Day 130: More Diversions

HaydnCD130Like yesterday’s CD, today’s listening fare continues to offer wonderful “diversions” from the monotonous baryton trios to which I’d been listening for several weeks.

They’re about the same as yesterday, though, although not nearly as uplifting and inspiring.

Still, they’re very good, albeit slower of tempo, more somber.

If you want to skip reading below and just revisit what I wrote yesterday, click here.

It’s not that I wish to discourage you from reading on; rather, it’s that what follows is essentially what I wrote yesterday.

Still reading? Okay. Don’t say you weren’t warned.

In addition to the three instruments (baryton, viola, cello) on the previous CDs, we now have horns, violins, and a violone (whatever that is), all of which blend to create a symphony-like depth and complexity that I find truly compelling.

The horns, especially, are a welcome addition. I love horns and consider little more soothing than the sound of a French horn.

In short, these are terrific compositions – well, better than the aforementioned baryton trios, but not as good as what I listened to yesterday.

Three of the performers on today’s CD are the same as they have been all along for the baryton trios:

EsterhazyEnsembleThey comprise the Esterhazy Ensemble and are:

Michael Brussing baryton
Andras Bolyki viola
Maria Andrasfalvy-Brussing cello

If you’d like to know what these performers look like when they’re playing, here you go:

NOTE: The baryton instrument is in the middle.

In addition to those three performers, today’s CD adds these five:

Jenping Chen violin
Johanna Hamerith violin
Roberto Sensi violone
Gabriel Rocchetti horns
Fabio Fontana horns

That makes eight musicians, an octet.

By the way, a violone is about what you’d think given its name: a member of the violin or viola family. Here’s what the article on Wiki says about the violone:

The violone is sometimes a fretted instrument, and may have six, five, four, or even only three strings. The violone is also not always a contrabass instrument. In modern parlance, one usually tries to clarify the ‘type’ of violone by adding a qualifier based on the tuning (such as “G violone” or “D violone”) or on geography (such as “Viennese violone”), or by using other terms that have a more precise connotation (such as “bass violin” or “violoncello” or “bass viol”). The term violone may be used correctly to describe many different instruments, yet distinguishing among these types can be difficult, especially for those not familiar with the historical instruments of the viol and violin families and their respective variations in tuning.

Here’s what I listened to today:

Divertimento for Eight Instruments in D HOB X:1

Divertimento for Eight Instruments in G HOB X:5

Divertimento for Eight Instruments in A HOB X:6

Divertimento for Eight Instruments in D HOB X:2

Also, the word “Divertimento” is just about what it sounds like. According to the article on Wiki,

Divertimento (/dɨˌvɜrtɨˈmɛntoʊ/; from the Italian divertire “to amuse”) is a musical genre, with most of its examples from the 18th century. The mood of the divertimento is most often lighthearted (as a result of being played at social functions) and it is generally composed for a small ensemble.

Divertimento is used to describe a wide variety of secular instrumental works for soloist or chamber ensemble. It is a kind of music entertainment although it could also be applied to serious genres. After 1780, the term generally designated works that were informal or light.

As a separate genre, it appears to have no specific form, although most of the divertimenti of the second half of the 18th century go either back to a dance suite approach (derived from the ‘ballet’ type of theatrical divertimento), or take the form of other chamber music genres of their century (as a continuation of the merely instrumental theatrical divertimento).

Today’s compositions are said to have been written “before 1773,” which doesn’t really narrow things down much. My guess is Haydn was in his late twenties or early thirties when he wrote these pieces.

Whenever they were written, they are, indeed, a welcome diversion from everything.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *