Presents
Felice Giardini
String Quartet No.6 in E flat Major--New Edition
Giardini's String Quartet No.6 in E flat Major was part of a collection of six quartets by three different composers brought out in 1776 by the prominent London publisher William Napier. The three--Johann Christian Bach, Carl Friedrich Abel and Giardini-- who were, at the time, the three most important composers then living and working in England. Giardini's quartet was the sixth of the set and not his sixth string quartet but has come down to us with that number. It is different from the other five quartets, which used the harpsichord and the cello to provide the basso continuo. Giardini not only dispenses with the harpsichord, but also frees up the cello, giving it extensive solos, a practice well ahead of its time. The outer movements, Andante and Grazioso, are elegant and graceful, while the middle movement, Presto, is full of energy and excitement.
Felice Giardini (1716-1796) was born in Turin. When it became clear that he was a child prodigy, his father sent him to Milan. There he studied singing, harpsichord and violin but it was on the latter that he became a famous virtuoso. By the age of 12, he was already playing in theater orchestras. In a famous incident about this time, Giardini, who was serving as assistant concertmaster during an opera, played a solo passage for violin, the composer Jomelli had written. He decided to show off his skills and improvised several bravura variations which Jomelli had not written. Although the audience applauded loudly, Jomelli, who happened to be there, was not pleased and suddenly stood up and slapped the young man in the face. Giardini, years later, remarked, “it was the most instructive lesson I ever received from a great artist." During the 1750s, Giardini toured Europe as a violinist, scoring successes in Paris, Berlin, and especially in England where he eventually settled. For many years, he served as the concertmaster and director of the Italian Opera in London and gave solo concerts under the auspices of J.C. Bach with whom he was a close friend. He was widely regarded as the greatest musical performing artist before the public. (1755-1770). In 1784, he returned to Naples to run a theater, however, there he encountered financial setbacks. In 1793, he returned to England to try his luck. But times had changed and he was no longer remembered. He then went to Russia, but again had little luck, dying in Moscow in 1796.
While the quartet can stand on its own merits, it is also of historical importance as it illustrates the early classical development of the string quartet.
Parts: $24.95
