Giovanni Mane Giornovichi: Violin Concerto No.1, 5

Giovanni Mane Giornovichi

(1735 - 1804, St. Petersburg), whose family was of Ragusa (today in Croatia), but according to the Berlin freemason registry Giornovichi was born in the small town of Ragusa, near Palermo, Italy.

Violin Concerto No.1 in A major

  Paul Yeager (violin), Starling Chamber Orchestra, Kurt Sassmannshaus (conductor)

He had a European career, performing in almost all major centres including Paris, Berlin, Warsaw, St Petersburg, Vienna, Stockholm, Basel, London, Dublin, amongst others. It appears he was a pupil of Antonio Lolli and he was an acquaintance of Joseph Haydn, with whom he shared concert programmes in London. Whole periods of his life - his youth and other interludes - remain unaccounted for, while details as to his origins and identity have proven to be elusive

Jarnović made a "sensational" debut in Paris, at a Concert Spirituel on 25 March 1773, and appeared in three successive concerts in which he was billed as the "fameux violoniste". In Dec 1775 he had "amazed" his audience and "seemed to surpass himself in his new violin concerto and in the little airs varies that he played following it". The Mercure de France later described the Polish violinist Felix Janiewicz as his student on the latter's appearance at a Concert Spirituel.

In addition to other appointments, he appeared from 1779 to 1783 in the service of the Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia. on 14 May 1783 he was granted a three-year contract, in St Petersburg, in the service of Catherine II, Empress of Russia. Towards the end of 1802 he travelled to St Petersburg where he lived the two remaining years of his life.
Jarnović composed about 50 chamber instrumental pieces, 22 violin concertos (17 preserved), and is known for having introduced the romanza as a slow movement into the structure of the violin concerto.

Violin Concerto No.5, in E major

Brittany Kotheimer, violin, Starling Chamber Orchestra, Kurt Sassmannshaus (conductor)

I. Allegro – 00:00
II. Romance grazioso – 10:17
III. Rondo (Allegretto) – 16:45

He was one of the most celebrated violinists of his era. He wrote over 20 violin concerti, of which at least 17 survived. During his lifetime some of his concerti reached five or six printed editions. He was tremendeously successful in many European capitals, including Paris, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Berlin, Vienna, St. Petersburg, Moscow, and London, performing in concert with some of the greatest musicians of his time, Mozart and Haydn included.

He changed the spelling and pronounciation of his name depending on the country in which he performed. In slavic countries he called himself Ivan Jarnovick (or Jarnović), with various spellings.. Little is known about his youth, although we know that he was a student of Antonio Lolli. The first printed records of his concertizing date from Paris in 1770, where he quickly became the favorite violinist. His friends were as impressed with his musical talent as they were exasperated with his rude and tempestuous behavior. Again, few details are available, but it is known that he left many cities under the cloud of scandal. At times he earned a living as a billiards player. Towards the end of his life he was concert master at the court of Catherine II in St. Petersburg. He died there in 1804 from a stroke suffered during a billiard game, and was honored with an elaborate funeral.

All of his concertos are scored for the typical classical ensemble of four string parts, with two oboes and two horns ad libitum. only in two concertos does he add timpani and bassoon. The melodic interest is consistently in the first violin section or in the solo part, much of the accompaniment is in the Italianate style of using the first and second violins only. Giornovichi is justly called the father of the romantic violin concerto. His important innovations became standard features of this form. His violin technique was far ahead of his time. The virtuoso demands of his works paved the way for Paganini by using fast passages in thirds, octaves and tenth. He introduced the "Romance" as the standard slow movement of the violin concerto, replacing the embellished chord progressions of the early eighteenth century with lyrical tunes. Equally important, he used the "Rondo" form as the standard third movement. These developments not only

influenced his contemporaries like Mozart and Viotti but also became the predominant form for the violin concerto throughout the romantic period.

During Giornovichi's lifetime, Stradivari was the most celebrated and desired violin maker, and Giornovichi was the first soloist to discover the power and the lush timbre of Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù's violins. Here again he paved the way for Niccolo Paganini and many other virtuosos to this day.” (by Kurt Sassmannshaus, violinist and conductor)