Musical Snapshots

This week introduces the second historical figure in our unfolding world of symphony composers, as we progress further from the past and ever closer to the present day.

Applause to the listeners!

Antonio Caldara was at least one of the very first composers of what today are considered symphonies—see following paragraph—although he is more famous for his operas, cantatas and oratorios (pantheon.world). Caldara was born way back in c. 1670 and lived in the country of Italy. He grew up in Venice, relocated to Rome in his late 30s, resettled a decade later in Vienna (Robert Cummings – AllMusic, NetAktion, LLC), and may or may not have moved one other time outside of that—but Vienna was his final residence.

What is a symphony? The word itself can be traced back to ancient Greece, referring to harmonious notes and even ensemble or band (Britannica: Arts & Culture - symphony). Making its way into the more recent world of classical music, the word was used to help describe different compositions (e.g., “sinfonia avanti l’opera” by Scarlatti, “sinfonia da guerra” by Monteverdi, a sinfonia for three flutes by Jacopo Peri, etc.), without standing alone to represent a whole musical work. That would eventually come toward the end of the 17th century, thanks to Alessandro Scarlatti composing a fast-slow-fast overture to one of his operas; and yet credit can also go toward Jean-Philippe Rameau, who committed a very similar act several decades later. Still, the symphony did not spread its wings in full flight until—it can be argued—Fr. J. Haydn brought the word’s meaning from “harmony of sounds” or “music in parts” to “a sonata for full orchestra” (Britannica; Online Etymology Dictionary – word: symphony). So was Haydn the “Father of the symphony” or does Giovanni Battista Sammartini deserve the glorious title? There’s much that I could say about him regarding this one topic, but more on these and other men to come later, with evidence that the symphony predates both of the “symphony fathers” mentioned.

Let’s redirect our attention to Antonio Caldara. I mentioned that he is more famous for cantatas, operas and oratorios; in fact I have struggled to find more than one symphony by name—or title—much less an audio recording of one composed by the man. So that is why I’ve decided to start here, with Caldara. Far from the best-known composer and not exactly the leading pioneer of our featured genre, he still was influential during and after his lifetime (Classical Net). His musical career progressed all the way to his dying days; in fact, there is evidence that he died partly from work-related exhaustion. His last composition was completed a month or two before his death in late December of 1736 (AllMusic; Classical Net).

Homework: C-Major Sinfonia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6SqimMsp1I Achille in Sciro; Ciro riconosciuto; Il Temistocle; La Promessa Serbata; Scipione Africano il maggiore, festa di camera.

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Italian oboist, organist, choirmaster, teacher, and composer of at least 67 symphonies (has many times been confused with his brother, Giuseppe Sammartini, who did not compose any symphonies) – The leading figure in the development of the Classical style, the composer who’s introduced in your music history books as the one who kicked off what we can properly call symphonies to (within?) the classical music world. Be not deceived, they were still more like their older siblings and cousins than the giant works of the nineteenth century, but this is where we can see a real “mile marker,” a true "beginning" to the Symphony Story.

     We’re used to thinking of the symphony as the four-movement composition that barely keeps the attention of some audience members before it’s half-way finished, because of how advanced in structure and length it is; however, in Sammartini’s day it still had a long way to go. Let’s not mistake him for his brother, Giuseppe. In fact, Giovanni was the seventh of eight children, and often gets confused with Giuseppe, who didn’t always identify with his own compositions and who himself did not write any symphonies (allegedly). Giovanni wrote nearly seventy.

     Only two music students can be identified as those of Giovani Sammartini, but he has an exhaustive list of compositions, including sonatas, overtures, operas, cantatas and arias.

     As you might have guessed by the name, the Sammartini’s were Italian(s); Giovani was probably born in Milan, his life-long city. Earliest musical education from his father is plausible, and probable. He and afore-mentioned brother were listed as oboists in the orchestra of the Regio Ducal Teatro (Duke Region Theater?) in 1720. Though most or all of the compositions are lost, Giovani seems to have officially begun composing in the mid-1720’s. What evidently survive(s) to this day [from 1728] are a few cantatas for the Fridays in Lent written for the Congregazione del SS Entierro, the first in a forty-five-year-long story of their kind. Going back to the little “oboe factoid” – one reasonable explanation behind this instrument of choice may have to do with Alexis, their father, being an oboist himself. Just as interesting is that he spelled his last name a lot differently, because he was originally French.

Sammartini had a “way of touching that instrument, which is truly masterly and pleasing”.

The compositions came rolling onward; in his 30s Giovanni produced concertos, dramatic works, and sonatas, in addition to the symphonies that get our focus in this listening program. This was also an era that saw more than one of his operas, and in which he became the leading figure in the earliest symphonic school in Europe. One of his identifiable students would later borrow movements from two Sammartini symphonies for his two operas. As for Giovanni’s operas, his last one was performed in 1743.

