Thomas Charles Wageman, M.r Fitzwilliam as Leporello (1829)

Act 4: Saverio Mercadante’s flute works


A systematic catalogue of all of Mercadante’s works was compiled and published by Michael Wittmann in 2020.1 This subchapter will focus on Mercadante's original flute works,2 with Dellaborra and Piovano’s research as a starting point. For each work, a table illustrates its essential elements, i.e. title, available sources (manuscript and historical and modern editions), instrumentation, subdivision in the case of collections of pieces, tonality, movements, and – if available – some historical notes.

Scene 1: Solo

  • Studio per flauto diviso in venti Capricci
  • Prima raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo
  • Seconda raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo
  • Terza raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo
  • Variazioni per flauto solo sul tema del coro degli Sgherri nell’opera Elisa e Claudio del sig.r maes.o Saverio Mercadante

 

Scene 2: Duets

  • Tre duetti per due flauti op. 100
  • Tre sonate per flauto con accompagnamento di un secondo flauto o violino
  • Tre duetti per due flauti
  • Sei divertimenti facili per flauto solo con accompagnamento di un secondo flauto o violino
  • Tre duetti per due flauti [...] op. no 156
  • Fantasia per flauto solo con accompagnamento di secondo flauto o violino
  • Tre duetti concertanti per due flauti

 

Scene 3: Trios

  • Tre Serenate
  • Trio per flauto, flauto d’amore e violoncello
  • Trio per due flauti e fagotto
  • Serenata per flauto, corno inglese e pianoforte
  • Duetto “Ah! Se puoi così lasciarmi” nell’oratorio Mosè in Egitto di Gioacchino Rossini accomodato per due flauti e basso
  • Ricordo del Mojarello per flauto, violino e pianoforte “sui pensieri della sua Francesca Donato”
  • Trio per flauto, violino e chitarra

 

Scene 4: Quartets

  • Quartetto Io in mi modo min
  • Quartetto per terzino [in E minor]
  • Quartetto 1o [in G major]
  • Quartetto secondo [in F major]
  • Quartetto 3o [in D major]
  • Quartetto [in E minor]
  • Quartetto 7o [in C major]
  • Quartetto 8o di Venezia [in G major]
  • Quartetto 9 [in A major]
  • Quartetto [in A minor]
  • Quartetto [in F# minor]
  • Dodicesimo quartetto [in A major]
  • Tre quartetti per flauto, clarinetto, corno d.c. e fagotto op. 50

 

Scene 5: Other chamber music

  • 4 Danze
  • Decimino [in C major]
  • Decimino [in Eb major]

 

Scene 6: Concertos

  • Cavatina per flauto [in A major]
  • Concerto per flauto traverso op. 4 [in E major]
  • Secondo concerto per flauto op. 5 [in E minor]
  • Quarto concerto per flauto [in G major]
  • Sesto concerto per flauto [in D major]
  • Introduzione, Largo, Tema con variazioni
  • Concerto per due flauti [in D major]
  • Concerto in fa maggiore per flauto solo con accompagnamento di orchestra
  • Gran concerto a 2 clarinetti, flauto e corno da caccia obbligati [in F major]
  • Concerto flauto obbligato [in F major]
  • Concertone per due clarinetti corno e flauto con l’accompto a grand’orchestra [in F major]
  • Gran Concerto in Si minore
 

Scene 7: Méthode

Scene 1: Solo

 

Title Studio per flauto diviso in venti Capricci
Manuscript I-Mc Noseda M.16.24, ca. 1812-1813
Modern editions

Leipzig: Carlo Schmidl & Co., 1910 (ed. Alfred Piguet)

Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1983 (ed. Enzo Caroli)

Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 1988 (ed. Gabriele Gallotta)

Brugherio: Sinfonica, 1993 (ed. Gaia Scabbia)
Instrumentation Flute solo
Tonality and movements

