A Sonata for All Types of Pianos

The name of the Viennese singer, composer, and harpsichordist Marianna (von) Martines (1744–1812) is no longer an insider’s secret. She was a student of Joseph Haydn and was supported by the court poet and librettist Pietro Metastasio, who also named her the principal heir to his fortune and his artistic legacy. She hosted musical soirées attended by Mozart and other musical greats, and left behind sacred vocal works, an oratorio, a symphony, as well as piano concertos and sonatas. Recently, the youngest of her three «very elegant piano sonatas» (Burney) was published as a standalone edition. The only source for this is a Dresden manuscript, which dates the work to 1769.

The stylistic and pedagogical foundation of this sonata is provided by the divertimenti that the court composer Wagenseil composed for the talented daughters of Empress Maria Theresa. A late Baroque structural pattern is combined here with the expressiveness of the later Viennese Classical period, particularly in the minor-key middle movement, which requires a considerable degree of rhythmic nuance. The fast outer movements feature many typical rhythmic patterns characteristic of keyboard music from the mid-18th century.

Perhaps this sonata would have helped me overcome my teenage «sonatina crisis» in piano lessons better than the unbearable lightness of the long-worn-out Clementi and Kuhlautrifles—and perhaps it would have introduced me to the creativity of long-forgotten female composers who were, however, highly regarded in their own time. The impeccable musical text is complemented by valuable «Notes on Performance Practice,» which help musicians navigate the colorful ornamentation of early Classical keyboard music. For this reason, this sonata is recommended not only to harpsichordists but especially to female players of all types of “keyboards.”.

Marianna Martines: Sonata da Cimbalo in G Major, ed. by Judith Valerie Engel, BA 10888, €11.95, Bärenreiter, Kassel