Zapico - The Filippo Dalla Casa Collection

Release Date 2020

Pablo Zapico & Daniel Zapico —archlute and theorbo— discover the so special music of the probably last compositions written for lute in the change from baroque to classical epoch, collected under the title »Suonate di Celebri Auttori« by the painter and musician Filippo Dalla Casa (1737-1811). Through Dalla Casa's handwriting, fascinating works are saved from oblivion. During his lifetime, the era of the lute came to an end, as the spirit of the classical age demanded new instruments and sounds. Works, partly composed for harpsichord, sound in a multifaceted and fascinating dynamic.
Pablo Zapico & Daniel Zapico awaken these musical finds by Ludovico Fontanelli, Tommaso Martelli, Giuseppe Vaccari and unknown masters to a refreshing elixir of life.

The Portrait of the Lute
Filippo Dalla Casa [1737 – after 1811] was a professional painter and amateur archlute player. In 1811, likely at 74 years of age, he donated his collection of Suonate di Celebri Auttori per l’Arcileuto Francese, his own instrument and a self-portrait dated 1759 to the Liceo Filarmonico [founded 1804], nowadays the Conservatorio Statale di Musica ‘G. B. Martini’ in Bologna; a sign of the strong connection with the cultural institution where he worked as a painting teacher.
Except for the Sinfonia, all the pieces come from his two-volume manuscript, dated 1759 and 1760 in Bologna. Among the few known or credited authors, there are names of lutenists and –especially– harpsichordists of the time about whom it is very hard to find information in music accounts, but that must have been renowned musicians.
His manuscript is, therefore, a compilation of music he enjoyed listening to and performing. Dalla Casa states that »L'Arcileuto Francese, altro non è, che un clavicembalo portatile, tutta la musica che si suona in esso, si eseguisce nell'Arcileuto, col divario che è più difficile [...]« [The French archlute is nothing but a portable harpsichord; all music played on it can be performed on the archlute, with the difference of it being more difficult]. Of course, Dalla Casa didn't consider then the possibility of using two instruments that match as well as the archlute and the theorbo. This combo can actually compete with the harpsichord's rich harmonic texture with no technical limitations. In fact, certainly nothing would have pleased Filippo more than being able to split himself, since he was not only an archlutenist but also a theorbo player, as he stated in the title of his short annexed treatise: »Regole di Musica, ed’anco le Regole per accompagnare sopra la Parte per Suonare il Basso continuo & per l’Arcileuto Francese, e per la Tiorba. Per uso di me Filippo Dalla Casa Suonatore di essi« [Rules of music and also rules to accompany a part, to play thorough-bass & for the French archlute and the theorbo. For my own personal use, Filippo Dalla Casa, player of both]. Most of the Suonate di Celebri Auttori are solo archlute transcriptions or compositions. Nonetheless, it was common at the time for members of the same family to perform music together, and the same applies to my brother and me. Following this tradition, we aimed to revive Dalla Casa's transcriptions, giving them a luxurious duo version, meant to quench the ideal that Filippo must have been fascinated by when he heard these same pieces performed on a harpsichord. However, some of the works collected are originally written for two players, such as the Concerto in C Major for mandolin and bass archlute by Giuseppe Vaccari, also included in this recording.
The Sinfonia is not signed and remains anonymous. It comes from item 450, sold at an auction organized by Karl & Faber on December 6, 1956 in Munich. This lot belonged to the Graf Harrach Collection in Rohrau, Austria. It was purchased by the English lutenist Robert Spencer [1932 – 1997]. Until recently, this work was preserved only in digital format, owned by Arthur J. Ness [Chicago, 1936], Doctor of musicology and a plucked strings specialist. The piece was scanned by Spencer himself before attempting to sell it. After his death, the original document was lost, until recently I was able to find it in the Robert Spencer Collection, donated by his family to the library of the Royal Academy of Music in London, where it will soon be available digitally [GB-Lam MS799].
The most important stylistic contextualization that can be made of this Sinfonia is to consider it as a possible work within Filippo Dalla Casa's musical scene, since I have identified a reference to the 4th movement [without accompaniment] of the Sinfonia in his own manuscript. A most fortunate musicological find. Even though the copy is not literal, it is perfectly recognizable and thus included on the album as a world premiere.
It is a repertoire stylistically already part of the Classicism. It is the last chapter and portrait of the lute; an instrument that would soon after disappear. This is, in fact, the last cataloged source of music for archlute.

— Pablo Zapico
Translation: Maria Bayley