SINGER, Josef Anton (1810-1882) - Missa pastoralis (1860)

Josef Anton Singer (1810-1882) - Missa pastoralis (1860)

Performers: Heike Heilmann (soprano); Julia Diefenbach (soprano); Johannes Puchleitner (tenor);

Andreas Dürlinger (tenor); Markus Flaig (bass);

Chor und Orchester der Akademie St. Blasius; Karlheinz Siessl (conductor)

Painting: Wilhelm Ludwig Friedrich Riefstahl (1827-1888) - Kinderbegräbnis in Passeier (Tirol) (1886)

Further info: Tiroler Weihnachtskonzert 2017

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(Josef Anton) Peter (Petrus) von Alcantara (Alkantara) Singer

(Unterhäselgehr, [now Häselgehr, Tyrol] 18 July 1810 - Salzburg, 25 January 1882)

Austrian composer, organist, music theorist, and instrument maker. The son of a miller, bell founder, and instrument maker, he attended the gymnasium in Hall in Tirol from 1824 to 1830 before entering the Franciscan Order in Salzburg in 1829, where he took his simple vows in 1830, solemn profession in 1833, and was ordained a priest in 1834. He pursued theological studies in Salzburg, Schwaz, and Bolzano until 1837, subsequently serving as organist and choir director in Bolzano and Innsbruck between 1837 and 1840. From 1840 onward, he resided at the Franciscan monastery in Salzburg, where he also held the position of master of novices. In addition to developing a harmonium and several physharmonica variants, he constructed the Pansymphonikon in 1845, a reed-based keyboard instrument designed to emulate a full orchestra that drew widespread admiration from notable contemporary figures, including Franz Lachner, Franz Liszt, and Richard Wagner. In his theoretical treatise 'Metaphysische Blicke' he drew upon the traditions of Jean-Philippe Rameau and Anton Reicha to argue that all music derives from the tonic triad, a concept he termed the "primal harmony" (Urharmonie) and associated with the Holy Trinity, alongside its auxiliary harmonies, namely the dominant seventh and the subdominant with an added sixth. As a composer, he adhered to the standard Franciscan scoring for organ and choir, occasionally utilizing vocal soloists; however, his orchestral style of organ accompaniment, rich harmonic language, and unconventional text setting (characterized by omissions and rearrangements) stood in stark contrast to the aesthetic tenets of the Caecilian movement. Conversely, his virtuosic organ performances, particularly his pedal technique, were highly acclaimed by both Franz Liszt and Anton Bruckner.

HEINICHEN, Johann David (1683-1729) - Concerto con Corni da Caccia

Johann David Heinichen (1683-1729) Work: Concerto (F-Dur) con Corni da Caccia, Seibel deest

Performers: Musica Antiqua Köln; Reinhard Goebel (conductor)

Painting: Scuola del XVIII secolo - Ritratto di gentiluomo con lettera

Further info: Per L'Orchestra Di Dresda

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Johann David (Davidde) Heinichen [Heinchen, Heinnichen, Heinick]

(Krössuln, nr Weissenfels, 17 April 1683 - Dresden, 16 July 1729)

German composer and theorist. He was the son of David Heinichen who, after an education at Leipzig's Thomasschule and the university, moved to Krössuln for a lifelong career as pastor. Johann David also attended the Thomasschule Leipzig. There he studied music with Johann Schelle and later received organ and harpsichord lessons with Johann Kuhnau. The future composer Christoph Graupner was also a student of Kuhnau at the time. Heinichen enrolled in 1702 to study law at the University of Leipzig and in 1705-06 qualified as a lawyer (in the early 18th century the law was a favored route for composers; Kuhnau, Graupner and Georg Philipp Telemann were also lawyers). Heinichen practiced law in Weissenfels until 1709. However, Heinichen maintained his interest in music and was concurrently composing operas. In 1710, he published the first edition of his major treatise on the thoroughbass. He went to Italy and spent seven formative years there, mostly in Venice, with great success with two operas, Mario and Le passioni per troppo amore (1713). Mario was staged again in Hamburg in 1716 with the German title, Calpurnia, oder die romische Grossmut. In 1712, he taught music to Leopold, Prince of Anhalt-Köthen, who took him as composer. The same prince would appoint Johann Sebastian Bach Kapellmeister at the end of 1717. In 1716, Heinichen met in Venice Prince Augustus III of Poland, son of King Augustus II the Strong, and thanks to him was appointed the Royal-Polish and Electoral-Saxon Kapellmeister in Dresden. His pupils included Johann Georg Pisendel. In 1721, Heinichen married in Weissenfels; the birth of his only child is recorded as January 1723. In his final years, Heinichen's health suffered greatly; on the afternoon of 16 July 1729, he was buried in the Johannes cemetery after finally succumbing to tuberculosis. 

HOTTETERRE, Jacques-Martin (1673-1763) - Suite en Re majeur (1708)

Jacques-Martin Hotteterre (1673-1763) - Suite en Re majeur des 'Première livre de Pieces pour la flûte-traversiere, et autres instruments, avec la basse-continue ... augmentée de plusieurs agréments, et d’une démonstration de la manière qu’ils se doivent faire; ensemble une basse adjoutée aux pièces de deux flûtes' (1708)

Performers: Frans Brüggen (1934-2014, flute); Wieland Kuijken (cello); Gustav Leonhardt (1928-2012, harpsichord)

Painting: Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) - Picnic after the Hunt

Further info: Suites ∙ Sonatas ∙ Pièces ∙ Brunettes

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Jacques (Martin) Hotteterre ‘le Romain’ [Haulteterre, Haute terre, Hoteterre, Obterre et al.]