1. E minor

2. E minor

3. G major

4. G major

5. D major

6. D major

7. B minor

8. B minor

9. A major

10. F# minor

11. E major

12. C# minor

13. A minor

14. C major

15. D minor

16. F major

17. G minor

18. Bb major

19. C minor

20. Eb major
Notes

This is probably one of Mercadante’s first works for flute, if not the very first one: considering the watermark and the fact that the tonalities are named after the traditional solmisation rules,3 Dellaborra dates the manuscript back to 1812 or 1813. It was perhaps a first attempt to write for the flute through short and free forms, without dealing with more complex ones such as quartets and concertos.4

Considering the date and the title (“Etude for the flute consisting of twenty Caprices”), the work probably had a didactical purpose and could have been written for fellow students of the Real Collegio. The Studio is in fact a collection of twenty short pieces in several tonalities, some of which are rather challenging. Moreover, each one focuses on a certain rhythmic pattern, ornamentation or character, following the examples of many contemporary French methods.

Although the manuscript is ready for printing, the Studio was never published during Mercadante’s lifetime.5

 

Unlike the caprices, the ten variation sets were published in three collections by Giuseppe Girard between 1818 and 1819.6


Title Prima raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818
Modern edition

Ancona: Bèrben, 1984 (ed. Severino Gazzelloni, only “Là ci darem la mano”)

In Padova: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1985 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci and Anna Mancini)

In Paris: Billaudot, 1987 (ed. Maxance Larrieu)

In Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 1988 (ed. Claudio Paradiso)
Instrumentation Flute solo
Subdivision Nell’Armida [by G. Rossini,] “Cara per te quest’anima” Nella Gabriella [by M. Carafa,] “Ombra che a me d’intorno” Nel D. Giovanni [by W. A. Mozart,] “Là ci darem la mano”
Tonality C major G major C major
Movements 4 variations and coda 4 variations and coda 4 variations and coda
Notes Of the ten arias that Mercadante chose in the three collections, only Mozart’s “Là ci darem la mano” kept its fame until today. This led to a certain popularity of the variations in the last decades.7


 

Title Seconda raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818
Modern edition

In Padova: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1985 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci and Anna Mancini)

In Paris: Billaudot, 1987 (ed. Maxance Larrieu)

In Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 1988 (ed. Claudio Paradiso)
Instrumentation Flute solo
Subdivision Nell’Elisabetta [by G. Rossini, “Bell’alme generose”] Nell’Agnese [by F. Paër, “Come la nebbia al vento”] Nell’Armida [by G. Rossini, “D’amor al dolce impero”]
Tonality G major E minor F major
Movements 5 variations and coda 4 variations and coda 3 variations and coda
Notes This collection was published again around 1828 as part of the Méthode pour la flûte par Devienne précédée d’un abrégé des principes de musique augmentée de plusieurs airs nouveaux de trois duos et trois airs variés de Rossini et Paër par Mercadante.8

 

 
Title Terza raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1819
Modern edition

In Padova: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1985 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci and Anna Mancini)

In Paris: Billaudot, 1987 (ed. Maxance Larrieu)

In Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 1988 (ed. Claudio Paradiso)
Instrumentation Flute solo
Subdivision Nell’Opera Ricciardo e Zoraide [by G. Rossini, “Ah, nati è ver noi siamo”] Nell’Opera Mosè in Egitto [by G. Rossini, “Dov’è mai quel cor amante”] Nell’Otello [by G. Rossini, “Assisa a piè d’un salice”] Nell’Opera Ricciardo e Zoraide [by G. Rossini, “Qual sarà mai la gioia”]
Tonality G major F major E minor F major
Movements 4 variations 5 variations 4 variations 4 variations


 

An interesting ambiguity concerns a later set of variations:

 


Title Variazioni per flauto solo sul tema del coro degli Sgherri nell’opera Elisa e Claudio del sig.r maes.o Saverio Mercadante
Historical edition Milan: Giovanni Ricordi, 1822 (plate number: 14)
Instrumentation Flute solo
Tonality G major
Movements 12 variations
Notes

The title does not specify whether Mercadante is only the author of the theme or of the variations as well: “by Mr. Maestro Saverio Mercadante” could refer both to “opera Elisa e Claudio” and to “variations”.9

Several elements make this piece rather eccentric when comparing it with the previous sets: it was published three years later than the previous ones, when Mercadante was focussing on his career as an opera composer;10 it is not part of a collection; it has a much higher number of variations (12 instead of 3 to 5); and there are several tempo changes (from 2/4 to 3/4 and 3/8), unlike the other variations. If Mercadante is not the author of the variations, the editor could have intentionally created such ambiguity to take advantage of Mercadante’s fame and increase sales, leaving the actual composer anonymous.

Piovano, however, puts forwards an intriguing hypothesis: such longer variations were usually dedicated to virtuoso players and Mercadante could have been inspired by meeting Giuseppe Rabboni, principal flute at La Scala, during the production of Elisa e Claudio.11

 


Scene 2: Duets

 

Perhaps following a didactical tradition that was particularly widespread in France,12 Mercadante probably composed the flute duets for his fellow students. Some of them are rather etudes for one flute, simply accompanied by another flute; others fall into the “concertante” category and are meant for two players of equal technical skills.

 

Most of them were published by Giuseppe Girard between 1818 and 1819 probably due to their moderate difficulty, which made them appealing to the large market of amateurs.

 


Title Tre duetti per due flauti op. 100
Manuscript Private collection of William Tode,13 ca. 1816
Modern edition Frederiksberg: Svitzer, 2014
Instrumentation 2 flutes
Subdivision Duetto 1.o Duetto 2.o Duetto 3.o
Tonality G major C major A minor
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Largo amabile

3. Rondò. Allegro con brio

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Tema con Variazioni. Andante – 5 variations

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Larghetto espressivo

3. Rondò Russo
Notes Among the duets collections that we know, this is the only one that was not published during Mercadante’s lifetime, probably due to the much higher technical skills that it requires.14

 

 

Title Tre sonate per flauto con accompagnamento di un secondo flauto o violino
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard,15 1818
Modern editions

Frankfurt am Main: Zimmermann, 1996 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci, only Sonata 1.a)

Sankt Augustin: Kossack, 2015 (three volumes)
Instrumentation 2 flutes or flute, violin
Subdivision Sonata 1.a Sonata 2.a Sonata 3.a
Tonality C major F major D major
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Rondò. Vivace

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Allegro brillante

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Tempo di Minué
 

Title Tre duetti per due flauti
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818
Modern edition In Padova: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1985 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci)
Instrumentation 2 flutes    
Subdivision Duetto 1:o Duetto 2:o Duetto 3:o
Tonality G major F major C major
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Tempo di Minué

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Tema. Andante – 3 variations

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Rondò. Allegro brillante
 
 
Title Sei divertimenti facili per flauto solo con accompagnamento di un secondo flauto o violino
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818
Instrumentation 2 flutes or flute, violin
Subdivision N. 1 N. 2 N. 3 N. 4 N. 5 N. 6
Tonality G major F major C major D major F major G major
Movements 1. Allegro brillante 1. Andante grazioso 1. Allegro. Alla Polacca 1. Rondo brillante 1. Allegretto grazioso 1. Allegro vivace
 
 
Title Tre duetti per due flauti […] op. no 156
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818
Modern edition In Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1985 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci)
Instrumentation 2 flutes
Subdivision Duetto 1.o Duetto 2.o Duetto 3.o
Tonality F major E minor C major
Movements

1. Larghetto amabile

2. All:o maestoso

3. Tempo di Valzer

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Adagio

3. Rondò. Allegro brillante

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Polacca. Allegro brillante
 
 
Title Fantasia per flauto solo con accompagnamento di secondo flauto o violino
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1819
Modern editions Frankfurt am Main: Zimmermann, 1996 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci)Sankt Augustin: Kossack, 2011
Instrumentation 2 flutes or flute, violin
Tonality G major
Movements

1. Larghetto

2. And:te mosso

3. Tempo di Minué

4. Andante

5. All:o alla polonese
 
 
Title Tre duetti concertanti per due flauti
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1819
Modern edition Sankt Augustin: Kossack, 2012 (three volumes)
Instrumentation 2 flutes    
Subdivision Duetto 1.o Duetto 2.o Duetto 3.o
Tonality C major D minor G major
Movements

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Andante alla siciliana

3. All:o

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Larghetto cantabile

3. All:o

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Andantino cantabile

3. Rondò. Allegro moderato
Notes The collection is dedicated to the “lieutenant colonel in the Royal Artillery Corps” Francesco Marsiglia, for whom no information is available. Piovano remarks that he probably was a highly-skilled amateur player, given the difficulty of the music.16 Nevertheless, it is also possible that he was only a patron and not necessarily the actual recipient. 
 
 
Title Tre pezzi per Flauto del Sig.r M.o Mercadante per far uso delle Chiavi
Historical edition In Asioli, Transunto (Milan: Luigi Bertuzzi, ca. 1825-1827)
Instrumentation 2 flutes    
Subdivision 1. 2. 3.
Tonality F major F major F major
Movements 1. Allegro marcato 1. Andante  1. Allegretto
Notes

These three pieces can be found at the end of Asioli’s method for a nine-keyed flute and are not part of any other known collection by Mercadante.

A certain attribution is not possible and the fact that several notes under the low D are written in the accompaniment part makes them rather eccentric, since in no other duet by Mercadante this happens. The style, however, resembles Mercadante’s one, and the fact that the method is written for a flute with nine keys – which allows notes under the low D – might have inspired him to use them as well.


Scene 3: Trios

 

Mercadante wrote eleven trios for various instruments, among which eight include the flute.17

 


Title Tre Serenate
Manuscript I-Ria Ms. 272, n.d.
Historical edition Milan: Giovanni Ricordi, 1823
Modern editions

Milano: Suvini Zerboni, 1986 (ed. Roberto Fabbriciani)

Rome: Boccaccini e Spada, 1992 (ed. Pietro Spada)

Winterthur: Amadeus, 2013 (ed. Bernhard Päuler)
Instrumentation 3 flutes    
Subdivision Serenata I.a Serenata II.a Serenata III.a
Tonality F major G major C major
Movements 1. Larghetto 1. Andante variato 1. Rondo
Notes

The work is dedicated to Mercadante’s friend P. Ponticelli. A second edition was published by Ricordi in 1858.18

Such trio was perhaps written at the same time of the duets, but published later to benefit from Mercadante’s fame. No other trio for three flutes by Mercadante is known.
 
 
Title Trio [per flauto, flauto d’amore e violoncello]
Manuscript I-Nc 24.1.4)8b, before 1818
Modern edition St. Louis: Keiser, 2021 (ed. Ginevra Petrucci)
Instrumentation Flute, flute d’amour, cello
Tonality F major    
Movements

1. [Allegro]19

2. Minuetto

3. Largo

4. Polacca. Allegro brillante
Notes

The flute d’amour is an instrument of the flute family, usually transposing a minor third lower.

No specific information concerning the use of the flute d’amour in Naples at the beginning of the 19th century is available. Nevertheless, it is worth mentioning the existence of a 1-keyed flute d’amour in B flat made by Giovanni Panormo and held in a private collection, which flute maker Giovanni Tardino dates back to 1760-1780.20
 
 
Title 1o Trio per due flauti e fagotto
Manuscript I-Nc 25.1.4)5, ca. 1813-1818
Modern edition Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1988 (ed. Anna Mancini, Gian-Luca Petrucci, Luciano Magnanini)
Instrumentation 2 flutes, bassoon    
Tonality G major    
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Largo

3. Rondò brillante
 

Title Duetto “Ah! Se puoi così lasciarmi” nell’oratorio Mosè in Egitto di Gioacchino Rossini accomodato per due flauti e basso
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818
Modern edition Eboli: Vigor Music, 2012 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci and Ginevra Petrucci)
Instrumentation 2 flutes, bass    
Movements

1. Allegro

2. Larghetto

3. Allegro
Notes Such an edition was later bought and distributed by Giovanni Ricordi.21
 
 
Title Ricordo del Mojarello
Manuscript

Score: I-Nc Dp C. Ms.App.Merc. 2, n.d.

Parts: I-Nc Oe.9.32/34, n.d.
Modern edition Paris: Lemoine, 1999 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, piano    
Tonality F major    
Movements

1. Allegro brillante

2. Andante – Un poco più animato
Notes

The Mojarello is a hill close to Naples, where the Astronomical Observatory of Capodimonte is.

