18th century salon music: Jochewed Schwarz (fortepiano) and Yasuko Hirata (violin) perform music of Mozart and Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach on period instruments

 

Jochewed Schwarz,Yasuko Hirata (Photo:Itche Hochmann)

A house concert in Kfar Saba (Israel) on December 17th 2022 brought together works of two composers who were contemporaries, but who never met - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) and Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795). The pieces were performed on period instruments by Jochewed Schwarz - fortepiano (square piano) and Yasuko Hirata - violin.

 

With little doubt, the three Mozart's sonatas for violin and piano were the more familiar section of the program. W.A.Mozart composed violin sonatas  in two distinct periods of his life. The first group, Nos. 1 to 16 (K. 6-15, 26-31) were composed from 1763 to 1766. Written from age 10 to 13, they are his "childhood" violin sonatas. Among his first published compositions, they give dominance to the piano, with the violin only accompanying (and even optional). Then, from 1778 to 1788, Mozart composed a new series of sonatas, completing 19 additional violin sonatas. These give the violin a more major role, putting the two instruments on an equal footing. The sonatas performed at the house concert were all from the second series. The artists played two sonatas from Mozart's Opus 1 (catalogued Opus 1, despite the fact that the composer already had three hundred works to his credit). Bearing the influence of Johann Christian Bach, these sonatas comprise only two movements. Opening with Sonata in G major KV 301, Schwarz and Hirata gave expression to Mozart’s thematic invention, engaging masterfully in the composer's deft "division of labour", the second movement (Allegro) touching in its minor section and with gentle comments. Their expressive playing of Sonata in E minor, KV 304 (the only sonata of Opus 1 in a minor key) highlighted its contrasts, distinctive wistfulness, its dignity and gravity. Jochewed Schwarz spoke of Sonata in E flat major KV 481, (1785), one of the late Viennese violin sonatas, as a product of Mozart's happiest and most remunerative period. As each movement began with the notes of the tonic triad, each to then extend with different means to different ends, Schwarz and Hirata gave voice to the work's rich orchestration, vivacity, sharp asides and surprising digressions. Their appealing treatment of the harmonically adventuresome middle movement, with its idiosyncratic rondo-variation mix, gave way to a carefully-examined reading of the narrative of its set of variations. There is no other chamber-music genre for which Mozart produced so many works, his writing probing every timbre, every thematic limit and combination, exploring the diversity arising from the pairing of the two instruments, its dramatic power, elegance and emotional depth. Here we are reminded that, in addition to his skill at the piano and harpsichord, Mozart was also a consummate player of the violin and viola.

 

Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (the 16th of J.S Bach’s twenty children, and the ninth child born from the union with Anna Magdalena) was the third oldest of the four Bach musically prominent sons. He was known as the "Bückeburg Bach". In 1750, Wilhelm, Count of Schaumburg-Lippe, appointed him  harpsichordist at Bückeburg, in 1759 promoting him to the post of concertmaster. Indeed, J.C.F. Bach served at the Bückeburg court from age 18 until his death in 1795. Like his three musician brothers, he was known as an outstanding virtuoso of the keyboard. His oeuvre includes symphonies, oratorios, liturgical choral pieces and motets, opera, songs and keyboard sonatas. (Sadly, a significant part of Johann Christoph's output was lost in the WWII destruction of the Staatliches Institut für Musikforschung in Berlin, where the scores had been on deposit since 1917.)  In the 1770s, Johann Christoph visited his brother Johann Christian in London, returning to Bückeburg with an English pianoforte, a fondness for  Mozart's music and  a penchant for English tastes and styles. After his return to Germany, Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach continued to compose at a steady pace, his music now exhibiting a more Classical bent. Prefacing one Breitkopf edition of a collection of keyboard sonatas, the composer wrote that they had been "written in the latest style and composed in London, where they were much to the liking of Her Majesty the Queen.” Having made a successful transition from the late Baroque style of his father to the early Classical style, Johann Christoph's compositions were well received and, although not leading their times, they did keep successfully abreast of them. At the Kfar Saba house concert, two of J.C.F.Bach's keyboard sonatas from c.1785 were performed by Jochewed Schwarz. Ornamenting sparingly and displaying fine, articulate finger-work and sincere, candid reading of the texts, she entertained the audience with the true delight of salon music, her playing of the faster movements displaying panache and verve, the slower movements bearing traces of the Empfindsamkeit movement. Introducing many of us present to the music of the "forgotten Bach" (in Schwarz's words) the performance gave us an in-depth sample of the character and quality of these keyboard pieces, substantiating that Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach should be better known. 

 

Yasuko Hirata was playing on a Baroque violin restored by Jonathan Hai, the latter referring to the instrument as a "fine old unlabelled violin, probably from the German school." A 19th century violin, it was first restored to being a modern instrument, with Hai then changing it to a Baroque setting. Hirata's Baroque bow was made by Eitan Hoffer. The square piano played by Schwarz was bought in the UK four years ago. Built in 1798 by Broderip & Wilkinson, it was restored by Michael Cole (UK). Like many other square pianos from the late 18th century, it has five and a half octaves (FF to c4). This particular instrument has neither knee levers nor hand-operated stops and boasts a delicate tone. 

 

Sharing their meticulous, comprehensive approach to the  music riding between the Baroque and Classical periods, Yasuko Hirata and Jochewed Schwarz created much interest in keeping with the congenial timbres and ambience of salon music of those times.

 

Photo: Jochewed Schwarz