80 Sonatas para Instrumentos de Tecla by Carlos Seixas; Marcario Santiago KastnerReview by: Gerard BéhagueNotes, Second Series, Vol. 25, No. 3 (Mar., 1969), pp. 587-589Published by: Music Library AssociationStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/895381 .

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(sic) to Hugh Aston to Byrd and Gibbons to Albinoni. ("Most of the non-Bach com- positions examined here are definitely inferior to those of Bach.") If the student -this edition seems to be aimed at the piano student of minimal intelligence-is not misinformed he must certainly be con-

(sic) to Hugh Aston to Byrd and Gibbons to Albinoni. ("Most of the non-Bach com- positions examined here are definitely inferior to those of Bach.") If the student -this edition seems to be aimed at the piano student of minimal intelligence-is not misinformed he must certainly be con-

fused. "At the close of the individual Sinfonias the open octaves or chords with a root and third only are reminiscent of the effect of the ethereal closings of medieval songs." Invest elsewhere.

BRUCE ARCHIBALD Temple University

fused. "At the close of the individual Sinfonias the open octaves or chords with a root and third only are reminiscent of the effect of the ethereal closings of medieval songs." Invest elsewhere.

BRUCE ARCHIBALD Temple University

Carlos Seixas: 80 Sonatas para Instrumentos de Tecla. Edited by Mar- cario Santiago Kastner. (Portugaliae musica, Series A, Vol. X.) Lisbon: Funda5ao Calouste Gulbenkian (Kassel: Barenreiter), 1965. [li, 280 p., DM 75.-]

Carlos Seixas: 80 Sonatas para Instrumentos de Tecla. Edited by Mar- cario Santiago Kastner. (Portugaliae musica, Series A, Vol. X.) Lisbon: Funda5ao Calouste Gulbenkian (Kassel: Barenreiter), 1965. [li, 280 p., DM 75.-]

Those acquainted with the standard literature of Portuguese music are aware of the fitting publication and the high editorial standards of the ten volumes that compose, to date, the "Portugaliae mus- ica." Portugal's lack of an establishment such as the Spanish Institute of Musicol- ogy, which undertook the authoritative series "Monumentos de la Misica Espa- fiola" in 1941, has undoubtedly been detri- mental to the publication in modern edi- tions of the musical production of portu- gal, from Martin Codax, Damiao de G6es to Marcos Portugal or Joao Domingos Bontempo. Earlier editions (e.g., Eduardo dos Santos, A Polifonia Cldssica Portu- guesa, or Sampaio Ribeiro, Polyphonia, Cadernos de Repert6rio Coral, serie Azul) were the results of individual efforts, with no conformity in editorial standards. "Portugaliae musica" presents the most serious attempt to meet current needs of revealing Portugal's musical heritage, while observing the conventional editorial principles.

Begun in 1959, the set has been divided into Series A for works written prior to 1750 and Series B for later works. Ap- parently following the Denkmaler tradi- tion, the numbering of the volumes is confusing, partly because Volume III of the collection (Manoel Rodrigues Coelho, Flores de Musica, II) is Volume II of Series A, while Volume II of the collection (Joao de Souza Carvalho, Overture of Amor Industrioso) is Volume I of Series B. Thus, the volumes are numbered re- gardless of the series. The editors of "Portugaliae musica" include the best scholars in Portugal today, each dealing with the period or composer of his specialty.

The volume under consideration here

Those acquainted with the standard literature of Portuguese music are aware of the fitting publication and the high editorial standards of the ten volumes that compose, to date, the "Portugaliae mus- ica." Portugal's lack of an establishment such as the Spanish Institute of Musicol- ogy, which undertook the authoritative series "Monumentos de la Misica Espa- fiola" in 1941, has undoubtedly been detri- mental to the publication in modern edi- tions of the musical production of portu- gal, from Martin Codax, Damiao de G6es to Marcos Portugal or Joao Domingos Bontempo. Earlier editions (e.g., Eduardo dos Santos, A Polifonia Cldssica Portu- guesa, or Sampaio Ribeiro, Polyphonia, Cadernos de Repert6rio Coral, serie Azul) were the results of individual efforts, with no conformity in editorial standards. "Portugaliae musica" presents the most serious attempt to meet current needs of revealing Portugal's musical heritage, while observing the conventional editorial principles.

