Tag Archives: Periodical Overtures

Thomas Alexander Erskine (6th Earl of Kelly): The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – XXVIII (The Maid of the Mill)

On 28 August 1770, the General Evening Post carried an advertisement for “NEW MUSIC Just published” by Robert Bremner (1725–1789). The listing included “Periodical Overture, No. 28, composed by the Earl of Kelly for the Maid of the Mill.” The advertisement did not use the “This Day is Published” language that was Bremner’s custom when an issue was first released, so it is likely that Periodical Overture No. 28 had been in print for several weeks or months. In any event, it was to be Bremner’s last collaboration with his longtime colleague Thomas Alexander Erskine (1732–1781), the sixth Earl of Kelly (see Periodical Overtures Nos. 13, 17, and 25).

Thomas Alexander Erskine (6th Earl of Kelly (1732-1781) The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. XXVIII

Key: B-flat | Movements: 3 (1) Allegro (2) Adagio ma non troppo (3) Minuet Duration: 8:56 Scoring: 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 violins, viola, basso Originally published by Robert Bremner, London, 1770 (RISM E.778)

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The Periodical Overture No. 28 was not a new work when it appeared in Bremner’s series. In fact, it is likely that some of its purchasers had already heard it performed, since it had been composed five years earlier to serve as the overture for the pasticcio comedy The Maid of the Mill. Playwright Isaac Bickerstaffe (1733–1812) based the libretto on a very loose adaptation of Samuel Richardson’s popular novel Pamela. Like most British pasticcios of the day, the majority of the music was borrowed from earlier operatic works, but six pieces were newly composed for The Maid of the Mill: four songs by Samuel Arnold (1740–1802), an aria by Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782) (see Periodical Overtures Nos. 1, and 15), and the overture by Lord Kelly. The Maid of the Mill was the season’s chief success after its 31 January 1765 premiere at London’s Covent Garden Theatre. It then enjoyed several revivals in London, ranging clear up to the early nineteenth century. The pasticcio also traveled quite widely, with productions appearing in New York in 1769, St. Petersburg in 1772, and Jamaica in 1779.

Erskine’s overture for The Maid of the Mill enjoyed a life of its own as well. As was the case with his three earlier symphonies published by Bremner, Periodical Overture No. 28 enjoyed numerous performances in meetings of the Edinburgh Musical Society. Scholar Jenny Burchell has tabulated ten documented performances: one in 1771, two a decade later in 1781, and then seven that followed the earl’s death: two in 1782, three in 1783, and single presentations in 1784 and 1786. In a curious bit of programming, The Maid of the Mill overture was even used to precede selections from Handel’s Messiah in at least one concert, although this “unsuitable” pairing did arouse protest. The minister Charles Davy felt these “inconsistencies” were the result of a director lacking “true taste and judgement.” More evidence for the overture’s popularity was the keyboard arrangement that was published in The Piano-Forte Magazine in 1798, more than thirty years after the pasticcio’s premiere. The sustained interest in Erskine’s contribution supported the contemporary view that his music merited “vast applause” and that it was “an outstanding attraction for upper-class visitors to Edinburgh.”

From the Preface to the printed edition: Erskine’s overture amply reflects his Mannheim training with Johann Stamitz (see Periodical Overtures Nos. 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 12). The B-flat major “Allegro,” in common time, opens with three hammer blows that are repeated a third higher in the second measure. Interestingly, Kelly may have influenced J. C. Bach in turn, since Bach uses the same two opening bars almost exactly at the start of his Symphony in B-flat, Op. 9/21, no. 1 (1773). After this robust, forte opening, the first theme drops in volume to prepare for a four-measure wind showcase (m. 13). Fans of Stamitz’s music would recognize the Mannheim crescendo (m. 17) that then bridges the first and second themes of the sonata form. The crescendo passage is filled with “crushed” motifs of two thirty-second notes rising to a dotted eighth, supported throughout by steady “drum 8ths.” The quieter second theme (m. 41) relaxes the intensity by using longer note values as well. The development (m. 52) opens with a motif from the first theme, and again spotlights the winds (m. 68), made more dramatic by the use of the minor mode and by short injections of the “crushed” motif in the strings and bassoon. There is a clear drive to the recapitulation (m. 84), which repeats the nuances of the exposition, including its many moments of chromaticism.

The central movement—a lyrical common-time “Adagio ma non troppo” in the dominant key of F major—loosely conforms to the binary-sonata pattern that James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy call a “Type 2 Sonata,” diagrammed as || a/I b/V a(’)/V b/I ||.[1] The horns are tacet, but Erskine continues to employ the oboes and bassoons in addition to the strings. In fact, the second period (m. 7) of the first theme showcases the oboes, followed by some delightful echo effects between the winds and strings. The oboes also introduce the second theme (m. 16), featuring a quick rise and a slower fall, and peppered with trills.