The piece is dedicated to don Epifano Zingaropoli, member of a Neapolitan aristocratic family.22
 
 
Title Trio per flauto, violino e chitarra
Manuscript I-Nc Dp Ms.App.Merc 9e*, ca. 1817
Instrumentation Flute, violin, guitar    
Tonality D major    
Movements 1. [no tempo indication]
Notes Only one movement is complete.23
 

 

Scene 4: Quartets

 

Between 1813 and 1816, Mercadante wrote several quartets for flute and strings, most of which remained unpublished. The reason probably lies in the high technical skills that the pieces require from the flute player: Mercadante probably had in mind some fellow students of the Real Collegio that already reached a professional level,24 such as Pasquale Buongiorno, to which the first quartet is dedicated. Due to their difficulty, such works were probably unappealing for Girard and the other Neapolitan publishers, which printed rather easier music that dilettantes would have bought.


Using terms that are usually applied to string quartets, Dellaborra remarks that while the first works can be defined as quatuor brillant (where the flute is a true soloist merely accompanied by strings), the later ones present more exchange of the thematic material among all players and could therefore fall into the category of the quatuor concertant and dialogué.25


Such stylistic development might also help in reconstructing the chronological order in which the quartets were composed. In fact, only some of them have progressive numbers, a date, or an opus number. The following table follows Dellaborra’s chronological reconstruction of the 12 known quartets.26

 

 

Title Quartetto Io in mi modo min op. 53
Manuscript I-Nc 34.3.25 (5-9) olim; 34-3-29 34-3-25 (6), 1813
Modern editions

Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1988 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci)

In Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2019 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality E minor    
Movements

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Largo amabile

3. Rondò Russo
Notes Dedicated to Pasquale Buongiorno.

 

 

Title Quartetto per terzino
Manuscript I-Nc 25.1.4.(11), 1813
Modern edition

Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1988 (ed. Anna Mancini and Gian-Luca Petrucci)

In Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2019 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality E minor    
Movements

1. [Allegro affettuoso]

2. Largo amabile

3. [Rondò Russo]
Notes The musical material is the same of the previous quartet in E minor. However, the fact that it is an arrangement for flauto terzino is quite puzzling and could perhaps be explained with Mercadante’s interest in wind bands.27
 
 
Title Quartetto 1o
Manuscript I-Nc ingr 112293 M. S.App.M., 1814
Modern edition Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2020 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality G major    
Movements

1. [Allegro moderato]

2. Siciliana

3. Rondò allegro

 

 

Title Quartetto secondo
Manuscript I-Nc ingr 112293 M. S.App.M., 1814
Modern edition

Palermo: Mnemes Alfieri & Ranieri, 1999

Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2021 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality F major    
Movements

1. [Allegro moderato]

2. Larghetto

3. Andante con [4] variazioni

 

 

Title Quartetto 3o
Manuscript I-Nc ingr 112293 M. S.App.M., 1814
Modern edition Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2021 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality D major    
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Largo

3. Polonese

 

 

Title Quartetto
Manuscript I-Nc 25-1-3)11, ca. 1815
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality E minor    
Movements

1. Grave – Allegro

2. Minuetto – Trio

3. Largo

4. Rondò agitato

 

 

Title Quartetto 7o
Manuscript I-Nc 25.1.4(10) olim 29.1.4(10), ca. 1815
Modern editions

Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1988 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci)

Grottaminarda: Delta3, 2011 (ed. Filomena A. De Luca)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality C major    
Movements

1. Allegro

2. Andante variato

3. Polonesa brillante

 

 

Title Quartetto 8o di Venezia
Manuscript I-Nc 25.1.4(9) olim 29.1.4(9), ca. 1815
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality G major    
Movements

1. [Moderato]

2. [Minuetto]

3. [Rondò]
Notes Only the first 66 bars are complete. Then, only the flute part is written, without harmonisation.28
 
 
Title Quartetto 9
Manuscript I-Nc Rari 3.5.23(A)t, ca. 1815
Modern editions

Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1991 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci and Francesco Melisi)

