Schenck: Scherzi Musicali (Excerpts)

Featuring

Bettina Hoffmann
Modo Antiquo
Johannes Schenck

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Performer Biography

Bettina Hoffmann, the performer, is a cellist who specialized in viola da gamba under Wieland Kuijken and has performed as a soloist and director of the Modo Antiquo ensemble across Europe.

Instruments

The viola da gamba's polyphonic nature, inherited from the lute, is evident in its string count, frets, and tuning in fourths and thirds, which facilitate chords and double stops.

Composition History

The Scherzi musicali, Johann Schenck's second collection of suites for viola da gamba, equally incorporate elements of both Italian and French musical styles.

Compositional Technique

The viola da gamba parts in Schenck's Scherzi musicali are so dense and polyphonic that the harmonic contribution of the basso continuo is often theoretically redundant.

Composer Biography

From 1697, Johann Schenck served as Kammermusikus (chamber musician) at the court of Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm Wittelsbacher in Düsseldorf, where he spent his most productive years.

Composer Biography

Johann Schenck, the composer, was born in Amsterdam in 1660 to German parents and published his first complete work for viola da gamba there.

Historical Context

The court of Düsseldorf, where Schenck worked, was a vibrant artistic center under Elector Palatine Johann Wilhelm Wittelsbacher and Princess Electress Anna Maria Luisa, a descendant of the Medici family.