Music: Smaller Stars in the Classical Firmament

In his recently published diary, Polish poet and novelist Czeslaw Milosz bemoaned “the hideous music of the second half of the nineteenth century,” and wondered why composers ever abandoned “that heavenly sculpting in sound as in Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and not only in them; lesser composers, too, partook of that beautiful style.” I have often wondered this too, but have taken refuge in those lesser composers whose reputations have been obscured by the renown of Mozart and Haydn.

Klaus Heymann, the genius behind the Naxos/Marco Polo labels, shares this view. In a recent interview, he said: “All these composers were over  shadowed by Mozart and Haydn. But when you listen to this music, all of a sudden it dawns on you that, yes, Haydn and Mozart were the greatest, but they were peaks rising from a very high plateau. The average music of that time was of a very high standard. Very well crafted, good melodies.”

He is right. You may not be overwhelmed by the lesser composers of the classical period, but you will be pleased and often surprised. Take the case of Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739¬1799).

With the love of alliteration my own name gave me, I was in favor of Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf even before I heard his music—and much more so after. Dittersdorf was at the center of late eighteenth-century music-making. In a famous quartet session, he joined Mozart, Haydn, and Vanhal for an evening’s music-making. It was to Dittersdorf that Emperor Joseph II made his infamous remark after hearing Mozart’s Abduction from the Seraglio: “Too fine for my ears, and so many notes!”

Some critics may dismiss Dittersdorf as a lightweight whose harmonic and melodic invention can hardly compare with that of Mozart. But aside from Haydn’s, whose can? Yes, sometimes he is a bit rhythmically foursquare and occasionally lacking in harmonic variety. But as the Symphonies after Ovid’s Metamorphoses demonstrate, he wrote music of marvelous character and extraordinary invention that deservedly earned the high reputation of his time. The six symphonies that survive from the original set of twelve have been issued by Naxos in its bargain “18th Century Symphony” series. Through the excellent performances by the Failoni Orchestra under Hanspeter Gmur, you can judge how very high the plateau was that Heymann refers to. Since Dittersdorf wrote some 120 symphonies, perhaps Heymann could be encouraged to record more of these gems. CPO, distributed by Naxos, has released two CDs containing Dittersdorf six string quartets and two string quintets, played by the Franz Schubert Quartet. Of these works, a friend of Dittersdorf exclaimed: “Now not only Pleyel’s quartets but even Haydn’s have been outdone!” This may be an exaggeration, but anyone who enjoys Haydn should be more than pleased with these delightful pieces.

Two other Naxos releases in the “18th-Century” series bring us music from the dawn of the Classical era. Johann Stamitz (1717-1757) fashioned the Mannheim orchestra into the most famous of its day. In his short life, he was also a major composer whose many symphonies helped to create the vocabulary of the Classical period that Mozart would perfect.

In Stamitz’s early works, such as the first four Orchestral Trios found on Naxos 8.553213, one can still hear strong echoes of the Baroque concerto style. By the time of the Symphony in D Major, Op. 3, No. 2, the divide has already been crossed. The Baroque formulas have been broken and one can hear Stamitz exulting in the new-found powers of orchestral virtuosity. Mannheim became famous for the striking dynamic effects its highly disciplined orchestra could create—especially in crescendo and diminuendo and the so-called “Mannheim rocket,” rapidly ascending melodic figures for the violins. The D Major symphony begins with a few chordal jolts to wake you up and then proceeds with lilting melodies and energetic rhythms. A crack chamber orchestra is needed to get the fun out of this music, and the New Zealand Chamber Orchestra under Donald Armstrong fills the bill.

An almost exact contemporary of Stamitz, Georg Matthias Monn (1717¬1750) thrived in Vienna before Haydn and Mozart. He was the first to have included a minuet in a symphony. A new CPO release of six of his sym¬phonies shows him to have been a composer of extraordinary verve. These energetic and highly attractive works are beautifully played by L’Arpa Festante under Michi Gaigg.

Another worthy release in the “18th-Century” series are five of the symphonies of Franz Ignaz Beck (1734¬1809). Beck was born in Mannheim and studied under Stamitz. Here is further evidence of the high plateau in melodic invention and development, rhythmic vigor, and charm. The Northern Chamber Orchestra led by Nicholas Ward brings these sprightly works to life.