Begun in 1959, the set has been divided into Series A for works written prior to 1750 and Series B for later works. Ap- parently following the Denkmaler tradi- tion, the numbering of the volumes is confusing, partly because Volume III of the collection (Manoel Rodrigues Coelho, Flores de Musica, II) is Volume II of Series A, while Volume II of the collection (Joao de Souza Carvalho, Overture of Amor Industrioso) is Volume I of Series B. Thus, the volumes are numbered re- gardless of the series. The editors of "Portugaliae musica" include the best scholars in Portugal today, each dealing with the period or composer of his specialty.

The volume under consideration here

is of paramount significance because it presents sixty-five hitherto unpublished sonatas ("tocatas") of the organist and harpsichordist Carlos Seixas (1704-1742), sometimes referred to as the "Portuguese Scarlatti." Santiago Kastner, a member of the musicological team that forms the edi- torial board of the Gulbenkian Founda- tion, has been a lifelong researcher on Seixas's life and works (cf. W. S. Newman, The Sonata in the Classic Era). In the two volumes of his Cravistas Portugueses (1935-50, Edition Schott) Kastner edited only 25 out of some 700 sonatas attributed to Seixas by his contemporary Diogo Bar- bosa Machado in Biblioteca Lusitana (Vol. IV, 1759) and subsequently reiterated by J. de Vasconcelos (Os Musicos Portugueses, 1870) and Ernesto Vieira (Diccionario Bio- graphico de Musicos Portuguezes, 1900). Over the years this number has been re- duced considerably. Fetis mentions only 16 "tocatas" for organ in autographs; while today, no autographs but only copies of the keyboard pieces are known. In the preface to his edition, Santiago Kastner reduces the number of "identified sonatas" to 80 found in Portuguese public libraries and leaves little doubt as to his lack of confidence of discovering sources of new material; but he does acknowledge the possibility of discoveries in private librar- ies whose contents remain to be investi- gated, for example, a manuscript collec- tion belonging to Dr. Ivo Cruz contains 45 sonatas by Seixas.

Since no autographs have survived, the whole edition relies on eighteenth-century manuscript copies from three main archi- val centers: Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon (MSS 337, 338), Biblioteca da Ajuda, Lis- bon (MS 48-I-2; cf. Mariana Amelia Ma- chado Santos, Catdlogo de Mtusica Manu-

is of paramount significance because it presents sixty-five hitherto unpublished sonatas ("tocatas") of the organist and harpsichordist Carlos Seixas (1704-1742), sometimes referred to as the "Portuguese Scarlatti." Santiago Kastner, a member of the musicological team that forms the edi- torial board of the Gulbenkian Founda- tion, has been a lifelong researcher on Seixas's life and works (cf. W. S. Newman, The Sonata in the Classic Era). In the two volumes of his Cravistas Portugueses (1935-50, Edition Schott) Kastner edited only 25 out of some 700 sonatas attributed to Seixas by his contemporary Diogo Bar- bosa Machado in Biblioteca Lusitana (Vol. IV, 1759) and subsequently reiterated by J. de Vasconcelos (Os Musicos Portugueses, 1870) and Ernesto Vieira (Diccionario Bio- graphico de Musicos Portuguezes, 1900). Over the years this number has been re- duced considerably. Fetis mentions only 16 "tocatas" for organ in autographs; while today, no autographs but only copies of the keyboard pieces are known. In the preface to his edition, Santiago Kastner reduces the number of "identified sonatas" to 80 found in Portuguese public libraries and leaves little doubt as to his lack of confidence of discovering sources of new material; but he does acknowledge the possibility of discoveries in private librar- ies whose contents remain to be investi- gated, for example, a manuscript collec- tion belonging to Dr. Ivo Cruz contains 45 sonatas by Seixas.

