Chapter 17 of 21 · 5016 words · ~25 min read

Chapter IX

, of our narrative history, represent the very beginnings of artistic instrumental music that during the following three centuries developed into pure instrumental chamber music. In forwarding this development the dance music of the period and other instrumental compositions of the fifteenth century were important factors.

The fifteenth century dances such as the _Pawirschwantz_, the _Fochsschwantz_, and others, employed the polyphonic style peculiar to the vocal compositions of the time. They lacked inspiration and were of a restless character because of frequent changes of rhythm. There was little to distinguish them from each other; they were in fact, in the words of Michael Prætorius, ‘as like as eggs,’ and their general character was not different from that of the vocal compositions of the same period. Probably no modern ear could listen to them with enjoyment.

Presumably this music was to be played on any instrument, without differentiation. No single instrument was especially favored until the following century, when the perfection and the popularity of the lute helped to bring chamber music into existence. This instrument was indeed so highly perfected and the players so skilled that they were able to perform upon it even difficult polyphonic works. This gave an opportunity to the people to become acquainted, through private performances, with a great number of musical compositions. To satisfy the demands of their friends lutenists arranged and transcribed for their instruments all kinds of compositions, including even entire six-part masses. While these arrangements served their purpose they were probably not more satisfactory than the pianoforte arrangement of orchestral scores today. Pieces of polyphonic character were also composed directly for the lute, and bore such names as _Ricercar_, _Fantasia_, _Præludium_, _Preambel_, _Trio_, _Trium_, _Toccata_, _Tartar le corde_, etc. Besides this the lutenists produced a large amount of music in a more popular vein, popular tunes, dances, and descriptive pieces including ‘battles,’ ‘echoes,’ ‘bird-songs,’ in which the composer’s intention was often not self-evident.

This lute music must have been usually played in rooms of limited size, for the delicate tone quality of the lute would scarcely render it practical for accompaniments to dances. Hence we may conclude that this early lute music was played for its own sake. It is the earliest form of true chamber music and represents the beginning of absolute instrumental music in general.

We find already in this early chamber music the elements of artistic form. It is evident from the examination of numerous collections from the sixteenth century that composers for the lute applied the principle of contrast, being impelled thereto by a natural artistic sense. In Petrucci’s lute collection (1507-08), for example, a _Ricercar_ is preceded by a sort of prelude-like _Tartar le corde_ that in its rapid passages forms an evident contrast to the even and more simple style of the _Ricercar_. It is this tendency toward artistic contrast that helped to build up the cyclical forms of the suite and of the sonata.

Lutenists, in fact, preferred to combine their favorite songs and dances in groups of two, three, or more, which thus constituted the earliest suites. A suite of three dances is to be found in Petrucci’s collection. It contains a _Pavane_, a _Saltarello_, and a _Piva_. The Pavane (in common time) gives the melodic material for the two other movements (in triple time), a crude example of the use of a leading theme in the different movements. Attaignat’s French collection (1529) also contains a suite of three dances: _Bassedance_, _Recoupe_, and _Tordion_. Some German suites consisted of a slow movement (in triple time), and a second, more rapid, on the melody of the first. The individual pieces sometimes had no names, but frequently the slow movement was called _Hoftanz_, while the fast movement bore the designation _Hupfauff_. Other combinations of movements were _Ein guter Hoftanz_ (in common time), _Proportz darauf_ (in triple time), and _Pavana_, or _Ein kunstreicher Gassenhauer_, _Ander Thyl_, _Proportz dritt Thyl_. Toward the middle of the century, when movements increased in number, the suites ended with a postlude, such as a _Toccata_. The relation between the movements was evident not only in the common thematic material, but also in the use of the same key throughout. Later the dances were grouped under their different titles--all the Pavanes and Allemandes, for instance, being brought together. Not every kind of dance was regarded as suitable for combination with others. Such dances as _Caluta a la Spagnola_ or _a la Italiana_, the _Branle_, the _Morino_, the _Balletti_, the Polish, ‘Welsh,’ French, Swiss, Hungarian, Bavarian, and Swabian dances are always found alone. The contrasted tempi of the better suites lent them a certain variety and lightness.

