Baroque Fantasies for Solo Violin

A live performance of Baroque fantasies for solo violin on a recital on March 15, 2025 at Folio: The Seattle Athenaeum. Gerald Elias performed on a Nicolo Amati model violin made by his son, Jacob Elias, in 2025.www.eliasviolins.com Baroque fantasies had many names: fantasia, fantezia, fancy, prelude, assaggio, and caprice, for example. As the composer, Thomas Morely so eloquently described in 1597, “when a musician taketh a point at his pleasure, and wresteth and turneth it as he list, making either much or little of it as shall seem beset in his own conceit. In this may more art be showne then in any other musicke, because the composer is tide to nothing but that he may adde, diminish, and alter at his pleasure.” Preludio and Fantezia in F Major, Pedro Lopes Nogueira (1686–after 1770)In Lisbon in 1755 there was an earthquake in Lisbon of 7.7 on the Richter scale, and 30–40,000 people perished, along with devastating destruction of the entire city. Nogueira survived, and fortunately we have an incredible volume of over 300 pages of his violin music, including technical exercises, cadenzas, sonatas, and a dozen two-movement fantasies. Suite in A Major for Solo Violin, Johann Paul von Westhoff (1656–1705)Prelude, Allemande, Courante, Sarabande, Gigue I, Gigue II.Westhoff was a significant composer in his day. His six suites for unaccompanied violin inspired Bach to do the same a generation later.The Suite in A was composed about a decade before the set of six for King Louis XIV. The first movement, Prelude, has the characteristics of a fantasy, and is followed by dances typical of a French suite. Fantasia in A Minor, Nicola Matteis, the Younger (c.1690–1749)Nicola Matteis, the Elder, was born in Italy but then moved to England and made his career there. His son, Nicola the Younger, was born in England, but spent most of his life in Vienna. So regardless of whether he was Italian, English, or Austrian, he composed perhaps the most unusual piece on the program. In its four minutes there is a slowly modulated kaleidoscope of harmonic changes in which every time you think a phrase will come to an end, it doesn’t, but rather travels off in an unexpected direction. Adagio, Sonata No. 1 in G Minor, BWV 1001, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)This is the most familiar piece on the program. Bach’s six sonatas and partitas for solo violin are the Bible for any serious violinist, and certainly the musical pinnacle for the solo violin literature.I chose this Adagio because it so resembles the free flow of unrepeated ideas in Nogueira’s Prelude that began the program. Fantasia VII in E-flat, TWV 40:20, Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)Dolce, Allegro, Largo, PrestoTelemann, with over 3,000 known works, was perhaps the most prolific composer ever. In his day, he was certainly much more famous than Bach.This Fantasia in E-flat, one in a set of a dozen, is essentially a standard four-movement Baroque sonata. The first movement, Dolce, however, has those qualities of free flowing “fantasy-like” qualities. Assaggio No. 4 in C Minor, Johan Helmich Roman (1694–1758)Grave, (Allegro), (Andante), (Allegro)The Swedish composer, Johan Helmich Roman is yet another relatively unfamiliar composer, at least in the US. In Sweden, he is known as “the Swedish Handel.” He did meet Handel in London, whose music he proudly emulated. He also traveled throughout Europe, bringing back to Sweden a much more cosmopolitan style of composition.This Assaggio in C Minor is one of a set of six. It’s a curious title, and the only time I’ve ever seen it. Assaggio is an Italian word that means “a sampling” or “a taste.” In effect, an appetizer, which attests to Roman’s humility, perhaps. A Prelude for the Violin, and “John come kiss me now”, Thomas Baltzar (c.1630–1663)Thomas Baltzar was born in Germany. Like so many musicians at that time, he moved to London. Known as an exceptional violinist and improvisor, sadly he died very young––some say from too much alcohol––and left behind very little music.Both of these pieces first appeared in print in Playford’s Division Violin in 1684. The two-minute Prelude is a series of phrases that remain in the harmonic context of G Major and show off the violinist’s dexterity as it moves to a climactic ending.“John come kiss me now” was a popular song of that era, and Baltzar was one of several composers to use it as a theme for variations. Baltzar’s rendition demonstrates the intersection of “classical music” and “traditional” fiddling. He highlights the violinist’s virtuosity with various feats of chord-playing and high-speed left hand technique. In my performance, I try to convey a sense of the improvisatory skills for which he had been so acclaimed, and also perhaps a bit of his drunkenness. www.mysteriesandmusic.com