Grottaminarda: Delta3, 2011 (ed. Filomena A. De Luca)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality A major    
Movements

1. Maestoso

2. Minuè

3. Largo

4. Tempo di polacca

 

 

Title Quartetto
Manuscript

Score: I-Nc 25.1.4 (8) olim 29.1.4(8), ca. 1818

Flute part:  I-Nc 65-5-5, ca. 1818
Historical edition In Naples: Giuseppe Girard, n.d. (plate number: 47)29
Modern edition Padua: Guglielmo Zanibon, 1987 (ed. Anna Mancini and Gian-Luca Petrucci)
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality A minor    
Movements

1. Allegro affettuoso

2. Minuetto

3. Larghetto amabile

4. Rondò agitato
 
 
Title Quartetto
Manuscript Flute part: I-Nc 65-6-5
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality F# minor    
Movements

1. [Allegro moderato]

2. [Minuetto]

3. [Largo – Trio]

4. [Rondò]
Notes Only the flute part survived.

 

 

Title Dodicesimo quartetto
Manuscript I-Nc ingr 112044 M. S. App. M. [inv. 112045], 1816
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality A major    
Movements

1. [Allegro moderato]

2. Minuetto

3. Largo assai

4. Polacca

 

 

Title Aria con Variazioni
Manuscript I-Nc 25-1-3)11c, ca. 1816
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality C major    
Movements

1. Aria [“La ci darem la mano” from Le Nozze di Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]

2. [8 variations]

3. Coda

 

 

Title Aria con Variazioni
Manuscript I-Nc 39-6-13, n.d.
Instrumentation Flute, violin, viola, cello
Tonality [unknown]    
Movements

1. Aria [“Bell’alme generose” from Elisabetta d’Inghilttera by Gioacchino Rossini]

2. [unknown]
Notes According to Wittmann, it is currently impossible to find it.

 

 

Mercadante also composed three quartets for flute and other winds:


 

Title Tre quartetti per flauto, clarinetto, corno d.c. e fagotto op. 50
Manuscript I-Nc 25-1-4)11a-c, 1813
Modern edition Miami Lakes: Masters music, 1988 (ed. Anna Mancini and Gian-Luca Petrucci)
Instrumentation Flute, clarinet, horn, bassoon
Subdivision Quartetto I Quartetto II Quartetto III
Tonality F major F major F major
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Andante variato [with 4 variations]

3. Polacca brillante

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Largo

3. Rondò brillante

1. Allegro maestoso

2. [without tempo indication]

3. Tema [followed by 1 variations and therefore probably incomplete]
Notes

Dedicated to Pasquale Buongiorno.

The third quartet is incomplete: only the main melody is written out, without accompaniment.30

 

 

Scene 5: Other chamber music

 

 

Title 4 Danze  
Manuscript I-Nc 41-7-27)20*, n.d.  
Instrumentation Flute, oboe, 2 violins, viola, cello, piano  
Subdivision Polka mazurka Polka “Il trombetta” Polka “La vezzosa” Polka “L’Esperimento”
Tonality C major C major C major Ab major

 

 

Title Decimino
Manuscript I-Nc 13-2-74*, 1856
Instrumentation Flute, oboe, horn, bassoon, trumpet, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
Tonality C major    
Movements

1. Andante – Allegro

2. Minuetto - Trio

3. Andante

4. Finale

 

 

Title Decimino
Manuscripts I-Nc 25-1-4)12*, n.d.; I-Mc Fondo Mascarello TM 28, 1858
Instrumentation Flute, oboe, bassoon, 2 violins, 2 violas, cello, double bass, piano
Tonality Eb major    
Movements

1. Allegro maestoso - Moderato

2. Minuetto - Trio

3. Andante affettuoso

4. Finale

 

Scene 6: Concertos

 

 

Title Cavatina per flauto
Manuscript I-Nc 25-7-28)23-35, n.d.
Instrumentation Solo flute, 2 violins, viola, bass
Tonality A major
Movements 1. Andante

 

 

Title 1° Concerto per flauto op. 49
Manuscript I-Nc 24.1.12(4), 1813
Modern editions

