DESTOUCHES, André Cardinal (1672-1749) - Suite 'Issé' (1697)

André Cardinal Destouches (1672-1749) - Suite des 'Issé , pastorale heroique,

représentée devant Sa Majesté, à Trianon, le 17. de decembre 1697'

Performers: English Chamber Orchestra; Raymond Leppard (1927-2019, conductor)

Painting: François Boucher (1703-1770) - Arion on the Dolphin (1748)

Further info: Scylla Et Glaucus - Suite / Issé - Suite

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André Cardinal Destouches [Des Touches, Déstouches]

(Paris, bap. 6 April 1672 - Paris, 7 February 1749)

French composer. Son of Etienne Cardinal, Seigneur des Touches et de Guilleville and a wealthy Parisian merchant, did not take the patronym Destouches until his father's death in 1694. From 1681 to 1686 he was schooled by the Jesuits of the rue St-Jacques. He later went as a boy to Siam (now Thailand) with his teacher, the missionary Gui Tachard (1686). He returned to France in 1688. He served in the Royal Musketeers (1692-94), and later took lessons from Andre Campra, contributing 3 airs to André Campra's opera-ballet 'L'Europe galante' (1697). After this initiation, he produced his first independent work, 'Isse, a heroic pastorale' in 3 acts (1697); its popularity was parodied in several productions of a similar pastoral nature ('Les Amours de Vincennes' by P.F. Dominique, 1719; 'Les Oracles' by Jean-Antoine Romagnesi, 1741). Among his other operas, the following were produced in Paris: 'Amadis de Grece' (1699), 'Omphale' (1701), and 'Callirhoé' (1712). With Michel-Richard de Lalande, he wrote the ballet 'Les Elements', which was produced at the Tuileries Palace in Paris on 22 December 1721. In 1713 Louis XIV appointed him 'Inspector general' of the Academic Royale de Musique. In 1728 he became its director, retiring in 1730. For 'maintaining order and discipline' he received a 4000 livre pension. A revival of 'Omphale' in 1752 evoked Baron Grimm's famous 'Lettre sur Omphale', inaugurating the so-called 'Guerre des Bouffons' between the proponents of the French school, as exemplified by Destouches, and Italian opera buffa. André Cardinal Destouches remained active musically even in his last years. At 70, he conducted the orchestra for a masked ball given by the daughters of Louis XV, and he kept control of the queen's concerts until 1745. He died in his elegant home (today, 4 rue Saint-Roch next to the church of Saint Roch), and was buried in the crypt of the Chapel of the Virgin in that church.

SCHEIBE, Johann Adolph (1708-1776) - Passions Cantata (1769)

Johann Adolph Scheibe (1708-1776) - Passions Cantata (1769)

Performers: Bonna Søndberg (soprano); Ole Hedegård (tenor); Ulrik Cold (1939-2010, bass);

The Royal Opera Choir; Collegium Musicum; Lavard Friisholm (1912-1999, conductor)

Painting: Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641) - The Lamentation over the Dead Christ

Further info: Passions-Cantata

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Johann Adolph (Adolf) Scheibe detto 'Misogyn' [Scheiben, Scheiber]

(Leipzig, 5 May 1708 - Copenhagen, 22 April 1776)

German composer, theorist, and organist. Son of Johann Scheibe (c.1680-1748), an organ builder, he was forced to teach himself music around 1725 due to economic difficulties, at the same time as he was attending Leipzig University in law and philosophy. By 1736 he had moved to Hamburg when applications for posts in Leipzig proved unsuccessful, coming into contact with Georg Philipp Telemann and Johann Mattheson. During this period he published three volumes of his most important treatise on music, 'Der critische Musicus'. In 1739 he had obtained a post as Kapellmeister to Margrave Friedrich Ernst of Brandenburg-Kulmbach in the town of Itzehoe, and through his connections a year later he was appointed to the same post at the Danish court of Christian VI in Copenhagen. When the king’s successor reopened the Royal Theatre, he came into conflict with Paolo Scalabrini over the viability of Italian opera, moving to the city of Sønderborg to teach music. He later returned to Copenhagen, where he was celebrated as a teacher and theorist. In 1740 he published an autobiography in a work by Mattheson, claiming that he had written over 150 flute concertos, 30 violin concertos, and 60 to 70 symphonies, none of which are verifiable. His extant works include 13 concertos, 15 symphonies, three woodwind quartets, five trio sonatas, 10 violin sonatas, 14 keyboard sonatas, several Masses, two Magnificats, six Lutheran cantatas, five Passions, eight secular cantatas, and numerous songs. His music reflects galant North German styles, while his sonatas and keyboard pieces are firmly rooted in the Baroque. As a theorist, he published no fewer than nine works, ranging from composition to proposed German opera (1742), for which he gained a reputation as a rationalist.