[Illustration]

Lute music gradually ‘went out of fashion,’ as Thomas Mace, himself a composer for the lute, remarked, because it was ‘a very chargeable instrument’ and ‘the hardest instrument in the world.’ In the meantime certain composers were writing chamber music for which no special instrument was indicated. Of this class of instrumental compositions we may mention especially a _Canzon da sonare a 4_, by Florentino Maschera from his _Libro primo de canzoni da sonare a 4_ (1593). It is called _La Capriola_ and is written for basso, tenore, alto, e canto. Maschera’s canzonas are among the earliest printed specimens of independent instrumental compositions. Their phrase structure is very irregular. One canzona, for instance, has an introduction of twenty-one measures, followed by a longer piece of six periods of 22, 21, 18, 19, and 23 measures. On the whole, Maschera’s instrumental compositions are vocal in character and polyphonic in style. Almost the same may be said of the _Canzoni_ and _Sacræ Symphoniæ_ of Giov. Gabrieli (1597), although his _Sonata con tre violini and canzoni a 6_ (two violins, _cornetto_, _tenore_, _trombone_ and bass) (1615) show an advance in instrumental writing. In Gabrieli’s _Sonata piano e forte_, we meet for the first time the term ‘Sonata.’ This composition is scored for a double choir of instruments, the first consisting of a cornet and three trombones, and the second of a violin and three trombones. These two choirs are employed antiphonally. Gabrieli usually preferred to score his sonatas and canzonas for eight instruments in two choirs, but not infrequently he wrote from four to twenty-two parts in one or three choirs.

In comparing Gabrieli with Maschera we get the impression that while Maschera’s canzonas are song-like, Gabrieli’s polyphonic style represents rudimentary symphonic music.

A link in the evolution of chamber music form is to be found in the _Fantasie overo Canzoni alla Francese per suonare nell’organo ed altri stromenti musicali a 4_, by Adriano Banchieri (1603). In some of these pieces the first part corresponds with the third, the second part appearing as a kind of middle movement, an arrangement that shows the elements of the three-part form of the modern sonata.

We have seen that chamber music included dances (single and in suites) and compositions of free invention. The names of the former class of pieces clearly expressed and described the character of the music. The terms applied to compositions of free invention, however, were not strictly defined, and compositions with scarcely any difference between them were variously entitled Sonata, Fantasia, Simphonia and Canzona. To illustrate the uncertain terminology of the time we may quote the following from Prætorius’ _Syntagma Musicum_ (1618): ‘In my personal opinion there is still some difference between Sonatas and Canzonas. Namely, Sonatas contain serious, solemn and pompous music, in the manner of Motettes; while the Canzonas briskly, quickly, and merrily pass away.’ Sometimes, however, the term ‘Sonata’ conveyed the idea of music that was played at banquets and for dancing.

Currently with the rise of music of free invention, dances and suites were further cultivated, as we see from the large number of such compositions extant. The dances of Melchior Franck (1603) were sometimes of polyphonic phraseology, sometimes of lively flowing melodies, with irregular structure, and we find a Galliarde by Johann Ghro (1604) consisting of periods of 13--11--11 measures. Similar pieces by Brade (1607), Thomas Simpson (1617), Erasmus Widman (1618), and others, showed more or less skill in handling their musical materials. Besides single dances, we find also several interesting and valuable collections of suites. I. H. Schein’s _Banchetto musicale_, 1617, a series of twenty suites, contains very characteristic examples of the suite in five movements. We may quote here the beginnings of the five movements of his tenth suite:

[Illustration: Music score]

Similar to Schein’s suites in the character of their variations are those by Paul Bäuerl, edited six years earlier. Variations in suites were so popular that in a work by Andreas Hammerschmidt (1639) the author gave instructions for playing ‘Gaillarde on the 1, 2, 7, Pavane.’ Change in the order and in the number of the single movements is to be found in the suites of Johann Neubauer (1649). They contain only four movements, Pavane, Gaillarde, Balletto, and Courante. The Balletto stands for the Allemanda and Tripla, having two parts, the first in common, the second in triple, time.