Since no autographs have survived, the whole edition relies on eighteenth-century manuscript copies from three main archi- val centers: Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon (MSS 337, 338), Biblioteca da Ajuda, Lis- bon (MS 48-I-2; cf. Mariana Amelia Ma- chado Santos, Catdlogo de Mtusica Manu-

587 587

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scrita, Lisbon, Biblioteca da Ajuda, 1958- 1963), and Biblioteca Geral da Universi- dade, Coimbra (MSS 57, 58). Kastner con- cedes that these copies are probably not faithful to the original because of their heterogeneity. In identical passages some copies coincide in "the same errors and notational dificiencies," which leads to the conclusion that in those cases the copies could be transcriptions of previous copies. Unfortunately and for reasons hardly justifiable, Kastner excludes from the musical text all the variants appearing in different copies. He suggests that readers interested in the variants should obtain microfilm copies of the sources-an un- usual suggestion from a compiler of a

scholarly edition. The editor's criterion for selection in cases of multiple versions of a sonata leaves something to be desired: "We gave preference to the version which seems to us to be the most perfect. Only in extremely rare cases of absolute neces-

sity did we extract from the various sources a version which, in our opinion, must correspond best to the composer's intentions."

The delicate question of identification is conducted with serious caution. Sixteen sonatas of the collection do not have con- crete evidence of authorship, but the

great majority of these can be attributed

convincingly to Seixas on stylistic grounds. But some mysteries concerning the minu- ets remain. We may wonder, indeed, in the face of the evidence now presented by the editor, why minuets originally as-

signed as parts of given sonatas in Cravis- tas Portugueses find their places now in different pieces. The first movement of Sonata No. 27 (D minor) in the new col- lection, for example, was printed in Cravistas I with a minuet in F minor which is now incorporated as Minuet I of Sonata No. 42 (F minor). Or, why did Kastner include in "Tocata No. 4" (G minor [Cravistas I]) a minuet in A minor, which is now replaced by another minuet

(G minor [Sonata No. 55]), while the minuet A minor of Cravistas disappears completely in this new edition? Further- more, we find no explanation in the criti- cal comments of the present volume for the absence of minuets in some sonatas of the earlier editions. This is perplexing, for these sonatas, which were thought to consist of one movement only, are now

re-edited with minuets. One must con- clude that in Kastner's earlier edition he was mistaken about some sixty extant separate minuets, or that he had knowl- edge of only one manuscript source (cf. Sonata No. 11, Ln MM 338). Thus the present edition clears up the earlier con- tradictions and becomes the only reliable modern source. This is true in regard to the editorial practice as well. While Cra- vistas presents many editorial additions (dynamics, phrasing, fingering), 80 Sonatas could be considered an Urtext based on a

group of contemporary manuscript copies. The musical text is immaculate, per-

haps even too much so, for suggestions about ornaments and tempo would prove useful. (For a full description of Seixas's stylistic traits, one can turn to S. Kastner, Carlos de Seixas, Coimbra, 1947.) Since it is impossible to establish a chronological or cyclical order for the sonatas, the edi- tor has assembled them according to key in the order of the chromatic scale, be-

ginning with C major. The ratio of major and minor keys is somewhat less than that indicated by Newman, "more than 3 to 2 in favor of minor keys," since we have 45 sonatas in minor keys for 35 in

major ones. The introduction provides a rather de-

tailed account of earlier studies and edi- tions of Seixas's sonatas, biographical in- formation, stylistic perculiarities, and a

summary of the origin of the bipartite sonata in the Iberian Peninsula. Kastner stresses convincingly the fact that D. Scar- latti's sojourn in both countries (1720- 1757) had no consequence for the emer-

gence of the bipartite sonata in Portugal and Spain, since works by A. Scarlatti, Pasquini, Corelli, Vivaldi, and others were known there before 1720. Seixas, a native of Coimbra, moved to Lisbon in 1720 as the official organist of both the Royal Chapel and the Patriarchal Cathedral. D. Scarlatti became chapel-master of the Ca- thedral and remained in Lisbon until 1729, thus maintaining daily contact with Seixas. From this association has come an inevitable comparison of the two com-

posers' keyboard works, to the detriment of Seixas. Kastner insists on the inequity of such a comparison, since only 25 sonatas

by Seixas were available as against some 555 by Scarlatti. A wiser attitude regard-