In several of the preceding Periodical Overtures, Bremner had created three-movement symphonies by eliminating minuets from his continental sources. In the case of The Maid of the Mill overture, however, Erskine’s third movement is a minuet, so Bremner retained it in this publication. Although it returns to the symphony’s B-flat tonal center and is in the customary  meter, Erskine does not use the standard minuet-and-trio form. Instead, the finale is crafted as a conventional five-part rondo (A B A C A). The refrain is a graceful rising line, starting piano but repeating at forte. The first episode (m. 17) has a descending contour and plays with juxtaposed eighth notes and triplets. After the return of the refrain (m. 25), the C episode (m. 41) ushers in some increased drama by its use of a minor mode and an extended woodwind feature. After a brief moment of imitative polyphony, Erskine shifts the focus to short motifs. Another Mannheim crescendo (m. 54) adds to the episode’s intensity, but the mood lightens with the last return of A (m. 65). Overall, Erskine’s effective creativity may explain this overture’s long-term popularity; it also illustrates the “genius for composition” credited to Erskine by Burney.[2] Almost two hundred years later, British scholar Charles Cudworth reiterated that viewpoint, arguing that “after the middle of the century, the Earl of Kelly was undeniably our most gifted symphonist.”[3]

Alyson McLamore

[1] 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.

[2] Burney, A General History of Music From the Earliest Ages to the Present Period (1789), 1018.

[3] Cudworth, “The English Symphonists of the Eighteenth Century,” 48.

Thomas Arne: The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – XXVII (The Guardian Outwitted)

 

With the twenty-seventh issue of the Periodical Overtures, announced in early April 1770, publisher Robert Bremner (1725–1789) [1] did something he had never done before: he printed a symphony by an English composer, Thomas Augustine Arne (1717–1778). True, the Scot Thomas Alexander Erskine (the Earl of Kelly) had been featured three times up to this point, contributing Periodical Overtures Nos. 13, 17, and 25. Arne, however, appeared only this one time in the series, and while Erskine would figure once again—in fact, in the subsequent issue, Periodical Overture No. 28—no other British composers were represented in the sixty-one symphonies.

The inclusion of Arne’s piece was itself a bit surprising, even though Arne had been a long-standing and prominent musical figure in Great Britain. When his comic opera The Guardian Outwitted premiered at the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, on 12 December 1764, it lasted only six nights.[2] Ironically, a string of critiques—some in prose, and some as satirical odes—were published over the next several weeks, persisting much longer than the opera itself.[3] Despite the production’s relatively brief run, Bremner published a vocal score (with Arne’s dedication to Queen Charlotte) early in 1765, containing songs and duets along with a keyboard arrangement of the overture.[4] It was that same overture—some five years later—that would comprise Periodical Overture No. 27.

Thomas Arne (1717-1789) The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. XXVII

Key: G | Movements: 3 (1) Con Spirito (2) Andante Larghetto (3) Andante Amoroso Duration: 5:43 Scoring: 2 oboes, 2 flutes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 violins, viola, basso Originally published by Robert Bremner, London, 1770 (RISM A.1834)

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From the Preface to the printed edition: It is easy to argue that the overture of The Guardian Outwitted is a very fine introductory piece for listeners who are new to Arne. He demonstrates his awareness of changing trends in theater overtures, since he incorporates several of the structural elements of stand-alone concert symphonies, such as the shift from G major in the outer movements to the parallel minor for the central “Andante Larghetto.” Like members of the Mannheim school, he gives significant attention to the winds; he also expands the ensemble from Bremner’s customary “eight parts” by requiring flutes in the finale and a pair of bassoons throughout.

The opening “Con Spirito” seems to reflect a composer who was straddling the divide between the Ancients (those who valued the traditions of Baroque music) and the Moderns (fans of the newest compositional trends). This first movement presents a blend of older overture conventions with newer symphonic techniques, such as its proto-sonata-rondo form. Arne’s first theme is full of sudden contrasts: it opens with a full-ensemble hammer-blow and then immediately shifts to delicate, piano, staccato notes in the upper strings; the full group re-enters at a forte for six measures until returning to the opening material. This time, though, the six-measure passage is expanded to eight bars, and it transitions to the dominant minor for the movement’s lyrical second theme at measure 19. This theme—with its “real harmonic character”—features the oboes, who play conjunct pairs of notes in alternation with small flurries of sixteenths in the violins.[5] After this brief four-bar passage, the full ensemble returns to the first theme at measure 23, now in the dominant major. Arne does not repeat the exposition; instead, the first theme launches the development at measure 31, while it is the second theme that heralds the return to the tonic G (m. 60), but again, in the parallel minor. Four measures later, the first theme solidifies the sense of closure with its robust scoring in G major.

In contrast to the numerous modern features of the first movement, the tiny ten-measure “Andante Larghetto” resembles the slow “bridge” transitions between movements in Baroque structures such as concertos and trio sonatas. It differs significantly from the keyboard reduction in the older vocal score, and it is unknown which version more accurately represents the overture actually performed in Covent Garden. In any event, the simpler rhythmic passages in the Periodical Overture provide a clearer showcase for the orchestral timbral effects. The oboes take the lead, while the strings play pizzicato until the final two bars. The movement culminates with a fermata in measure 8 that suggests an opportunity for a brief cadenza (and which was specified in the keyboard version). The oboes then fall silent and the strings play an arco half-cadence, pausing on D major before an implied attacca into the finale.