The four movement form of suite was adopted by Froberger (1649), and by K. Briegel (1652). After the middle of the century composers began to include in their suites movements that were not dances, such as Canzonas, Symphonias, Sonatas, Sonatinas or Præludia. The earliest examples of those are by I. R. Ahle (1650), Martin Rubert, Joh. Jak. Löwe (1658), Diedrich Becker (_Musikalische Frühlingsfrüchte_, 1668), Joh. Rosenmüller (_Sonata da camera_, 1667), Joh. Petzolds (_Leipzigische Abendmusik_, 1669), Esajas Reusser (Suites for two violins with continuo, containing the following movements: Allemande, Courante, Sarabande or Gavotte, Gigue, with an Adagio--called Sonata--as introduction, 1670). Thus through the mixture of ‘suites’ with ‘sonatas’ the way was prepared for the classical chamber-sonata.

It must not be forgotten that an important part of early chamber music consisted of various compositions in the form of vocal pieces--madrigals, canons, rounds, and catches. As far as we know the earliest printed collection of such music extant is a volume entitled _Pammelia_ (o) _Musicks Misscellane_ (1609). The mixed variety of these ‘pleasant and delightful Roundelays’ shows skillful counterpoint and good harmony. The names of the composers are not mentioned in the book, but since the style of the compositions suggests great antiquity, this collection may represent the oldest printed vocal chamber music. With the striking progress of instrumental music, purely vocal compositions were less and less used as chamber music, since instruments were being used to play in unison with the voices. Such performances were called _concertati_. Significant vocal compositions with instrumental accompaniments were produced by Peri (1561-1633) and Caccini (d. 1618), whose _Cantate da camera_ or _Madrigali da camera_ were mostly pieces for a single voice accompanied by a single instrument. On the whole, however, it is not necessary to emphasize the vocal music here, since chamber music as we know it today represents a purely instrumental development.

We have already referred to Gabrieli’s use of the term sonata and to the first specimens of canzonas. Besides these we may mention a _Canzon francese a risposta_ by Viadana (1602) for ‘violino, cornetto, two tromboni, and basso continuo.’ The parts of the instruments that lead the melodies are handled here as in a dialogue. The treatment of the melody is monodic rather than contrapuntal.

Of much more interest and value are a _Sonata in dialogo_ for violin, with basso continuo, and a _Sonata detto la moderna_, from the _Varie Sonate_ (1613) of Salomone Rossi. Rossi’s sonatas contain good examples of variations on a basso ostinato (_Sopra l’Aria della Romanesca_ and _Sopra l’Aria di Ruggiero_). The basses, however, are not always strictly carried out. Rossi also cultivated variations on melodies not in the bass. He is noted for his first attempts in the form of the trio sonata (two violins with _basso continuo_), where, as in his simpler and shorter ‘Sinfonias,’ the homophonic style is predominant. His compositions have thematic unity, and he sometimes demands the changing of his _tempi_ (_Si replica l’ultima parte ma piu presto_).

Similar to Rossi’s trio sonatas are those by Buonamente (1626), who is likewise fond of variations and of writing in dialogues for two violins. In his _Sonate a 3_ (for two violins and string-bass) the bass has a more important rôle than a mere accompaniment; it also helps to carry the themes, showing a tendency toward independent movement. A sonata (113 measures long) arouses our interest by the development of the first three notes of its theme [Illustration: Music score] that reappears in the following manner [Illustration: Music score] reminding us of the C minor symphony of Beethoven. Some of Buonamente’s sonatas end with the complete form of the original themes as if to unify the whole composition--a characteristic we again find in Beethoven (i.e., at the end of the first movement of the eighth symphony). The single themes and the lack of variety in tempi lend a certain monotony to Buonamente’s compositions, though otherwise they are very interesting.

