Five Great Instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City

This video was the result of a collaboration between Peter Sheppard Skærved , The Royal Academy of Music, and The Department of Musical Instruments at The Met.

A production of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Video edited by Christopher Shurtleff Sound/ Recording and Post-Production/ Audio by Bobby Berry/ Organized by the Department of Musical Instruments Jayson Kerr Dobney, Frederick P. Rose/ Curator-in-Charge Bradley Strauchen-Scherer, /Curator Manu Frederickx,/ Conservator Tim Caster, Principal Departmental Technician Pamela Summey, /Programs Coordinator Nicole Sussmane, Associate Administrator

Music

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “G minor Suite, Movement 5” from the Klagenfurt Manuscript (1685) by an anonymous composer on a Viola d’Amore made by Giovanni Grancino, 1701 (2008.1). Four instruments of this type survive, all made by Grancino during the same period. Their purpose is unclear, although the elaborately festooned form suggests that they might have been intended for use in theatrical productions. The repertoire chosen, and the various tunings of the six strings is intended to offer a window into the colouristic and timbral possibilities of this extraordinary instrument. The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1670s up to 1738. The Klagenfurt Manuscript is one of the most significant collections of 17th century works for solo string instruments. Little is known about its author, who may have been a nun in a convent in what is now Slovenia. The G minor Suite is one of the most touching moments in the collection, exploiting the deeply emotional nature of this key, which Mark-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 1704) in his 1682 Règles de Composition, described as “serious and magnificent”.

Peter Sheppard Skaerved performs “Ricercate passaggi et cadentie, per potersi essercitar nel diminuir terminatamento con ogni sorte d’istrumento: et anco diversi passaggi per la semplice voce’” by Giovanni Bassano (c. 1561 – 1617) on a Viola made by Jacob Stainer, ca. 1660, (2013.910). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1580s to the 1680s. The viola is heard in two different tunings, which reveals different colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in ‘modern’ set-up but played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. This is the second of “Ricercate passaggi et cadentie, per potersi essercitar nel diminuir terminatamento con ogni sorte d’istrumento: et anco diversi passaggi per la semplice voce” published in Venice in 1585. This music is best understood as ‘how to’ material for improvising age. The Bassano family was a long dynasty of instrument makers/players/composers. This ‘ricercar’ tests the possibilities of an instrument much in the same way that a luthier works with wood, or an improvising player explores simple musical material.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “E Minor Prelude” (1700) by Giuseppe Torelli (1658-1709) on a Violin made by Nicolò Amati, 1669 (1974.229a–d). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1620s up to 1700. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. Giuseppe/Josefo Torelli began work as “suonatore di violin” in the Bologna Accademia Filarmonica in 1684. This prelude is one of two published in London by John Walshe as part of his Preludes & Voluntarys collection of works for violin alone. This piece shares certain characteristics with Torelli’s Concertino per Camera Op 4 (1688) but is more extended. When examined alongside Johann Sebastian Bach’s E minor Sonata for violin & Continuo BWV 1023, it reveals how much the younger composer learnt from the study of Torelli (Bach transcribed one Torelli violin concerto as an organ piece, his B minor Concerto BWV 979).

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “C minor Prelude” (1700) by Giuseppe Torelli (1658 – 1709) on “The Gould” Violin made by Antonio Stradivari, 1693, (55.86a–c). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the late 1600s up to 1712. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. Giuseppe/Josefo Torelli began work as suonatore di violino in the Bologna Accademia Filarmonica in 1684. This prelude is one of two published in London by John Walshe as part of his Preludes & Voluntarys, a collection of works for violin alone. C minor is a “dark” key. In his 1682 Règles de Composition, Mark-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 1704) described C minor as “obscure and sad.” This prelude draws attention to richness of the low sonorities of the violin.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “D minor Capriccio ‘Imitation of a Lira’” by Biagio Marini (1594 – 1663) on a Violin made by Nicolò Amati, 1669 (1974.229a–d). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1620s up to 1700. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. This caprice is one of the first genuine virtuoso works for violin. The “imitation of a lira” refers to double and triple-stopped writing, which dominates the piece and references the chordal style of the lira da braccio. Marini indicated that this piece could be played on a violin with three strings. But, by the time it was published, in 1627, the three-string instrument had become obsolete.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “A Set of Tunings” by Thomas Baltzar (1630 -1663) on a Viola made by Jacob Stainer, ca. 1660, (2013.910). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1580s to the 1680s. The viola is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in modern set-up but played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. Thomas Baltzar was the most celebrated violinist at the court of Charles II. The apparently simple notation of this set of four movements offers the player the chance to embellish the material. The scordatura tuning called for in this set (D A d f-sharp) offers a range of brighter colours than conventional tunings. In the 17th century it was normal to adjust the tuning of fretless string instruments to suit the requirements of individual pieces, just as it is with guitars today even though the practice has largely died out in classical violin and viola playing. 

