an exceptionally clear-cut example oft he triad fame-oblivion-revi
val. The underlying reasons for these fluctuations dese"rve a briefd iscussion.
Most music of the eighteenth rentury and eatlier was i:haracterized by an
inbuilt obsolescence, One reason for this was that the promotion of a
composer's music was seen as primarily the responsibility of the composer
himself in his role as performer or musical director. His removal from a
locality might cause his works to disappear from the local repertory; his
retirement from active performing might liave a si.tl1ilat etfecr; and so,
naturally. would his death.
A second reason was the subordination of the public's musical
appreciation to a keen awareness of changes of fashion-Chang~ that in
Albihoni's middle and late years occurred very often. Speaking in
particular of ttallan operas, in which taste and sty.le changed exceptionally
rapidly to suit the demands ofs ingers, au anonymous commentator in the
Mercure de Franc~ observed in i731 that such works 'die in the act of being
• Sir John Hawkiru. A GtHtf'dl HiJtflfy oft ht Sdtnu and Pra,tict of Music. (S vols., l..ondon, 1776), ii.
678.
' .Ftai,~o~Jo1eph FCtb, Bit,g,1tphie u"itinsdlt des musicitns (8 vol:ti,, Bnnsds. 1'81.s-+4). i. :1n. .
•A lbinmii (Thoma<)'.
' A.rthor Hutchings, Tltt .&,oqur Can~#a (London. t961), tJ6.
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2 FAME, OB·LJVION, ANO l!EVIVAl
born .ind are never repeated, since the public always ctaves novelty';• a
similar situation was described in 17 39 by the French traveller Charles de
Brosses, ,vho wrote Lb his friend de .Blancey after a meeting in Venice with
Vivaldi: 'Tc;> my great :1$l6nisbment I disc(lveted tlut he is not as higbly
regarded as he deserves to be in dns country, where everything ha$ ,to be
up-to-the-min.ute, where his works have been heard for too long, and
where last year's ,nusic no longer brings in money' .5 Stylistic evolution was
less hectic in the domain of instrument:tl music, but ttS relevance to the
present argument is illustrated by the reissue by the violinist-composer
Francesco Geminiani in 1755 of comprehensively 'updated' versions of
concertos (Opp. and 3) that he had published only in 1732.
2
Both factors making for obsolescence, though no longer applicable to
concert music, can be seen to operate with equal force today in the world of
popular music, but a third important factor applies moreexclusivclyto the
period under di.scussion: the limited access of'musicims arici music-lovers to
performing material. The high rate ofp erishability, through natural causes
as well as neglect, ofb oth manuscript and printed or engraved music meant
that the most recently produced material was generally also the most
accessible. One must remember that most music-including virtually all
vocal music-circulated solely in manusGript, becoming reproduced in at
most a .few do;zen copies; published music rarely sold \n more than a
hundred cxampl~. For private individuals music for performance-everi
more so, music for study- was almost a luxury. De Brasses complained
that in .Italy 'music is never seen again, is never printed or engraved, with
the result that the most famous pieces remain only in the memory: ,the rest
i's soon forgc;>tten •.6
Of course, this rat.her gloomy picture adrnits of sorn~ qualification.
Certain baroque composers, among whom Lully, Core1Ii, and Handel
stand out, e.amed the status of 'classics' in their lifetime and continued to
enjoy :it for a considerable time afterwards. Many of their works remained
in the active repertory, and their cruvre provided both approved models
for younger con,posers ;ind practice material -for perfor1ners. Other
composers maintained a place in the repertory by occupying special niches
from which no successors sought to displace them. Benedetto Marcello's
J.
psalm paraphrases, the famous Estro poetho-armonico, and S. Bach's
polyphonic motets exemplify tins category. Composerswitb. a reputation
fol" being learned, like. Bach, or for writing music of exceptional technical
, 'Oissertition critique -sur J'~tat prismr de 11talic, conccmant lcs sc101ces-ct lcs ;urS'., Mrrcurt iJ.t
F,1111u, Dec. 1731, p. 2742.
s Charle, de Drosses, Ltmrs familifre-r itritt,f ·d' lral1< tn 1739 tt 17,fO, ed. R. Colomb (.z. vols." Puis,
18.18), l. 193,
' lbid. ii. J 16,
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