The “Andante Amoroso” does not evoke the “gigue” finales heard in the majority of Bremner’s Periodical Overtures. Instead, it suggests a different, more sedate dance, such as a minuet or even a Ländler. It contains three themes in an a-a-b-a-c-b-c-a pattern. While the quiet first theme (a) puts an emphasis on beat 2 with its opening quarter-note/half-note rhythms and prevalent rinforzandi, it starts to introduce Scotch snaps in measure 5, and these quickly prove to be a dominant feature throughout the finale. The first violin often bypasses steps four and seven in the scale (as in, for example, measure 5), giving those passages a pentatonic flavour. The b theme (m. 17) then features the Scotch snap in almost every bar, while the c motif (m. 32) reduces but does not eliminate the distinctive folk rhythm. All through the movement, the strings and woodwinds are showcased in alternation. Moreover, the bassoon takes on an independent role—the first extended example of this type of scoring to appear in Bremner’s series. The overall effect is charming; it is also an ample illustration of Arne’s “God-gifted” melodic expertise.

Alyson McLamore

[1] Bremner’s birth year differs from the “c.1713” currently listed in most published sources; it is based on information from Scottish baptismal records that was kindly conveyed to us by Rudolf Rasch.

[2] “London Stage Event: 12 December 1764 at Covent Garden,” London Stage Database, accessed April 8, 2026, https://londonstagedatabase.uoregon.edu/event.php?id=32448.

[3] P.C. Roscoe, “Arne and ‘The Guardian Outwitted,” Music & Letters 24, no. 4 (Oct. 1943): 239–244.

[4] British Library, G.230.(2).

[5] Richard Platt, “Thomas Augustine Arne, 1710–1778,” in The Symphony and Overture in Great Britain: Twenty Works, ed. Richard Platt, Susan Kirakowska, David Johnson, and Thomas McIntosh, Series E, Volume I of The Symphony, 1720–1840 (New York: Garland, 1984), lxvi.

Niccolò Piccinni (Piccini): The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – XXI

With this, the twenty-first instalment of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts, we continue Bremner’s publication of  overtures written by 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.

There is some uncertainty about the dating of Periodical Overture No. 21. In his seminal study of the series, David Wyn Jones cites a 24 September 1767 advertisement in The Public Advertiser.[1] However, that issue of the newspaper does not seem to contain any advertising at all by Bremner. Moreover, in an advertisement published three days earlier—on 21 September—Bremner lists the previous symphony, No. 20, as “just published,” with no mention of an upcoming No. 21.[2] It seems unlikely that Bremner would have issued two overtures in the same month, so it is more probable that the second symphony by Piccinni was introduced in October, November, or very early December. It is true that the first advertisement to mention Periodical Overture No. 21—which was published in the 8 December–10 December issue of The St. James’s Chronicle; or, The British Evening-Post—lists the overture (with other works) under the stock heading “New Music. This Day were published. . . .”[3] However, Bremner’s third symphony by Piccinni was announced only two weeks later—on 22 December—so it is possibly the case that Bremner had released No. 21 quite a bit earlier than 8 December and had not bothered to revise the language of the advertisement.

Although Periodical Overture No. 21 seems to have achieved only a tiny fraction of the popularity of its immediate predecessor, it did demonstrate a certain amount of staying power. Scholar Jenny Burchell has documented two performances that took place in concerts of the Edinburgh Musical Society in 1783, sixteen years after the symphony was published: one occurred on 2 May and the second on 16 June. Two years later, it was presented again, during a 24 June performance.[4]

The structural similarities between Periodical Overture No. 21 and the subsequent two Piccinni works, which both are known to have come from operas, are additional arguments for No. 21 having had a theatrical origin as well. It is in three movements, with the first marked as “Allegro spiritoso,” the identical tempo marking that is used for the opening in all four of Piccinni’s works in the Periodical Overture series. This F major work is structured as a sonata form without repeats, although it is “Haydnesque” in its re-use of the common-time, upward-zigzag first theme in the second tonal area of C major (m. 27). During the theme’s first appearance (m. 1), it is supported by a murky bass (m. 7) and then “drum 8ths” (m. 12). The bridge between the two harmonic areas, starting in measure 16, is peppered with subito contrasts between piano and forte, and the same is true for the development, which starts in measure 36 after three quick hammer blows mark the end of the exposition. Here, though, the contrasts are even greater, shifting suddenly between pianissimo and fortissimo. The opening theme returns at measure 46 and is reiterated at measure 62, driving to a final set of hammer blows in measure 70.

The central movement moves to the contrasting subdominant key of B-flat major, and it is set in a not-terribly-slow “Andante grazioso”; all three of the other Piccinni symphonies also employ some version of “Andante” in their second movements. All four also reduce the ensemble to strings alone, although this is true for over half of the symphonies in Bremner’s series. Within the ternary form, Piccinni’s A melody works its way downward gradually. The B theme (m. 20) makes use of numerous suspensions and dramatic dynamic contrasts. When the A theme returns (m. 32), it also features many sudden and dramatic dynamic changes.

