E. Barbella: Minuetti gustosi for two mandolins (c. 1760)

[Martin Jonas]

Emanuele Barbella (1718-1777): 24 Minuetti gustosi per due violini

1. Minuetto XXIV -- 0:00
2. Minuetto XXIII -- 1:18
3. Balletto XVII -- 3:10
4. Minuetto XXII -- 3:59

These are four short mandolin duets, taken from a collection of 24 minuets by the Neapolitan rococo composer Emanuele Barbella. They were published in 2014 by the Centro di Ricerca e di Sperimentazione Musicale at the University of Naples, in a gorgeous free PDF edition:

http://imslp.org/wiki/Minuetti_gusto...a,_Emanuele%29

I am not aware of any previous publication of these pieces, and cannot find any sign of them ever having been recorded.

While these duets are marked "for two violins", Barbella is also well-known as a composer of original mandolin music, including a set of six duets now generally considered part of the standard 18th century mandolin repertoire, but originally published for two violins or mandolins. Barbella's violin and mandolin compositions appear to be largely interchangeable, and these 24 short duets appear to me to be at least as ideomatic on mandolin as they would be on violin.

I have therefore recorded them as mandolin duets, using a nylgut-strung bowlback mandolin and a modern flattop mandolin.

"Baroq-ulele" nylgut-strung mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin

These are simple fun duets, which I suspect were written for teaching purposes. Lots of rococo charm, and a nice stylistic variety. In terms of difficulty, they are slightly more advanced than the Telemann minuets (from John Goodin's site), but well within reach of lower intermediate players. Despite the title, not all pieces are minuets, with a few other styles thrown in for variety.

These four appealed to me on first sight reading, but I haven't tried all yet and may add more later to this thread.



Martin

[Martin Jonas]

I am not aware of any previous publication of these pieces, and cannot find any sign of them ever having been recorded.

Looking at this a bit closer, I've come across Barbella's entry in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani - Volume 6 (1964), which includes the following reference at the end of a list of Barbella's published works:

"Numerose altre composizioni rimangono manoscritte nelle biblioteche italiane e straniere; di particolare importanza quelle conservate alla Biblioteca del conservatorio S. Pietro a Maiella di Napoli: 7 Duetti per due Violini, 3 Duetti per due Flauti nelle tonalità di do maggiore, sol magg. e re magg., Duetto (in do magg.) per due Mandolini, 4 Minuetti per due Flauti, Trio a due Violini e Basso di E. B. 1768, Minuetti gustosi, per due Violini (24 Piccoli pezzi quasi tutti nella forma del minuetto), ecc."

That would appear to confirm that these pieces were unpublished at least as of 1964, and that the C.R.S.M. edition at IMSLP is a transcription (presumably by a researcher or graduate student) of the manuscript at the library of the Naples Conservatoire. IMSLP shows a grand total of 58 downloads of this edition so far since its publication last year.

"Gustosi" would translate as "tasty", or figurately as "amusing", which seems a fair enough description.

Martin

[Themis Paraskevas]

Martin, I just want to thank you for keeping the classical section alive! You 're awesome! Keep it up. Hope to do the same as soon as I buy the equipment and my mandola :D.

[billhay4]

Martin, I just want to thank you for keeping the classical section alive!

I second the sentiment, but we're going to have to get Martin onto another period. His delightful collection of art featuring improbable (and probable) bosoms and men with bad teeth starting thereupon is being exhausted.
Bill

[Pasha Alden]

Thanks Martin!

[August Watters]

Yes - great find! Thanks for letting us know.

[Martin Jonas]

Thanks, all!

I second the sentiment, but we're going to have to get Martin onto another period. His delightful collection of art featuring improbable (and probable) bosoms and men with bad teeth starting thereupon is being exhausted.

Oh no, it isn't! Rococo is of course pretty much synonymous with "frivolous", so improbable bosoms and leering men is about par for the course. I'm trying to stay clear of the worst excesses of Boucher and Fragonard, but there is still plenty to choose from.

Anyway, here are another five of these Barbella duets:

Emanuele Barbella (1718-1777): 24 Minuetti gustosi per due violini

1. Minuetto XII -- 0:00
2. Duetto in sol maggiore XV -- 1:16
3. Minuetto VIII -- 3:56
4. Allegro XXI -- 5:11
5. Minuetto X -- 7:40

For a change in texture, I have used the Embergher this time instead of the Baroq-ulele, which gives a more sparkling sound and more sustain:

1915 Luigi Embergher mandolin
Mid-Missouri M-0W mandolin

Despite the title of the collection, two of the pieces here are not minuets at all: No. 15 is in 2/4 time and No. 21 (marked Allegro, the only tempo marking here) is in common time. These two are also considerably longer and more sophisticated than the other pieces, and may have been intended for concert performance rather than teaching pieces as I suspect the others were. Together with No. 17 (a short balletto in 6/8 time) which was in my first batch, these are the only three pieces that are not in minuet form.



Martin