Stamitz, Johann

Preface

Stamitz, Johann – The Periodical Overture in 8 parts No. 7 (edited by Barnaby Priest and Alyson McLamore, new print)

Published by Robert Bremner at the Harp and Hautboy, opposite Somerset-House, in the Strand
Issued: 2 January 1764; price 2 shillings
Source: Henry Watson Music Library – Courtesy of Manchester Libraries,
Information and Archives, Manchester City Council: BR580St314
Editors: Barnaby Priest & Alyson McLamore

COMMENTARY

Robert Bremner (c.1717–1789) had followed the lead of French printers when he introduced the “periodical” symphonic publication scheme to England in 1763, and he also adopted the six-item groupings that were the practice of many Continental publishers. When the sixth Periodical Overture had been published, in December 1763, Bremner offered a “general Title” (a composite cover sheet) for those who had purchased the full set of six works.[1] More significantly, he embarked on a second grouping a month later, in January 1764, indicating that sales had been strong enough to warrant continuing the venture.

To launch the second “opera,” Bremner turned again to a composer he had featured twice already: the celebrated Johann Stamitz (1717–1757). In fact, one of Stamitz’s symphonies had just brought Bremner’s first “opera” to a close. Bremner left no business records, but it is tempting to think that the two earlier Stamitz works had sold particularly well, especially since Bremner would go on to publish a total of four Stamitz symphonies within the second set of six Periodical Overtures.

Another persistent mystery in the Bremner series is how he came by the sources that he used for his London prints. The Stamitz symphony in E-flat that was the basis for Periodical Overture No. 7 appeared in the same two continental publications containing the D major symphony that served as Periodical Overture No. 3: the E-flat overture was Number 4 of six symphonies in a 1758 “Opus 4” print from “Huberti” (Anton Huberty) in Paris, while it was Number 2 of a 1763 Amsterdam publication issued by Johann Julius Hummel, also devoted to six Stamitz symphonies.[2] As with Periodical Overture No. 3, it seems probable that the Parisian version served as Bremner’s model, since he retained the wavy lines (indicating vibrato) that are present in Huberty’s edition and are absent in Hummel’s. Unlike the two previous symphonies by Stamitz that had appeared in the Periodical series, Bremner chose this time to retain the minuet movement, making this the first four-movement work to be published as a Periodical Overture in Bremner’s series. …

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