With this, the nineteenth instalment of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts, we begin the third set of six overtures published monthly between 1763 and 1783. The next six overtures are dedicated to Italian composers whose music was all the rage in London towards the end of the 1760s. All 61 overtures, actually symphonies, in the complete series are being published monthly by Musikproduktion Höflich. Listen here before heading over to musikproduktion höflich to obtain your copy of the score and parts.
The earliest known advertisement for Periodical Overture No. 19 is dated 20 August 1767, and it contains the standard phrase “This Day is published” that Bremner used when each issue was newly released. He did repeat the identical verbiage in another advertisement two days later, so it is possible that the symphony had made its actual debut a few days before 20 August, with no earlier newspaper issues surviving today to document the fact. Still, it is certain that the work appeared during August 1767, and thus Bremner once again honored his pledge to publish only music that had not yet appeared in the British Isles. …
Curiously, the version of the symphony published by Bremner differs in numerous respects from its Parisian predecessors (as well as from the subsequent Welcker edition, since that is a duplicate of the Oger/Maillet print). Some of the changes reflect Bremner’s customary practices: he added figured bass to the Basso part, which is not present in either French publication. As was often the case, Bremner eliminated the “Minuetto” movement that appeared in the Oger/Maillet edition; that movement is also absent from Bailleux’s Sinfonia Periodique. Indeed, it seems probable that Bremner used the Bailleux version as his source, since his Basso part matches the many pitch register differences that distinguish the two French parts, as well as the duration of the multi-measure rest in the first movement that starts at measure 43; Bailleux and Bremner give the basses ten measures of rest, while it is only nine bars in Oger/Maillet.
In other ways, however, Bremner differs fairly significantly from both of the French prints. The viola part is divisi in all three movements of Periodical Overture No. 19, whereas the Oger/Maillet version divides the violas solely in the Andante movement (which Bremner labels as “Adagio”). Moreover, the viola parts in that French edition are completely different than the parts in Bremner’s issue. Instead, Bremner’s Viola I melody is derived from the Bailleux print (which contains only a single, undivided part), and Bremner has crafted his own Viola II part, harmonizing it primarily in thirds with Viola I, along with occasional polyphonic interweavings.
An even more surprising change is Bremner’s simplification of the syncopated pulsation that Violin I plays at the opening of the work in both French editions. Instead of off-beat quarter notes (reinforced by Violin II starting in measure 6), Bremner has his violins play steady eighth notes. It is not clear why he made this change; was it intended to make it easier for less-skilled ensembles to perform? A need for simplification does not seem fully warranted, since there had been many other symphonies already published as Periodical Overtures that presented greater rhythmic challenges. The modification seems even stranger in light of the fact that Bremner retains the French off-beat notation during the recapitulation of the opening material (m. 114). The purpose for these alterations remains a mystery, but perhaps it was a justifiable decision, given the subsequent longevity of the work. Although Bremner published only this one symphony by Pugnani in the Periodical Overture series, it remained in the repertory for a long time. Scholar Jenny Burchell has documented at least five performances of Periodical Overture No. 19 at concerts of the Edinburgh Musical Society, starting in 1769 and persisting for twenty years after it was published.[1]
Even with Bremner’s modifications, Pugnani’s ingenuity as a composer remains apparent. Rather than the bold coup d’archet openings of so many Mannheim composers, the start of Pugnani’s “Allegro assai” is a mysterious pianissimo. Only in the second bar, still at pianissimo, do the low strings present the simple rising-and-falling motif that comprises the first “melody” of this sonata form. Finally, in measure 19, a subito forte, reiterated triplets against “drum 8ths,” and the tutti ensemble combine to jolt the listeners. Three homorhythmic chords—played by the full ensemble—mark the end of the bridge (m. 42) and the start of the second theme (m. 43), which again starts quietly. This time, the first violins play little fragmentary motifs above the harmonic “carpeting” provided by the horns and lower strings. The theme ends with a striking series of whole-note chords (m. 62), drawing attention to the end of the exposition and the start of the development, which is filled with measured tremolos (m. 71). Three strong chords (m. 113) again articulate the structure, with the recapitulation beginning in the subsequent bar. This time, however, the low strings start their melody during the first measure of Violin I’s pulsations. Again, three emphatic chords (m. 135) herald the return of the second theme (m. 136), and the delicious whole-note chordal passage recurs in bar 155.
For the slightly melancholy “Adagio,” Pugnani shifts to the relative minor and eliminates the horns. Not only does this movement again open quietly, but it sustains the piano dynamic throughout, and all the string instruments are continuously muted. The movement is structured in three parts, each of which has a very similar rhythmic profile: a melodic line that emphasizes off-beat eighth notes against an on-the-beat accompaniment, often in a steady eighth-note/eighth-rest pattern. The second of the three sections, B, at measure 10, shifts to the mediant key, and a variant of the B material recurs at bar 29. The third section, C (m. 41), restores the movement to its opening C minor tonality, but does not reprise the melodic material heard at the start.
The strong emphasis on the downbeats and the bouncy contour of the melody during the closing “Allegro assai” reflect the gigue’s influence on this finale. The opening key of E-flat major is restored, and Pugnani employs a binary-sonata pattern that James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy call a “Type 2 Sonata”; it can be diagrammed as an || a/I b/V a/V b/I || structure.[2] A crescendo for the full ensemble (m. 37) points to the arrival of the second theme (m. 45) This melody is presented by the oboes, initially unaccompanied, but then joined by the tutti in bar 49. The first theme reappears in measure 66, and in the process of transitioning back from the dominant to the tonic, the oboes are given another solo feature (m. 84). They return to the spotlight a third time in bar 123, when the second theme is now played in E-flat major. Overall, the finale creates a strong contrast to the distinctive first and second movements, giving the audience a wide variety of musical experiences within a single work.
Alyson McLamore
[1] Jenny Burchell, Polite or Commercial Concerts?: Concert Management and Orchestral Repertoire in Edinburgh, Bath, Oxford, Manchester, and Newcastle, 1730–1799, Outstanding Dissertations in Music from British Universities, ed. by John Caldwell (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996), 312, 319, 337, 344, 347.
[2] James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy, Elements of Sonata Theory: Norms, Types, and Deformations in the Late-Eighteenth-Century Sonata (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006), 353–4.