Deutsche und italienische Klaviermusik zur Bachzeit. Studien zur Thematik undThemenverarbeitung in der Zeit von 1720-1760 by Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht; ZwölfSonaten, für Cembalo oder Klavier by Giovanni Benedetto Platti; Lothar Hoffmann-ErbrechtReview by: Alexander L. RingerJournal of the American Musicological Society, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring, 1957), pp. 52-54Published by: University of California Press on behalf of the American Musicological SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/829708 .

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52 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

be deleted and the barline adjusted. The measure number in Ex. 15 on p. 69 should read "14," not "24," and the dot should be deleted in the last measure of the bass.

The volume concludes with a useful bibliographical appendix, a list of source materials, and an index. In spite of short- comings of the type I have tried to indi- cate, the companion volume does contain much valuable and interesting material, and I should be the first to move a vote of thanks to the editor for making this set of compositions available in a new and modern edition.

GLEN HAYDON

University of North Carolina

Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht. Deut- sche und italienische Klaviermusik zur Bachzeit. Studien zur Thematik und Themenverarbeitung in der Zeit von 1720-176o. (Jenaer Beitrige zur Musikforschung, Band i.) Leipzig: Breitkopf & Hiirtel, 1954. 145 PP.

Giovanni Benedetto Platti. Zwoilf Sonaten, fiir Cembalo oder Klavier. Ed. by Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht. 2 vols. (Mitteldeutsches Musikarchiv, Reihe I, Heft 3, 4.) Leipzig: Breit- kopf & Hiirtel, 1953-54. 68, 63 PP- THANKS to a number of substantial articles that he has written over the past few years for Acta Musicologica, the Archiv fiir Musikforschung, and MGG, Lothar Hoffmann-Erbrecht is known today as one of the most productive of German post- war musicologists. A disciple of Heinrich Besseler, he combines the traditional thor- oughness of German scholarship with a breadth of view which, if adopted gen- erally, would seem to promise the restora- tion of German musicology to its once pre-eminent position. His treatise on "German and Italian Keyboard Music at the Time of Bach," by and large an am- plified version of his doctoral dissertation of 195i, happily reflects these basic virtues. But aside from their individual qualities, the present publications merit special no- tice as initial samples of two new comple- mentary series sponsored by the East-Ger-

man University of Jena, the Jenaer Beitrdge zur Musikforschung under the general editorship of Professor Besseler and the Mitteldeutsches Musikarchiv, planned to supplement the monographs with most welcome practical editions that are at the same time scholarly. By way of example, all seven collections of keyboard music published so far receive extensive com- mentary in Dr. Hoffmann-Erbrecht's vol- ume. Needless to say, this dual publication policy, similar to that of the pre-Anschluss DTO, is highly to be commended,

While the author's general thesis offers little that is basically new, his slender vol- ume presents a valuable, if not complete, survey of German and Italian keyboard music from about 1720 to about 1760. It contains useful bibliographical data and offers the first thematic catalogue of the keyboard output of J. A. Hasse, the nearly forgotten operatic idol of the i8th cen- tury, who may well be in line for early revival by our modem music industry, ever in search of unexploited, profitable- looking territory. Dr. Hoffmann-Erbrecht distinguishes essentially between the poly- phonic-harmonic orientation of German keyboard music, as represented by J. S. Bach and his older sons, and the well- known preference of the Italian virtuosos for purely melodic invention and idio- matic keyboard writing. His conclusion that Italian music had a powerful impact upon the German composers of the gen- eration immediately after J. S. Bach will surprise nobody.

