Corelli ajusté à la flûte traversiere: Premiere Partie du Cinquiéme Œuvre

Description

On 1 January 1700, Arcangelo Corelli’s twelve sonatas for violin and basso continuo, Opus 5, were published in Rome. The collection rapidly became a stylistic and pedagogical model throughout Europe, and by the end of the century, 36 editions of the violin sonatas and 20 transcriptions for other instruments were circulating. Among these is one published by Le Clerc le cadet, Le Clerc l’ainé, and Boivin in Paris around 1738, entitled “Première Partie du Cinquième Œuvre de Corelli, Ajustée à la Flûte Traversière avec la Basse”: this collection contains the first six sonatas of Opus 5, transcribed by an anonymous arranger for flûte traversière and basso continuo, as recorded on this disc.
Although such a practice was quite widespread in the eighteenth century, transposing these pieces to an instrument so different from the original inevitably entails some drastic technical choices. This process of “translation” of the musical message aims to remain as faithful as possible to the original while simultaneously favouring the strengths of the target instrument.
Of the six sonatas transcribed, two are shifted to different keys: the third sonata, originally in C major, is transposed to D major, and the fourth from F major to G major. On the violin, C major and F major are very open and resonant; conversely, on the flute, C major—and even more so F major—sound more opaque and veiled. Since the one-keyed Baroque flute is pitched in D major, the further one moves away from this key, the more brilliance and fullness of sound are lost. In keys with flats or without accidentals, due to the greater use of so-called “forked” fingerings—which are less resonant on the instrument—the speed of response and precision in virtuosic passages become more challenging. While the character of a sonata like the second lends itself to preserving the calm tones of B-flat major, the bright and impetuous sonatas Nos. 3 and 4 could hardly have been rendered convincingly in their original keys. For this reason, the arranger of these sonatas for flûte traversière deemed it appropriate to transpose them to D and G major respectively—keys that are more open, have fuller sonorities, and are characterised by greater responsiveness of articulation, as well as being technically more accessible. Another important aspect to consider is the range of the flute: the issue of certain low notes nonexistent on the traversière, such as C and C-sharp, is effectively resolved by transposing up a tone. For example, if we examine the fourth movement (“Adagio”) of the fourth sonata, we note that in the original key of D minor, there would have been the problem of low C-sharps, which are unavailable on the traversière—a problem circumvented by setting it in E minor with its low D-sharps. The issue is even more evident in the third sonata, which would have had to forgo the fundamental note (C, nonexistent on the flute) in the lower register, replaced instead by D, a full and very sonorous note. The same applies to all the low Cs (the dominant of the original key) present in the other movements of the fourth sonata.
Perhaps the most significant arrangement undertaken on these sonatas concerns the polyphonic passages, which are naturally impossible to perform on the flute. The arranger often opts for a compromise solution, where the flute leaps from one voice to another, leaving the ear to infer the polyphonic texture, or provides a version in which the flute simply favours the upper voice. We have occasionally modified some passages that the anonymous arranger resolved less convincingly, rendering them, in our view, more idiomatic for the instrument or musically more persuasive. Elsewhere in our performance, the polyphonic passages are integrated through the realisation of the basso continuo, also in combination with the practice of playing “con la parte”.
Another interesting feature of this transcription is the infusion of the French style into Corelli’s Italian idiom. This element is evident both in the typically French ornamentation added by the arranger and in the figuring of the basso continuo. In realising both the ornamentation (of which the first 1700 print is devoid) and the basso continuo pertaining to this style, the sources of inspiration are numerous. Specifically for Corelli’s Opus 5, there are several examples by Tartini, Geminiani, Roman, Festing, Dubourg, and many others, but the most renowned edition is that of Roger, published in Amsterdam in 1710, which includes ornamentations for the slow movements. This provides an example to draw inspiration from—though very likely not an interpretation to be played literally, as can be deduced from the less balanced presence of ornamentation in some passages and movements compared to others. Characteristic of French music, the slow movements and, to a lesser extent, the fast ones in the Parisian transcription feature small ornamentations on individual notes (such as trills or “tierces coulées”), unlike the aforementioned Amsterdam edition, whose peculiarity is the grand ornamentation (“tirate” and “passaggi”) present in the “adagios”.
For the basso continuo, there exists a source with a complete realisation written for keyboard by Antonio Tonelli. This work has long divided scholarly opinion regarding its practical or didactic purpose, but it certainly reflects the deeply rooted taste in Italian tradition for full and dense harmony and proposes interesting and original solutions. In his “Teorica Musicale”, Tonelli suggests to harpsichordists the supplementary use of “acciaccaturas”, as well as “Arpeggios, Syncopations, Trills, Appoggiaturas, Mordents, and other ornaments of good taste and style” ((in the original, Arpeggi, Contrattempi, Trilli, Appoggiature, Mordenti, ed altri ornamenti di buon gusto, e maniera).
Regarding the notation of the basso continuo, it should be noted that in the numerous sources close to Corelli circulating prior to and contemporaneously with the first Pietrasanta edition of 1700, many discrepancies in notes, articulation marks, and figuring of the continuo are found. It is therefore not surprising that our Parisian print differs significantly from the official version. What stands out, however, is the sometimes markedly French nature of these figures, including chords entirely alien to the Italian aesthetic. In realising the basso continuo, it was thus crucial to make harmonic and melodic choices that at times favoured the Italian taste and at others the French, taking care to provide an accompaniment suited to the timbre of the flute, which is clearly different from that of the violin. The choice to use a French two-manual harpsichord, besides aligning with a more French aesthetic, offers a relatively wider range of dynamics and timbres, especially appreciated in the absence of other continuo instruments.
The project of recording these sonatas is the result of a prolonged period during which we have dedicated ourselves to studying the Italian flute repertoire of the eighteenth century and the historical practice of transcription, especially related to the adaptation of music originally written for the violin.
Arianna Radaelli, Eleonora Bišćević © 2024

Alter Ego
The ensemble Alter Ego was born from the encounter of the two Milanese musicians Eleonora Bišćević and Arianna Radaelli during their studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. Active since 2019, the duo is mainly dedicated to the performance of music from the Baroque and late Baroque periods. An important element of the ensemble’s work is the discovery and performance of forgotten composers, in particular the Italian repertoire for flute with basso continuo or harpsichord obbligato from the 18th century. In addition, Alter Ego is intensively engaged in arrangements, both historical and its own, of the repertoire for other instruments. In 2023 the duo was chosen as artists in residence at Weißenbrunn Palace, where the film ‘An Italian Gallery’ was recorded. In the same year, the duo won the Jurica Murai prize for the best artistic interpretation at the 53rd Varaždinske Barokne Večeri festival. Alter Ego gives concerts throughout Europe and has already performed at renowned festivals such as Festival Oude Muziek in Utrecht, Urbino Musica Antica, Swiss Foundation for Young Musicians and Varaždinske Barokne Večeri.