Herrando: Sonatinas for Viola d'amore and bass continuo (Ronez/Taschner/Kubitschek)

Joseph de Herrando (1721 – 1763) 是十八世紀西班牙最有名的本土小提琴家，並出版了當時西班牙最重要的小提琴教學法。Herrando和Domenico Scarlatti與Carlo Farinelli(電影「絕代豔姬」裡的閹人歌手)更是十八世紀馬德里西班牙宮廷音樂家裡的三巨頭。一幅西班牙宮廷畫裡，出現他們三位站在一塊的畫像，更是印證這件事實。

出身於Valencia，Herrando自幼就受到同是小提琴家的父親的音樂薰陶，並很有可能與當時從義大利過來發展的小提琴家Facco(詳見之前在這裡發的格文)學過琴。他二十幾歲的時候，被聘為皇家女修道院Convento de la Encarnación樂團裡的音樂家，並於1756升級為首席小提琴家。

後來Herrando受邀成為Farinelli私人樂團裡十六位小提琴家之一，當時算是一項殊榮。而在1759年，Herrando順利拿下皇家禮拜教堂樂團首席一職。據說，在視奏考試時，因為Herrando視力本身就很差，使得過程中拉錯了不少音。但Herrando當時小提琴家的聲望已經極高，所以根本不影響他被錄取的事實。進入了宮廷之後，Herrando更是結識了西班牙的上流貴族社會，並從他們手上得到金錢上的資助。最後，Herrando還和義大利有名的音樂家庭Geminiani關係良好，最有名的Francesco Geminiani的兄弟Miguel Geminiani還是之前教堂樂團的首席，算是Herrando的前輩。

這張CD上的音樂為Herrando於1754年獻給Farinelli的六首柔音中提琴(viola d'amore)小奏鳴曲(sonatina)。Farinelli除了是偉大的聲樂家，他也會彈大鍵琴與拉柔音中提琴。因此這套作品乍看之下好像獻得莫名奇妙，但其實是完全合理的。這這兒先再打過岔，談談西班牙的小提琴歷史。如同法國，因為小提琴是義大利的產物，所以受到許多保守派的反對，認為拉小提琴是向他國俯首的舉動。一直到了十八世紀，小提琴才慢慢被西班牙接受，未來的國王Charles四世更是直接說喜歡小提琴。小提琴的音樂風格，大致上也遵循Corelli派，如歌甜美。

獻給Farinelli的這些曲子，指名要用五絃的柔音中提琴，和平常六條或七條絃的柔音中提琴不同。這把琴的琴身比一般的viola d'amore還要小，而Herrando的指示中，五條絃為 C3 - G3 - D4 - A4 - E5的「非正規」調音，但正好是今天一般中提琴和小提琴絃的音。因此音域剛好是二樂器的結合版。柔音中提琴另一個重要的特點，是在一般會拉的絃之外，下面還有所謂的共鳴絃(sympathetic strings)，在拉正常絃的時候，會產生出共鳴進而增加其音色。這些共鳴絃要的調音當時並沒有明確的規定，所以演奏者有一定的彈性自由。這張錄音裡，音樂家們決定視該奏鳴曲的調性而將共鳴絃調成主音和絃(tonic chord)，使主調和聲更加強烈。

Herrando正處於巴洛克與古典時期的交界，音樂裡有二者的元素。不過，Herrando的音樂風格偏古典的層面比較多，六首小奏鳴曲皆為三樂章  快 – 慢 – 快 的形式，唯獨最後第六首是以田園風的Siciliana舞曲做寧靜的結尾。這些旋律都輕鬆，容易入耳，而且每一首都是大調，擺明就是要製造歡樂。

