Faà di Bruno, Giovanni Matteo [Horatio, Orazio] 83

Freier Satz

(Ger.).

See Free counterpoint.

Freillon Poncein, Jean-Pierre

(fl ?Dauphiné province, 1700–08). French writer on music and composer. According to Fétis he was prévost (deputy) des hautbois of the grande écurie at the French court, but he does not appear in court records. His treatise La veritable maniere (Paris, 1700) was the first published French tutor for the oboe, baroque recorder and flageolet. It was dedicated to his patron Pierre Bérulle, Viscount of Guyancourt, an official in the province of Dauphiné, suggesting that Freillon Poncein was based there rather than in Paris. He apologized for his lack of skill in language, and indeed the wording and organization of the tutor are often confusing. Addressing ‘those who are not in a position to have the most skilful masters’, he sought to teach both the rudiments of music and the basics of dance composition, including bass movement, adding a second part at the 3rd or 6th, and cadences. He assumed equal temperament for woodwind instruments, although he acknowledged the existence of major and minor semitones. The fingering charts are shown by schematic figures for each instrument; trill fingerings are described for the first octave only. Of considerable interest are the instructions for ornaments and articulation (like those of Loulié and Jacques Hotteterre, using the tonguing syllables tu and ru). The 41 preludes (for oboe, for recorder, and ‘of several kinds, which are good for beginners’) also double as studies for learning ‘wide and extraordinary intervals’. The treatise includes four short pieces in a charming, consonant style: L'Embarras de Paris, in 6 parts; a Trio for recorders; Bruits de guerre, in 3 parts, with scoring indications for violins, oboes, bass violins, bassoons, trumpets and timpani; and a Passacaille and two minuets for recorder. Freillon Poncein also wrote an Abrégé de géographie (Paris, 1708).

WRITINGS

La veritable maniere d'apprendre a jouer en perfection du haut-bois, de la flute et du flageolet, avec les principes de la musique pour la voix et pour toutes sortes d'instrumens (Paris, 1700; Eng. trans., 1969)

BIBLIOGRAPHY

FétisB

T. Warner: Indications of Performance Practice in Woodwind Instruction Books of the 17th and 18th Centuries (diss., New York U., 1964)

D. Lasocki: ‘Freillon-Poncein, Hotteterre, and the Recorder’, American Recorder, x (1969), 40–43

M. Benoit: Versailles et les musiciens du roi 1661–1733 (Paris, 1971)

P. Ranum: ‘Tu-Ru-Tu and Tu-Ru-Tu-Tu: Toward an Understanding of Hotteterre's Tonguing Syllables’, The Recorder in the 17th Century: Utrecht 1993, 217–53

DAVID LASOCKI

Freinsberg, Jean Adam Guillaume.

See Guilain, Jean Adam.

Freire [Pinto Freire], Nelson (José)

(b Boa Esperança, 8 Oct 1944). Brazilian pianist. He gave his first recital at the age of four, studied in Brazil with Nise Obino and Lucia Branco, and, after winning the International Competition in Rio de Janeiro at 13, with Bruno Seidlhofer in Vienna. In 1964 he won the Vianna da Motta Prize in Lisbon and the Dinu Lipatti Medal in London. He made his début in London and other European capitals in 1968, going to the USA in 1969 (playing with the New York PO and as a soloist with the RPO tour under Kempe), to Israel in 1970 and to Japan in 1971. He has subsequently performed much of the piano duo repertory with Martha Argerich, and has recorded with her works by Bartók and Ravel. His ample, unforced sound, the brilliance of his technique and the cleanness of his musical taste have made a strong impression, and he has developed a notable reputation as an interpreter of Chopin, whose complete Preludes he has recorded to acclaim.

MICHAEL STEINBERG/R

Freisslich [Freislich], Johann Balthasar Christian

(bap. Immelborn, nr Bad Salzungen, 30 March 1687; d Danzig [now Gdańsk], 1764). German composer, half-brother of Maximilian Dietrich Freisslich. In 1719 or 1720 he became director of the Hofkapelle in Sondershausen, where he wrote a St Matthew Passion (performed in 1720 at St John, Danzig), a cycle of cantatas and a short opera. He was sent to Dresden for a year by his employer, Prince Günther Schwarzburg. He went to Danzig about 1730 and in 1731, on the death of his half-brother Maximilian, he became Kapellmeister at St Mary, remaining in that position to the end of his life.

As a prolific composer and a skilful Kapellmeister Freisslich played an important role in the city’s cultural life. Many of his compositions were connected with notable anniversaries, such as the 300th of the city’s freedom from the Teutonic Knights, the 100th of the Peace of Oliva, and others at the Gymnasium Dantiscanum. He also wrote several cantatas (1733, 1755, 1763) connected with the Polish kings August II and III, and numerous cantatas on the appointments of teachers, the election of members of the town council, and for weddings and burials of eminent citizens. His music has been praised for its warmth and fluency, its accomplished imitative writing and its wide-ranging coloratura (even in bass parts); the lyrical style suggests Italian influence.

WORKS

Die verliebte Nonne (op); Was hör ich (serenata): D-SHs

Passio Christi (B.H. Brockes), solo vv, chorus, orch, PL-GD

St Matthew Passion (M. Vulpio), solo vv, chorus, orch, GD

Mag, B solo, orch; 13 chorales, chorus, insts: GD

Jauchzet, jauchzet (Ps c), D-SHs

Cants.: Cycle of 66 for church year, SHs; 14 sacred cants., solo vv, 1–2 choruses, orch, PL-GD; 14 occasional cants., 1–2 choruses, orch/solo vv, insts, GD; 2 secular cants., D-SHs; 8 sacred cants., doubtful authenticity, PL-GD

Lost: c40 occasional and sacred cants., text only, GD; St Matthew Passion; Ich ruf zu dir, chorale; O ewige Weisheit, school cant.; Turbabor, occasional cant.; 8 chorales, doubtful authenticity: formerly GD; Sonata, hpd, cited in Breitkopf catalogue, 1763

BIBLIOGRAPHY

BrookB

MatthesonGEP

MGG1 (F. Kessler)

PSB (M. Pelczar)

F. Kessler, ed.: Danziger Kirchen-Musik (Neuhausen-Stuttgart, 1973)

K. Neschke: Das Leben und Schaffen von J.B.Ch. Freislich (1687–1764) in seiner Amtzeit als Kapellmeister am Sonderhäuser Hof (ca.1720–1730) (diss., U. of Leipzig, 1992)

K. Frycz: Pasje J.B.Ch. Freislicha ze zbiorów Biblioteki Gdańskiej Polskiej Akademii Nauk PL-GD [The Passions of Freisslich from the Collections of the Library of the Polish Academy, Gdańsk] (diss., Akademia Muzyczna, Gdańsk, 1994)

PAWEŁ PODEJKO