It is admirable that the German label Phoenix is releasing recordings from the archives of the German radio channel WDR3 in Cologne. Some of them have been previously released by another German label, Capriccio. It would have been even better, if the production had been more careful. The recording date of the Fasch Overture is not given, the date of the Graupner is printed as 26.012991 which I have interpreted as 26 January 1991, but your guess is as good as mine. And on top of it the liner-notes are not particularly informative and partly speculative.

I had expected the author of the liner-notes to explain, for instance, that all four compositions are called ‘Overture’, but that Graun’s Overture is fundamentally different from the other three. The Overtures by Heinichen, Graupner and Fasch are written in the tradition of the French-style overture-suite, which was very popular in Germany in the first half of the 18th century. It was modelled after the overtures of the French opera composer Jean-Baptiste Lully, although he would probably not have recognized them as French. They are called ‘overture’ after the first movement which is always in ABA form. It is followed by a series of dance movements and ‘airs’.

The most traditional scoring of this kind of Overtures was strings and bc, with two oboes and bassoon. That is the scoring of the Overture in G by Johann David Heinichen. In his liner-notes Benjamin Ivry writes: “Heinichen received a law degree from Leipzig University, which may account for the sometimes acerbic, willful edge to his melodies, as well as their rhetorical mastery”. I don’t see what the law degree has to do with the character of Heinichen’s music, whose description is questionable anyway. Mastery of rhetoric is nothing exceptional: all German composers of that time had been thoroughly taught in musical rhetoric, as this was one of the basics of musical composition. Heinichen was, like Christoph Graupner, a pupil of Johann Kuhnau, the Leipzig Thomaskantor until his death in 1722. He was one of Germany’s most acclaimed music teachers, so that is where both got it from.

It is another mark of this production that only in Graupner’s case is the scoring given. Here we have a piece without oboes and bassoon. The strings are joined by three chalumeaux—the liner-notes don’t even mention them. The chalumeau is often described as the predecessor of the clarinet, but that isn’t quite true. In a serenade by Telemann, for instance, both instruments appear alongside each other. Telemann was one of the first who wrote for the chalumeau, and the instrument also frequently appears in music by Graupner. The role of the three chalumeaux in this Overture is different from that of the oboes and the bassoon in Heinichen’s Overture. The latter play mostly colla parte with the violins, and are only used as solo instruments in the B sections of the bourrée and rigaudon. The chalumeaux in Graupner’s
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…moderate tempo choices, technically adroit playing, good blend between sections, and plenty of energy…these Baroque overture-suites run the gamut from two movements to seven, providing an unsystematic and personal mix of overture, dance movements, and airs. One of the gems is the Graupner, unusual for its harmonic waywardness, chalumeau section, and rhythmically accurate Polonaise. Is it the composer’s answer to Telemann’s so-called “Polish” concertos, exaggerating eccentric effects supposedly heard from rural folk musicians? If so, it certainly hits the mark. The more conventional Heinichen combines inventiveness, memorable turns, and excellent craft. The Zerbst Kapellmeister, Fasch, is typically more conservative than either, but his overture-suite is lively, imaginative, and sparkling in its rhythmic élan—most notably in a lengthy, flowing Minuet, and a beguiling Passapied. Only the Graun lowers the ceiling of inspiration. It is technically competent, but pedestrian. The fugal portion of the first of its two movements is a fine piece of workmanship, however—not unexpected from a man to whom J.S. Bach entrusted the musical education of his eldest son.

Phoenix Edition’s Overtures features period instrument orchestra Cappella Coloniensis under the direction of Hans-Martin Linde in four late Baroque overtures in the French style; that is, they are really suites consisting of dances fitted with a short overture at the opening, though the work by Johann Gottlieb Graun does not follow this plan. The disc opens with a burly, swaggering Overture in C major by Dresden court composer Johann David Heinichen; this is followed by a more galant overture by Christoph Graupner that has the unusual instrumental component of three chalumeaux, instruments that were a predecessor to the clarinet; the Graupner work is the latest sounding music on the disc, even though Graun lived longer than he. Fasch’s bright and snappy Overture in B flat sounds the closest to Johann Sebastian Bach of these pieces with its rapid-fire rhythms, mingling of high trumpet and high string parts, and murderous ensemble passages for the bassoons. Of these four overtures, one cannot resist stating that the Fasch seems to be the most interesting and best—it is also the longest. The shortest is the Graun Overture in D minor; it stands stylistically halfway between the Fasch and Graupner, having a sense of Handelian graciousness, but also possessing some measure of the seriousness and gravity more typical of the Mannheim school. In this respect, Graun’s is a strange Baroque overture, and as it is only in two movements lacking tempo indications, one wonders if it is complete.

Despite Phoenix Edition’s stated purpose of raising something from the ashes of the august German label Capriccio, these recordings of Cappella Coloniensis do not appear to have been issued before. Co-branded by WDR and bearing the device “The Cologne Broadcasts,” these appear to be recordings from the vaults, made by Linde and Cappella Coloniensis between 1987 and 1991. There is some variability in sound, and ironically the older the recordings are, it seems, the better. The performances are decent without being great, although the Fasch is pretty impressive and that seems to have been the most difficult among these pieces.