Rome: Boccaccini e Spada, 1985 (ed. Pietro Spada for flute and piano)

Milano: Suvini Zerboni, 2009 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Solo flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 2 violins, viola, bass
Tonality E major
Movements

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Largo

3. Polacca brillante
Notes Dedicated to Pasquale Buongiorno.

 

 

Title 2° concerto per flauto op. 57
Manuscript

Score: I-Nc 24-1-12)1, 1814

Parts: I-Nc 24-1-12)3, 1814
Modern editions

Milano: Suvini Zerboni, 1973 (ed. Agostino Girard)

Rome: Boccaccini e Spada, 2000 (ed. Pietro Spada for flute and piano)

Milano: Suvini Zerboni, 2009 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Solo flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoon, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 2 violins, viola, bass
Tonality E minor
Movements

1. [Allegro maestoso]

2. Largo

3. Rondò Russo
Notes

The musical material is the same of the first two quartets, now arranged for solo flute accompanied by a large orchestra.

After 1830, the Neapolitan copyist Giannini made a transcription with small orchestra, which shows relevant differences with the original: the orchestra includes only two horns and strings, every movement is shorter, sometimes the melodic line is different, and there are less articulation marks.31 No information about the creation of this version or possible performances are available, and it is unclear whether Mercadante was involved.
 
 
Title 4° concerto per flauto
Manuscript I-Nc Dp Ms.App.Merc. 8a, ca. 1816
Modern edition

Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2009 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)

Rome: Boccaccini e Spada, 2011 (ed. Pietro Spada)
Instrumentation Solo flute, 1 flute, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 horns, 2 violins, viola, bass
Tonality G major
Movements

1. [Allegro maestoso]

2. Largo espressivo

3. Polacca brillante

 

 

Title 6° concerto per flauto
Manuscript I-Nc 25-1-3)7, 24-1-12)2 [olim 25-7-28)11-22, ca. 1817
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, ca. 1818 (plate number: 2)
Modern editions

Rome: Boccaccini e Spada, 1983 (ed. Pietro Spada for flute and piano)

Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2011 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Solo flute, 2 oboes, 2 horn, 2  violins, viola, bass
Tonality D major
Movements

1. Allegro maestoso

2. Andante alla siciliana. Largo

3. Polacca. Allegro brillante
Notes This is the only flute concerto by Mercadante that was printed in the 19th century.

 

 

Title Introduzione, Largo, Tema con variazioni
Manuscript I-Nc 25-1-3)11b, ca. 1817-1819
Modern edition Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2015 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Solo flute, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 trumpets, 1 trombone, 2 violins, viola, bass
Tonality G major
Movements

1. Introduzione

2. Largo

3. Allegro assai

3. Andantino variato [with 12 variations]

 

 

Title Concerto a due flauti
Manuscript I-Nc Dp Ms.App.Merc 9c, ca. 1816-1817
Modern edition Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2015 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation 2 solo flutes, 2 oboes, 2 horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, basso
Tonality D major
Movements

1. [Allegro maestoso]

2. [Largo]

3. [Polacca] 
Notes Solo concertos for two flutes are extremely rare at the beginning of the 19th century and its creation could be explained by a possible demand at the Real Collegio.32
 
 
Title Concerto in fa maggiore per flauto solo con accompagnamento di orchestra
Manuscript I-Mc Noseda M 16-25
Modern editions

Paris: Henry Lemoince, 1995 (ed. Gian-Luca Petrucci and Paola Pisa for flute and piano)

Milan: Suvini Zerboni, 2015 (ed. Mariateresa Dellaborra)
Instrumentation Solo flute, solo clarinet, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 2 horn, 1 trombone, 2 violins, viola, bass
Tonality F major
Movements

1. Allegro

2. Andante [with 3 variations] - Coda. Allegro
Notes Despite the title, the importance of the other winds makes it rather a “concertone” or “concertante symphony”.33
 
 
Title Gran concerto a 2 clarinetti, flauto e corno da caccia obbligati
Historical edition Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1817
Instrumentation 2 solo clarinets, solo flute, solo horn, orchestra34
Tonality F major
Movements