Sammartini’s list of symphonies did not earn him the title of The Father of the Symphony; at least, not officially. But he had a part to play in its development and presence in the Western world; without Giovanni the symphony genre might have turned out much differently . . .

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Okay, pretend that I released this 96 hours earlier.

I've been held back by a technological snag or two; also just the "summer break" was long enough that I forgot I had already put together Episode 11. By the time I realized (remembered) this, Episode 12 was 99% complete, and I was in--literally--the eleventh hour before the absolute deadline I'd set for myself. Thus I've delivered two chapters out of order, having already given you the episode after this one more than two weeks ago. So ignore it if you're able.

And I'm not afraid to admit that the sudden *cough* death *cough-cough* of Charlie Kirk knocked me completely sideways. More than I would have anticipated. So that also contributed to the delay of this episode. But I'll catch up. It is very much what I do; I love my schedule patterns too much.

Enjoy the audio. I hope you are able to learn something, again.

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Johann Adoph Hasse – born/baptized 1699, Bergedorf (near Hamburg, Germany);

un-aliv’d December 16, 1783 - Venice, Italy

Johann Adolf [Adolph] Hasse was a German composer, singer and teacher of music. Immensely popular in his time, he was best known for his prolific operatic output, though he also composed a considerable quantity of sacred music, and was a pivotal figure in the development of 18th-century music and of opera seria.

Despite G. B. Mancini claiming that Johann Adolf Hasse was the padre della musica, and despite the composer's massive popularity as a figure at the very forefront of 18th-century serious Italian opera, after his death Hasse's reputation vastly declined and his music lay mostly unperformed (with the exception of some of his sacred works, which were occasionally revived in Germany). Careful choice of key was also a crucial factor in J.A. Hasse's style, with certain emotions usually marked out by certain key choices. A Major was chosen to express amorous feelings, while C and B-flat would be used for expressions of aristocratic nobility. F minor and C (minor?) were usually the keys for supernatural and fear-inducing music. Most of his arias begin in the major, going minor for the B section before returning to major for the D. C. Symphonic music is contained in his Op. 5, very normal and characteristic of the symphony’s early years.

Johann Adolf Hasse's career began in singing, when he joined the Hamburg Opera in 1718 as a tenor. In 1719 he obtained a singing post at the court of Brunswick, where in 1721 his first opera, Antioco, was performed; Johann himself sang in the production.

During the 1720's he lived mostly in Naples, dwelling there for six or seven years. In 1725 his serenata Antonio e Cleopatra, was performed at Naples. The success of this work not only earned Hasse many commissions from Naples's opera houses, but also, according to Johann Joachim Quantz, brought him into contact with Alessandro Scarlatti, who became his teacher and friend; he would later alter his style in several respects to reflect that of A. Scarlatti.

Within a period of increased popularity in Naples, and a workload to match it, Hasse composed his only full opera buffa, La sorella amante, in addition to several intermezzi and serenatas.

1730 was the year that marked his marriage to Faustina Bordoni and his appointment to Kapellmeister at the Dresden court (though prior activity and commitment prevented him and his new wife from arriving until July of the following year). Soon afterward Faustina performed before the court, and in September Johann's new Metastasio text was given its premiere. J.S. Bach may or may not have attended the performance, but Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach allegedly claimed that J.A. Hasse and his father had become good friends around this time.

Many of his sacred works, composed for Venice's churches and when he’d begun to travel more often, date back to the time in 1733 when Hasse’s patron at Dresden died. He continued to compose a fair number of operas, and his general avoidance of comic opera seems to have been due to Faustina, who feared that the style of singing demanded by opera buffa would damage her voice. In 1751 she retired from operatic performance. Her husband continued to produce new operas throughout the decade, and in the autumn of 1760 he moved to Vienna, where he stayed for the next two years, returning to Dresden in 1763 to find a mostly destroyed home and a severely wrecked court opera (probably because of the Seven Years’ War of 1756), as well as an endangered career (two-year salary but no pension) under new management—to make a long story short.

Hasse would continue his travels in spite of (or because of) certain setbacks.

He spent his final ten years in Venice, teaching and composing sacred works.

Information largely taken from the Bach Cantatas Website.

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or’at’or’i’o n. (or-uh-tor-ee-oh) a long, dramatic musical composition, usually on a religious theme, consisting of arias, recitatives, duets, trios, choruses, etc. sung to orchestral accompaniment

flor’in n. (flor-in) an English silver coin equal to two shillings; any of various gold or silver European coins

Johann Melchior Molter (1696–1765), German composer of more than 140 symphonies, was from the Thuringian-Saxon* area. His father, Valentin, may have been his first (music) teacher. Belonged to the Chorus Symponiacus under Kantor J C Geisthirt...

