Featuring the World Premiere Recording of Complete Solo Movements of the Historic Klagenfurt Manuscript of 1685

The Great Violins series from Divine Art’s Athene historic music label reaches Volume 3 with an exceptional historic work – the Klagenfurt Handskrift of 1685. Violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved accessed the original manuscript at the Landesmuseums Kartnen, in Klagenfurt (southern Austria) and studied a facsimile for many hours with great dedication, coming to terms with its ancient tablature notation. Skærved says: It was only as this work progressed that I began to realise the beauty in front of me. That dawning realisation, alone, at my desk, with violin, bow, and pencil, was one of the most moving experiences of my artistic life.”

The Klagenfurt Manuscript is a vellum-covered book of 80 leaves, nearly all of which are in the same hand.  Seven different tunings are utilized.  It was found in the convent of St. Georgen am Längsee, in Carinthia and while the massive manuscript is anonymous, Skærved strongly believes that it is the work of a Benedictine nun (all of whom worked anonymously at the time) or a lay sister working at the convent.

The recording, which as with previous volumes in the series has been wonderfully produced by Jonathan Haskell, consists of about 100 movements for solo violin,  which indeed make up the major part of the whole manuscript, though it does also include some four-part pieces and some with basso continuo.  The majority of movements are in recognisable dance forms, although many of them are unlabelled. They include allemandes, minuets, gigues, passepieds, courants, correntes, sarabandes, sicilianas and a number of movements which are less capabale of categorization!

For this recording Peter Sheppard Skærved has chosen an extraordinarily fine Stradivari violin of 1685 which is in the collection of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, England. It dates from the same decade (possibly the same year) as the manuscript – but more than this, the music and the instrument proved to the performer to be ideally suited to each other – each illuminated the other, in Skærved’s words.  It is a beautiful instrument of maple, smaller than the modern ‘standard’ and of the type sometimes referred to as ‘violino piccolo’. Slight alterations were made to neck and bass bar at some point in the 19^th century.  Skaerved plays with gut strings, and a period-style bow, to achieve as closely as possible the sound that the maker and his original customer would have expected.  The bow, of typical 17^th century design and smaller than the modern bow, was made by the Genoese bowmaker Antonino Airenti.

A detailed essay on the manuscript, its notation and style (which includes several scordatura sections), and on the instrument, will appear in the album booklet.

Peter Sheppard Skaerved is among Britain’s (and the world’s) most accomplished violinists. Alongside his work at the Royal Academy of Music in London, he is tireless in his performing and recording career, both ‘solo’ and with his ensembles, Kreutzer Quartet and Longbow. He is the dedicatee of over 200 works for solo violin alone, and is a champion of music of all ages. He was recently described by MusicWeb International as ‘an aristocrat among violinists’. Peter is also a brilliant writer, painter, and a genuine cognoscente of the arts in general.

The album is scheduled for release at the end of 2019 or early 2020 and pre-release promotional copies may be available by the autumn.

Great Violins, Vol. 3 – Die Klagenfurt Handskrift (Athene ATH 23206)

2-CD set, and double digital album for release in late 2019/early 2020 and featuring Peter Sheppard Skærved performing a 1685 Violin by Stradavari on over 100 movements/sections/tracks.