20 pp., $12.95, Presser Order number 494-02874 (PWYS-15d)
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Until
the beginning of the 1980s, the figure of François de Fossa was mainly known by
his relationship with Dionisio Aguado, a relationship that included de Fossa’s
collaboration in producing the two Parisian editions of the Aguado Escuela,
and the complete translation of one of them into French. The situation changed
radically in 1981 with the publication by Editions Orphée of a monograph which
not only revealed very interesting and decisive factors in regard to the guitar
quintets of Luigi Boccherini, but also included an important biographical study
and a checklist of the known compositions of François de Fossa. Several works by
de Fossa were published in later years, among which were works for two guitars,
trios, quartets, an anthology of selected works for guitar solo published in
1990. De Fossa’s Quatre Divertissemens pour la Guitare seule extraits des
Oeuvres de J. Haydn, his Op. 13, was part of that anthology. The current edition
of it was engraved anew, and completely edited and fingered.
The works of Haydn from which this music is drawn are as follows:
Divertimento I — Symphony N° 63 “La Roxolane”, and Symphony N° 85 “La Reine”
Divertimento II — Largo Cantabile, Rondo Allegretto. In spite of rigorous
search, we have not been successful in identifying the movements of this
Divertimento among the known works of Haydn. Divertimento III — Symphony N° 85
“La Reine”and Symphony N° 86 Divertimento IV — Symphony N° 53 “L’Imperiale” and
Symphony N° 85 “La Reine”. The Andante of this symphony was also used, at about
the same time, by Fernando Sor, as the theme of his Thema Varié pour la Guitare
ou Lyre, (WoO-1) as well as in his Op. 20. Of considerable interest here is de
Fossa’s seemingly paradoxical approach to transcribing music by Haydn. In the
case of Haydn string quartets, he chose the two guitars medium, providing for a
more facile representation of the harmony and counterpoint. In transcribing
these four divertimenti, extracted from several Haydn symphonies, he chose the
solo guitar as the target instrumentation, clearly a medium that is far less
appropriate for handling a complex musical texture than the guitar duo. It is
perfectly understandable that he was not entirely successful in retaining the
selection’s original integrity, having eliminated some parts as noted above.
Nevertheless, the resulting works, those that are directly attributable to Haydn
and the one that cannot, are splendid concert pieces for the solo guitar.
François de Fossa was born in Perpignan on August 31st 1775 and died in Paris on June 3rd 1849. He was one of the most influential composers for the guitar, an influence which was reflected in his close personal relationships with many well known guitarists of the early nineteenth century, and in particular, with Dionisio Aguado. It is thanks to de Fossa that the guitar quintets of Luigi Boccherini, perhaps the basis of the repertoire for chamber music with guitar, were preserved and are available to us today.
Front cover illustration is a water color by François de Fossa (1861-1935?), the composer’s grandson. It was published as an illustration to an article titled “Le Marechal aux Champs” (l’Illustration, 20/11/1926, N° 4368) describing the residence of Marshal Ferdinand Foch at Trefeunteuniou, near Morlaix in Brittany. We are indebted to Marielle Olive for a copy of this water-color.
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