“Blumenlese für Klavierliebhaber”: Hünten & “H…” & DeVienne

Описание: World Première Recording
1) Daniel Hünten (1760-1823) – Rondo grazioso: 00:00
(Note: Hünten died in 1823, not in 1813 as given on the video screen)
2) “H…” (fl. 1780s) – Romance Adagio: 1:54
3) “H…” - Andante: 4:56
4) François DeVienne (1759-1803) – Andante Grazioso: 7:05
Here we have three leisurely pieces that, though they make no pretense of being “significant”, do nonetheless give us an excellent idea of the sort of music that lovers of the keyboard in the second half of the 18th century enjoyed in their homes. All four works are contained in volumes of Heinrich Philipp Bossler’s yearly volumes of harpsichord and piano music entitled “Blumenlese für Clavierliebhaber” (“Anthology for Lovers of the Keyboard”); these collections appeared between 1782 and 1787, and were published in Speyer.
Works by many different composers appeared in these volumes: Christmann, Rosetti, Vanhal, Clementi, Schmittbauer, Molitor, Junker, Beck, and many others. Of course, when we think of latter 18th century composers, the name “Clementi” does come to mind, in addition to Mozart, Haydn, C. P. E. Bach, and a very few others. Yet as these volumes show, there were many other names on the keyboard-composer landscape whose music was widely appreciated by music lovers. Some of these composers were represented by just one or two works in Bossler’s publication; in this recording, you shall hear three of these.
The fact that these volumes, like a number of others back then, only gave the surname of each composer, makes it somewhat difficult to know who exactly is meant. In addition, spelling had not yet been standardized, thus we often encounter some of those surnames spelled “wrong”. An example of this is the first composer presented here, whose name is given as “Hünden”: I was unable to trace anyone with that name, though finally, I ran across one who almost undoubtedly is the man we are seeking: Daniel Hünten (Note the “t” instead of “d” in the surname). Hünten was born in 1760, and worked as organist at the aristocratic court of Prince-Elector Clemens Wenzeslaus in Koblenz (Germany). This in the only piece of his I could find, though he did compose more, of course: organ sonatas, fugues and church songs, for example. Hünten had a number of children; three of his sons became musicians. He taught composition, keyboard, organ and guitar; one of his pupils was the composer Henri Herz.
Our second composer is much more mysterious: his (or her?) name is given only as “H…”: not much to go on for the curious musicologist! I have no idea who this person was. It should be noted, though, that often, aristocrats who wrote music did not wish to publish it under their name, since that might be considered to be “beneath their station”. This was especially the case with female composers: although some bravely advertised the fact that they composed music, others felt it was more appropriate to not reveal their names. Thus, we will probably never know just who “H…” was, nor whether these pieces were composed by a man or a woman.
Finally, we encounter François DeVienne: born in Joinville (north-eastern France), DeVienne, the youngest of fourteen children of a saddle-maker, became a musician, composer, and a teacher of flute at the Paris Conservatory. He also played bassoon at the Paris Opera. Although he had had contacts to “high society” in pre-revolutionary France, he survived the Terror, and wrote a number of successful operas during the 1790s. Whether the piece by DeVienne in this recording was written for keyboard, or is a transcription of a piece originally composed for other instruments, I know not.
David Bolton, “The Digital Harpsichordist”
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