Recent Researches in the Music of the Baroque Era

Georg von Bertouch (1668–1743) was a German-born musician and military officer who spent a considerable part of his adult life in Norway. He composed a cycle of twenty-four sonatas in each of the twenty-four keys, of which only eighteen survive in a fragmentary Scandinavian eighteenth-century manuscript that originally included the entire set. Two sonatas, one of which is written in C-sharp major, are scored for trumpet, two violins, and continuo; they feature virtuosic writing for the trumpet. The remaining sonatas were probably all scored for two violins and continuo.
     Bertouch, who in his youth had made the acquaintance of the Bach family, seems to have sent a copy of the sonatas to J. S. Bach, and Bertouch’s cycle of sonatas is an interesting analogue to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier. The edition will be of interest not only to Bach scholars and performers, but also to those studying eighteenth-century key characteristics and baroque tuning systems.

Music Sample

Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
   Georg von Bertouch
   The Twenty-four Sonatas: Background and Content
   The Disposition of Keys
   Notes on Performance
   Notes
Plates

[Fragment of Sonata 6 in B Minor]

Sonata 7 in E Minor
     I.  Alla breve
   II.  Vivace
 III.  Adag[io]
 IV.  Allemande in canone: Vivace

Sonata 8 in G MajorÊ
     I.  Vivace
   II.  Adagio
 III.  Andante

Sonata 9 in C Major (with trumpet)
     I.  Vivace
   II.  Adagio
 III.  [Vivace]
 IV.  Prestissimo

Sonata 10 in A MinorÊ
     I.  Vivace
   II.  Allegro
 III.  Vivace

Sonata 11 in F Major
     I.  Vivace
   II.  Allegro
 III.  Adagio
 IV.  Allegro

Sonata 12 in D Minor
     I.  Andante
   II.  Adagio
 III.  Allegro
 IV.  Allegro

Sonata 13 in C Minor
     I.  Andante
   II.  Andante
 III.  Adagio
 IV.  Vivace e dolce

Sonata 14 in G Minor
     I.  Largo
   II.  Andante
 III.  Adag[io]
 IV.  Vivace

Sonata 15 in F Minor
     I.  Canon: Allegro
   II.  Adag[io]
 III.  Vivace
 IV.  Andante

Sonata 16 in B-flat Major
     I.  Vivace
   II.  Vivace
 III.  Adagio
 IV.  Vivace

Sonata 17 in E-flat Major
     I.  Largo
   II.  Andante
 III.  Allegro
 IV.  Vivace e[d] allegro

Sonata 18 in A-flat Major
     I.  Andante
   II.  Adagio
 III.  Vivace
 IV.  Vivace

Sonata 19 in A-flat Minor
     I.  Allegro
   II.  Vivace
 III.  Adag[io]
 IV.  Vivace

Sonata 20 in E-flat Minor
     I.  Largo
   II.  Vivace
 III.  Andante
 IV.  Allegro

Sonata 21 in B-flat Minor
     I.  Andante
   II.  Vivace
 III.  Dolce
 IV.  Allegro

Sonata 22 in F-sharp Major
     I.  Andante
   II.  Adagio
 III.  Allegro
 IV.  Adagio
   V.  Allegro

Sonata 23 in C-sharp Major (with trumpet)
     I.  Allegro
   II.  Vivace
 III.  Vivace
 IV.  Allegro

Sonata 24 in C-sharp Minor
     I.  Andante arios[o]
   II.  Largo
 III.  Alla breve

Critical Report
The Source
Editorial Methods
Critical Notes