Holland Baroque Society meets Matthew Halls
Georg Muffat: Concertos
Concerto IV- Dulce somnium
Concerto I- Bona nova
Concerto VI- Quis hic?
Concerto VII- Deliciae Regum
Concerto II- Cor vigilans
Concerto V- Seaculum
Concerto III- Convalescentia
Holland Baroque Society
Matthew Halls, harpsichord
SACD Hybrid
CD STEREO/ SACD STEREO/ SACD SURROUND
GEORG MUFFAT, A EUROPEAN WITHOUT BORDERS 'Die Noten, die Saiten, die liebliche Music-Thonen geben mir meine Verrichtungen, und da ich die Franzosische Art der Teutscher und Welscher einmenge, keinen Krieg anstiffte, sondern vielleicht derer Volker erwunschter Zusammenstimmung den lieben Frieden etwann vorspiele.' 'The notes, the strings, the sweet sounds of music give my life a sense of fulfilment, all the more because I mingle the French style with the German and Italian, without inciting a war; but rather holding up a mirror to the longed-for harmony and dear peace which these peoples so greatly desire.' (Georg Muffat) He was a European avant la lettre: Georg Muffat, a Savoyard from the French Alps, born in Megeve into a family which originated, on his father's side, from Scots ancestors.
He was trained as an organist in Paris, where he received lessons between 1663 and 1669 from teachers including Jean-Baptiste Lully, the Florentine kitchen-boy who became more French than Louis XIV himself once he arrived in Versailles. Later, Muffat popped up again in Alsace (in Selestat and Molsheim), pursuing the study of law for a year in the German city of Ingolstadt. We rediscover him next in Vienna, where he became acquainted with the work of prominent composers such as Valentini, Bertali, Ziani, and Schmelzer.
After a short time spent wandering around Prague, Muffat entered the service of Salzburg archbishop Max Gandolph as court organist. Not only did this prince of the church adorn the cathedral of Salzburg, but he also brought the famed violinist Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber to his court. And that wasn't all: he sent his servant Georg Muffat on a fully-paid study trip to Rome...... ( Channel Classics )
