C Stamitz Six Trios, Op. 14 L’Apothéose Linn Records CKD 684 69:26 mins
The Spanish chamber group L’Apothéose – whose name harks back to Couperin’s trio sonata L’Apothéose de Corelli – devotes most of its liner note to music history, which in the case of the largely forgotten Carl Philipp Stamitz’s music makes good sense.
Son of the composer Johann Stamitz – the driving force of the so-called ‘Mannheim school’ – and brother of the composer Anton Stamitz, Carl Philipp was born in 1745 and clearly destined for a musical career. As a virtuoso violinist he toured the European capitals in the 1770s, and shared the stage with Johann Christian Bach in London.
London was at that time one of the continent’s leading musical cities. It was where commercial concerts and music societies were beginning to break the monopoly of the courts, the church and the aristocracy in commissioning new works, and where the internationalisation of styles and genres was proceeding fastest. Market forces ruled, and composers flocked to the city.
Carl Stamitz’s six Op. 14 trios were offered for sale to ‘Nobility, Gentry, Music Masters, and others’, and although Haydn’s London sojourn came a few years later one can clearly see his influence in these elegant works for flute, violin, cello and harpsichord. Stamitz’s music has the same easy grace, and the same immaculate control of sonorities, and this superb ensemble do it proud.
Dipping in and out of the minor mode, but mostly dwelling in the sunlit major, these beautifully turned works pass a very pleasant hour, even if they lack the explorative and emotional qualities of the great master to come.
Michael Church