Antonio Bertali (1605-1669) Prothimia Suavissima

Antonio Bertali (was) a musician in the Viennese royal chapel from the 1620s and, from 1649 until his death in 1669, served as kapellmeister in the Viennese court. In Arcana's Antonio Bertali: Prothima Suavissima Parte Seconda, Gunar Letzbor leads the Ars Antiqua Austria -- a group that has notably distinguished itself through recordings such as the superb Challenge Classics issue of Viennese lute concertos by Von Radolt -- though the posthumous 1672 print indicated in the title in its entirety.
There is some measure of controversy as to who composed the 12 sonatas in this volume; in 1671, composer Samuel Capricornus printed a collection entitled -Continuation der neuen wohl angestimten Taffelmusic, which duplicates six of these sonatas exactly, raising the issue of whether Capricornus -- a student and follower of Bertali -- "borrowed" these six sonatas from his then-departed master for his own publication or that the publisher might have used the Capricornus works to fill out a more commercially viable Bertali print. However, in listening one notes absolute unanimity of style between all 12 sonatas, and it is a solidly persuasive, elegant style as well. Compared to Biber, Bertali is not nearly as weird or experimental, but there are exploratory harmonic devices in use and plenty of the elements of surprise present for those already attuned to the early Baroque.
00:00 - Sonata VII
06:30 - Sonata VII
Ars Antiqua Austria
Gunar Letzbor
Bertali's compositions are in the manner of other northern Italian composers of the time and include operas, oratorios, a large number of liturgical works, and chamber music. Particularly his operas are notable for establishing the tradition of Italian opera seria in Vienna. Approximately half of his output is now lost; copies survive made by Bertali's contemporary, Pavel Josef Vejvanovský, some of the pieces are currently in possession of Vienna's Hofbibliothek, the library of the Kremsmünster Abbey and the Kroměříž archive. The most important source for Bertali's work is, however, the Viennese Distinta Specificatione catalogue, which lists several composers of the Habsburg court and provides titles and scoring for more than 2000 compositions.
en.wikipedia.or...

[@SantiagoGarcia-od5gr]

Qué talento musical el de este genial músico y compositor barroco italiano.Todas sus obras son un derroche de armonía, belleza y colorido.

[@robertvandervelde60]

It is indeed sad to think that about half Bertali's music has been lost

[@alistairkewish651]

Beautiful, magical music the like of which we shall never hear again. But for it to survive to our own time is little short of a miracle. Thank you

[@alistairkewish651]

Exquisite music, we are so lucky it has survived, is treasured and loved.

[@alistairkewish651]

The adjective suavissima certainly does justice to this composer and his glorious music. It is a huge shame we don’t have more of it to savour.

[@SantiagoGarcia-od5gr]

Cómo ma ha gustado este compositor del período barroco, Antonio Bertali, que recién conocí gracias a ustedes. Bella música, comenzando por la maravillosa Ciaccona.

[@byf43]

I came here for the music, but that painting really is fantastic. The detail, the glass, the lemon, the bread, the leaf hanging over the edge of the bowl. It's as if you're there. When I look at this and think of what they call "art" today......

[@freddiefullerton7631]

byf43 excactly. Minimalism, abstract, contemporary; they should all learn something from classical art, it's simply awesome!!!!

[@melchiorsternfels6454]

A great pleasure. Early baroque was the all time high. Just listen to 8:14...not from this world

[@Axaman135b]

The title page hz.imslp.info/files/imglnks/usimg/8/8c/IMSLP419278-PMLP613788-Bertali_Prothimia_Suavissima_vol_II_monocrome.pdf describes this as the second of 2 sets of 12 'selected sonatas'. Among the composers who have been identified (but not named in the printed publication) are: Bertali, Schmelzer, Pohle and Capricornus.

[@KadorCitizen]

@Deadlockcp Search on google books for "Prothimia suavissima sive sonatarum selectissimarum", there is some study about it. Looks like it was a selection of sonatas of various authors including Bertali and Schmelzer too. For seventh it is Schmelzer and for eight Bertali. Also the seventh is from Schmelzer's "Duodena selectarum sonatarum" that also can be ... just a selection? ;D

[@deadlockcp5650]

Funny thing. I was listening to this piece last night, and I discovered that this is an identical sonata as one of Schmelzer's. I guess there really are some authenticity issues to this collection of published sonatas.

[@giuseppedimarco8358]

Bello!

[@deadlockcp5650]

@KadorCitizen Yes. I have this same exact recording and another Schmelzer recording of the same sonata. That's why it was like deja vu..

[@alistairkewish651]

There was an age when one composer was free to borrow elements of style, design and form from another musician. But to claim a work or an entire set of compositions as your own is entirely another affair. The good news remains, in an uncertain age when so many manuscripts were either lost or destroyed, we must count ourselves lucky that so much still remains in archives, as yet unperformed since the demise of the composers. We are sitting on a gold mine, as it were, and not fully appreciating it at one and the same time. I think this music is inventive by I would shy away from the adjective ‘weird’ which I don’t think is quite right. Unconventional, maybe, but still unpredictable in a way that the later baroque composers were never likely to be. This is where I belong, before music became very predictable. And as this developed so our interest and intellectual grasp on the works diminished.

[@redbrian3655]

Thank you. Question:how many sonatas are in this upload? Is it all 12? There is another upload of these Sonatas by Ars Antiqua, but it is listed part 2. Could you possibly clarify this? Thanks. This is a really nice rendition of Bertali. BRIAN

[@RUNivers]

Pieter Claesz-Breakfast

[@maliuatu]

Why would someone write "compared to Biber"? Biber was born 40 years after Bertali. It is like comparing Beethoven to Bruckner. Compare Bertali to his contemporaries.

[@balaenicepsrex21]

mf less ads!

[@manosm5477]

1669 Crete island!!! "finish European Venetian life "

[@mariorobillard1724]

Mélodieux mais le rythme est terne… s'écoute tout de même très bien accompagné d'un rouge et un roquefort.

[@Spuddy0108]

Pieter Claesz

[@laurentcesari]

Par comparaison avec Biber, cette musique est assez prévisible. On s’ennuie un peu.