Johann Schenck is one
of those composers we don't know very
much about. Sometimes he is considered
German, but he is also ranked as one
of the most important Dutch composers
of the 17th century. He was born in
Amsterdam of German parents, and was
baptised in the Reformed Church. This
gives us every reason to consider him
a Dutch composer. We don't know who
his first music teacher was although
it is quite possible that it was Carolus
Hacquart who taught him the viola da
gamba. Hacquart, born in Brughes in
the Southern Netherlands, left his hometown
for Amsterdam in the early 1670s. Schenck
developed into a true virtuoso on the
viola da gamba. According to a contemporary
"no one has ever played this instrument
more delicately than he". He soon established
himself as an important member of the
cultural élite of Amsterdam,
and it seems that the financial support
of this élite gave him the opportunity
to publish a remarkable number of collections
of music. He was by far the most widely
published Dutch composer of the 17th
century.
In 1697 he was appointed
'Kammermusikus' at the court of Elector
Palatine Johann Wilhelm in Düsseldorf.
The Elector aimed at modelling his court
after Versailles, and attracted many
important musicians. Among them were
Handel, the violin virtuoso Veracini
and Germany's greatest lute player,
Silvius Leopold Weiss. No less a composer
than Corelli devoted his Concerti grossi
op. 6 to Johann Wilhelm. It is not known
precisely how long Schenck stayed in
the service of the Elector Palatine,
but not longer than 1716, when Johann
Wilhelm died. The quality of his court
chapel can be deduced from the fact
that when, after the Elector's death,
the court moved to Mannheim, the best
of his musicians were the core of what
became Europe's best orchestra and gave
its name to the 'Mannheim School'.
Most collections of
Schenck's compositions consist of pieces
for his own instrument, the viola da
gamba. In these he mixed Italian and
French elements. But he also published
a series of twelve trio sonatas for
two violins, viola da gamba and bc.
This op. 3, entitled 'Il Giardino Armonico',
was thought to be lost. It was presumed
that the only copy left had been destroyed
in World War II but Pieter Dirksen,
the director of the ensemble La Suave
Melodia, has been able to locate this
copy only recently, and this has resulted
in this recording. These trio sonatas
are strongly influenced by the trio
sonatas of Corelli, whom Schenck must
have met in Düsseldorf. Even so
they bear his own stamp.
The features of the
twelve sonatas are explained extensively
in the booklet by Pieter Dirksen. The
basic model may be the 'sonata da chiesa'
with its common four movements, but
in several sonatas there are additional
movements, and sometimes fast movements
are interrupted by slow passages. Three
of the sonatas (Nos. 3, 8 and 12) contain
many more movements, and some of these
are written for one instrument. The
Sonata III contains two passages for
the first and the second violin respectively,
both consisting of fast and slow sections.
In the two other sonatas the viola da
gamba also gets a solo role. The Sonata
VIII is a piece of programmatic music:
here a Battaglia is depicted, which
includes a kind of 'lamento' (a short
solo for the second violin) and closes
with a joyful allegro, which can be
interpreted as a song of victory.
"These twelve sonatas
demonstrate an astonishing variety of
affects through which the composer displays
a noteworthy sensitivity for the different
keys, lending each sonata its own particular
character", Pieter Dirksen writes in
the booklet. This observation is certainly
reflected in the performance of these
sonatas. The harmonic peculiarities
come out clearly, thanks to the perfect
intonation. The contrasts between the
movements are also worked out well,
but fortunately these are not exaggerated:
after all this is not Italian music.
I like the way the basso continuo part
is realised: the violinists are given
strong rhythmic support, and there is
a nice variety of scoring: harpsichord
or organ with theorbo and viola da gamba,
and in some sections only the latter
two. Elsewhere I complained about the
modern fashion of using the theorbo
as percussion instrument. This ensemble
stays away from that approach: the theorbo
is only used in that way in the Sonata
VIII, but as it illustrates a battle,
that makes sense.
These are colourful,
energetic and technically immaculate
performances of works which are very
important additions to the repertoire.
I am sure that this very attractive
disc will give you as much pleasure
as it has given me.
Johan van Veen
for details
La Suave Melodia(Rachael Beesley (violin),
Cassandra Luckhardt (viola da gamba),
Regina Albanez (theorbo), Pieter Dirksen
(harpsichord, organ); with Franc Polman
(violin))/Pieter Dirksen 