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “G minor Sarabande” by Thomas Baltzar (1630-1663) on a violino piccolo attributed to Joseph Hill, ca. 1750 (2022.20a, b). Small violins are often referred to as “violini piccoli”. This may be a modern misnomer, perhaps as erroneous as the suggestion that small instruments were designed for children. Telemann’s description of the caterwauling characteristics of the bands of piccolo violins he heard travelling in Poland (Autobiographie. 1718, 1729, 1739) describes high-tuned instruments at some remove from surviving small violins from the 17th and 18th centuries. Instruments such as this were perhaps more likely to have been used as the soprano instruments in violin bands. This is a matter of some debate. The works recorded on this delicate example stretch from 1660 up to the 1750s. Thomas Baltzar was the most celebrated violinist at the court of Charles II, often referred to as the ‘Lubicker’, as he had come to London from the Hanseatic city of Lübeck. This isolated Sarabande survives in two 17th-century sources: Baltzar was so admired that rival musicians copied out his music so that they could play it and sometimes passed it off as their own.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Allemanda” by an anonymous composer, copyist Franz Rost (1640 — 1688), on a Violin made by Nicolò Amati, 1669 (1974.229a–d). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1620s up to 1700. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals different colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. The tuning used is A E a d. This Allemanda is from the Rost Codex, an extraordinary collection of 156 chamber works assembled by the travelling music-copyist Franz Rost (1640-88). The most neglected parts of this collection, understandably, are movements by anonymous composers, including this example. It offers a fascinating glimpse of the sophisticated violinists that Rost encountered. This movement has what might be termed a heraldic, trumpet-like character; many early works for violin alone are imitations of brass instruments. This Allemanda uses a bright A E a e tuning. When the strings are tuned to other-than-normal pitches, as here, it is called ‘scordatura’. There are two basic ways of notating this technique: either the sounding pitches are indicated, or as here, a ‘tablature’ system is used, where the written notes indicate the finger placements on the retuned strings. In the tuning used here, the written pitches only match the sounding pitches on the ‘A string’, the top string of the viola.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Giga” from “Giga & Sarabanda” by Giuseppe Colombi (1635-1694) on a Viola d’Amore made by Giovanni Grancino, 1701 (2008.1). Four instruments of this type survive, all made by Grancino during the same period. Their purpose is unclear, although the elaborately festooned form suggests that they might have been intended for use in theatrical productions. The repertoire chosen, and the various tunings of the six strings is intended to offer a window into the colouristic and timbral possibilities of this extraordinary instrument. The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1670s up to 1738. The violinist Giuseppe Colombi was born in Modena. In 1674 he was appointed Maestro di Capella for the violin-playing Duke Francesco of Modena and Reggio at the age of twenty-nine. Upon the early death of the Giovanni Maria Bononcini in 1678, he was appointed maestro at the cathedral. Colombi’s G Major Giga is a muscular two-part construction, challenging the player with running passages in thirds. The dead-centre of the piece is a 3/4 hemiola, like a memory of the dance music of the previous century. The Sarabanda is a touching example of the instrument being played “lira-way”, that is, in imitation of the lira da braccio. This was most famously represented in the depiction of Apollo playing to the Muses in the Stanze di Raffaello of the Vatican. Its sweeping chordal bow-strokes across ringing four- and three-note chords are the distinctive trope of this style. By extension, they evoke the cithara, the more ancient instrument of the gods of antiquity.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Passacaglia” from the Klagenfurt Manuscript (1685) by an anonymous composer on a Violin made by Nicolò Amati, 1669 (1974.229a–d). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1620s up to 1700. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. The Klagenfurt Manuscript is one of the most significant collections of 17th-century works for solo violin. Little is known about its author, who may have been a nun in a convent in what is now Slovenia. Eight different tunings are used in the collection of over 100 works. This movement is notated in what, today, is regarded as the standard tuning for the violin: G d a e.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Courante et Double” (1685) by Le Sieur de Machy (fl. 1655–1700) on a Viola made by Jacob Stainer, ca. 1660, (2013.910). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1580s to the 1680s. The viola is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in modern set-up but played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. De Machy was a celebrated viola da gamba player at the court of the “Sun King” Louis XIV. His Pièces de Violle en Musique et en Tablature was one of the most sophisticated collections of string music of the age. Although written for the viola da gamba, there was an established tradition of playing this music on the viola. De Machy’s contemporary Marin Marais recommends this in the preface to one of his collections of solo gamba music.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “G minor Sarabande” (1700) by Henry Purcell (1659/6 -1695) on a Violino Piccolo attributed to Joseph Hill, ca. 1750 (2022.20a, b). Small violins are often referred to as “violini piccoli”. This may be a modern misnomer, perhaps as erroneous as the suggestion that small instruments were designed for children. Telemann’s description of the caterwauling characteristics of the bands of piccolo violins he heard travelling in Poland (Autobiographie. 1718, 1729, 1739) describes high-tuned instruments at some remove from surviving small violins from the 17th and 18th centuries. Instruments such as this were perhaps more likely to have been used as the soprano instruments in violin bands. This is a matter of some debate. The works recorded on this delicate example stretch from 1660 up to the 1750s. This is the only work by Henry Purcell for violin alone.This prelude is one of two published in 1700 by John Walshe as part of his ‘Preludes & Voluntarys collection of works for violin alone’. It is a masterclass in concision, with a hint of Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas in the descending bass line. 