In contact with music of the Eisenach court orch. (founded 1708 by Telemann). Entered the service in 1717, as a violinist, of the Margrave Carl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach; where Molter met his wife, Maria Salome Rollwagen. Won the margrave’s favor, sent with full salary to Italy to study the Italian style (and language?); spent 1719-21 in Venice & Rome, possibly rubbing shoulders with Vivaldi, Albinoni, the Marcello brothers, Tartini and/or Scarlatti. Returned in 1722; appointed Kapellmeister in place of Johann Philipp Kaafer.

German opera was cultivated in Carl Wilhelm’s theater, and young Johann (Molter) directed performances there. From this time period came a number of his compositions, which may have included one or more operas, but definitely chamber music, orchestral works, cantatas and oratorios. The War of the Polish Succession brought about its abrupt end, as Margrave Wilhelm dissolved the Kapelle before fleeing to Basle. Molter lost his job, though he kept his title.

Another Wilhelm, Duke Wilhelm Heinrich of Saxe-Eisenach, found the need for Molter’s musical services the following year: as court Kapellmeister after the death of the previous one. Not long later, someone else’s death would have a much bigger, more direct, impact on Johann – after he and his wife had had eight children together, she passed away. This was the first of multiple hardships over the next few years. Having visited a number of cities in the effort of expanding his repertoire and musical knowledge, Johann received the news of another significant death: that of his former patron Margrave Carl Wilhelm. Then it was Duke Wilhelm Heinrich’s turn, who was succeeded by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, who dissolved the Eisenach Kapelle. By 1742 Molter found employment in Karlsruhe, and had also found a new wife, whose name again was Maria (Christina Wagner). Being in a less favorable financial position at this time, he overcame lower wages by producing a high volume of chamber works. His condition began to change in the late 1740’s when the grandson of Carl Wilhelm commissioned Johann to help reorganize the court’s musical establishment, eventually giving him a (suitable) 500-florin salary. Additionally the size of his orchestra was increased, with a variety of servants and retired musicians. Perhaps this meant that he would no longer have to compose quite so many chamber works to provide the income that he needed. The increase of musicians entailed the virtuosity on multiple instruments, not to mention the number of performers who could switch instruments.

Ultimately, the number of works that followed after this was rather high, including but not limited to cantatas and symphonies. Molter would remain in his post until he died. He had gone far as a traveler, influenced by a healthy mix of music around the European continent through several years. You may detect similarities in his compositions to music of certain composers and/or nationalities, but at the end of the day that is up to the listener.

Johann Melchior Molter (1696-1765) - Symphony in A Major brought to you by Main-Barockorchester Frankfurt (uploaded 06-30-2019).

*Let’s remember that Germany was not a unified country yet 

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Toward the end of the 17th century, one future composer in particular was born into the world—in Stockholm, Sweden. Johan Helmich Roman came from parents of German and Finnish origins, at least by recent reckonings; his last name could have derived from the Finnish area Raumo. His musical beginnings involved the oboe and violin, likely among additional instruments, and membership in his teen years of the royal chapel. Before too long, while Johan still was a young man, a grant from King Charles XII allowed for his pursuit of studies in England. Familiar figures may have crossed paths with him during that time (~ 1715 to 1721). He would afterward return to Sweden, where he transitioned from deputy master of the chapel to leader of the court orchestra.

     Before and after this transition, festive cantatas and (a collection of) twelve sonatas (for flute) were written. He also improved (the standard of) the royal chapel during—or following—those years, and by his late thirties he had introduced the first public concerts in Stockholm.

     Upon losing his first wife in 1734, Johan directed his attention once again to traveling outside the country. In the span of two years or so, he ended up in Austria, Germany, France, England and Italy. This had a notable influence on his approach and attitude toward musical style, no doubt reflected in subsequent compositions. His next marriage lasted a little longer than the first, resulting in five children, though death would soon take his wife away from him once more.

     Drottningholmsmusique was one of Roman’s finest works, composed for the royal wedding in 1744, presumably for Adolph Frederik, husband of Lovisa Ulrika of Prussia, sister to Frederick the Great. After retiring from the court orchestra because of growing deaf, the “aging” Johan Roman settled on a small estate near (outside) the town of Kalmar, where he may have spent much of the rest of his life translating theoretical works into Swedish, along with other related activities. He was interested not only in creating his own original music but also in preserving and arranging various works that already existed.