Another writer of sonatas in Rossi’s manner is Francesco Turini (_Tanto tempo hormai_, 1624). His compositions, too, are in the form of variation suites, where the same bass, with slight changes in rhythm and character, is used in all movements. For the sake of completeness we may also mention G. Allegri’s sonatas for four string instruments, which may be considered crude early specimens of the string quartet.

An important advance in chamber music compositions is marked by B. Marini, who introduced into the trio sonata a second theme, contrasting strongly in rhythm with the first. This new second theme is announced simultaneously with the first when the latter appears for the second time thus:

[Illustration: Music score]

Marini is also notable for the use of chromatics in his later works (1651) and his effective instrumental writing. He did not, however, lay special stress upon developing the idea of the new theme nor upon giving more independence to the two leading instruments. Frescobaldi also failed to recognize the possibilities of the second motive in his trio sonatas (1628). The idea, however, was well developed by Tarquinio Merula (especially in a sonata called _La Pedrina_, 1637), whose works (_Canzoni da sonar_, 1615, _Canzoni overo Sonate concertate da chiesa e camera a 2 e 3_, 1637, etc.) show not only more proficiency in instrumental writing, but also greater independence in the single parts and more individuality in the bass parts. Merula’s compositions have a sort of jovial humor, and on the whole they produce a more satisfactory general effect than those of his predecessors.

Of minor importance are the _Sinfonie ad uno e duoi violini, a duoi trombone, con il partimento per l’organo con alcune quattro viole_, 1629, by Mont’Albano, and the few chamber music compositions (besides solo sonatas) by Fontana (1630, 1641), whose graceful melodies are suggestive of the coming era. In further developing the forms of chamber music (mostly in trio sonatas) an important place belongs to Maurizio Cazzati (d. 1677), who is distinguished especially for his clear-cut melodies. The following from his sonata, _La Lucilla_ (1648), is a good example:

[Illustration: Music score]

Here the contrasting second theme is brought in before the exposition of the first is completed. _La Lucilla_ has repose and thoughtfulness instead of the restlessness usual in similar compositions. It is in four parts and ends with the first theme without the contrasting second motive.

[Illustration] "The concert"; painting by Terborch.

Among other chamber music composers of the middle of the seventeenth century, we may point out Massimiliano Neri, who first used the terms sonata and canzona without any distinction. After his time the term canzona was less and less used and the name sonata finally became general for all instrumental chamber music compositions. Neri’s works are characteristic products of the century. His scoring for three to twelve instruments, his restless changing of rhythm and tempo, his lack of unity and ‘development,’ are the ever-present signs of the age in which he wrote. Still, his construction of phrase, his modulations, his more graceful figures show an improvement upon the writing of his predecessors. The following analysis of his Sonata in nine movements (1651) for two violins, viola and bass--another ancestor of the modern string quartet--shows the looseness of form which was characteristic of all contemporary instrumental music:

Movement I: in 4/4--46 measures Movement II: Adagio in 3/2--20 measures Movement III: Allegro in 4/4--26 measures Movement IV: Adagio in 4/4--8 measures Movement V: Allegro in 6/4--22 measures Movement VI: Adagio in 4/4--6 measures Movement VII: Allegro in 3/4--24 } } 56 measures Adagio in 3/4--32 } Movement VIII: Allegro in 4/4--5 measures Movement IX: Presto in 4/4--9 measures

Among writers of sonatas who varied less the number of movements we may notice Nicolaus Kempi (Sonatas and ‘Symphonies’ for 1-3 violins, 1-5 instruments, 1644, 1647, 1669), who employed the four movements of the modern cyclical sonata form, thus:

I. A pathetic movement (in the style of the Pavane). II. An Allegro movement (imitative). III. Gaillarde or Courante. IV. Similar to the first movement (with figurative elements).