Although the subtitle of the book sug- gests a particular concern with historical changes in the nature of the thematic ma- terial, few novel insights into them are offered, beyond a necessary recognition of the fact that the older polyphonic style favored motivic unity to a far greater ex- tent than did the ensuing homophonic style, in which motivic variety was em- ployed to make up for the inevitable loss of momentary interest that resulted from the virtual elimination of arresting part- writing. Yet, if it does little to change cur- rent conceptions regarding the stylistic evolution of i8th-century keyboard music, the book definitely furthers a more syste- matic acquaintance with the many minor

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REVIEWS 53 masters who helped to transform the musi- cal face of Europe by means of their rela-

tively insignificant compositions, at a time when the great cantor of Leipzig brought the polyphonic heritage to its ultimate fruition. The author, incidentally, holds with Heinrich Besseler that Bach should be recognized above all as a pathbreaker.1 But, except in the form of such obvious items as the considerable dance influence discernible even in some of Bach's fugue subjects, this challenging contention finds little substantiation. Dealing exclusively with keyboard music written for the chamber, Dr. Hoffmann-Erbrecht finds himself admittedly on more difficult ground with respect to Bach as a man of the future than was his former mentor, who could rightly point to elements of the- matic development in the more Italianate concertos. Thus, if anything, Bach emerges once again as "Mr. Fugue" himself, the man whose iron grip was the only thing capable of temporarily stabilizing an evo- lution that had apparently passed its apex more than a century earlier.

In contrast with many writers, the au- thor recognizes the relative lack of con- cern with purely formal problems that exists in most of the so-called "transi- tional" composers, especially the Italians of the Domenico Scarlatti generation. Even though the sonata spirit was undoubtedly taking shape, as the works of nearly all composers from Scarlatti to C. P. E. Bach reveal, the perpetual search by scholars for "antecedents" of the sonata form holds forth only doubtful promise. For, in the words of the author, "an 'obligatory' so- nata form never existed in the practice of composers." Among those who made the sonata principle the basis of an entirely new expressiveness was Giovanni Bene- detto Platti, whose collections Opus i and Opus 4 constitute Volumes III and IV of the musical texts edited by the author. Known previously through the somewhat overedited versions published more than a generation ago by F. Malipiero, Platti has in recent years been the victim of an understandable reaction against the polemi-

cal promotion afforded him by the late Fausto Torrefranca, who opposed him as "il grande" to a supposedly dethroned C. P. E. Bach. Today we are in a position, so it is hoped at least, to evaluate Platti's achievement dispassionately, at any rate free from nationalistic prejudice. One is happy to report that in this more objec- tive light Platti fares remarkably well. Perhaps, as the author implies, Platti's resi- dence in Germany favorably influenced his harmonic-structural orientation. He was undoubtedly the temperamentally very different northern equivalent of that other Italian exile, Scarlatti. Platti's Opus 4, which appeared about 1746, is governed not only by considerable melodic and har- monic inventiveness but by true Emfind- samkeit and a surprising degree of formal discipline as well. His sentiments are never excessive to the point of expressing self- defeat, and, though given to sequential writing like most of his contemporaries, he never indulges in it ad nauseam. The harmonic development of his middle sec- tions is as a rule imaginative, never cheap, sometimes extraordinary. Haydn must have known these sonatas and put them to good use. The refined chromaticism of such passages as the F-minor trio of the Finale of Opus 4, no. i, on the other hand, is clear Mozart avant la lettre. In short, this is music for the amateur at its best, idiomatically written but never very dif- ficult, a delight to play and a joy to hear.

Curiously, Dr. Hoffman-Erbrecht in his discussion of Platti pays little attention to the influence of opera buffa, which speaks particularly from the first set of sonatas (about 1742) but continues, though more thoroughly assimilated, to determine much of the later thematic material. The author seems generally disinclined to attach much importance to outside developments, es- pecially in the opera and the concerto. Speaking of the connections between Mo- zart's Sonata K. 284 and the Presto from Telemann's Overture, no. 2, for example, he inexplicably overlooks a typical initial sinfonia pattern as the logical common root. In the case of Graupner, it is true, he refers to "the transfer of vocal melody to the instrument." But only in connection with Hasse, in whose work the point be-

1 Heinrich Besseler, "Bach als Wegbe- reiter," Archiv fiir Musikwissenschaft XII 0955), PP. 33-35.

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54 JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MUSICOLOGICAL SOCIETY

comes inescapable, is opera recognized as both an aesthetic and a thematic deter- minant. In attempting to explain the lack of systematic thematic development in most of Hasse's sonatas, the author sub- mits an analogy with Neapolitan opera, which "never presents an evolution in its characters, but depicts people merely in their being." Whether this generalization is acceptable as such, of course remains to be seen.

