Canzonetta Italiana - Luigi Legnani's music for cello and guitar

This blog text is about our new CD: 
Canzonetta Italiana – Original 19th century cello and guitar duets

In 2012 we heard about a newly found collection of original duets for cello and guitar
dating from around 1850. The manuscripts of three original pieces were found in a
private collection in Austria. The editor of the scores, guitarist Stefan Hackl, writes in the
introduction to the Potpourri concertante: “I found this piece in a manuscript dating from
1850 which contained three pieces for guitar and violoncello: one Potpourri and two
sets of variations. The Potpourri concertante and the variations on a theme from Weber’s
Freischütz give no indication about the author or the copyist; the variations on an Italian
canzonetta are attributed to “Merz”. This might be J.K. Mertz, but it does not really match
his style. There are only a few composers and guitarists from the 19th century capable of
writing in this distinguished way. The beginning of the Potpourri suggests Legnani – No. 9
of his caprices from op. 20. The others also sound like Legnani, in his virtuoso and operatic
idiom.”


As a cello guitar duet we have so far concentrated on 20th century music because we
always thought that there were just a few odd original 19th century compositions for
cello and guitar, like Serenades by Leonard de Call, a Divertimento by Bernard Romberg
or Potpourri by J.J.F. Dotzauer. After we played these “Legnani” pieces for the first time in
2012 we were so inspired that we spent the last two years searching for other forgotten
19th century pieces for this unique duet. This CD is the conclusion of our research and
we are quite sure that it won’t be the last one. There may well be plenty more wonderful
music yet to be discovered.

The CD includes following pieces two pieces by Legnani:

Potpourri concertante attributed to Luigi Legnani (1790 – 1877) is a typical 19th century
medley using the themes of well known “standards” dating from 1795-1828. As Stefan
Hackl wrote, it begins with a transcription of Legnani’s Caprice No. 9 for solo guitar
(published in 1822). The Largo part is followed by a transitional section in tempo Allegro
leading the Potpourri to the next part.

Here the solo guitar version of Caprice Nr. 9.

The second part in tempo Allegretto is based on a Barcarole “Amis, la matinée est belle“,
from the opera La Muette de Portici (The mute Girl of Portici) by Daniel Auber (1782-
1871). This opera was one of the most successful operas in the 19th century, equivalent
to Rossini’s operas. The premiere of the opera was held in 1828 and it was played alone
in Paris more than 500 times between 1828-1880. The melodies from Auber’s opera must
have been prominent throughout Europe.

The Allegro part is based on aria “O Cara Memoria”, by Michele Carafa (1787-1872) from
the opera Adele de Lusignano (premiered in 1817). Italian Carafa also made a significant
career as an opera composer, but didn’t have such success as Auber and Rossini did. Adele
de Lusignano was premiered in “La Scala” Milan and the aria, “O Cara Memoria”, must have been a well known melody, because there are a lot of compositions based on this theme.

After the virtuosic Allegro and a short Cadenza the cello continues with a waltz-like theme,
based on a song “An Alexis send ich dich” by a German composer Friedrich Heinrich Himmel
(1765-1814). The theme is followed with 2 variations where the technical skills of both
the guitar and cello are revealed. In the search for the true author of Potpourri this part
raises more questions. The theme and 2 variations are almost identical with Francesco
(Franz) Bathioli’s Grande Variazioni concertantes op. 5 for flute and guitar. We know very
little about Bathioli’s life, even the dates of his birth and death are not known. He was
active in Vienna in 1820’s and probably died in 1830. Between 1825-1828 Anton Diabelli
(1781-1858) published 9 of Bathioli’s works and a guitar school called “Gemeinnützige
Guitareschule”. Diabelli himself was also an accomplished guitarist and composer but he
was best known in his time as a publisher and his publishing company was famous for
arranging popular pieces for amateurs and professionals alike.

Here the Francesco Bathioli's Grande Varizioni op.5 after Himmel's song.

The fifth part in tempo Andante sostenuto is for sure the most well known melody for the
modern day listeners: Aria “Dal tuo stellato soglio” by Giachino Rossini (1792-1868) from
the opera Mose in Egitto (Moses in Egypt). This famous aria from the 1819 version, later
inspired Niccolo Paganini to compose a set of variations for violin and piano. The short
transition in tempo Presto leads the Potpourri to it’s final part.

Here in our CD trailer you can hear this part of Potpourri concertante:

The last part is based on a song “Adelaide” by Ludwig van Beethoven composed about
1795-6. In Potpourri we actually hear only the last stanza from the song, in tempo Allegro
Vivace. Several composers, including Franz Liszt, arranged the song for solo piano. Also
French guitarist Napoleon Coste arranged the song for viola and guitar. Coste’s version
closely follows the original song. Here in the Potpourri the author shows his keen interest
in the Italian opera style by adding some virtuosic elements for the cello part to make the
ending more dramatic, like Liszt did in his version for solo piano from 1839.

Introduction et Variations concertantes “Canzonetta Italiana” pour Violoncello et Guitare

Luigi Rinaldo Legnani (1790 – 1877) was born in Ferrara, Italy. He was trained as a string
player while very young but later became a guitarist and singer. His debut as a singer was
in Ravenna in 1807; in the 1820’s he performed as a tenor in operas by Rossini, Pacini, and
Donizetti. His career as a guitarist began with a concert at ”La Scala” Milan in 1819 and
then he went on a successful tour in Austria, Germany and France. Legnani was famous
for his performances as a singer accompanying himself on the guitar.

Where an Italian style Potpourri fits Legnani’s style of writing, in the ”Canzonetta Italiana”
I feel the typical Viennese ”spirit”. The introduction and the set of variations after a simple
melody show a real mastery of composition techniques. Could Legnani be the author of
such a sophisticated work?

Let’s think about this question from another point of view. Which cellist might have been
capable of playing this demanding part? The best candidate is an Austrian cellist Joseph
Merk (1795 – 1852), probably the most influential cellist in the first half of the 19th century
in Vienna. He formed a famous trio with guitarist Mauro Giuliani and violinist Joseph
Mayseder and regularly performed Beethoven’s works. Merks own compositions showed
enormous technical virtuosity and for sure he was capable of playing both Canzonetta
Italiana and Potpourri or even of being the co-author of these works. Whoever the real
author of these wonderful pieces is, Legnani, Diabelli, Merk or someone else, we are
delighted to be able to bring them alive again.

Here a fragment of Fleur's d'Italie by Joseph Merk

Duo Vitare