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TECLA EDITIONS |
Francesco Molino:Grand Trio Concertant, op. 30for violin or flute, viola, and guitar. Re-engraved, score and parts.The complete preface, by Brian Jeffery This fine trio by Francesco Molino has not as far as I know been previously published in a modern edition. It has lain unknown until now. Yet in my opinion this is one of the greatest of all chamber works with guitar, full of originality and beauty. (And it is not particularly difficult.) A rich larghetto leads into the theme, stated by the violin (or flute, see below) with the other two instruments underneath. Variation 1 is given to the viola and guitar with rapid passages with the violin just commenting occasionally. In variation 2 the guitar comes into its own while the viola pizzicatos its way along, the violin just listening this time. Then in variation 3 the violin has shimmering runs. In parts of variation 4 the viola and guitar are again heard in duo. Variation 5 is busy for everybody. Variation 6 is again for the guitar, with running triplets that never seem to cease. In the minuet, suddenly in the viola part we seem to hear a hurdy-gurdy, and in the trio the guitar shines. Yet again, in the rondo the guitar is given its fair opportunity, again once or twice in a short duet with the viola. In short, it’s a work full of grace and elegance and humour, full
of musicality. And the guitar doesn’t just accompany the others, it’s
a very worthwhile part. I made this edition as a result of Francesco Biraghi’s suggestion and I am grateful to him for this very good idea. He was one of the first (perhaps the first) to play the work in our own time, and he was enthusiastic about it from the first time that he and his colleagues played through it. For more, see below. The first performance from this new Tecla edition was given in the
music festival at Vrnjacka Banja, Serbia, on 13 July 2004. The
performers were Jelena Rokvic (violin), Ralf Dumler (viola), and Uros
Dojcinovic (guitar). I gave a short spoken introduction. Is the upper part for flute or for violin? In the original edition the title-page says “flûte ou violon”, but the part says only Flauto. There is no fingering for either instrument and the part can easily be played on either instrument. So was it originally conceived from the beginning as being suitable for either instrument, or was it with one or the other instrument in mind? In fact we don’t really know. Molino was a professional all-round musician and familiar with the idiom of instruments in general. He was the composer of two violin concertos, while his trios op. 4 specify the flute, which shows that he was at home with the flute also. In the case of this trio op. 30, the words “flûte ou violon” on the title-page of the original edition to some extent have his authority because he was himself the publisher of that original edition (whereas if it had been published by a commercial publisher, one might have supposed that perhaps those words could have been there to increase sales). And it may be that we should not give too much importance to the word Flauto on the part, because although the word might have been Molino’s direction, it might equally well perhaps have been put there by an engraver, just for reference. In the end it will be for players to decide. My own opinion is that it is certainly suitable for violin because I have heard it very well done with that instrument, and that it seems fine for the flute also. For interest, the instrumentation of the top part in Molino’s three known trios or sets of trios is as follows. Trois Trios op. 4 (c. 1805-09): the title-page says Flûte, the part says Flauto, and there is no fingering for any instrument. This Grand Trio Concertant op. 30 (c. 1823): the title-page says flûte ou violon, the part says Flauto, and there is no fingering for any instrument. Second Grand Trio Concertant op. 45 (c. 1824): the title-page says flûte ou violon, the part says flûte ou violon, and the part contains some fingering which is specifically for the violin, not flute. * * * * * The Grand Trio Concertant op. 30 was first published by Molino acting as his own publisher and in conjunction with La Lyre Moderne, rue Vivienne no. 6, in Paris probably in the early 1820s (not later than 1824 because it is listed in the 1824 supplement to Whistling), as parts only, no score. This present edition has taken as its source a copy of that original edition. The wording of the original title-page is: Grand Trio Concertant pour Flûte ou Violon, Alto et Guitare, Dédié à Monsieur François J.J. Snoeck, Professeur de Guitare et de Violon, par François Molino. Opera 30. Prix: 7f. 50c. A Paris, chez l’Auteur, Rue de l’Echelle, No. 8, Et à la Lyre Moderne, au Magasin de Musique et d’Instrumens, Rue Vivienne no. 6. Propriété de l’Auteur. Déposé à la Direction. No changes have been made to the music other than such things as changing “Tema” to “Theme”. All fingering, ornaments, etc., are original. The notation in the original edition is careful in its details, for example the flute/violin part in the variations bars 103, 111, etc. The music engraving for this edition was made by Alexander V. Trukhin. Brian Jeffery
A NOTE BY FRANCESCO BIRAGHI Regularly active in the guitar-chamber music area, in the middle of the ’80s I was carrying out a survey in order to find additional works for violin, viola and guitar. At that time in fact I was involved in a good deal of concert activity with my “Art Trio”: one of our favourites was Francesco Molino’s Trio op. 45 (“Second Grand Trio Concertant”) in D major, until then only available in the old Zimmermann edition, but just in those years (1986) re-published in a facsimile edition by Tecla. Op. 45 had been usually performed or recorded in the flute-viola-guitar version, but I was persuaded - and still I remain - that the violin choice gives the work a more authentic atmosphere, mainly from the point of view of sonority. A couple of further reasons confirmed me in this opinion: the first is that Molino was a good violinist and viola player, even before being a guitarist, and the second is the clear indication “2e Corde” (second string) in the flute(!)/violin part of the original edition (second movement, “Romance”), almost a mistake that probably reveals the primary inspiration of the composer. In the same facsimile collection Tecla published also in 1986 three small Trios (op. 4) for flute, viola, and guitar, adding new richness to this repertoire, but unfortunately the main chamber work by Molino (together with op. 45), that is the “Grand Trio Concertant op. 30”, was still absent; only in the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris was there an incomplete copy, so that the work remained unplayable. I was once talking to Ruggero Chiesa (my former teacher in the Conservatory) about my regret at not having this work, and he suggested that I might try beyond the Atlantic Ocean, in the U.S.A. A few weeks later I succeeded in locating a complete copy of the work. At the beginning of the ’90s I was probably the only Italian guitarist that had this score! Unfortunately my concert activity with the old ensemble was over and op. 30 remained unplayed for some years in my collection. A few years later I began to work with the new group “Lo Specchio dei Suoni” (“The Mirror of Sounds”) and I soon suggested to my new collaborators that we might read through some unusual scores, among them the unpublished Molino. It was love at first sight. From the very first reading op. 30 showed itself as a clear classical work, very well fitting the bowed instruments and quite virtuosic in the “concertante” guitar part. The beauty of the Larghetto in E minor, or the brightness of the G major Rondo, will not pass unnoticed to anyone! I have played this work many times with “Lo Specchio dei Suoni”, always with good results: I especially remember the emotion of a live broadcast for Radio Clásica in Madrid in 1999, in a wonderful Concert Hall of the “Real Academia de San Fernando”. The concert met with enthusiastic reactions both from audience and organizers. I have not yet had the opportunity to play this work with flute instead of violin: I think however that in this work, differently from opus 45, the double choice is probably a more valid suggestion, both for the liveliness of the melodic part, and for the G major key so bright and well suited to the wind instrument. Finally I want to thank Brian Jeffery who accepted my invitation to publish in a modern and reliable edition a work that represents, in my opinion, an excellent addition to the chamber repertoire with guitar. FRANCESCO BIRAGHI Tecla main
page. Copyright 2003 by Tecla Editions. Errors and omissions excepted.
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