Piccinni is again consistent in his use of bouncy, gigue-like, compound-subdivision finales. Three of the four closing movements—including Periodical Overture No. 21—are in  time, and two of the other symphonies are marked “Allegro,” while one is labeled “Presto.” Periodical Overture No. 21 perhaps straddles the line by calling for “Allegro Presto.” Returning to the F major home key, it travels a lively journey through a sonata form, starting with strong, ascending block chords in the upper strings and winds. The second theme (m. 35) features busy rising-and-falling sixteenth notes. The development (m. 44) drops to a hushed piano dynamic and reduced scoring of violins and violas only, sustained for eighteen measures. A subito return to forte and a quick downward scale set the stage for the recapitulation (m. 64) and the reprise of the block chords. Piccinni may also be emulating a little bit of Haydnesque playfulness by tossing in a “false reprise” of the second theme’s busy motif in the “wrong” key of C major at measure 90. It reappears in a clear, forte F major at measure 101, propelling the overture to its final emphatic triple-stop chords in the violins—again a characteristic shared by all four of the Piccinni Periodical Overtures.

Alyson McLamore

[1] David Wyn Jones, “Robert Bremner and The Periodical Overture,” Soundings 7 (1978): 74.

[2] The Public Advertiser, 21 September 1767, p. 1.

[3] The St. James’s Chronicle; or, The British Evening-Post, 8 December—10 December 1767, p. 2

[4] 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), 337, 344.

 

Niccolò Piccinni (Piccini): The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – XX (Overture to La buona figliuola)

With this, the twentieth instalment of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts, we continue Bremner’s publication of  overtures written by 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.

advertisement for publication of music by Piccinni

Announcement of the publication of Overture XX.

[The popularity of the publication of Piccinni’s overture to La buona figliuola as Periodical Overture in 8 Parts XX] is evident in the numerous keyboard arrangements published until the end of the century. A circa 1800 print by T. Williamson seems to be based directly on Bremner’s score for the full opera, since it is set in three movements with almost identical notation.[1] Others, such as the prints sold by James Aird (1785) or G. Walker (1800), were newly engraved.[2] The same is true for a 1785 arrangement made by Thomas Carter and published by John Preston, which was designed “for Two Performers on One Harpsichord or Piano Forte.”[3] A copy of Carter’s four-hand arrangement was in Jane Austen’s personal library, suggesting the ongoing appeal of the work on into the nineteenth century.[4]

It is interesting that Senex, [an anonymous] nineteenth-century magazine correspondent, had singled out Piccinni’s overture as the exemplar for the model mid-century symphony, since its second and third movements were usually performed without a break (contrary to Bremner’s three-movement structure in the keyboard reduction for his opera print). Still, Senex is correct about the overture’s other large-scale characteristics. The work is scored for the ubiquitous eight-part ensemble of two violins, viola, basso, two oboes, and two horns, and it conforms to a typical fast-slow-fast tempo plan.

The first movement, “Allegro spiritoso,” reflects Piccinni’s independence from the sonata-form domination that characterized the Mannheim compositions of the day. Its architecture is an energetic but overall rather simple ternary structure. The arpeggiated opening theme is succeeded by a second motif (m. 10) that features downbeat thirty-second-note flourishes, which is then followed by a variant of the opening arpeggiation (m. 20) in the dominant key of A major. Measured tremolos (m. 28) and a murky bass (m. 44) drive the movement toward its B section (m. 53). The dynamic level drops to piano while the violins play a lyrical theme that shares some resemblance to the measure 10 motif. Again, the build-up of tremolos and murky bass herald the shortened return (A’) of the first motif and the tonic D major (m. 84).

Piccinni uses several similar strategies for the “Andante” movement, including a ternary form. The movement opens in the parallel key of D minor, scored only for strings, and after a disjunct opening measure, the A melody descends an octave by means of staccato eighth notes. The central B section (m. 9) initially repeats the first theme—now in the relative key of F major—but when the key shifts to g minor (m. 17), a new motif appears. It is characterized by sudden piano—forte juxtapositions, and thus it contrasts with a third motif containing frequent eighth rests, coinciding with a modulation to A major (m. 29). This is, of course, the dominant of D minor, and thus prepares listeners for the return of the opening A material in measure 39. The dynamic level then increases, retreats, and increases again as the movement pushes—without pause—toward the “Presto” finale, where the overture’s initial D major tonality is restored and the winds rejoin the ensemble.

The finale retains the same  meter of the slow movement, and it again unfolds as a ternary form. This time, however, there is a clearer distinction between the themes for the A and B sections, although both are bouncy and gigue-like. The first motif moves initially in an ascending direction above “drum 8ths,” and it is set in a slightly higher register than the second theme (m. 49). The B material, in the dominant key of A major, has a primarily descending contour. The A theme and the home key of D major return in measure 63, and the lively movement concludes with a series of emphatic triple-stop chords.

[1] The British Library, g.443.p.(13).

[2] The British Library, g.1126.c.(3) and g.354.o.(2).

[3] The British Library, h.3290.aa.(4).

[4] Patrick Piggott, The Innocent Diversion: A Study of Music in the Life and Writings of Jane Austen, The Clover Hill Editions (London: D. Cleverdon, 1979), 143.