Although Kempi’s compositions show some improvement in fluency, they are otherwise of little interest.

Of far more eminence is Giovanni Legrenzi, the first composer of chamber music who abandoned entirely the term canzone. He is rightly called a ‘master of first rank,’ and his harmonies, chromatics (in the Sonata _La Cornava_, 1655), and modulations are noteworthy. In his trio sonatas (_La Rosetta_, 1671) and in his _Sonata a 5: La Fugazza_, he demonstrated that a few instruments could be made to express musical ideas of genuine value.

Among the minor sonata writers of this period we may mention Mazzolini (_Sonate per camera a 3_, containing preludes and dances), Mazzaferrata (_Sonate a due violini: con un basetto viola_, 1674, all in four movements), Bononcini (_Sonate da chiesa_ and ‘Symphonie’ for two to eight instruments 1666, 1678), Tonini, C. A. Marini, Grossi, Taglietti, Rugieri, Vinacesi, Zanata, Charelli, and Gighi.

Practically all the compositions we have noticed possess for us little interest apart from their significance in the evolution of chamber music. To a modern ear their appeal is very slight. Historically, however, they are of importance, constituting as it were the substructure upon which the edifice of chamber music has been reared. Between them and the music which has a genuine artistic appeal and an emotional content lies a sort of transition stage in which the most notable names are Giovanni Battista Vitali, Antonio Veracini, and Giovanni Bassani.

III

Vitali is the dance composer _par excellence_ of the seventeenth century. His _Correnti e balletti da camera a 2 violini col suo basso continuo_ (1666) have melodic value and clarity of structure and form. In his _Balletti correnti, e capricci per camera_ for two violins and bass (1683), in his _Sonate da camera_ for two violins and bass (1667), and in sonatas for two to five instruments (1669) we find inspiration, expression, and a dignified style. Vitali’s sonatas consist of three movements. The first and the last are in fast 4/4 time, and in fugal style; the middle, in 3/4 or 3/2 time, is more tranquil in character. Sometimes a short _largo_ precedes the first movement, sometimes a largo is inserted before or after the middle movement. The two allegros are thematically connected. In one sonata Vitali uses the same theme through all three movements with a dexterity that suggests the influence of his teacher, Cazzati.

Antonio Veracini (1690) was not a fertile composer, and he is important rather for his personal influence than for the volume of his work. His _Sonate a 3_, _Sonate da chiesa a violino e violoncello_ and _Sonate da camera a 2_, possess nobility and individuality of style, with a certain melodic originality. His forms are clear, his contrapuntal combinations not unattractive, and all his details with a few exceptions show careful workmanship. His adagios are especially fine.[60]

Giovanni Battista Bassani, too, derives his importance largely from his personal influence, especially as the teacher of Arcangelo Corelli. Bassani’s chamber music compositions include _Balletti, Correnti, Gighue e Sarabande a violino e violono overo spinetta, con il secondo violino_ (1673); twelve _sonate da camera_ (each containing four dances in the following order: _1--Balletto, 2--Corrento, 3--Gigha, and 4--Sarabanda)_; _Sinfonie a due o tre instrumenti con il basso continuo per l’organo_ (1638), in which each single piece bears the title of ‘sonata.’ All these compositions are interesting rather than attractive; though while emphasizing and broadening the technique and form of his predecessors, Bassani improved upon their harmony and exhibited more fluency and smoothness through better modulations and transitional passages. We may note especially his independent part-writing, his rythmic steadiness, and his ingenious working-out of motives taken from the main theme. The device of developing themes in contrapuntal works had been variously used since Gabrieli, but the credit for first resolving a theme into its motives and working with them skillfully belongs to Bassani. The following examples will clearly show Bassani’s skill in thematic development.

The theme of a Sonata (for two violins, violoncello ad libitum and organ, 1683):

[Illustration: Music score]

The motives:

[Illustration: Music score]

and

[Illustration: Music score]

Here again we are reminded of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony.

