Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine von Preußen: Harpsichord Concerto in g - Fernando Miguel Jalôto & OBCdM

Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine von Preußen (1709–1758) |
Wilhelmine of Prussia, Margravine of Brandenburg-Bayreuth |
Frédérique Sophie Wilhelmine de Prusse |
Frederica Sofia Guilhermina da Prússia

Harpsichord Concerto in g minor (ca. 1734?)
Allegro – Andante cantabile – Gavotte I & II

Fernando Miguel Jalôto, harpsichord
Orquestra Barroca Casa da Música
Reyes Gallardo, concert master

Live Recording on June 1st, 2020 at Casa da Música (Porto)
With the permission of Casa da Música

Many thanks to Casa da Música Artistic Direction, Technical Staff, and, of course, to all the members of the Orquestra Barroca!

Wilhelmine von Bayreuth/ of Prussia (Berlin, 1709 - Bayreuth, 1758) was the eldest daughter of Frederick William, King in Prussia and Elector of Brandenburg - the famous "soldier king" - and therefore, sister of the even more notable Frederick II of Prussia. With her brother she shared, in addition to an unbreakable friendship, a great inclination towards music, contradicted by their austere father. After her marriage to Margrave Frederic of Brandenburg-Bayreuth, Wilhelmine helped to transform her new country into a great cultural and artistic center, actively contributing to the foundation of the University and the Academy of Arts. She was the main responsible for the construction of the magnificent opera house, the most beautiful of the various jewels of the just famous "Bayreuth's Rococo". Wilhelmine exercised considerable diplomatic and literary activity, and in addition to singing, composing and playing the harpsichord, she studied lute with S. L. Weiss. She received in her court musicians as distinguished as C. H. Graun, J. G. Janitsch, and F. Benda. Unfortunately, most of Wilhelmine's musical work is lost, surviving only one opera, two arias, a sonata for flute and continuo and this harpsichord concerto. It survives in two sources: one, incomplete, with the indication "di Wilhelmine" and another where it's attributed to "Jaenichen" (Janitsch?). It is a mature and solid work, in a style extraordinarily close to the Bach family's harpsichord concertos. It even presents thematic suggestions that recall works such as BWV 1052 and BWV 1060 concertos, the Italian Concerto BWV 971 and some of the Brandeburg concerts. These similarities or influences may be justified by a visit to Bayreuth by Benda in 1734 who, having passed through Leipzig, presented Wilhelmine with 2 harpsichord concertos by Bach. The first movement, in the ritornello form established by Vivaldi, stands out by the vigorous theme, of an angular and complex outline, and with a recurrent and incised passage in unison. The writing for the soloist is varied and brilliant, culminating at the "Capriccio Cembalo solo / Si sona Capriccio" which requires the inclusion of a long improvised cadence by the soloist. The second movement is in a very different style: it presents the structure of a short Italian opera aria, at the time known as Cavatina; it boasts a beautiful and refined cantabile melody in the Neapolitan taste cultivated by Hasse and the Graun brothers. There is a central section with arpeggi, in a taste which evokes the writing for lute, and in which Wilhelmine explores a bold and very modern enharmonic modulation. It also requires an improvised cadence. The last movement is a delicate pair of Gavottes en Rondeau in a very French style. These two dances - indistinguishable from similar movements included by Bach in his so-called "English" and "French" suites - constitute a somewhat unexpected conclusion to a concerto, but in their apparent simplicity they hide countless and refined details. The repetition of the first Gavotte invites the soloist to improvise a double - or ornamented version.

A remark by of our friend Tassos Dimitriadis calls the attention to the fact that the work might actually be attributed to Johann Gotthilf Jänichen (1701-1800) - please see: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_...

Well, however what really matters is that this is a superb piece of music... I hope you will all enjoy it!