Alyson McLamore

Gaetano Pugnani – The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts XIX

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.

Johann Stamitz: The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. XI

This is the eleventh installment  of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts which are being published in conjunction with Musikproduktion Höflich.

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In 1826, a correspondent … wrote to The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review in response to a previous issue’s article “The Great Symphonists.” He listed a number of mid-eighteenth-century symphonists whom he felt had been unjustly ignored. He credited (Johann) Stamitz with introducing the crescendo and diminuendo, and pointed to Periodical Overture No. 11 as possessing “beautiful specimens” of the crescendo in its first and last movements.[1] Then, in 1980—two centuries after the symphony’s heyday—Claude V. Palisca published Stamitz’s first movement in the inaugural edition of the Norton Anthology of Western Music.[2] He based his score on the venerable Denkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst edition from 1902.[3] That selection has therefore given generations of collegiate music students an introduction to characteristic “Mannheim” features in this vigorous opening; it also make the first movement of Bremner’s edition seem like a familiar friend.

One of the memorable gestures of Periodical Overture No. 11 is the use of three sharp “hammer-blow” strokes, or premier coups d’archet, that immediately grab listeners’ attention.[4] This “Allegro assai” is structured as a quadruple-meter sonata form without repetitions (characteristic of Stamitz’s later symphonies), and the first theme is underpinned by measured tremolos in the second violins and violas and by “drum 8ths” in the “Basso” part.[5] Distinctive horn calls resound in the second half of the theme (m. 11), and one of the transition’s most exciting elements is the use of Mannheim crescendos, which begin building in measure 18 and again in measure 27. The oboes are showcased in the more lyrical second theme (m. 47), which also plays with antiphonal effects between sections of the orchestra. After the modulatory development (m. 75), the recapitulation reverses the order of the themes, with the lyrical oboes reappearing in measure 108, the horn calls in measure 132, and the hammer-blows in measure 139 for a resounding conclusion.

The “Andantino” shifts to the dominant key of B-flat major, and it employs a binary-sonata pattern that James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy call a “Type 2 Sonata,” diagrammed as an ||: a/I b/V :||: a/V b/I :|| structure.[6] This simple-duple movement is scored for strings only, and its first theme has a lovely lilting quality above softly pulsing drum 8ths. The second theme (m. 30) features both the bass and viola parts in rising and falling scalar patterns, followed by the violins in a more disjunct and syncopated line (m. 40). Like many Mannheim works, sudden dynamic contrasts are often separated by only a single measure, and the latter half of the movement is peppered with rinforzandi accentuations.

The “Prestissimo,” an exhilarating finale in 3/8, is again loaded with strategies that the Mannheim orchestra made famous. Its first theme comprises an upward sequence that employs the quick rising-and-falling motif known as the Bebung, while the bass strings accompany with steady drum 8ths.[7] The sequence gradually crescendos to bell-like chords played fortissimo by the whole ensemble (m. 17) while the upper strings now play measured tremolos. The chords are quickly followed by lively hunting-style fanfares for the winds and upper strings. The sonata form’s second theme (m. 47) again starts quietly; the second violins and violas play oscillating, conjunct lines underneath measured tremolos, with the oboes joining in on the second half of each phrase. The extremely brief development (m. 95) plays with a modulatory Bebung before stabilizing in E-flat at measure 103 for the recapitulation of the first theme. The second theme makes its own return in measure 149. A series of seven hammer-blow E-flat chords in the last three bars bring the movement (and symphony) to a satisfying, table-thumping close.

Alyson McLamore

[1] Senex, “To the Editor,” The Quarterly Musical Magazine and Review 8, no. 31 (July 1826): 304–5.

[2] Johann Anton Wenzel Stamitz, “Sinfonia a 8 in E-flat Major (La Melodia Germanica No. 3), in Classic • Romantic • Modern, 42–50, Vol. II of Norton Anthology of Western Music, ed. Claude V. Palisca (New York: W. W. Norton, 1980); it continues to appear in the 2019 eighth edition.

[3] Hugo Riemann, ed., Sinfonien der pfalzbayerischen Schule (Mannheimer Symphoniker), Jahrgang III, vol. 1 of Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern (Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst, Zweite Folge), ed. Adam Sandbergern (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1902), 1–28.

[4] David D. Boyden and Peter Walls, “Coup d’archet,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 6: 579.

[5] Wolf, The Symphonies of Johann Stamitz, 340.

[6] 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.

[7] Hugo Riemann, ed., Sinfonien der pfalzbayerischen Schule (Mannheimer Symphoniker), in Year 7, Vol. II, of Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern, in Series 2 of Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1906), xvii.

Johann Stamitz: The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. VI

This is the sixth installment  of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts which are being published in conjunction with Musikproduktion Höflich.

