Sonate o partite ad una o due viole da gamba, con il basso continuo (1698) [facsimile], and: Sonate o partite ad una o due viole da gamba con il basso continuo nell'anno 1698, and: Uppsala Trio Sonata: BuxWV 271, and: Instrumental Works for Strings and Continuo (review)

Abstract

Notes 57.1 (2000) 205-208
August Kühnel. Sonate ô partite ad una ô due viole da gamba con il basso continuo nell'anno 1698. Edited by George Houle. Stanford, Calif.: Santa Ynez Music, c1998. [Vol. 1. Three Sonatas for Two Violas da Gamba with Optional Basso Continuo. Kühnel's pref. in It., Ger., Eng., p. i; contents of vols., p. ii; introd., p. iii-ix; score, p. 1-26 and 3 parts. 20.Vol.2.ThreePartitasforTwoViolasdaGambaandBassoContinuo.Frontmatterasinvol.1,p.i−ix;score,p.2−26and3parts.20. Vol. 2. Three Partitas for Two Violas da Gamba and Basso Continuo. Front matter as in vol. 1, p. i-ix; score, p. 2-26 and 3 parts. 20. Vol. 3. Four Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Basso Continuo. Front matter as in vol. 1, p. i-ix; score, p. 1-37 and 2 parts. 25.Vol.4.FourPartitasforVioladaGambawithOptionalBassoContinuo.Frontmatterasinvol.1,p.i−ix;score,p.1−16and2parts.25. Vol. 4. Four Partitas for Viola da Gamba with Optional Basso Continuo. Front matter as in vol. 1, p. i-ix; score, p. 1-16 and 2 parts. 18.]
Dieterich Buxtehude. Uppsala Trio Sonata, BuxWV 271 for Two Violins (Flutes), Viola da Gamba (Cello), and Continuo. Edited with preface and continuo by Craig Lister. (Saint Louis Early Music Ensemble Editions. Ser. A: Chamber Music.) Saint Louis: Saint Louis Early Music Ensemble, c1993. [Pref., p. iii-iv; score, 11 p. and 4 parts. A1001. 19.50.]DieterichBuxtehude.InstrumentalWorksforStringsandContinuo.EditedbyEvaLinfield.(TheCollectedWorks,14.)NewYork:BroudeTrust,1994.[Seriesintrod.,acknowledgments,p.vii−viii;vol.introd.,editorialpolicies,p.xiii−xxiv;score,237p.;crit.apparatus,p.239−57;appendixes,p.259−67;20plateslocatedthroughoutvol.andp.276−83;bibliog.,p.287−89.Cloth.ISBN0−8450−7514−4.19.50.]
Dieterich Buxtehude. Instrumental Works for Strings and Continuo. Edited by Eva Linfield. (The Collected Works, 14.) New York: Broude Trust, 1994. [Series introd., acknowledgments, p. vii-viii; vol. introd., editorial policies, p. xiii-xxiv; score, 237 p.; crit. apparatus, p. 239-57; appendixes, p. 259-67; 20 plates located throughout vol. and p. 276-83; bibliog., p. 287-89. Cloth. ISBN 0-8450-7514-4. 200.]
Late-seventeenth-century viol music from the Netherlands and the north German territories constitutes a rich stew of national influences and styles. The sonatas and suites of Johannes Schenck, August Kühnel, Konrad Höffler, and others, as well as the ensemble works of Dietrich Buxtehude and Johann Adam Reincken, incorporate French and Italian formal schemes, sometimes in the same piece, along with extensive fugal or imitative sections. In addition, the English division style casts a long shadow over this repertory; extended variations on ground basses and the use of the extreme high register of the bass viol suggest the influence of Christopher Simpson, Henry Butler, and the numerous lesser-known English emigré musicians on the continent.
Kühnel's Sonate ô partite ad una ô due viole da gamba con il basso continuo (Kassel, 1698) falls naturally into the pattern established by George Houle in his recent edition of Karl Friedrich Abel's sonatas for viol and continuo that arranges the pieces by degree of difficulty (Sonatas for the Viola da gamba from the Musicbook of the Countess of Pembroke [Stanford, Calif.: Santa Ynez Music, 1997]), for Kühnel himself grouped his fourteen sonatas and partitas into sets based on their technical demands. The four sets of pieces divide roughly into three groups: the partitas for two viols and continuo that require intermediate skills; the sonatas for two viols and the partitas for solo bass viol with optional continuo that range from intermediate to advanced difficulty; and the four sonatas with continuo, by far the most advanced works in the set, that make extraordinary demands on the performer. This progression from easy to virtuosic is readily apparent by thumbing through the viola da gamba prima part of Alamire's facsimile reprint. Kühnel also spells this...