CD上的音樂家分別由夫妻檔Marianne Rônez和Ernst Kubitschek擔任柔音中提琴家與鍵盤師的角色，外加Elisabeth Taschner拉大提琴，輔助數字低音的部份。Rônez似乎是巴洛克小提琴之外，還是柔音中提琴的專家，寫過有關viola d'amore演奏法的期刊文章。Herrando的奏鳴曲，Rônez不但利用柔音中提琴的特別音色，還加上演奏方式，使得聲音綿密柔順。甜美的音樂，彷彿是春天午後陽光般的溫暖。許多奏鳴曲的第二樂章接近結尾時的停留記號(fermata)時，Rônez也忍不住來一段簡短的即興，產生出舞台劇裡獨白的效果。而Kubitschek在數字低音的伴奏上，除了用典型的大鍵琴之外，第三號以及第六號也選擇用古鋼琴(fortepiano/hammerklavier)，音色較為圓滑，更適合襯托出這種早期古典風。

Ferdinand六世旗下的音樂家，今天大家最通曉的作曲家無疑是Domenico Scarlatti。以那時音樂風氣盛行，只可惜音樂多為手稿並未出版，以至今天失傳。少數像Herrando的音樂能夠保存下來，也讓我們能一窺當時西班牙宮廷音樂的面貌。`


Joseph de Herrando is not a household name in early music today, let alone classical music.   However, while he was alive, he was arguably the most famous Spanish violinist of the 18th century.  Along with Domenico Scarlatti and Farinelli, they were the most highly regarded court musicians of Ferdinand VI.  His violin method Arte y puntual explicación del modo de tocar el violin, was the only major significant one written by a Spanish musician, and evidently it enjoyed some moderate success outside of Spain.         

Born in Valencia, Herrando's father was also a musician, so it's no surprise that he took on the violin at an early age.  It is speculated that he probably took lessons with Italian expatriate musician Giacomo Facco (his life briefly mentioned in a previous entry here).  Anyhow, he quickly made a name for himself, becoming the principal violinist of the Royal Convent of La Encarnación (convent that interned women of the rich families) orchestra in 1756.  After a brief stint of being hired by Farinelli as one of his 16 violinists (a great honor indeed), Herrando became the concertmaster of the royal chapel in 1759.  It is said that during the sight-reading exam, he missed quite a few notes, but his reputation as a violinist made all that irrelevant.  In the Spanish court, Herrando quickly became acquainted with the aristocrats, receiving their patronage.  He also got to know the Geminiani family, as Miguel, the brother of the more famous Francesco Geminiani, held the previous post of chapel concertmaster before Herrando.

The music on this disc comprises of the 6 sonatinas written for viola d'amore and bass continuo that Herrando dedicated to Farinelli in 1754.  Besides being the famous castrato singer, Farinelli also played the harpsichord and viola d'amore (amateurish I'm sure).  The viola d'amore indicated by Herrando is the 5-string viola d'amore, different than most 6-string or 7-string models.  Moreover, Herrando specifies an unconventional tuning of C3 - G3 - D4 - A4 - E5, one which coincides with today's viola and violin standard tuning.  Thus, under Herrando's directions, this viola d'amore spans the range of both the violin and viola.    

In terms of the style, Herrando's music stands at the crossroads of (very) late Baroque and early Classical period, leaning heavily towards the latter.  The music is melodic and catchy to the ears, nothing too profound here.   All of the sonatinas comprise of three movements, following the fast - slow - fast structure, the only exception being the last sonata that ends with a Pastorale.  Every sonata also happens to be in the major key, so I'm guessing that cheerfulness is the big key here.

Marianne Rônez is consistent in creating smooth yet properly articulated musical lines, something aided by the instrument itself.  They also comment that they tune the sympathetic strings of the viola d'amore to the tonic chord of each sonata, intending to give a greater harmonic weight.  Hence, the tone is warm and is suited for this particular music.  Continuo is supported by cellist Elisabeth Taschner and keyboardist Ernst Kubitschek, who switches to playing on the fortepiano for the 3rd and 6th sonata.  The rounder tone of the fortepiano works well with the viola d'amore and exemplifies the kind of music heard in the early Classical style.   

It's too bad that more music from the Spanish courts did not survive.  The few that did, including these by Herrando, give us some kind of idea of the musical trends and tastes of the 18th century Spanish courts.  After all, there is more than Domenico Scarlatti, you know...