Austro-German instrumental music from Schmelzer to C. P. E. Bach

Abstract

The mid-17th century was a time of great turmoil and division throughout modern-day Germany and Austria. While other European nations—most conspicuously Louis XIV’s France—consolidated their geographical sovereignty and cultural integrity, the German-speaking lands remained a fractured patchwork of political entities that, apart from their language, lacked an overarching, cohesive national identity. While Lutheranism shaped northern and central Germany, the Catholic Church served as a conduit for the dissemination of Italian culture in Bavaria, Austria and other eastern realms; French culture, meanwhile, became increasingly à la mode among the nobility at many courts. The twelve recordings considered in this review feature roughly a century’s worth of music spanning the mid-17th to mid-18th centuries and reflect this multifaceted cultural landscape. When considered all together, the listener can actually hear how the cosmopolitan nature of this exciting and varied repertory not only effected a cross-fertilization of styles, but, over time, led to the emergence of new, patently ‘German’ idioms and stylistic traits as well.