Giuseppe Tartini: Violin Concertos D85, D50, D125
Giuseppe Tartini
born 8 April 1692 in Piran / Trieste
died 26 February 1770 in Padua
Three characteristic periods: (according to Minos Dounias)
Before 1735: D85
between 1735 - 1750: D150
before 1770: D125
Complete CD recording of the violin concertos:
Giovanni and Federico Guglielmo and Carlo Lazari (1996-2010)
Other CDs with Tartini concertos:
Carlo Chiarappa (1993)
Elizabeth Wallfisch (2002)
Chouchane Siranossian (2019)
Evgeny Sviridov (2019)
et al.
Giuseppe Tartini is certainly not unknown. Almost every violinist and music lover knows the so-called Devil's Trill Sonata (Sonata in G minor "il trillo del Diavolo" B g5). But it is also
worthwhile to get to know his 135 violin concertos better (or, according to recent research, are there even around 160 concerti?). Incidentally, a complete edition with the violinists Giovanni
and Federico Guglielmo as well as Carlo Lazari and the baroque ensemble L'Arte dell'Arco has been published on 19 CDs. There are always listening discoveries to be made. In order to arouse
curiosity about Tartini's hitherto largely unknown violin concertos, I recommend here three violin concertos from three different periods of his composition.
Tartini was first violinist in the orchestra of the Basilica di S. Antonio in Padua for 40 years. In a roundabout way (training as a lawyer instead of a priest as he wished, passionate
fencer, forbidden love affair until the Bishop of Padua pardoned him) he came to play the violin professionally when he heard the then famous violinist Francesco Maria Veracini play in Venice.
From 1720 he became famous as a violinist, and in 1728 his Opus 1 with twelve violin concertos was published. Thereafter, a magnificent corpus of violin concertos was to emerge from his hand,
representing a new style of violin concertos and also advancing violin technique enormously.
Tartini increasingly turned away from the Baroque style, i.e. the melodic phrases were clearly delineated from each other and appear classically balanced, the ritornello form was simplified,
in the later violin concertos only 3 instead of 5 repetitions of the tutti theme. One can speak of a new style of Empfindsamkeit.
The dating of Tartini's individual violin concertos is hardly possible from a historical point of view, except for his early concertos. Stylistic comparisons led the Tartini scholar Minos
Dounias to divide Tartini's concertos into an early (before 1735), middle (1735-50) and late creative period (1750-70).
In the following, I select a remarkable concerto by Tartini from each period. They can be heard on Youtube:
Violin Concerto in G minor op 1 No. 1 D85
Violin Concerto in E major (D50)
Violin Concerto in B minor (D125) ("Lascia ch'io dica
addio")
Violin Concerto in G minor op 1 No.1 D85
This concerto, stylistically still entirely in the manner of Antonio Vivaldi, is at the beginning of the first collection of 12 violin concertos by Tartini published as Opus 1 (1728). It is
in four movements, with a second movement that is somewhat inexplicable from today's perspective, a fugue movement in the old style. As if Tartini, as a modern composer, had wanted to show that
he also knew how to compose traditionally.
Listen here!
Listening guide:
I. Allegro
Right at the beginning: a triple crash in the string orchestra (first viol. I, then viol. II , last the bass), rhythmically striking from high G to middle G to low G.
Immediately follows a loosely reassuring, trilling response.
Again and again this contrast of vehemence and and prancing non-chalance.
The orchestral motifs develop further until a renewed plunge into the depths:
Now the solo violin is challenged.
It takes over the dallying, relaxed motif from the tutti beginning and begins to sing in a high register. Double stops in thirds lagging behind. Only the first violins accompany, as is
often the case with Vivaldi.
Then again the tutti ritornello with its crash-calming duality, harmonically enriched by chromatic phases.
Then the second solo, this time the violin's playing with the lingering thirds double stops rises to high virtuosity.
The third tutti ritornello leads through various keys and finally insists on its G minor tuning.
But once again the solo violin intervenes with a capriccio (cadenza) to be improvised.
The end, however, remains for the crash motif in the tutti.
II. Fuga a la breve
Descending chromatic semitones are striking for this fugue; they give it a particularly serious character.
The solo violin is silent, or rather blends in with the other strings and collaborates in the service of a strict counterpoint.