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Records show that The Periodical Overture No. 6 was performed in concerts of the Edinburgh Musical Society twice a year during 1768 and 1769, and it was then played three times in 1770. It was heard sporadically in the Scottish concerts over the next decade and a half: once a year in 1771, 1778, 1779, and 1780; then twice in 1781, once in 1782, three times in 1783, and once again in 1785.[1] Four years later, “The 6th Periodical Overture of J. Stamitz” opened the second half of the final concert in a three-performance 1789 subscription series offered in New York by pianist Alexander Reinagle (1756–1809) and cellist Henri Capron (fl. 1785–95).[2] Reinagle had emigrated from London three years earlier; perhaps he carried the Periodical Overture in his luggage.[3] As had been true for the previous Periodical Overture by Stamitz, the British Library’s copy of No. 6 had been sold by a rival of Bremner: Welcker’s Musick Shop on Gerrard Street, St. Ann’s, in Soho.[4]

Stamitz used the key of E-flat major for all the movements of Periodical Overture No. 6, but the opening “Allegro” in common-time differs from the others by employing a sonata-form structure without repeats. The first half of the opening polyphonic theme sustains its pianissimo dynamic over “drum 4ths” for a surprisingly extended twenty-one measures, then pauses for a fermata. The second half of Theme 1 is a robust forte with sequential upward rockets in the first violins. The transition (m. 38) employs the Mannheim school’s beloved measured tremolos, and the second theme in B-flat major—at measure 62—is closely related to the first theme, similar to the monothematic sonata-form approach that Joseph Haydn would use in a number of his works. The main contrast in this passage is Stamitz’s increased emphasis on the oboes, who play a much more active line; another measured tremolo leads to the start of the development (m. 113). The development’s sudden drop to pianissimo launches another favorite Mannheim device: a full-ensemble crescendo to fortissimo over the next nine bars. Moreover, the horns are given an extensive “vibrato” indication by means of a long, wavy line. The recapitulation’s return to the tonic (m. 174) also returns to the pianissimo dynamic, but the winds are given an even more prominent role, including some distinctive triplets.

Both the second and third movements employ the same form, diagrammed as ||: a/I b/V :||: a/V b/I :||. James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy have labeled this pattern as a “Type 2 Sonata.”[5] The duple-meter “Andante” reduces the scoring to strings only, playing a fairly disjunct “a” theme and a more conjunct, triplet-filled “b” melody (m. 29). The finale employs the full ensemble, again in duple meter, but now at a lively “Presto.” The first theme is syncopated with quick upward arpeggiations (and vibrato passages in the winds), while the more lyrical second theme (m. 57) showcases the oboes above “drum 8ths.” The lengthy second half of the Type 2 binary sonata form features some lovely harmonic progressions and employs another Mannheim crescendo that starts in measure 205. The movement represents one of Stamitz’s most extended structures, leading Eugene K. Wolf to classify it as a very late work, as well as “probably also [Stamitz’s] most dramatic.”[6]

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), 310–345 passim.

[2] O. G. Sonneck, Early Concert-Life in America (1731–1800) (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1907), 187–8.

[3] Robert Hopkins, “Reinagle: (2) Alexander Reinagle,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 21: 153.

[4] British Library, g.474.n.(4).

[5] 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.

[6] Wolf, The Symphonies of Johann Stamitz, 338.

 

 

Pietro Maria Crispi: The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. V

This is the fifth installment  of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts which are being published in conjunction with Musikproduktion Höflich.

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Although Crispi’s overture is scored for the customary “eight parts” that comprised the majority of works of Bremner’s series, the winds are not given truly independent material. In fact, whenever the oboes play, they double one or both of the violin parts almost without fail. On a few occasions, they play sustained pitches while the higher strings present measured tremolos or oscillating patterns. Similarly, the horns customarily play a simplified version of material drawn from various string parts; they are never featured on their own. Moreover, as is the case in over half of the Periodical Overtures, the ensemble is reduced to strings alone in the middle movement.

The first movement introduces Crispi’s fondness for sharp dynamic contrasts. Structured as a sonata-rondo form in common time, the cheerful “Allegro Spiritoso” opens with a principal theme that returns in the tonic D major at m. 60 and again at m. 99. Curiously, the opening theme consists of two six-bar phrases in its first two appearances, but it is truncated to five-measure phrases in its final statement. Although Crispi was not a member of the Mannheim school of composers, various devices associated with that influential mid-century ensemble appear throughout the movement, such as the measured tremolos in m. 17 and onward, the “drum 8ths” in the low strings beginning in m. 3, or the oscillating Bebung gestures that launch each occurrence of the second theme (mm. 37, 57, 88, etc.).[1] In comparison to the robust principal melody, the secondary theme seems wispier and much less substantial. Its phrase lengths are also modified in its successive re-appearances.

The central “Andantino”—a thirty-six-measure ternary structure with a codetta extension, set in the dominant key of A major—again displays Crispi’s penchant for variable phrasing. During the opening section, he shifts between short motifs that start on the downbeat and phrases that begin at other points of the duple-meter measure, keeping listeners slightly off-balance. The B section (m. 12), in E major, sustains a quiet dynamic level, contrasting with the final A section (m. 20) in which Crispi again plays with subito dynamic contrasts.

