Allegro and Chaconne from Sonata Op. 1 No. 3 by Johann Mattheson

Sonata Op. 1. No. 3 Allegro and Chaconne
By Johann Mattheson (1681-1764)
Chicago Recorder Trio: Lisette Kielson, Mirja Lorenz, and Patrick O’Malley
Audio courtesy Barry Hufker
Videography by Pat Weaver
Early Music Missouri continued its 2023-2024 season with “Sweet Discord”: a concert featuring Chicago Recorder Trio playing a program that ranged across centuries and styles, from medieval music from Italy and Spain to the high Baroque to new music, including a piece composed by a member of the ensemble.
The program continues with another piece from the High Baroque, Sonata IV, Op. 1, No. 3 by the polymath Johann Mattheson (1681-1764). Mattheson embraced the intellectual and cultural standards of the Enlightenment, promoting a galant musical style. He supported dramatic music (on stage and in church), simply elegant melodies and an approach to modern tonal harmonies tied directly to the Affections. Remarkably, although he composed a half-dozen or more operas and scores of oratorios and cantatas, Mattheson remains little recognized today as a composer. A relatively early work, Sonata IV appeared in 1708. Unlike many trios from this time, Mattheson’s features three equal instruments. While one voice often operates as a slower foundation, the movements as often offer intricate webs of melody and tight harmonies. In one of his theoretical works, Mattheson characterized the key of G Minor as “the most beautiful key” that mixes “considerable seriousness” with “animated loveliness." The key evokes “pleasurable and moderate laments and restrained joy.” True to his word, Mattheson delivers all of these descriptions in this little G-minor sonata. The gentle “Prelude” (not appearing in this video) focuses on contrapuntal exchange, echoes and imitations but retains a clarity and simplicity in line with Mattheson’s galant tendencies. The quick second movement highlights the key’s “animated loveliness” with a dance-like character and running sixteenth-note figuration for all three parts. The final Chaconne begins with a bare solo, outlining a theme or bass line. When the others join, we recognize the piece as a subdued manifestation of the conflicting “pleasurable and moderate laments.”