The large amount of chamber music composed toward the end of the seventeenth century is eloquent of the popularity of this class of composition. In fact chamber music was so much favored that a certain Thomas Britton (in London) formed a chamber music club (1678) and gave weekly concerts for thirty-six years, at first free of charge but afterwards at a subscription fee of ten shillings. Later, similar and stronger organizations came to play an important part in the development of music.

We now arrive at an epoch in chamber music where for the first time we meet with works that are today deemed worthy of performance for their purely musical value. The beginning of this era is marked by the name of Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713). Corelli’s music is simple and expressive in style and is distinguished by a peculiarly ascetic and spiritual quality suggestive of the church. It is plastic and concise in thought and dignified and noble in utterance. Corelli was not a pioneer. It was his mission to synthesize into a more logical and graceful whole the musical effects discovered by his many predecessors, and his highly individual genius enabled him to do this with a distinction which makes his name a landmark in the progress of the art of music. In analyzing Corelli’s compositions we find graceful harmonies, fluent modulations and pleasingly regular, well-balanced phrase structures. His musical ideas, especially in the adagio movements, have dignity, grace and lucidity. His allegros, although not lacking in dignity, do not stand on the high artistic level of his slow movements.

Corelli’s earliest chamber works are included in a collection of _XII Sonate a tre, due violini e violone col Basso per l’organo_, op. 1 (1683). In these church-sonatas his strong individuality is already apparent, although Bassani’s influence is clearly recognizable. Some passages lack beauty and are not very pleasing to the ear. The sonatas consist of four movements, as follows: adagio, allegro, adagio, allegro. Sometimes the first slow movement is replaced by an allegro, and the second movement is in a related key. The seventh sonata has only three movements: allegro, adagio and allegro.

The next series, _XII Sonate a camera a tre, due violini e violone e cembalo_, op. 2 (1685), consists of idealized dances with a prelude (largo or adagio). The third sonata of this collection has the following movements: Prelude (largo), Allemande (allegro), adagio (of free invention), and Allemande. The twelfth sonata has a _Ciaccona_ and a longer allegro movement. Corelli’s talent appears to better advantage in his _Sonate da chiesa a 3_ (1689) and in _Sonate da camera a 3_ (1694) which in form are similar to his previous sonatas. Most of them are in the suite form; some consist of movements of abstract nature, some show a combination of different forms.

The period of chamber music composition inaugurated by Corelli lasted until about the middle of the eighteenth century. It is characterized by a mixture of contemporary and older monodic and polyphonic styles, with a strong tendency toward independent, individual part writing. In this period Corelli’s pupils and imitators produced valuable works, though they could not surpass their master. Among his more prominent pupils may be mentioned F. Geminiani (1680-1782) and P. A. Locatelli (1690-1764). Geminiani’s works (sonatas for two violins and 'cello, and sonatas for two violins and bass) possess neither individuality nor enduring merit, but they claim attention for the careful marking of dynamic nuances. In Locatelli’s sonatas for two violins and cembalo, the virtuoso element is too strong to make them good examples of pure ensemble writing. The same may be said of Torelli’s (d. 1708) _Concerti da camera_ for two violins and bass, _Sinfonie_ for two, three and four instruments, _Balletti da camera_ for three violins and bass, _Sinfonie a 3_, _Conzerti a 4_, _Conzerti musicali a 4_, and _Caprici musicali per camera_, for violin, viola and archlute. Torelli helped to fuse the _Sonata da camera_ with the _Sonata da chiesa_ and is notable as the first to use the term concerto. In general the violinist-composers of the period preferred to cultivate solo sonatas and concertos which would demonstrate the virtuosity of the performers. The elevation of chamber music through serious and pure ensemble writing was not at all their aim. This was notably the case with F. M. Veracini (1685-1750), a pupil and cousin of Antonio Veracini, and with T. Antonio Vitali--_Sonate da chiesa_ for violin and 'cello (1693), _Sonate_ for two violins and bass, _Conzerto di Sonate a violino e violoncello e cembalo_ (1701).

