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May I Borrow That?

Title page from the first edition (1720) of the Eccles op. 1 violin sonatas.

The Eccles Family Tree



The Eccles' were a family of English musicians, and like most families, the Eccles clan was not without its cast of characters! Solomon, born in 1617, taught viol and virginals until, taken by a religious conviction that music could incite sin and evil, he publicly burned his instruments on Tower Hill condemning music as something wicked and lecherous.

Another, John Eccles, gave music a better chance. John was a composer and became very popular in London in the late 1690's, replacing Purcell after his death in 1695.

There was another musician in the family, Thomas, who was known for being an excellent violinist. But he was also an alcoholic and overcome by addiction, he squandered much of his talent and career.

Thomas had a brother named Henry who was also a violinist, and it is this member of the Eccles family that a 2013 musicaomnia release features. Born in London in 1670, Henry Eccles eventually moved to France to work for the French Duke d'Aumont, and it was likely while he was still in France that Henry published his first book of sonatas in 1720.

Music from that publication is performed here by the Callipygian Players Martin Davids plays violin, with the basso continuo team, Craig Trompeter and David Schrader.

Musical Borrowing



Copyright was yet to be a standard "thing" in the early 18th century, and composers, performers and publishers alike frequently stole (or ‘borrowed' is a nicer word!) as desired.

A full 19 movements out of the 40 total that make up Eccles op. 1 sonatas, aren't actually written by Eccles. Most of those 19 movements are instead by an Italian composer, Giusseppe Valentini, in many cases lifted nearly note for note out of Valentini's Allettamente per camera op. 8 of 1714, 6 years before Eccles' publication.

In one sonata, however, Eccles appropriates nearly identically a movement from Francesco Antonio Bonporti's op 10 Invenzione as the second movement of his own Sonata 11 in g minor. The few changes Eccles makes to Bonporti's music include the addition of a few double stops here and there, and an adjustment of tempo from presto to Alegro.

Ironically, out of all the sonatas under Eccles' name, this is the one that became famous. Poor Bonporti! The Eccles Sonata 11, or more fairly, the Eccles/Bonporti sonata has been transposed and rewritten for virtually every instrument from E flat alto saxophone to string bass, and was even championed in full Romantic style in the in the early 20th century by the famous violinist Joseph Szigeti.

The Callipygian Players offer a stylish and historically based rendition with careful attention to Eccles' 1720 facsimile of the piece.

Francesco Geminiani



From Eccles-a man who reused the music of other composers-to a composer who kept reusing his own material…over, and over and over again. Francesco Geminiani published his op 1 sonatas in London in 1716, just a few years before Eccles. Like Eccles, Geminiani wasn't above borrowing other composers ideas, but a recording by the London Handel Players offers an interesting look at how Geminiani kept revisiting, reworking, republishing, and revitalizing his own compositions, specifically, his own op. 1 violin sonatas.

After their initial publication in 1716, Geminiani put out a new and revised version of his op. 1 violin sonatas in 1739, updated with an eye for the French manner of playing, and with the addition of a great many ornaments and embellishments.

Then in 1757, the composer, now age 70, again republished the sonatas-this time adding a second part and turning them into trio sonatas. Â Besides the 1716, 1739, and 1757 re-issues, Geminiani also transcribed several of his op 1 violin sonatas into pieces for solo harpsichord, publishing various movements in both his 1743 and 1761 collections of keyboard music.

In the end, Geminiani couldn't keep these pieces to himself. Charles Avison, Johan Roman and Gerhard Christophe Raupach all rewrote Geminiani's op. 1 violin sonatas as concerti grossi, Barsanti made his own trio sonata version of the pieces, and still other 18th c. admirers arranged the pieces for flute and recorder.

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