If you had mentioned the opera The Barber of Seville to any member of the musical public in Europe before 1816, he would have immediately known you were talking about the famous score by Giovanni Paisiello (1740-1816). Paisiello’s work, premiered in 1783, was eclipsed by Rossini’s opera of the same name in 1816. Since then, little has been heard of this highly gifted composer, out of whom poured more than eighty operas. He may have been influenced by Mozart, but he was good enough to influence Mozart as well.

Paisiello wrote music of disarming simplicity and charm. His music, while modest in its aims, is directly affecting. A good example is the Passion of Jesus Christ written the same year as The Barber of Seville. A recording on the Frequenz label shows Paisiello’s ability to speak straight to the heart. Though principally an opera composer, he also wrote instrumental music. Pianist and musicologist Pietro Spada has edited Paisiello’s eight piano concertos and performed them on two midpriced Arts CDs. Most of the concertos were written for an amateur pianist, the princess of Parma. Despite the lack of virtuoso passages, these works sparkle with an elegant and engaging flow of melody. See if you can resist them in these performances in which Spada is joined by the Orchestra da Camera di Santa Cecilia.

By virtue of his longevity, Muzio Clementi (1752-1832) had to compete not only with Haydn and Mozart but with Beethoven as well. The rivalry with Mozart was particularly direct in respect to performance and improvisatory skills. The same Joseph II who so failed to appreciate Mozart’s opera staged a piano contest between Mozart and Clementi for the amusement of his guests in 1781. The two composers were asked to improvise and to perform their own compositions, and then to play at sight several sonatas of Paisiello. Of his experience, Clementi said, “Until then I had never heard anyone play with such spirit and grace.” In a letter to his father, Mozart was less generous. He wrote: “Clementi plays well, as far as execution with the right hand goes . . . Apart from that, he has not a kreuzer’s worth of taste or feeling—in short he is a mere mechanicus.” Even worse, Mozart later proclaimed him “a charlatan, like all Italians.”

Yet Clementi was very highly regarded throughout Europe, where his numerous piano sonatas had great currency and were considered state-of-the-art by many, including Haydn and Beethoven. This part of his legacy has survived to the present day, in part thanks to the advocacy of Vladimir Horowitz. Clementi was also renowned as a pedagogue and a music publisher. In this latter capacity, he signed a contract with Beethoven in 1807 to publish Beethoven’s works. The more Clementi published, the less he composed. Did Clementi retreat into business when he realized he could not compete with this new titan of music? It might have appeared so, but Clementi actually spent his last years composing and constantly revising a set of symphonies that were clearly written as a response to Beethoven.

In performance the symphonies were well received, but Clementi refused to have them published. Again, did he fear the comparison with Beethoven’s masterpieces? It was a comparison they did not have to suffer because the symphonies disappeared when Clementi died and were not performed again until Pietro Spada, who seems to be a major archaeologist of Classical treasures, reconstructed them in the late 1970s.

The results of Spada’s spade work are fascinating. If in Stamitz one can hear music moving from the Baroque to the Classical, in Clementi’s last four symphonies one can hear the Classical colliding with the early Romantic. Clementi absorbed the lessons of Beethoven’s first two symphonies without surrendering his allegiance to the world of Haydn. He also added some gorgeous lyricism from Italian opera and what sounds like an occasional, playful lift from a Rossini overture. These four symphonies are very gripping, but they are especially fascinating because of their heterogeneity of style. They are a primer in the transition between the two worlds Clementi tried to bridge. Erato offers the four symphonies in a midpriced two-CD set with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Claudio Scimone [4509-92191-2]. The performances are brilliant, as is the accompanying essay by Spada.

All of these works are worth hearing in themselves, but more so because one can only really understand the height of Haydn’s and Mozart’s achievement when one has experienced the altitude of the plateau from which they rose. Perfect for a summer evening’s enjoyment.

Author

  • Robert R. Reilly

    Robert R. Reilly is the author of America on Trial: A Defense of the Founding, forthcoming from Ignatius Press.

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