Dr. Hoffmann-Erbrecht's critical re- marks are often challenging, if not always wholly convincing. He certainly does not praise a composer just because he hap- pens to be removing him from obscurity. In direct opposition to Seiffert, for ex- ample, he stamps Johann Peter Kellner a mere epigone. J. G. Miithel, on the other hand, emerges as an important historical figure linking his teacher Bach with Beet- hoven, largely because of his experiments in pianoforte dynamics and "character" variations. Deprived of the pertinent mu- sical texts (also edited by the author), this reviewer is inclined to accept such evalua- tions for the time being cum grano salis. Far more disturbing than any possible exag- gerations generated by a healthy measure of enthusiasm for his subject is the author's tendency to invoke the methods of old- fashioned Geitesgeschichte. Few non-Ger- man readers will be able to see, for instance, why Hasse's eventual preference for the three-movement sonata type should be interpreted as a manifestation of his Ger- manic heritage (Deutschtum), the influ- ence of which allegedly survived his other- wise totally Italian orientation. Even if such a tenuous theory were proved, would it be relevant?

The style is generally clear and unen- cumbered. Even so, some Teutonisms are not easily swallowed. Aside from an oc- casional terminological monstrosity like Subdominantleittonwechselklang, the pres- entation is not entirely free of that typical aesthetic mysticism that has marred many a brilliant German contribution in the past. A case in point is the allegation that the "bold succession of harmonies" in a cer- tain Bach fugue is evidence of "individu- ally-emotional intensification" (persdnlich- erlebnishafte Steigerung). On the whole,

however, the author fortunately avoids big words in favor of characterizations that are stylistically and aesthetically sim- ple and to the point.

Undoubtedly Dr. Hoffman-Erbrecht would be the first to reject the idea that his short survey represents the last word concerning the very complex musical con- stellation that helped to illumine the mid- i8th century. But his perceptive analytical observations aid substantially in restoring clarity to a picture that has hitherto re- mained rather obscure. One regrets, to be sure, that he has not seen fit to absorb critically the results of pertinent research done in recent years outside his own coun- try. Ralph Kirkpatrick's Domenico Scar- latti and David Stone's dissertation dealing with Dr. Hoffmann-Erbrecht's own sub- ject appear in the bibliography but are never referred to in the text. In fact the Scarlatti discussion is based almost entirely on Gerstenberg's book, which is nearly a generation old. Paul H. Lang (whose Basel Congress lecture of 1949 is quoted) has made a number of points in his Music in Western Civilization from which the gen- eral outlook of the new work might have benefited. The appended list of important reprints makes no mention at all of Amer- ican editions, although Volume V of Schir- mer's Early Keyboard Music, edited by Oesterle many decades ago, contains more sonatas by Domenico Paradies, for exam- ple, than any other modern collective pub- lication. Finally, as regards the author's primary sources, this reviewer finds it dif- ficult to explain why, in this era of the microfilm, original editions located in Brussels and London should not have been consulted.

Notwithstanding an occasional printing error (undoubtedly the bass notes in meas- ure 50 of Platti's Sonata VIII should read Bb instead of C), both the book and the musical texts are well presented. The paper may not be of the most durable kind and the margins are cut to a minimum, but the printing is excellent. Thanks to Dr. Hoff- mann-Erbrecht and his experienced pub- lisher, the two series have embarked upon a most promising beginning.

ALEXANDER L. RINGER

University of Oklahoma

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