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Prelude & Sarabande” by Nicola Matteis (Matheis) (fl. c. 1650 – after 1713) on “The Gould” Violin made by Antonio Stradivari, 1693, (55.86a–c). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the late 1600s to 1712. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. The tuning used is G D a d. No London violinist was ever more celebrated than Matteis. Like Thomas Baltzar (1630? -1661) before him, his career was brilliant, and short. In 1674, the diarist John Evelyn heard Matteis for the first time: “I heard that stupendious Violin Signor Nicholao […] whom certainly never mortal man Exceeded on that Instrument: he had a stroak so sweete, & made it speake like the voice of a man”. These two movements were first published in his Ayrs For the Violin Preludes Allmands Sarabands Courantes Gigues Diuisions and double Compositions fitted to all hands and Capacitie (1676-1685). The Sarabande exists in manuscript

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “G minor Suite, Movement 2” from the Klagenfurt Manuscript (1685) by an anonymous composer on a Viola d’Amore made by Giovanni Grancino, 1701 (2008.1). Four instruments of this type survive, all made by Grancino during the same period. Their purpose is unclear, although the elaborately festooned form suggests that they might have been intended for use in theatrical productions. The repertoire chosen, and the various tunings of the six strings is intended to offer a window into the colouristic and timbral possibilities of this extraordinary instrument. The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1670s up to 1738. The Klagenfurt Manuscript is one of the most significant collections of 17th century works for solo string instruments. Little is known about its author, who may have been a nun in a convent in what is now Slovenia. The G minor Suite is one of the most touching moments in the collection, exploiting the deeply emotional nature of this key, which Mark-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 1704) in his 1682 Règles de Composition, described as “serious and magnificent”.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “A Minor Prelude” (1700) by Henry (Henri) Eccles (1670–1742) on “The Gould” Violin made by Antonio Stradivari, 1693, (55.86a–c). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the late 1600s up to 1712. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa. The English violinist Henry Eccles is often referred to as Junior, although his relationship to the rest of the Eccles family (Solomon, John & Henry) is unclear. The first record of a performance by Henry Eccles is in 1705, and on 15 May 1713 a concert was given in the Stationers’ Hall “for the Entertainment of … the Duke d’Aumont, Embassador extraordinary from France. For the Benefit of Mr Eccles, Musician to his Grace”. Eccles returned to Paris with the Duke and by 1720, he was listed as one of Louis XV’s Vingt Quatre Violons.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “G minor Partia” (1712) by Johann Joseph Vilsmaÿr (1663 – 1722) on “The Gould” Violin made by Antonio Stradivari, 1693 (55.86a–c). The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the late 1600s up to 1712. The violin is heard in two different tunings, which reveals contrasting colouristic and timbral possibilities. The instrument is in Baroque set-up and played here with an early bow made by Antonino Airenti of Genoa.. These movements are taken from Vilsmaÿr’s collection of six partias or suites, ‘‘Artificiosus Concentus pro Camera, Distributus Sex Partes, seu Partias à[sic] Violino Solo Con Basso Belle imitante.” These pieces offer a bridge from the flowering of virtuosic “German-speaking” solo writing of the end of the 17th century – best heard in the works of Biber, Baltzar, Matteis and Walther – to the philosophical masterpieces that would emerge in the 1720s and ‘30s, such as Bach and Telemann’s cycles solo violin. Almost nothing is known about this composer-violinist except that he was a well-paid member of the Hofkapell in Salzburg from 1689 until his death in 1722. It is likely that he worked there with Kapellmeister “Biber von Bibern,” Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644-1704). Aspects of Vilsmaÿr’s writing betray the influence of the more celebrated musician, who may have been his teacher

