Found objects by Gottlieb Muffat

Why not get to know the late Baroque harpsichord suites, which cannot quite compete with those of Bach and Handel? There is no doubt that this genre is a species that died out from 1740 onwards and was no longer used in music for the fortepiano, but piano players also benefit from knowledge of such literature, which was probably still part of the repertoire of the later so-called classics. The discovery of 26 previously unknown suites (Parthien) by Gottlieb Muffat (1690-1770), the Viennese organist and imperial music teacher and son of the violinist and organist Georg Muffat (1653-1704), in the holdings of the Berlin Singakademie, which were returned from Kiev in 2001, is tantamount to a sensation.

The harpsichordist Glen Wilson has published five of them for the first time; a sixth was previously available in Christopher Hogwood's edition (Ut Orpheus, 2009). This shows that it is worthwhile studying this composer, who has so far been known mainly thanks to his 1739 works under the title Componimenti musicali printed eight suites. The six new suites, which have only survived in manuscript form, can compete in terms of extravagance, scope and technical demands with the Componimenti but Gottlieb Muffat proves himself to be an expert in the various musical languages of the time, all of which he integrated into his preludes, dance movements and character pieces.

We must be grateful to the editor for his careful discussion of Muffat's ornaments in the preface and main text, which contribute greatly to the brilliant effect of these pieces. Most players would probably need similar assistance with the arrangement of the endings and the insertions of so-called "petites reprises", which require solutions that are not necessarily found in the notes. Muffat was known for his consistent division of the notation between the two playing hands or staves. Fortunately, Wilson has retained this in modern clefs (G2 instead of C1). However, it remains problematic when two rhythmically identical figures in the same bar take up unequal amounts of space in modern engraving (e.g. in the Ballet of the A minor Suite) and notes that are not played simultaneously are almost directly above each other in both staves (e.g. Adagio, Allemande of the D minor Suite). The original print of Muffat's Componimenti musicali would teach us how to print music in a beautiful and user-friendly way even today.

Gottlieb Muffat: Six Suites for Harpsichord (Clavier), first edition, edited by Glen Wilson, EB 8904, € 26.90, Breitkopf & Härtel, Wiesbaden, 2017