The closing “Allegro assai” returns to D major but is a bit more adventurous in its harmony. The first half of this gigue-like finale (in 3/8 time) resembles a conventional sonata-form exposition, presenting a first theme in the tonic, then moving to the dominant A major for both a second theme (m. 17) and a closing theme (m. 28). After the repetition of the exposition, the first theme is heard in A, and shifts abruptly to a repetition in the tonic minor (m. 45). (Crispi uses a favorite device—a rapidly descending five-note scale—to transition to this surprising key.) A short rising sequential passage leads to the second (m. 61) and closing themes (m. 72), set in the expected D major. As with the preceding movements, Crispi delights in echo effects achieved by sudden dynamic changes.

We do not know if Bremner issued the Periodical Overtures simply in the order that he acquired them, or if he planned the way that the early symphonies would be grouped in their respective sets of six. If he did follow some scheme, it is tempting to regard Periodical Overture No. 5 as the lighter, scherzo-like “relief” before the subsequent Periodical Overture No. 6 by Johann Stamitz, which, in performance, is triple the length of Crispi’s contribution. Still, Crispi incorporated various moments of flair in his treatment of phrasing, dynamics, and harmony, and the appeal of his sole representation in Bremner’s series should encourage musicians to seek out his many other surviving compositions.

Alyson McLamore

[1] Hugo Riemann, ed., Sinfonien der pfalzbayerischen Schule (Mannheimer Symphoniker), in Year 7, Vol. II, of Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern, in Series 2 of Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1906), xvii.

 

Anton Fils (Filtz): The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. IV

This is the fourth installment  of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts which are being published in conjunction with Musikproduktion Höflich.

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In The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts, No. IV, Fils’s colorful orchestration is apparent from the opening measures of the “Allegro.” The upper strings launch a vigorous measured tremolo in cut-time, emphasized by a loud tonic E-flat from the horns, while the lower strings play a quarter-note motif that arpeggiates the tonic chord. The flutes soon rise above the mass of sound with a light-hearted motif that starts slowly but ends with a flurry of sixteenth notes. The upper strings get a brief respite from their nearly continuous tremolos during the quiet start of the second theme (m. 29), but forte tremolos resume four bars later in the second violins, the violas, and the cellos/basses. Above them, the first violins play a series of staccato climbing arpeggios punctuated by flute flourishes. Numerous members of the ensemble race through upward scales during the closing theme at m. 45.

Fils crafts an unconventional form with these materials. The simple quarter-note arpeggio from mm. 1-2 is thrust into prominence in an imitative duet that launches the movement’s second half in m. 59. After considerable harmonic wandering, Fils restates the second theme at m. 128, now in the tonic E-flat, but only four measures of the theme are heard before the noisier closing-theme scales return (m. 132). James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy would likely call this structure a “Type II Sonata,” in which the first theme’s material—bravely represented by the tiny quarter-note motif—is heard only in the dominant during the second section.[1]

Although the “Andante” shares many features with the “Allegro”—the key of E-flat, the Type II sonata form—the mood is completely different. It is a soothing interlude of gentle appoggiaturas, far removed from the muscular tremolos of the first movement. The horns are tacet throughout, and the flutes are silent for the first ten bars. However, in mm. 15 and 17, when the unison strings play forte sextuplets, the flutes respond with short interjections, and they then embellish the string melody in much of the second half of the movement.

Since Bremner omitted the minuet, the overture shifts gears to the rapid-fire “Presto,” again in E-flat major. Fils’s Mannheim affiliation is clear in various regards: the first theme repeatedly includes the quick rising-and-falling motif known as the Bebung, while the lower strings accompany with steady “drum 8ths.”[2] After a stretch of measured tremolos (m. 13 and onward), a brief tutti silence signals the second theme (m. 32) in the dominant key, featuring the violins and flutes in what jazz musicians might call “trading fours.” The violins and flutes then jointly present the closing theme at m. 50, a series of rising scales harmonized in thirds. In the manner of a Type II sonata form, the second half of the finale repeats the three themes but reverses their tonal centers: the first theme (m. 70) remains in the dominant, while the second (ms. 122)  and closing themes (ms. 140) both shift to the tonic. The “Presto” is an exhilarating whirl, and listeners are likely to agree with Fils’s peers in regretting that he did not live a longer life.

Alyson McLamore

[1] 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.

[2] Hugo Riemann, ed., Sinfonien der pfalzbayerischen Schule (Mannheimer Symphoniker), in Year 7, Vol. II, of Denkmäler der Tonkunst in Bayern, in Series 2 of Denkmäler deutscher Tonkunst (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1906), xvii.

Johann Stamitz: The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. III

This is the 3rd of the Periodical Overtures in 8 Parts which are being published in conjunction with Musikproduktion Höflich.

