"Chiaccona".  Music for Chitarrone and Lute by Alessandro Piccinini
(1566-1638).  Axel Wolf, Lute/Chitarrone; Iris Weber, Organ; Joerg Meder,
Violone; Bernward Jaime Rudolph, Spanish Guitar; Hilko Schomerus,
Percussion.  Melisma Musik 7154-2 (imported into the U.S.  by Qualiton),
72 minutes.

If you are a fan of music for plucked string instruments (and have
an interest in their history), you could find this recording to be of
interest.  If you are also enjoy the various Baroque forms of basso
ostinato such as the Chaconne, you will find this album a little off
the usual path, but a fascinating byway nonetheless.

Most people, if they think about the musical form known as the Chaconne
will envision the stately orchestral versions of this dance, starting
with composers like Lully and Purcell, perhaps culminating in works such
as Bach's for unaccompanied violin.  What is perhaps less well known is
that the Chaconne's origins as a dance and song are anything but stately.
In the early 17th century, the "Ciaconna" (aka Chacona, Chiaconna etc.)
ostinato and its intoxicating nature was considered licentious, if not
outright scandalous.  Ascribed to various New World origins such as Latin
America and the Caribbean, there may be some African roots as well.  From
the West, the Ciacona migrated to Spain and then Italy before "infecting"
the rest of Europe.  The song's refrain lyrics associated with the early
forms are, according to an Early Music List posting by Warren Steele of
the University of Mississippi:

"Vida bona, vida bona, vida vamonos a chacona!" which Steele translates as:

"Sweet life, sweet life, come on, baby, let's do the chacona!" but which
may have originated as:

"Sweet life, sweet life, come on, baby, let's go to Xacona!,"

the city Xacona (Chacona) being an (apocryphal) place where inhibitions are
tossed away-i.e.  nuns throwing off their habits, dancing in the streets,
and other activities perhaps of a nature for intimate company.

Despite (or perhaps because of) this racy connotation, the early livelier
form of the chacona was very popular, with many composers writing works
that incorporated it.  The most famous one today is probably Monteverdi's
tenor duet "Zefiro torna", from the Scherzi musicali of 1632.  But by the
middle of the 17th century, the Chaconne had been "tamed" to the more
restrained character for which it is more widely known.

Among the other composers who made use of the chacona were the Italian lute
composers active in the early 17th century, of which the most famous today
might be the German-Italian Giovanni Girolamo Kapsberger.  A contemporary
of both Kapsberger and Monteverdi, Alessandro Piccinini has two books of
lute tablatures credited to him, published in 1623 and (posthumously) in
1639.  Music from both of these books are performed in this recording;
which was composed for the regular lute as well as the larger chitarrone,
a bass lute with extra strings that gave it an extended lower range.  A
close cousin (perhaps interchangeably so) with the theorbo, both are also
referred to as the archlute.  The range of these instruments made them
useful in baroque continuo groups as a supplement or alternative to the
harpsichord.

However, instead of just a solo instrument, lutenist Axel Wolf makes
use of his extended continuo ensemble in a number of pieces-a sort of
early Baroque "rhythm section".  The other parts seem to be inferred or
improvised from the original tablature to accompany the chitarrone.  The
overall sound is likely to be fairly familiar to those who have heard
recordings or performances of a Monteverdi opera, for example, though
perhaps the bongo-style drums are a bit of a surprise!

There is a precedent to this practice, including in other recent
recordings.  A few years ago, Rolf Lislevand and several of his colleagues
(most of whom are associated with Jordi Savall's early music ensembles) put
out a CD of Kapsberger's Fourth Lute Book on Astree/Auvidis 8515.  Probably
still available, this recording generated a fair amount of discussion on
the Early Music List, mainly as to the "authenticity" of expanding music
written for solo lute or chitarrone to a larger continuo group with
percussion.  However, some evidence has been cited by scholars in
Agazzari's 1607 treatise on continuo playing that the practice is
historically appropriate, at least in Italy.  What is probably not in so
much dispute are the musical results of the Lislevand album, which received
general praise on the EM List for its virtuosic exuberance and remains a
favorite of this reviewer.

Hence, it seems only natural that some other group of talented early
musicians specializing in continuo work would take up the idea with other
early 17th century Italian lute music such as Piccinini's.  Indeed, the
liner notes (which are only in German, and of which I can only translate
fragments) state that Axel Wolf studied with Lislevand.  Wolf's ensemble
is slightly smaller than that in the Kapsberger CD, using a single Spanish
guitar to provide other plucked chordal support (often in flamenco-style
flourishes), an organ, violone, and various drums, tambourines and other
percussion instruments to add color.  Wolf's solo style is perhaps a little
less flamboyant than Lislevand's, but no less musical, and still very
skilled in handling the complications of an instrument that could have
from 14 up to 19 courses of strings!

The pieces on the recording are fairly typical of this repertory.  A
number of Toccatas are interspersed with dances such as Correntes and
Gagliardas.  Several of the works are played by Wolf alone.  For example,
the "Battaglia" uses familiar trumpet-like figurations and antiphonal
effects beloved of composers from this era; listeners familiar with
Respighi's "Ancient Airs and Dances" will probably recognize some passages
in this piece.  Other pieces use a subset of the full group; chitarrone
with the organ and violone, for example, sometimes with the other
instrumentalists taking the melodic lead from Wolf.  Weber's organ playing
is quite well blended and skillful, while Meder plays the violone with a
deep bass that nicely underpins the ensemble.

Several renditions of other ostinato works are performed, such as the
"Romanesca" and the Passacaglia.  The Chiaconnas include one "alla vera
Spagnola", and a "Mariona alla vera Spagnola".  There's both a Partite
variate and Corrente "sopra 'L'Alemana'", though some listeners may
recognize the tune more readily by its French moniker, "Une jeune
fillette".  A "Sarabande alla Francese" also helps remind us that the early
versions of this dance were more lively and sensual than its evolved form
in the late Baroque.  The final work on the album, "Chiaccona in partite
variate", makes full use of the ostinato bass so familiar to Monteverdi.
While the entire ensemble plays in the piece, they gradually drop out as
the music grows softer, to the point that the album ends with Wolf alone
playing the chacona rhythm, piannissimo.

Overall, this is a nice exhibition of why the chitarrone was such a
versatile favorite of the continuo sections of the day, despite its
supposed inability to play the complex polyphony of which the conventional
lute was capable.  The recorded sound is somewhat typical of this kind
of repertory, with a sort of closely-miked, "in your face" nature, some
reverberation and a little heavy emphasis on the bass.  Sonically, it's
perhaps not entirely faithful, but the music and the festive sounds tell
you not to worry--kick back, relax, and sing "vida bona!"

Bill H.