Johann
Sebastion Bach, (Two
and three part inventions) by Fausto Settevendemie.
The Inventions
and Sinfonias is a collection of short pieces Bach wrote for the
musical education of his young pupils.
These are among the finest examples of artistic gems ever written
for this purpose, and probably because of this, they became very
popular among Bach's pupils and others ever since they were written.
The CD comprises of fifteen two-part 'Inventions', and fifteen
three-part pieces named 'Sinfonia'.
These two groups of pieces are arranged in an identical fashionin
ascending order by keyso that there is little doubt that
Bach's intention was to bring them together as a single work.
This is also confirmed by the way they are carefully written in
his autograph fair copy penned in 1723.
The accordion has perhaps been seen as an instrument that is not
quite ready by the larger music publishing houses for the
interpretation of such music it is however certainly an
instrument that is quite ready and very able when
compared to other keyboard instruments.
Here we must applaud Fausto Settevendemie , the first, in Italy
to have the recorded the complete set of Inventions and Sinfonias
(although a few others have done, such as the Finnish accordionist
Janne Rattya in 2000 for the German publishing house Castigo).
This accordionist from Abruzzo has over the past few years been
carrying out extensive work as a researcher and also as a performer
on the repetoire of historical instruments (organ, clavichord
etc) as compared to the concert accordion. We remember
that (in 2002) Settevendemie had issued the CD Ricercare
(Ema Vinci www.emavinvi.it), with music by Merulo, De Cabezon,
Frescobaldi, Pachelbel, Walther and J.S.Bach.
In this, his latest work, it is clear what the accordion can give
to this type of music: the added value of the cantabile
(for example, son enfle or messa di voce) wished for by the composer,
leaving unaltered the contrapoint of the 2 or 3 parts and the
subsequent phrasing given by the polyphonic differential
through the connection of the 2 keyboards and their rapport with
the bellows.
The CD is completed and enriched by the addition of the Acht Imitationen
by Salvatore Di Gesualdo teacher and inspirer of Settevendemie
who composed these short exercises in the mid 1960s
.therefore
among the first specifically for the classical accordion
here, Settevendemie uses them as a ideal addition to the Inventions.
This CD is highly recommended not only to fans of classical accordion
but also to the many accordion schools as an example and a stimulus
for all conscientious students.
Reviewed by
Alessandro Mugnoz,
October 2006
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