588

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ing this question is taken by Newman (op. cit., p. 275).

The artistic worth of Seixas's sonatas has raised some controversy among Portu- guese scholars themselves. Sampaio Ri- beiro (A Mtusica em Portugal nos Seculos XVIII e XIX, Lisbon, 1936) found a basic lack of harmonic interest, while Kastner, better equipped, praises the inherent Lusi- tanian lyricism of the melodic ideas and the refined elaboration of all the sonatas in form, harmony, and keyboard tech- nique.

As has become customary in "Portu- galiae musica," the introduction and criti-

ing this question is taken by Newman (op. cit., p. 275).

The artistic worth of Seixas's sonatas has raised some controversy among Portu- guese scholars themselves. Sampaio Ri- beiro (A Mtusica em Portugal nos Seculos XVIII e XIX, Lisbon, 1936) found a basic lack of harmonic interest, while Kastner, better equipped, praises the inherent Lusi- tanian lyricism of the melodic ideas and the refined elaboration of all the sonatas in form, harmony, and keyboard tech- nique.

As has become customary in "Portu- galiae musica," the introduction and criti-

cal comments are translated into English or French. The present volume has a French translation that is much too literal.

Included also are facsimiles of the manuscript copies and a good reproduc- tion of an engraving representing Carlos Seixas.

With such an excellent start we hope that Professor Kastner will continue his work and will edit in the near future the remaining works of Seixas, including his sacred choral compositions.

GERARD BEHAGUE University of Illinois

cal comments are translated into English or French. The present volume has a French translation that is much too literal.

Included also are facsimiles of the manuscript copies and a good reproduc- tion of an engraving representing Carlos Seixas.

With such an excellent start we hope that Professor Kastner will continue his work and will edit in the near future the remaining works of Seixas, including his sacred choral compositions.

GERARD BEHAGUE University of Illinois

Franz Berwald: Simtliche Werke. Vol. III: Sinfonie singuliere. Edited by Herbert Blomstedt. (Monumenta musicae svecicae.) Kassel: Barenreiter, 1967. [Score, xvi, 159 p., DM 60.-; by subscription to the series, DM 38.-]

Franz Berwald: Simtliche Werke. Vol. III: Sinfonie singuliere. Edited by Herbert Blomstedt. (Monumenta musicae svecicae.) Kassel: Barenreiter, 1967. [Score, xvi, 159 p., DM 60.-; by subscription to the series, DM 38.-]

Only in quite recent years has there been significant interest in the music of Franz Berwald (1796-1868), whose name is even omitted from the first volume of the magisterial MGG. Unappreciated by the Stockholm audiences during his life- time, Berwald has been virtually forgot- ten, but the past decade has seen the re- lease of recordings of some of his sym- phonies and chamber music and now the commencement of a twenty-five-volume edition of his complete works.

Berwald followed in Beethoven's foot- steps but in his symphonic writing did not succumb to the influences of Weber, Spohr, and especially Mendelssohn, un- like his better-known Danish contem- porary Niels W. Gade. In his inventive use of rhythm, silence, and surprise Ber- wald can only be compared with Berlioz; in his employment of pedal points, un- usual and unprepared modulations, ostin- ato figures (as in the opening of the symphony under discussion), and parallel thirds and sixths in a non-Italianate con- text, Berwald looks to the future, and one might even conjecture that the perform- ance and publication of Berwald's best works between 1905 and 1912 had some effect on Sibelius's musical style.