     Because the man was as humble and modest as he evidently was, not many autographs have been linked to copies of his music (or copies of anything), which made proper attribution much more difficult. The number of symphonies attributed to his name (most of them probably from c1735-1750) hovers around twenty-one, and we’ll take a look at (a listening to) "Sinfonia D-dur, BeRI nr 24," which may hopefully be from his hand.

Opening music: "Funeral music for King Fredrik I"

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Johan Christoph Förster began his musical studies organist Pitzler, then after leaving Bibra he studied under Heinichen in Weissenfels, learning the thoroughbass and composition.

He eventually learned Italian, the foremost language for secular vocal music, took yet another teacher (professor) named Georg Friedrich Kauffmann at Merseburg: where he was appointed violinist in the court orchestra, subsequently becoming Konzertmeister.

While there, learning Italian, Förster wrote

 six sonatas,

 six cantatas,

 twelve concertos, all dedicated to the duchess.

In 1743 he was in Rudolstadt, appointed vice-Kapellmeister, where he wrote a birthday cantata dedicated to the princess.

Kapellmeister Johann Graf died, making way for vice-Kapellmeister Förster to succeed him... then he died only a few weeks later. Johan Christoph Förster had reached his early fifties.

Among his numerous works were [six?] attributed sinfonias (according to research and available sources). Let’s give his E-flat Major Sinfioneta the benefit of a doubt, which was not so easy to find, and imagine listening to its first ever performance around the year 1740 (this is a recording from 1993).

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Scant information about his childhood; we first see documentation of his early 20’s.

Had studied on the violin, so he became the next [musique directeur]* at the Wurttemberg** court in 1716, after moving from Venice to Munich as a violinist the previous year.

Began writing opera(s). Noteworthy was La Tisbe, which did not earn a performance.

Faced heated battles from 1719-21 with rival Reinhard Keiser, maintained (retained) his position.

Lost his post as Rath und Oberkapellmeister in 1737, spurred on to increased composition.

The following year produced 12 concerti e simphonie opus 1 and others.

In 1744 his Oberkapellmeister post was restored and eventually he brought the opera & court music to renewed fame. Lasted into 1751 (or 1755—conflicting sources).

Pardon the (lack of) audio quality in this episode; eventually I just had to ignore every surprise hurdle during production in order to not allow any more delay, and there sure were a lot of them!

P.S. Not quite sure why I said "and all" at the end. It slipped out somehow.

*musique director, maître des concerts de la chamber 

**Listen to my attempt at pronouncing that word...

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Jn. F. Fasch began studying with J. P. Kuhnau around age thirteen; transitioned to the University of Leipzig (or the Leipzig Thomasschule). Imagine that he looked somewhat like the familiar Haydn, but remember that he was 40+ years older. *Duke* Moritz Wilhelm of Saxe-Zeitz eventually appointed him to write operas for the Naumburg Peter-Paul festivals.

He was afterward assigned the position of a violinist, and later a court secretary & organist. Subsequent positions included Kapellmeister to the Bohemian Count Winzel Morzin in Praque, and court Kapellmeister in Zerbst, where he composed instrumental music, church cantatas and festival music (for the court). Fasch was well-known in Saxony, Hamburg, Prague and Vienna during his lifetime and in Zerbst. In 1722 he decided that it was too early to leave his new Kapellmeister position in Zerbst for the chance to be Thomaskantor in Leipzig.

A number of his letters have shown that he was unhappy in Zerbst; however, he remained there for the rest of his life, and kept busy with primarily writing church cantatas and festival music for the count. Not only were all his compositions published after he died, but thanks in part to being so overshadowed in history by Bach, the year 1900 or so was when the music of Johann Fasch was given proper recognition by a man named Hugo Riemann (All these names are so tricky to pronounce for my American tongue--and so are "court" and "count"!).

His repertoire included four operas (lost), fourteen masses (lost), nine cantata cycles (may also be lost as well) and about sixty concertos--spanning the transition from the Baroque to Classical periods (~1750). His instrumental works have begun to show up again.

As for symphonies, he focused on* the String section, composing at least (or at most) nineteen of them. Durations = usually nine to twelve minutes. The sound is dominated rather exclusively by the strings, depending on—or regardless of—what symphony it is. Featured in this episode: "Sinfonia in G" (FWV M:G4).

Sources: Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale, © 2024; The Kennedy Center, copyright 1990-2024; MUSOPEN (musopen.org/music/composer/johann-friedrich-fasch/pieces); classicstoday.com.

For the record, yes, this episode was nine days behind schedule, thanks to a week-long music gig that immediately followed a family wedding. To the 1.75 of you who noticed: thank you for your patience. There's probably a typo in here. Enjoy the show.

*In particular the symphonies feature the double string part in a more simple form: by “eliminating repeated notes, or taking just the main notes of an arpeggiated passage” (Sheldon, 1972) in the wind section.

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