Roman, J H - Flute Sonatas (SACD) - Laurin, Dan
Toimitusaika: Noin 7 - 14 arkipäivää
Dan Laurin, recorder
Paradiso Musicale:
Anna Paradiso, harpsichord
Mats Olofsson, cello
Jonas Nordberg, baroque guitar & theorbo
What is music from the High Baroque? How does it actually sound? These are un - answerable questions – and, moreover, unnecessary ones, because baroque com posers never concerned themselves with such matters; they had been born into a ‘modern’ age that embraced an expressive range far more varied than we find today. The music of Johan Helmich Roman cannot just be described in a few words that accord with estab - lished definitions – a state of affairs that has worked to his detriment in a country partial to simple, readily comprehensible explanations and clear-cut genre divisions. Roman’s flute sonatas are the only works he published. The print is of exceptional quality, and was proofread with care. The combination of compositional techniques and stylistic elements is striking: in the flute sonatas, complex emotional contexts are contrasted with folk music forms such as the villanella or piva, or with movements that are tarantellas in all but name. The music is asymmetrical, irregular and full of unexpected twists, sudden pauses and cadences. The only technique that Roman never uses is strict counterpoint. By renouncing the very type of coun - terpoint which his contemporaries regarded as ‘learned’, Roman was making a clear statement that he favoured emotion, that he believed that music speaks first and foremost to the heart, and that it was with the heart that we actually experience music. To place such emphasis on knowledge acquired through the senses was a recent trend, and Roman’s music found itself in the forefront of musical development as it unfolded far away from cold, harsh Stockholm. It was in Naples, one of the capital cities of music, that the stylistic ideals of the baroque were challenged and developed, and Roman’s sonatas are markedly Neapolitan in character.