New Album: Vogler Travel Souvenirs

Written By Anders Muskens

Travel Souvenirs for Keyboard – Georg Joseph Vogler features compositions by German composer Georg Joseph Vogler (1749 – 1814), performed on original instruments. Muskens recorded on a Square Pianoforte by Longman & Broderip (John Geib), London 1788 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2018), and a Grand pianoforte by John Broadwood & Songs, London, 1806 (restored by Paul Kobald in 2022). He tuned and tempered the instruments (both from his own collection), using the method described by Vogler himself in 1807.

The album celebrates Carl Theodor’s Jubilee Year (2024). Vogler was a key Kappelmeister in Theodor’s court. Many pieces were published during Vogler’s tenure in Sweden.

Vogler’s wanderlust inspired many of the pieces he composed, and he was well-regarded for his intricate, complex variation sets for keyboard, which he often improvised in dazzling public concerts on organ and fortepiano. The new recording includes a work from 1798 (Pieces de clavecin) and Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough from 1791. Georg Joseph, known as Abt or Abbé Vogler, never spent more than a few months in one place; he was always travelling, literally crisscrossing Europe, and even venturing to the Arctic Circle and North Africa. His fascination with folk melodies can be heard woven into his harmonic and structural innovations for keyboard.

Prolific early music specialist Anders Muskens has had other recordings distributed by Leaf, including Beethoven: Waldstein & Appassionata Sonatas and Army of Generals Volume II: Carl Theodor’s Court Orchestra in Mannheim 1742-1778. Muskens is a Canadian fortepianist, harpsichordist, conductor, and musicologist whose work focuses on the revival of eighteenth-and early nineteenth-century performance traditions, equally active in Europe and North America. He completed a Masters in Fortepiano at the Royal Conservatoire of the Hague under Dr. Bart van Oort and Petra Somlai, with Fabio Bonizzoni and Patrick Ayrton for harpsichord. He is represented as a performer by the Sonus Agency for Early Music and is the founder of the ensemble Das Neue Mannheimer Orchester, an international initiative to revive the music of the Mannheim School in the second half of the eighteenth century.

The new album was produced with support from the Alberta Foundation for the Arts and Forschungszentrum HOF/MUSIK/STADT, and was recorded at the Pfleghofsaal at the Musicology Institute of the University of Tubingen

Leaf Music is an independent recording label based in Halifax, Nova Scotia and Nashville, Tennessee, making and distributing high-quality classical music recordings by artists and composers from across North America. Our growing catalogue of solo, orchestral, and chamber music is distributed by Naxos of America to the world’s most important music retailers, download providers, and streaming services. Leaf is also a provider of professional audio and video production, post-production services and integrated music marketing and distribution in Canada.their works.

Instruments featured in this Recording

These instruments are similar to those available in Sweden during the 1790’s, where English-style instruments were prevalent.

  1. Square piano by Longman & Broderip c. 1788

  2. Grand piano by John Broadwood & Sons c. 1806

Track Listing

CD 1

  1. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 1. Pastorale

  2. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 2. Barcarolle de Venise

  3. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 3. Romance africaine

  4. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 4. Phantasie tracée sur Cheu Teu. Air chinois

  5. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 5. Min far han var en Vestgöthe han han. Chanson suedoise

  6. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Tema (Semplice e variato). Larghetto

  7. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 1. Allegro

  8. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 2

  9. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 3. Menuetto grazioso

  10. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 4. Allegro

  11. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 5

  12. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 6. Larghetto

  13. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 7. Allegro

  14. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 8

  15. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 9. Minore. Larghetto

  16. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 10

  17. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Variation 11. Allegro molto

  18. Variations sur l’Air de Marlborough (1791) : Fuga. Prestissimo - Larghetto - Allegro - Larghetto

CD 2

  1. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 6. Pente chordium

  2. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 7. Ak minan rakas linduisen. Air finois

  3. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 8. Höns gummans visa. Chanson suedoise

  4. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 9. Air barbaresque

  5. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 10. Polonaise

  6. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 11. Marche de Charles XII auprès du Narvae

  7. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 12. Air russe

  8. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 13. Marche des Chevaliers de l'Ordre des Seraphims en Suéde

  9. Pièces de Clavecin (1798) : 14. Quarndansen. Danse suedoise

Anders Muskens
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