III. Cantabile
Now, finally, the solo violin is allowed to sing its aria, Vivaldi's model with its beautiful slow movements continues to have an effect.
One can simply abandon oneself to this 12/8 siciliano singing, its ornaments, its breath, an example of how music can blossom into beauty.
A somewhat darker middle section also knows the quiet pain of great happiness.
The ending is also beautiful, where tutti and violin say a silent farewell to each other.
IV. Allegro assai
In 3/8 time, the motifs of the orchestra and the solo violin vibrate. Everything rushes forward.
The solo part of the violin brings a brief halt.
Then the orchestra storms forward again, alternating between piano and forte.
And once again the violin, almost lost in figurations.
The last tutti then resolutely repeats the beginning.
Violin Concerto in E-Major D50
The concerto dates from Tartini's middle creative period. A special feature is the musical quotation right at the beginning: Tartini takes it from Pergolesi's Stabat mater. It comes from the
Inflammatus Duet. Whether this violin concerto should therefore be considered a church concerto that was played in the liturgies of the Basilica San Antonio of Padua or was it intended as a kind
of "cross-over" to spread Pergolesi's melody?
Listen here!
Listening guide:
I. Allegro
The Inflammatus theme, borrowed from Pergolesi, immediately sets the syncopated rhythm, but then Tartini's melody is freely spun and varied.
The solo part of the concerto begins with two solo violins as if in a duet, still supported by the solo cello, but then the first violin goes its own virtuoso way, the rhythm of Pergolesi's motif
insists continuously.
The tutti then calls back to the Inflammatus theme and a second solo part takes over and plays with it through different harmonies and figures.
Impressive then is the further solo entry with the Inflammatus theme, but now ascending in inversion.
But again the violin plays freely around the theme, constantly in motion; only at the end does the orchestra rejoin and allow the continuous movement to slowly fade out.
II. Grave
Above a continuously throbbing pizzicato bass accompaniment rises an aria that begins to float and leads into another imaginary world. Towards the end, a propulsive motif stands out, in which the violin seems to pause. But it returns to its lyrical singing.
III. Presto
In restless dynamics, an almost monotonous motif repeats itself, dominating the movement from beginning to end. The solo violin also swings into this strange, trill-rich motoric. It is as if a music box were playing, but it lags a little. In further tutti and solo parts, this motif is harmonically reinterpreted again and again in different ways, as if Tartini had already composed a kind of development. The conclusion is short, the motif says goodbye.
Violin Concerto in B minor D125 ("Lascia ch'io dica addio")
According to Minos Douanias, this concerto belongs to Tartini's later creative phase. Stylistically, the melodies are simpler, more vocal, more gallant. The violin technique comes even more
to the fore than in earlier concertos.
The subtitle that Tartini wrote as a heading for the 2nd movement deserves special attention: "Lascia ch'io dica addio". According to the latest research, the quotation comes from the
libretto of the opera L'amor volubile e tiranno by Alessandro Scarlatti. In many violin concertos, Tartini quotes from poetry, opera or oratorio texts to refer to the universal nature of human
feelings. The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a pioneer of modern thought, had greatly appreciated Tartini's music, a music that can lead back from potentially negative cultural conventions to
genuine feelings of human nature.
Listening guide:
I. Allegro Assai
The theme is plain and simple, but gripping and soulful: from the high b to the b an octave lower. The theme swings out lightly. The violin answers with the same theme in its solo, playing and shaping it in many ways. The whole movement is monothematic in an original way, concentrated on a basic feeling (struggling for courage, dull determination). The virtuoso violin part is special and newly developed, the tutti are scarce and recede into the background. Only at the end does the orchestral accompaniment fade out: Space is opened up for a freely shaped final cadenza...
II. Larghetto
This Tartini Larghetto is an example of how finely Tartini knows how to translate landscapes of the soul into music. The title indicates farewell pains. On the simple monotony of the orchestral accompaniment rises a richly ornamented wistful lyricism of violin singing. Several times the melancholic singing begins anew, each farewell is difficult...
III.Allegro
New courage to go on with life. But the B minor mood remains. The violin immediately plunges into virtuoso passages in a variety of ways, almost somewhat exuberantly, as if it wanted to forget and come to terms with all the inner pain. Or is it a repression? We are dismissed briefly but thoughtfully.