There is much that is "singular" about the Sinfonie singuliere. The sequential os- tinato, based on the interval of the per- fect fourth, that opens and closes the first movement; the dissonant clash of the trumpet rhythm in the first fortissimo

Only in quite recent years has there been significant interest in the music of Franz Berwald (1796-1868), whose name is even omitted from the first volume of the magisterial MGG. Unappreciated by the Stockholm audiences during his life- time, Berwald has been virtually forgot- ten, but the past decade has seen the re- lease of recordings of some of his sym- phonies and chamber music and now the commencement of a twenty-five-volume edition of his complete works.

Berwald followed in Beethoven's foot- steps but in his symphonic writing did not succumb to the influences of Weber, Spohr, and especially Mendelssohn, un- like his better-known Danish contem- porary Niels W. Gade. In his inventive use of rhythm, silence, and surprise Ber- wald can only be compared with Berlioz; in his employment of pedal points, un- usual and unprepared modulations, ostin- ato figures (as in the opening of the symphony under discussion), and parallel thirds and sixths in a non-Italianate con- text, Berwald looks to the future, and one might even conjecture that the perform- ance and publication of Berwald's best works between 1905 and 1912 had some effect on Sibelius's musical style.

There is much that is "singular" about the Sinfonie singuliere. The sequential os- tinato, based on the interval of the per- fect fourth, that opens and closes the first movement; the dissonant clash of the trumpet rhythm in the first fortissimo

which also opens the recapitulation; the embedding of the scherzo in the slow movement and the subsequent "mirror reprise" of the adagio; and the almost ec- centric rhythm of the first theme of the finale are among the more unusual characteristics. The endings of the move- ments, in contrast to the strange Sibelius- like conclusion of the Sinfonie serieuse, are the most conventional parts of this symphony.

One can easily see the rationale for this new edition when comparing it with the "practical" full and miniature scores of this symphony published by Wilhelm Hansen Musik-Forlag of Copenhagen. The Hansen edition contains gratuitous or omitted phrasing marks, dynamics, bow- ings, and tied notes, and its editor was bewildered by Berwald's curious use of the timpani as transposing instruments. The "practical" additions to the Baren- reiter edition are clearly marked as edi- torial addenda, and Berwald's abbrevia- tions are written out or modernized. The only major discrepancies this reviewer has encountered in the Barenreiter publica- tion concern fortissimo markings in the scherzo for a prominent rhythmic inter- jection: they are clearly indicated in the lower strings in mm. 205-222 but, in comparable passages for the woodwinds or violins, merely with accents in mm. 138- 147 and 305-322.

This new edition is sumptuous with clear print, wide margins, numbered

which also opens the recapitulation; the embedding of the scherzo in the slow movement and the subsequent "mirror reprise" of the adagio; and the almost ec- centric rhythm of the first theme of the finale are among the more unusual characteristics. The endings of the move- ments, in contrast to the strange Sibelius- like conclusion of the Sinfonie serieuse, are the most conventional parts of this symphony.

One can easily see the rationale for this new edition when comparing it with the "practical" full and miniature scores of this symphony published by Wilhelm Hansen Musik-Forlag of Copenhagen. The Hansen edition contains gratuitous or omitted phrasing marks, dynamics, bow- ings, and tied notes, and its editor was bewildered by Berwald's curious use of the timpani as transposing instruments. The "practical" additions to the Baren- reiter edition are clearly marked as edi- torial addenda, and Berwald's abbrevia- tions are written out or modernized. The only major discrepancies this reviewer has encountered in the Barenreiter publica- tion concern fortissimo markings in the scherzo for a prominent rhythmic inter- jection: they are clearly indicated in the lower strings in mm. 205-222 but, in comparable passages for the woodwinds or violins, merely with accents in mm. 138- 147 and 305-322.

This new edition is sumptuous with clear print, wide margins, numbered

589 589

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.209 on Tue, 17 Jun 2014 15:39:54 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions