Josef Guretzky, 'Concertos' (Chandos 018, 2016)
- Submitting institution
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Canterbury Christ Church University
- Unit of assessment
- 33 - Music, Drama, Dance, Performing Arts, Film and Screen Studies
- Output identifier
- U33.034
- Type
- I - Performance
- Venue(s)
- Tage Alter Musik, Regensburg. Chandos Records.
- Open access status
- Out of scope for open access requirements
- Month of first performance
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- Year of first performance
- 2016
- URL
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- Supplementary information
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
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- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- No
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- Yes
- Additional information
- As researcher, artistic director and performer with The Harmonious Society of Tickle-Fiddle Gentlemen, Rawson’s critically-acclaimed Chandos recording of concertos by previously overlooked Czech composer Josef Guretzky (1709–1769) reveals him as a modernising force in the region and his concertos (and their sources) as important examples of the genre. The research that underpins this recording addresses the frequently misunderstood roles of the double bass in the early eighteenth century and modern marginalisation of early music of eastern Europe. Many modern ensembles continue to employ the double bass along romantic-era lines. Research examining Guretzky’s surviving works preserved in archives in Germany and the Czech Republic (as well as reading court correspondence and records, and contextualising with related central-European and Italian repertoire) demonstrated how the use of double bass in these concertos differed from its typical use of the time as a tutti instrument. Previously, many ensembles created a second, otherwise non-existent, cello part (in addition to the solo part) and then reconfigured the double bass part to adhere to its typical reinforcing role. This recording demonstrates that cello concertos of the first half of the eighteenth century often used a single cello and a single double bass. The result is a more dynamic and musically intimate texture and performance practice. The initial research for the project was undertaken during work for Rawson’s (2013) monograph Bohemian Baroque: Czech Musical Culture and Style, 1600-1750 (Boydell), which focussed on style. Those themes where expanded upon and developed for this recording with a particular focus on historically-informed performance; also captured in ‘For the Sake of Fullness of Music in the Choir’—Performance Practice and the Double Bass at the Kroměříž Court’, Historical Performance, 1 (2018); which presents archival evidence for the early appearance of a 16’ bass as well as its particular use with obligato cello.
- Author contribution statement
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- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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