So, where does the curious title come from and who was Nicola
Matteis? There is some confusion over when exactly he was
born or died but he probably came
from Naples and arrived in London in about 1672. There he made a great reputation
as a violinist and composer with several publications. John Evelyn heard him
play in November 1674 and so Matteis probably knew and is said to have influenced
Henry Purcell. He purchased a property in Norfolk in 1714 and died in obscurity.
Matteis has been recorded before, for example by Nicholas McGegan and the Arcadian
Academy on Harmonia Mundi (907067). Of his publications there are various ones
entitled ‘Ayres for the Violin’ - at least four. One is called ‘False
Consonances’ from 1682 and although these consist of separate movements
with individual titles they can be formed as happens here into suites. Some
of these suites comprise four movements others six or seven but each is normally
headed with an improvisatory Prelude. On this recording the movements follow
on quickly but there is a respectful gap between suites. Apparently Matteis
when playing in public “simply”, according to Roger North, “selected
movements from here and there”. But what about the title?
A False Consonance is really a poetic term for what the medieval church
considered to be ‘the Devil’s interval’ - that is the augmented
fourth or diminished fifth. What does that mean? It is the distance between
say a C to an F sharp-three whole tones higher. It is hence also known as
a tri-tone - in other words an awkward, ugly or uncomfortable melodic interval
that should, by the laws of Palestrinan harmony be avoided. By the baroque
period these laws and rules were often relaxed. In the first of two booklet
essays Olivier Fourés reminds us from a contemporary treatise that “Any
rule, however necessary it may be, is there to be broken”. It seems
that Matteis’s character was a little wild and reckless. “He
could not bear ill-timed applause” (please note proms audiences!) and
improvised his programme as the mood took him”. He was also “a
very prickly character” and this comes through the music often in its
titles such as ‘Bizzerie all’Umor scozzese (A pretty hard Ground
after the Scotch Humour to make a hand). Then there’s ‘Fuga curta
per scarsezza di carta (A fugue, short through lack of paper) and several
others. So, initially at least, Matteis is revealed as a curious and quixotic
musician with a lively imagination for titles. He was a brilliant improviser
and one who could sell himself if not his personality. After all this hype
where does all of this leave the music heard on this disc?
Well I must report a little disappointment. I found only sporadic moments
of special brilliance and although several melodies are long, arching and
beautiful,
none were memorable. In the second essay Amandine Beyer makes out a strong
case for Matteis’s genius which does seem to be somewhat inflated. She
also comments on how, physically, the music should be played. I quote “Many
descriptions have been preserved of the violinist’s playing style … where
he apparently held his instrument very low (around the level of the lower ribs)
as seen in 17
th Century paintings and which is surely close to folk
practice.” There are she says “no insoluble problems” except
that is the “female physiology”. Perhaps this is the reason why,
in the only, (slightly revealing) picture of Amandine Beyer on the cardboard
casing she is holding the instrument quite normally.
What about musical highlights? Beyer is accompanied by a crack team of continuo
players: sometimes a gamba with a baroque guitar or occasionally a theorbo
and a harpsichord - or clavecin as the booklet insists on calling it. The players
are thoughtful enough to hold back sensitively when the violin is especially
busy and imaginative enough to come to the fore in the less interesting passages.
With a disc of forty tracks choosing highlights is not easy. But to give you
a good taste you could start with the Sonata which makes up track 1. The continuo
is quite active under the slow pulse filling out with scales, arpeggiated chords
and passing notes. The next track is a sort of Chaconne with a repeated ground
bass launched by the continuo. This is the longest track at just over four
minutes. It could be tedious but what with altering dynamics and a variety
of articulation plus the gradually increasing virtuosity so brilliantly managed
by Beyer this is a great performance. Track 10 is called an Aria but its happy
compound time rhythm makes the continuo more into a ‘Giga’ in the
shape of two guitars come into their own - here with no contribution from the
violin. Track 21 is a ‘Movimento incognita’ in the French style.
It has some of that “nervous introspection” Fourés mentions
in his notes with its wild divisions on, again, a repeated bass. This is as
long and as fascinating as track 2 mentioned above. Track 29 ‘Il Russignolo’ is
just the opposite, being confident and dance-like. It moves into an imitative
section (with the gamba and guitar) copying the song of the Nightingale. Track
39 ‘Aria for the flute’ is of course for the violin!
The recording is forward and yet natural and there is no ‘ecclesiastical’ sense
of the monastic acoustic which if the photos are correct is a beautifully roofed
room with artifacts and chairs and tables, - grand yet intimate.
So, although Matteis, whose dates incidentally are not quite correctly given,
cannot be made out to be a forgotten genius, one cannot deny the fecundity
of his art, his individuality and general influence on the period especially
in England.
Gary Higginson
Track listing
Sonata (Adagio) 2.03
Diverse bizzarie Sopra la Vecchia Sarabanda o pur Ciaccona 4.04
Passaggio rotto. Andamento Veloce 2.14
Fantasia 1.32
Preludio in fantasia 1.16
Allegro 2.01
Aria malinconica (Adagio) 2.25
Giga 0.40
Aria Amorosa 3.16
Aria 1.21
Preludio 1.25
Musica (Grave-Presto) 1.42
Sarabanda 2.37
Aria 1.10
Aria burlesca -Presto 1.56
Fuga 1.07
Giga. Al Genio Turchesco
Prelude
Adagio 2.11
Allemanda ad imitation d’un tartaglia 1.36
Movimento incognito 4.05
Sarabanda Amorosa 1.33
Gavotta (Presto) 1.38
Preludio-Presto 1.41
Pavana Armoniosa 2.01
Il Russignolo 1.09
Preludio Allegro (Prestissimo) -Malinconico (Adagio)
Aria (Adagio-Presto) 2.19
Vivace. Eco 2.07
Fuga (Presto) 1.39
Preludio (Adagio) 1.30
Prestisimo 0.35
Un poco di maniera Italiano.Aria Ridicol (Presto) 1.25
Aria 1.33
Fantasia 1.26
Preludio in ostinatione. Passagio rotto 1.09
Andamento malinconco .Divisone ad libitum 2.43
Grave. Adagio 2.03
Aria for the flute 1.15
Giga 1.47
Baldomero Barcielo (viola da gamba,
theorbo); Ronaldo Lopes (guitar, theorbo); Francesco Romano (theorbo, guitar);
Anna Fontana (clavecin) 