WITT, Christian Friedrich (1665-1717) - Sonates a piu stromenti (c.1695)

Christian Friedrich Witt (1665-1717) - Sonates a piu stromenti (c.1695)

Performers: Kentucky Baroque Trumpets

Painting: Alessandro Albini (1568-1646) - Putti musicanti

Further info: Music for Trumpets

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Christian Friedrich (Wilhelm) Witt [Witte]

(Altenburg, c.1660 - Gotha, 3 April 1717)

German composer, organist and teacher. Son of the court organist Johann Ernst Witt, he received music lessons from his father. After receiveng a scholarship, he went to Vienna and Salzburg, and then from 1685-1686 he studied composition and counterpoint with Georg Caspar Wecker in Nuremberg. On 1 June 1686 he was appointed chamber organist at the Gotha court. In 1688 he was again sent to study with Wecker. In 1694 he was appointed substitute for the Kapellmeister, Wolfgang Michael Mylius, and he succeeded him after his death, in 1713. He was well thought of as a teacher, not only within the Dukedom of Gotha; the future Duke Friedrich II was among his pupils. He was also admired as an able keyboard player and Kapellmeister. He enjoyed good relations with neighbouring courts, including those of Ansbach-Bayreuth, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt and Saxe-Weissenfels, and several works by him are listed in inventories from there. He was a versatile composer of both vocal and instrumental music. His vocal music consists largely of church cantatas, among them his 'Psalmodia sacra' praised as one of the most important hymnals of the early 18th Century. His instrumental music includes both ‘ouvertures’ (or suites) in the French style and italianate, concerto-like sonatas, and varied keyboard works, many of them now lost.

CERVERA, Francisco Vicente (c.1690-1749) - Lamentación sola con violines

Francisco Vicente Cervera (c.1690-1749) - Lamentación sola con violines

Performers: Capella de Ministrеrs; Carles Mаgrаner (conductor)

Painting: Giuseppe Vermiglio (1585-1635) - The Entombment of Christ

Further info: Musica barroca Valenciana

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Francisco Vicente Cervera

(Mora de Rubielos, c.1690 - Valencia, 30 May 1749)

Spanish presbyter, organist, and composer. Likely educated at the Collegiate Church of Mora de Rubielos and the Cathedral of Tortosa, he began his professional career as the organist of Huesca Cathedral after winning a competitive examination. In 1712, he secured the position of organist at the Real Colegio del Corpus Christi in Valencia, succeeding Juan Bautista Cabanilles after a formal competition against Francisco Sarrió and Melchor Martínez. He held this post until his death in 1749, also serving as interim maestro de capilla between 1743 and 1744. Cervera was instrumental in the pedagogical training of his successor, Miguel Narro. His compositional output includes polyphonic masses for 8 and 12 voices, psalms, and various sacred works in both Latin and the vernacular. These manuscripts are preserved in several Spanish and South American cathedrals, most notably an oratorio dedicated to Saint Rose of Lima held at Sucre Cathedral (Bolivia), which serves as a significant primary source for the study of Spanish liturgical music dissemination in colonial territories. 

BRIOSCHI, Antonio (c.1690-c.1750) - Sinfonia a 3

Antonio Brioschi (c.1690-c.1750) - Sinfonia (Ouvertura) a 3

Performers: Capella Sаvаria; Avner Itаi (conductor)

Drawing: Unknown artist (18th Century) - Pastoral dance

Further info: Antonio Brioschi (c.1690-c.1750)

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Antonio Brioschi [Briochi, Briuschi, Prioschi et al.]

(Briosco?, c.1690 - c.1750)

Italian composer. Although a popular composer whose works were performed throughout Europe, virtually nothing is known about his life, save that he worked alongside Giovanni Battista Sammartini in Milan around 1734. His name suggests that he may have come from Briosco. He is identified as a Milanese composer on some symphony manuscripts, and should be considered representative of the Milanese symphonic school. Ten symphonies are ascribed to both Brioschi and Sammartini, and Brioschi evidently knew Sammartini’s music. He was a popular and prolific early symphonist. Of the extant symphonies attributed to him, the authorship of at least 51 appears to be certain; 22 of these can be dated to about 1741 or earlier, and three are among the earliest of all known dated symphonies. These three works have connections with Casale Monferrato, south-west of Milan. His music was especially popular in Paris, Prague, Stockholm and Darmstadt. 29 works are listed in the Breitkopf catalogues of 1762, 1763 and 1766.