The most prominent and gifted of Corelli’s immediate successors was Antonio Vivaldi (died 1743). His early compositions were ‘wild and irregular,’ but later, under the influence of Corelli’s pure style, he acquired an ‘elegant manner of writing’ that was often entirely free from contrapuntal phraseology. His works (_Sinfonie_, _Sonate_, etc.) became the models of his time and exercised a strong influence even upon Bach. On the whole, however, he pandered chiefly to the prevailing passion for virtuosity. His sonatas are written in three movements. The opening movement still lacks the ‘song-like’ second theme of the modern sonata-movement, and its first theme is long, consisting of several brief, slightly-developed motives. His second movements closely resemble the preludes of his fellow-composers.

Up to the time of Haydn and Boccherini we find very few important works in ensemble chamber music. The solo sonata was chiefly cultivated and from it the sonata form really was developed. So we find that the instrumental compositions of Alessandro Scarlatti (1659-1725) are not of much value (sonata for two flutes, two violins and _continuo_, sonatas for flute, sonatas for three flutes and continuo). His _Sonate a quattro_ (string-quartets of archaic style) in which tediously developed figures are the principal movements and only the little ‘brisk minuettos’ have a certain modernity, are below the artistic standard established by Corelli. Much the same may be said of François Couperin’s (1668-1733) trio sonatas entitled _La Parnasse ou l’apothéose de Corelli_, and other trios for two violins and bass, and _Pièces de viole_, published in 1724-26.

The two great composers, John Sebastian Bach and George Frederick Handel, also produced more valuable works in the form of solo sonatas, suites, and concertos than in ensembles. Bach’s concertos are often classified as chamber music and indeed the grouping of the solo instruments of his Brandenburg concertos resembles chamber music combinations. In his trio sonatas for two violins and thorough-bass, or for flute, violin and thorough-bass, Bach employed the three movement form of Vivaldi. Handel[61] cultivated the four and five movement form of Corelli.

Much of Handel’s chamber music is in point of view of form strikingly in advance of his time. Many of his sonatas contain movements which, within a comparatively brief compass, follow strictly the general outlines of the sonata form. The second movements of two of his solo sonatas, in A and D, and of the sonata in C minor for flute and violin, are good instances.

In tracing the evolution of modern principles in chamber music we have mentioned only those composers who were of striking importance in the development of the genre. It did not seem practical to divide the field to be covered into periods, since up to Corelli no works were sufficiently original or individual to establish a new school or new style. In the works between Gabrieli’s first attempts in the field of chamber music and those of Corelli, Bach and Handel, we recognize the elementary principles of modern form, harmony, thematic development and instrumentation. It is this phase of the development of chamber music that prepared the way for Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, the greatest masters of pure instrumental music.

E. K.

FOOTNOTES:

[59] Distinction between church music and chamber music, as far as can be ascertained, was first made by Nic. Vicentino in 1555 in a work entitled _L’antica musica ridotta alla moderna_. The term chamber music had its origin in the practice of rich citizens and princes who regularly kept in their service musicians to provide private concerts in their chambers (_camera_) for the delectation of their friends. The musicians thus employed were given the title of chamber musicians, or chamber singers. The official title of chamber musician--_suonatore di violino da camera_--was probably used for the first time by Carlo Farina (1627) in the service of the court at Dresden.

[60] It was G. B. Vitali whom Henry Purcell (1658-1695) ‘faithfully endeavored to imitate’ in his ‘Sonatas of three parts: two violins and bass: to the Organ or Harpsichord.’ Purcell’s twelve sonatas show power, originality, and inspiration, and are not lacking in emotional content of considerable warmth.

[61] Trio sonatas for two oboes and bassoons (1693), Chamber duets (1711), Trio sonatas for two violins (or two oboes or two flutes) and bassoon (1732), Sonatas or Trios (1737), four Chamber Duets (1741), two Chamber Duos, Chamber Duets (1745).