New CDs with Early Music. The first CD featured is by Ensemble Barucco and is dedicated to chamber music by Johann Friedrich Fasch. The second CD is by Salon Violet, featuring 18th-century music for one to three violas.
Johann Friedrich Fasch studied in Leipzig, where he met composers such as Telemann, Pisendel and Heinichen. He started his very own Collegium Musicum and started composing. Initially, his music was in the style of Telemann, who was a great inspiration to him. After that, he worked at different courts and spent some time in Darmstadt, where Graupner served as the chapel master. In 1722, he became chapel master at the court of Anhalt-Zerbst, where he stayed until his death. Ensemble Barucco recorded sonatas in which wind instruments play a central role. In several sonatas, the oboe and bassoon parts are particularly technically demanding.
Johann Friedrich Fasch (1688-1758)
1. Sonata for recorder, oboe, violin and bc in F (FWV N,B1)
2. Sonata for two oboes, bassoon and bc in d (FWV N,d2)
3. Sonata for violin, oboe, bassoon and bc in F (FWV N,F4)
Ensemble Barucco led by Andreas Helm, oboe
(cd: “Fasch – Sonatas” – Accentus ACC30644, 2024)
The second CD features works for one to three violas. In the Baroque period, the viola played a modest role. Only Telemann composed a viola concerto, and viola sonatas are also rare. This changed during the 18th century. Other composers also started composing viola sonatas, and also gave the viola a more prominent position in works for ensembles.
Italian violist Francesca Venturi Ferriolo started ensemble Salon Violet in 2020 to perform viola music. Their first CD features music from Mendelssohn’s great-aunt Sara Levy’s archive, who played an important role in Berlin’s music scene. She was a harpsichordist and was dedicated to Bach’s music.
Her archive contains original works for viola as well as pieces adapted for viola/violas.
Johann Wilhelm Hertel (1727-1789)
4. Solo for viola and bc in F
Johann Gottlieb Janitsch (1708-1762)
5. Quadro for three violas and bc in e
Salon Violet led by Francesca Venturi Ferriolo, viola
(cd: “In Sara Levy’s Salon” – Christophorus CHR 77472, 2024)
additionally:
Franz Benda (1709-1786)
6. From Sonata for viola and bc in c: allegretto
Salon Violet conducted by Francesca Venturi Ferriolo
(cd: see 4-5)
