Tyrolean Musical Treasures 22
(Double-CD-Set)
Romanus Weichlein (1652-1706)
Encaenia musices
(12 Sonatas op. 1), Innsbruck 1695
Romanus Weichlein was from a family of musicians in Linz. He made his profession as a Benedictine monk in 1671 at Lambach Monastery. However, Weichlein spent many years in the Tyrol, where he also composed major works. These probably include most of his Sonatas opus 1, which are remarkable in many respects. They are appealingly and effectively Baroque. The Innsbruck court printer Jakob Christoph Wagner published them in 1695. The fine, carefully prepared edition in the form of part books, which has been preserved in only one copy at the French National Library in Paris, contains an additional curiosity: a laudatory poem to Weichlein written in the name of the Innsbruck court music ensemble (Caesarea Musica Oenipontana). In 1691 Weichlein, who was lauded for being “famous” and well versed “in composition and musical instruments,” was appointed the curate, music prefect and composer-in-residence at the Benedictine nunnery of Säben near Klausen in the Eisack valley. The convent chronicle records that he acquired musical instruments from Lambach for the nuns and staged theatrical performances accompanied by music. In any case, during the fourteen years of his activities in Säben, Weichlein completely revamped the institution’s musical life to an extent that extended far beyond the monastic realm. Compositions that he dedicated to Neustift Monastery near Brixen and to the Brixen cathedral chapter have unfortunately been lost. Almost miraculous, however, is the survival of his collection of Twelve Sonatas for Two Violins, Two Violas and Organ dedicated to Emperor Leopold I. These are consistently brilliant pieces, impressively interpreted in this performance with great enthusiasm and expertise by the discoverers of this musical gem, the Ars antiqua Austria ensemble conducted by Gunar Letzbor. An additional special attraction was that these concerts featured two of the most precious bowed string instruments in the Tiroler Landesmuseum being played for the first time in public. The viola by Jonas Heringer (Füssen about 1635) and a large viola by Jakob Stainer dating from 1678 were restored especially for these concerts. The wonderful, silky, elegant tone of both of these instruments lent Weichlein’s glorious sonatas an almost ideal type of sound.
CD 2, Track 18, 1:59
Allegro
from Sonata 12, C-Dur