September 5, 2018

  • Turkish Influences In 18th-Century Music: Romberg, Mozart, Haydn

    Romberg: Symphony No. 4/Mozart: Violin Concerto/Haydn
    Julia Schroder, violin.
    Collegium Musicum Basel/Kevin Griffiths
    CPO 555 175
    Total Time:  60:12
    Recording:   ****/****
    Performance: ****/****

    As the 18th Century drew to a close, the threat of the Ottoman Empire, which had terrorized Europe for almost a century, would come to a close with the Austro-Turkish Wars with the Hapsburg’s bringing them to an end in 1791.  The somewhat dubious treaty would result in partitioning the Balkans and parts of Eastern Europe.  The Turks had come as far as the city gates of Vienna in 1683 and their terror was something well-known to the likes of Viennese composers.  Haydn’s own grandparents were among the few who survived the destruction of Hainburg that very year.  Western music owes some of its percussion to the appearance of the military Janissary bands that made up the armies.  These instruments, melodies, and specific rhythms would lend themselves to a host of Western pieces.  Most notably is Haydn’s own Military Symphony which explores this both from the percussion instruments employed, but also in subtle rhythmic motives in the work.  Of course, more famous are Mozart’s own “Rondo alla turca” from his Piano Sonata, K. 331.  Beethoven also would write music with Turkish influences in his music for The Ruins of Athens.  There are a host of works that are overtly identified with this musical “inspiration” and three of them appear on this new release with a rarer symphony by Andreas Romberg (1767-1821), a familiar Mozart violin concerto, and a Haydn overture.

    The sequencing for the album is a bit backwards with the overture being tracked at the end as more of an encore than the appropriate concert overture.  Instead, we are treated to the brief Symphony No. 4, Op. 51 (“Alla turca”) by Romberg.  He was a court musician for most of his life serving in first Munster and Bonn before playing in the German Theater Orchestra of Hamburg.  He would eventually succeed Louis Spohr as capellmeister there.  Romberg wrote ten symphonies of which 4 were published in his lifetime.  Of them was the work heard here which was first performed December 22, 1798, in Hamburg.  It is notable not only for its additional percussion, but also for a piccolo part.  The music is otherwise a fairly acceptable late-Classical work with the cymbals and bass drum adding an appropriate punch to the lyrical, mostly forgettable theme in the opening “Allegro”.  A little chromaticism also makes an appearance for a nice touch.  Swirling strings help move us along as the music hovers back and forth from major to minor.  Trumpets and horns add a bit more emphasis.  The minuet goes as one might expect with the trio featuring nice wind writing, notable for including the piccolo here too.  Notable here is the rather interesting off-kilter rhythmic idea with some occasional harmonic choices that delight.  The slow movement has good string writing hinting a bit at romanticism in the wings.  A march-like finale brings the work to an exciting close.  While the thematic ideas are not as catchy as one might hope, it is still rather interesting to hear how Romberg is exploring these “new” instruments within the context of the 18th-Century symphony.  The dramatic aspects help with the big cadences showing off things most.  The ensemble certainly lends itself well to a committed performance.

    In more familiar music, Julia Schroder explores Mozart’s most popular Violin Concerto in A, K. 219 (1775) which is noted for when the celli and basses play with the wood of their bow to create a rather interesting percussive effect.  Other similarities to Romberg’s ideas include interesting chromatic crescendos and those shifts into the minor mode coupled with interesting rhythmic accents in the finale.  The piece is among one of Mozart’s most popular (over 100 recordings currently in the catalogue).  It allows for a variety of interesting themes and opportunities for the soloist.  Among them is a striking dramatic moment in the opening movement signaling an almost operatic drama to the work.  The ensemble has a decidedly different audio quality that feels slightly fuller than in the Romberg.  This may be equally due to familiarity and confidence in the Mozart.  Schroder’s playing is quite beautiful in the Adagio interruption and this sets the tone for her lyrical playing style.  There is certainly a sense of joy in this performance that is warmly supported by the orchestra.  While the Romberg required a bit more brashness at times, the Mozart highlights the ensemble’s delicate, and lyrical side quite well.

    Haydn’s opera, L’incontro improvviso (1775) is taken from a story also explored by Gluck.  Set in Turkey and involving the odd comic abduction tale.  The “Overture” is in the Italian form with a special concert ending used here as written by the composer.  It has some interesting Turkish color but the bulk will be used within the opera itself.  It serves its purpose to set us up for the odd adventures to follow.

    All three works here are examples of composers exploring “unusual” and “strange” musical instruments and worlds though each are quite conventional for the period as one might anticipate.  The Mozart is the strongest work of the three and a well-done performance to boot which makes the others nice discoveries of musical history.