(Paris, 29 September 1673 - Paris, 16 July 1763)

French composer. Son of Martin Hotteterre (c.1635-1712), he was the most celebrated member of the family, and had a brilliant career as a player, teacher and composer. In about 1704, he succeeded his cousin Jacques Hotteterre in the post of basse de hautbois et taille de violon at the royal court. Hotteterre lived and studied in Rome early in his career, and his nickname le Romain (the Roman) came from this period. He spent two years (1698-1700) employed by Prince Francesco Ruspoli in Rome, before adopting the nickname of "Le Romain" at some point between 1705 and 1707. By 1708, he became a musician to the King of France, in the king's 'Grande Écurie, and in 1717, he inherited René Pignon Descoteaux's post as Jouëur de Fluste de la musique de chambre. He owed his fame largely to his talent for playing the flute, an instrument for which he wrote a number of pieces, significantly extending the repertory for the instrument. In addition, he played the bassoon, oboe, and musette. Hotteterre was also an internationally celebrated teacher to aristocratic patrons. He wrote one method for the transverse flute, recorder, and oboe, published in 1707, as well as a method for the musette, published in 1737. His 'L'Art de préluder sur la flûte traversière' was published in 1719. It was Europe's first flute manual and was used widely. He died in Paris in 1763.

DALL'ABACO, Evaristo Felice (1675-1742) - Concerto à più istrumenti

Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675-1742) - Concerto (VI, Re maggiore) à più istrumenti, Opera Quinta (c.1722)

Performers: Convіvіum Musіcum Münchеn

Painting: Jan Carel Vierpeyl (c.1675-c.1723) - Merry Company Making Music

Further info: Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675-1742) - Concerto à più istrumenti (c.1722)

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Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco [Abaco, D'Abacuch]

(Verona, 12 July 1675 - Munich, 12 July 1742)

Italian cellist and composer. Born into a prominent family, he trained on the violin and cello during his youth before establishing himself as a sought-after musician in Modena by 1696, where he likely developed his affinity for the French style. In 1704, he joined the Bavarian court orchestra as a cellist. Following the Elector Maximilian II Emmanuel’s defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession, he accompanied the exiled court through the Netherlands and France, during which time he married Marie Clémence Bultinck. Upon the court's return to Munich in 1715, his loyalty was rewarded with appointments as Konzertmeister and electoral councillor. His subsequent compositions increasingly integrated French stylistic traits, and he became a central figure in Munich's musical life, hosting early academic soirées. However, following Maximilian's death in 1726, the successor Karl Albrecht favored a more contemporary musical style, leading to Dall'Abaco's gradual marginalization. His final published work, '12 Concerti à più istrumenti ... opera VI', appeared in 1735, and he retired on a pension in 1740. His son Joseph-Marie-Clément Dall'Abaco (1710-1805) was a cellist and composer.

RAISON, André (c.1640-1719) - Messe du huictiesme ton (1688)

André Raison (c.1640-1719) - Messe du huictiesme ton des 'Livre d'orgue contenant cinq Messes suffisantes pour tous les tons de l'Eglise ou quinze Magnificats pour ceux qui n'ont pas besoin de messe avec des elevations toutes particulieres. Ensuite des Benedictus : et une offerte en action de grace pour l'heureuse convalescence du Roy en 1687. Laquelle se peut aussi toucher sur le clavecin' (1688)

Performers: Jеan-Patricе Brossе (1950-2021, orgue); EnsеmbIe Vox Cantoris

Painting: Anthonie de Lorme (1605-1673) - Intérieur d'église animé de personnages

Further info: Messes d'orgue des 3 et 8 Tons

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André Raison

(c.1640 - Paris, 1719)

French organist, composer and teacher. He was educated at the seminary of Ste Geneviève, Nanterre. From about 1665 he was organist at the royal abbey of Ste Geneviève, Paris; later he became organist at the church of the Jacobins (rue St Jacques). A tax register of 1695 places him in the top rank of Parisian organists, along with François Couperin, D’Anglebert, Gigault, Marchand and Grigny. He taught L.-N. Clérambault, who dedicated his Premier Livre d’orgue (1710) to Raison. Raison’s Livre d’orgue constitutes a major portion of the extant organ mass repertory. The masses follow the usual pattern of short organ versets for alternatim performance of the Kyrie, Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. Genres used include the traditional plein jeu, duo, trio, récit, basse de trompette, fugue and grands jeux. Raison made no use of a plainchant cantus firmus, but this was not unusual. These organ masses were intended for use in convents and monasteries that had their own contemporary mass chants (messes musicales); hence, the lack of plainchant made the book more versatile and enabled Raison to claim that the five masses could also be used to form 15 Magnificat settings. His Deuxième Livre d’orgue commemorates the Treaty of Utrecht (1713) with a setting of the Da pacem; this is followed by a fugue on the same theme, several preludes and fugues, an offertory and an overture. The remainder of the volume consists of an allemande and many noëls with variations. Raison’s music is characterized by rhythmic vitality, consistent use of imitative counterpoint and imaginative use of registration, often requiring the full resources of a four-manual French Baroque organ. Since Raison designed his first Livre d’orgue to assist secluded monastic musicians, its preface contains a wealth of valuable information about performing practice. His advice about observing the metre of each piece to determine which dance movement is implied is often quoted; however, it should not be inferred that Raison used dance rhythm more than his contemporaries, or that his music is unusually ‘secular’ in nature. The book contains detailed information on registration, ornamentation, notes inégales and fingering. A striking example of Raison’s didacticism and attention to detail is his early use of the double dot in the French overture-style offertory. Raison’s influence is clear in Clérambault’s organ works; further it seems that J.S. Bach borrowed the theme of his ‘Christe: Trio en passacaille’ (Messe du deuxième ton) for his Passacaglia in C minor.