In the first twenty-five issues of the Periodical Overtures, publisher Robert Bremner (c.1725–1789) had issued a small handful of works by composers living in (or visiting) Great Britain. This direct contact had certainly been the case with the inaugural symphony by Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782), and Bach—still resident in London—had been represented again (less happily) by Periodical Overture No. 15. Bremner’s personal acquaintance with Thomas Alexander Erskine (1732–1781), the sixth Earl of Kelly, clearly had led to the publication of Periodical Overtures Nos. 13, 17, and the most recent issue, No. 25, which appeared in June 1769. It seems quite possible that Bremner also had contracted in person for the right to publish the twenty-sixth symphony in the series, since its composer—Jacob Herschel (1734–1792)—is known to have spent various periods of time in London during a two-year stay in England; in fact, his sojourn in Great Britain did not end until late July 1769, while Bremner’s print was issued just four months later.

Jacob Herschel (1734-1792) The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. XXVI

Key: C | Movements: 3 (1) Allegro con brio (2) Andante molto più tosto Allegretto (3) Presto Duration: 7:42 Scoring: 2 violins, viola, basso, 2 oboes, 2 horns Originally published by Robert Bremner, London, 1769 (RISM H.5194)

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From the Preface to the printed edition: As the sole published symphonic music by (Jacob) Herschel—and perhaps the first music of any sort by Herschel in modern edition—Periodical Overture No. 26 presents a very fine calling card. The first movement lives up to its “Allegro con brio” designation with a bold premier coup d’archet in which the full ensemble plays a two-measure unison triadic figure to cement the tonic C major. After these hammerstrokes and several rising and falling scalar lines, the first violins perform an extended descending sequential pattern, supported by measured tremolos and “drum 8ths” in the lower strings. In measure 17, Herschel launches the first of several playful passages in which the first violins rapidly repeat a single pitch at a piano dynamic for two bars before crescendoing to forte. During that quiet passage, however, the violins are interrupted multiple times by the rest of the ensemble who interject quick forte appoggiaturas. After a similar interplay starting at measure 28 (now in G major), the movement takes an unexpected turn to the dominant minor to launch the “B” section (m. 38) of the movement’s ternary form. During this mostly piano passage, Herschel again startles listeners with subito interjections of an ensemble fortissimo (m. 45, m. 53). At measure 74, a return of the dynamic interchange first heard in measure 17 is our cue that a reprise of the “A” section is near, and the opening hammerstrokes make their reappearance at measure 91.

The second movement of Periodical Overture No. 26 mixes conventional and unconventional elements. The drop to a slower tempo and the omission of the winds are both expected, but the “Andante molto più tosto Allegretto” designation is unusually detailed. The change, harmonically, to F major—the subdominant of C major—is a standard transition, but the repetition scheme of ||: a :||: b a :|| c a || is a bit unexpected, expanding what initially seems to be an ordinary rounded-binary structure into a form that might be best described as a rondo. Herschel sets each melody apart, opening the refrain (a) with a five-note ascent (with a bit of chromaticism) that then gradually works its way downward above a busily “seesaw” pattern in Violin II. The b episode, in F’s dominant key, C major, descends more directly, first in sequential three-note groups, and then in a longer scale. The c episode—in d minor—shifts to much longer (and louder) quarter-note values in most of the ensemble; their four-note descents expand on the three-note descents of b.

Herschel’s sense of humour seems to be in evidence yet again in the “Presto,” written in a gigue-like meter. As in the first movement, the full ensemble bounces its way through a rising C major arpeggio as a premier coup d’archet—but when the ensemble catches its collective breath on the fourth beat of the measure, the violins quickly fill the silence with racing eighth notes. This lively gimmick is repeated in the second bar and again at many points during the movement. The finale employs two main melodies, a and b, that progress through the tonic and dominant harmonies in an || a/I b/V a/V b/I || pattern. James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy have labeled this structure as a “Type 2 Sonata”; Herschel’s version does not contain the repetition that often divides the form in half.¹ In contrast to the a theme with its opening disjunct bounciness, the b melody (m. 11 and m. 50) starts with rising and falling conjunct eighth notes that are occasionally interrupted by a large upward leap. Herschel also interjects short “block-chord” passages, such as measure 16—rather like the c episode in the slow movement—that underpin an effervescent melody in the first violin. In contrast to the flexible dynamics during the preceding movements, the finale sustains a robust forte or fortissimo throughout. Altogether, Periodical Overture No. 26 gives listeners an exhilarating—but regrettably rare—illustration of Herschel’s ample capabilities.

Alyson McLamore