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Johann Stamitz (1717-1759) The Periodical Overture in 8 Parts – No. III

Key: D | Movements: 3 (1) Pastorale Presto (2) Larghetto (3) Vivace: 12:07 Scoring: 2 oboes, 2 horns, 2 violins, viola, basso Originally published by Robert Bremner, London, 1763 (RISM S.4595)

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From the Preface to the printed edition: In Periodical Overture No. 3, Bremner made his first major structural change to a pre-existing work: he completely eliminated the third movement—a minuet and trio—that had appeared in both the (earlier) Parisian and Amsterdam prints. In fact, Stamitz had been in the first wave of composers to add that dance to their symphonic works. Nevertheless, English audiences seem to have been slower than their continental counterparts to embrace the expansion of symphonies into the four-movement “sonata cycle” model, so Bremner arbitrarily trimmed Stamitz’s symphony by 25%, apparently to bring it more in line with British taste. Since Stamitz had died even before Huberty’s print appeared, Bremner would have been unable to seek the composer’s consent to the change, but since international copyright laws did not yet exist, it is doubtful that Bremner would have felt any need to obtain permission.

Bremner’s three-movement version of the symphony had a wide reach. In 1768, five years after its publication, records show that it was performed twice during concerts of the Edinburgh Musical Society (on 4 March and 15 July). It was played again the next year, on 17 February and 8 December; twice in 1770; again on 27 November 1778; thrice in 1781; two times in 1782; three times each in 1783 and in 1784; and once again in 1785.[1] Also in 1785, when the Moravians founded a community in Fairfield, England, Stamitz’s Periodical Overture No. 3 was among the works in their music library.[2] It may have been the unnumbered “Periodical Symphony” by Stamitz that closed the second act of a 1771 concert in Boston, Massachusetts, although Bremner had issued five other works by Stamitz before that point, any of which could have been the symphony in the concert listing.[3] The simple fact that Bremner rapidly published six Stamitz symphonies within the first year of his series also suggests that the initial issue had enjoyed strong sales. Moreover, a sticker on the British Library’s copy of the overture indicates that it had been sold at Welcker’s Musick Shop on Gerrard Street, St. Ann’s, in Soho.[4] It seems unlikely that a music retailer would carry a rival printer’s publication unless it was in high demand.

An interesting feature of Periodical Overture No. 3 is that it is a very early example of a cyclic symphony. All three of its movements incorporate a motif drawn from a Czech Christmas carol, “Nesem vám noviny,” sung in German as “Kommet, ihr Hirten” and adapted in English as “Bells Ringing in the Tower” and “Come, All Ye Shepherds.”[5] A repeated motif in the last phrase of the carol …  lends its contour to various moments in the overture: in the woodwinds in ms. 10, 12, 14, and elsewhere in the first movement; in ms. 24, 25, and so forth in the “Larghetto”; and in augmentation at the start of the finale (ms. 2-3 and 6-7). Moreover, Stamitz designated the first movement as a “Pastorale Presto,” thus linking his symphony to a popular Nativity custom of writing “pastorella” works for performance in the Christmas season, often in church.[6]

Stamitz structured the quadruple-meter first movement in the pattern that James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy call a “Type II Sonata.”[7] The movement begins with a conventional exposition in D major; it transitions to the dominant A major and introduces a second theme at ms. 35 and a closing theme at ms. 47. However, when the first theme, filled with soft “drum 8ths” and a series of imitative descents, reappears in ms. 66, it is also in A major. The return to the tonic key (ms. 104) coincides with the recapitulation of the closing theme. That third theme is followed by the second theme (ms. 120) as well as an additional statement of the closing theme at ms. 132. The first theme does not return in the tonic key at all, and the movement ends at a pianissimo, reflecting its unconventionally quiet opening.[8]

Although the triple-meter “Larghetto” (in the subdominant key of G major) also starts quietly, it features numerous sudden piano—forte contrasts (and vice versa), reflecting the Mannheim taste for distinctive dynamic variety. Like the opening movement, it employs a Type II sonata pattern, this time with repeated sections in a ||: 1st theme/I – 2nd theme/V :||: 1st theme/V– 2nd theme/I :|| progression.

In contrast to the quiet openings of the first two movements, the “Vivace” in D Major begins at a vigorous forte and with a unison premier coup d’archet.[9] The finale conforms to a model sonata-form in a bouncy 6/8 meter. Richard Will suggests that this lively gigue-like conclusion supports the “glorifying and praising God” that concludes the St. Luke account of the Nativity story.[10] Even without a religious connotation, Periodical Overture No. 3 presents a well-unified yet varied listening journey.

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), 310–344 passim.

[2] Karl Kroeger, “An Unknown Collection of Eighteenth-Century Instrumental Music,” Fontes Artis Musicae 35, no. 4 (October–December 1988): 277, 280.

[3] O. G. Sonneck, Early Concert-Life in America (1731–1800) (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1907), 262.

[4] British Library, g.474.n.(3).

[5] https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php/Nesem_v%C3%A1m_noviny_(Traditional); Eugene K. Wolf, The Symphonies of Johann Stamitz: A Study in the Formation of the Classic Style (Utrecht: Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema, 1981), 303.

[6] Richard Will, The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven, New Perspectives in Music History and Criticism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002), 86.

[7] 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.

[8] Wolf, The Symphonies of Johann Stamitz, 303.

[9] David D. Boyden and Peter Walls, “Coup d’archet,” in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., ed. Stanley Sadie (London: Macmillan, 2001), Vol. 6: 579.

[10] Will, The Characteristic Symphony in the Age of Haydn and Beethoven, 90.