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “E Flat Major Fantasie” by Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) on a Violino Piccolo attributed to Joseph Hill, ca. 1750 (2022.20a, b). Small violins are often referred to as “violini piccoli”. This may be a modern misnomer, perhaps as erroneous as the suggestion that small instruments were designed for children. Telemann’s description of the caterwauling characteristics of the bands of piccolo violins he heard travelling in Poland (Autobiographie. 1718, 1729, 1739) describes high-tuned instruments at some remove from surviving small violins from the 17th and 18th centuries. Instruments such as this were perhaps more likely to have been used as the soprano instruments in violin bands. This is a matter of some debate. The works recorded on this delicate example stretch from 1660 up to the 1750s. Telemann’s Twelve Fantasies for solo violin were published in 1735. His approach to the violin alone was diametrically opposed, technically and philosophically, to his dear friend Johan Sebastian Bach. Where Bach sought to explore the contrapuntal and chordal possibilities of the instrument, looking back to the “lira-way” style of playing and writing for the instrument, Telemann’s approach, epitomised in this extraordinary piece, did the opposite. Almost completely eschewing chordal writing, his is the music of the Enlightenment – intellectually lithe and nimble, the epitome of the French maxim of the day, by Pierre Charles Roy (1683-1764): ‘Glissez mortels: n’appuyez pas’, which Samuel Johnson rendered as ‘Thus lightly touch, and quickly go.’

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Andante Cantabile” (A Minor Sonata Piccola No 7) by Giuseppe Tartini (1692 – 1770) on a Violino Piccolo attributed to Joseph Hill, ca. 1750 (2022.20a, b). Small violins are often referred to as “violini piccoli”. This may be a modern misnomer, perhaps as erroneous as the suggestion that small instruments were designed for children. Telemann’s description of the caterwauling characteristics of the bands of piccolo violins he heard travelling in Poland (Autobiographie. 1718, 1729, 1739) describes high-tuned instruments at some remove from surviving small violins from the 17th and 18th centuries. Instruments such as this were perhaps more likely to have been used as the soprano instruments in violin bands. This is a matter of some debate. The works recorded on this delicate example stretch from 1660 up to the 1750s. Tartini’s cycle of 30 solo sonatas (Sonate Piccole) is the most extensive collection of works for violin alone of the mid-18th century. It seems to have occupied the composer intermittently for the last 20 years of his life. Although he spent nearly the whole of his life working in Padua and rarely travelled, his circle was known as the “school of nations” and generations of musicians across Europe claimed the authority of having been his students. His maxim “per ben suonare, bisogna ben cantare” (to play/sound well, it is necessary to sing well) established a standard of string playing and making that persists to this day.

Peter Sheppard Skærved performs “Menuets 1,2 ‘L’école d’Orphée’ Op.18” (1738) by Michel Corrette (1710-1795) on a viola d’amore made by Giovanni Grancino, 1701 (2008.1). Four instruments of this type survive, all made by Grancino during the same period. Their purpose is unclear, although the elaborately festooned form suggests that they might have been intended for use in theatrical productions. The repertoire chosen, and the various tunings of the six strings is intended to offer a window into the colouristic and timbral possibilities of this extraordinary instrument. The works chosen for this instrument stretch from the 1670s up to 1738. Michel Corrette’s career as composer and theorist stretches for nearly the whole length of the 18th century, from the age of Vivaldi to that of Humboldt. These two minutes, for instruments “with de-tuned strings”, are pointedly pastoral, evoking an idealized notion of the countryside far from the hard rural reality.