1. Allegro

2. Largo

3. Allegretto scherzoso

4. Recitativo

5. Andante
 
 
Title Concertone flauto obbligato
Manuscript I-Nc 24.1.12(6)
Instrumentation Solo flute, 2 oboes, clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, 2 violins, bass
Tonality F major
Movements

1. Allegro

2. Larghetto

3. Andante [with 4 variations]

 

 

Title Concertone per due clarinetti, corno e flauto con l’accompto a grand’orchestra
Manuscript I-Nc 25.1.3(2)
Modern edition Grottaminarda: Delta3, 2001 (ed. Filomena A. De Luca)
Instrumentation Two solo clarinets, solo horn, solo flute, orchestra35
Tonality F major
Movements

1. Allegro

2. Tema [with 4 variations]

3. Finale

 

 

Title Gran Concerto in Si minore
Manuscript Private collection of Gian-Luca and Ginevra Petrucci, 1866
Instrumentation Solo flute, 1 flute, 1 oboe, 1 clarinet, 2 horn, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass
Tonality B minor
Movements

1. Maestoso

2. Largo

3. Rondò
Notes

Dedicated to Emanuele Krakamp and therefore meant for the Boehm flute.36

Gian-Luca Petrucci remarks its greater length, when comparing it with the previous works: 27 minutes and 50 seconds ca.37

 

 

Scene 7: Méthode


Around 1828, the Parisian publisher Richault printed a new edition of François Devienne’s popular Méthode: the “Flute method by Devienne, preceded by an abridgement of the principles of music, augmented with several new arias, three duets and three varied arias by Rossini and Paër by Mercadante”.38


Mercadante’s involvement as an active promoter of this edition is not supported by any evidence. As Dellaborra points out, however, he could have accepted to be associated with such a well-known didactical book in the perspective of a possible teaching role in the future.39 Moreover, a flute method would have been a very natural choice, considering the remarkable amount of compositions for this instrument Mercadante had written in the 1810s and the friendship with the Neapolitan flautists Pasquale Buongiorno40 and Sergio Nigri.41


On the other hand, the publisher Richault might have been keen to take advantage of Mercadante’s notoriety in France, certain that the presence of his name on the edition’s title page would have led to an increase in sales. Such economic motivation might be confirmed by the fact that Richault simultaneously prepared a Spanish translation42 to be sold in the Iberian Peninsula during Mercadante’s engagement as director of the Italian opera in Madrid.43


As the title seems to suggest, Mercadante’s name is not associated with the discursive aspect of the method. In fact, the texts come either from the first edition of Devienne’s Méthode or from Ducreux’s,44 Bisetzki’s,45 and Vanderhagen’s46 revisions. Mercadante, however, might have “augmented” this new version with “several new arias, three duets and three varied arias by Rossini and Paër”, which were placed between other pieces taken from Devienne’s original method and Vanderhagen’s revision.47

 

The arrangements of 12 opera and national arias for two flutes are at the end of the section of Airs progressifs (pp. 61-70),48 preceded by those by Devienne and Ducreux.49 Such a task would have not been new for Mercadante, since in 1818 and 1819 Girard published his arrangement for two flutes of two pieces from operas by Michele Carafa and some numbers from his own ballet Il flauto magico.50


Mercadante had an even greater experience in composing flute duets, considering the remarkable amount written during his study years. The original duets in the Méthode can be found in pp. 84-95.

 

Subdivision Duetto I Duetto II Duetto III
Tonality D major G major C major
Movements

1. Allegro moderato

2. Andante

3. Rondo. Allegro moderato

1. Allegro non troppo

2. Andante

3. Rondò. Allegretto

1. Allegro ma non troppo

2. Andante

3. Menuetto

 

Finally, the three variation sets are merely a new edition of the Seconda raccolta di arie variate per flauto solo (Naples: Giuseppe Girard, 1818), with changes in the layout but not in the musical text. As Dellaborra remarks, such pieces were “placed at the end of the method […] to represent a compendium of phrasing and articulation, as well as to show the highest degree of virtuosity.”51

 

[To Act 5]