Charles Doisy Grand Concerto pour la Guitare (Paris, 1802-03)

Edition and Foreword bv Stanlev Yates

Historical Notes bv Erik Stenstadvold
Foreword
Published in Paris during the early years of the nineteenth century, Charles Doisy`s Grand Concerto pour la Guitare is one of
few such works to have come down to us from the classic-romantic period (the others being single works by Vidal, Lhoyer,
Legnani and Molino, two works by Carulli, three works by Giuliani, and an arrangement by Doisy himself of a concerto for
violin by Viotti).
The title page reads:
Grand CONCERTO, / Compose pour la Guitare, / avec Accompagnement / de deux Violons Obliges, Alto et
Violoncelle, / DEDIE A MONSIEUR / Cezar de Trogoff, / Amateur / PAR DOISY, / Professeur / Prix 6.
fr
/ A
PARIS / |pasted label] Chez B. VIGUERIE Auteur et Editeur de Musique, rue Vivienne N.
o
38, ou l`on trouve toute
/ sorte de Musique, Instrumens, Cordes de Naples &.
a
Though the wording tells us little about the intended performance context, the overall texture and scope of the work are
suited to both chamber and orchestral performance.
In style and form, the three-movement work is fully representative of the progressive Parisian concerto of the late eighteenth /
early nineteenth centuries, in the tradition of the Italian violinist Giovanni Battista Viotti (whose violin concerto no. 18 Doisy
actually arranged for guitar available in this series from Artaria Editions) and his French disciples Rode, Kreutzer and
Baillot. In scope and sophistication, the work is certainly one of the more substantial guitar concertos of the period and stands
comparison with the most fully developed Parisian concertos of the time.
The first movement, 'Moderato molto, is a highly-unified concerto-sonata of extended and well-balanced proportions.
Doisy takes an interesting approach to extending the solo sections by not only providing all three solo sections with thematic
material as well as passagework, but also by providing significant thematic interaction between the guitar and the
accompaniment, thus avoiding any potential limitation of the guitar to provide extended sections of dramatic passagework
(particularly in the long first solo of 120 measures). Despite its length and moderato tempo, forward movement is maintained
through the well-defined mood-changes of the second solo and the sharply abridged recap (both characteristics of the Viotti
style). Though Doisy`s debt to Viotti is obvious, it is not all-encompassing: wisely, Doisy does not rely on a transposed
restatement of the dominant-area passagework for the recapitulation, but restates a transposed version of melodic material
instead.
The second movement, 'Adagio a typically short movement, in the Parisian tradition is of the 'arietta, rather then the
'romance type, built around a lyrical cantabile solo framed by short tutti sections.
The influence of Viotti is most clearly seen in the rondo finale: an organic, dramatic movement far removed from the light-
hearted, clearly sectional design of the pre-Viotti Parisian genre. Most obviously, the rondo refrain is reintroduced gradually
and appears in different form at each presentation, becoming increasingly abridged and taking varied accompaniment
figuration during the solo portions. Also notable is the 'interruption of the second episode with a new theme, 'Animato,
marked by an abrupt modulation of a descending third and stated by guitar and strings together. Finally, Doisy brings an
element of sonata form to this movement with an interpolated tonic restatement in the final episode of a dominant-area theme
(followed by the briefest statement of the refrain before the final coda).
The guitar writing, for a five-string instrument (with a then optional sixth string indicated in the part with octave signs)
balances melodic, thematic material with idiomatic passagework consisting of extended arpeggios and slurred, violinistic
passagework. Sheer brillante technical display, however, is not the intention (nor was it with Viotti), but rather a singing
cantabile and a refined expression. Nevertheless, and despite the dedication to one Cezar de Trogoff, 'Amateur, there is
plenty here to challenge the interpretative powers of the modern performer.
The guitar does not rest during the tutti sections of the work, as it would in most guitar concertos, but is instead given
accompaniment figuration. Since it was customary for the soloist to lead during the tutti sections of a classic-period concerto
for violin or keyboard, this appears to be an attempt to provide the guitarist a similar role.
Doisy provides a written-out cadenza in the slow movement, along with an Eingang (a brief "lead-in" cadenza) at measure
25 which, in general scope and character, might provide a model for the outer movements, where none are provided.
While a fermata might provide an opportunity for a short ornamental passage it is by no means certain that this was intended.
The fermata at measure 238 of the first movement, for example, seems a very unlikely spot for improvisation of any kind.
The one at measure 315 of the same movement, on the other hand, could easily support a short improvised passage. In the
final movement, the fermata at measure 172 again appears entirely unsuited to any kind of improvisation or ornamentation,
while those at measure 82 and 279 might support an Eingang.
The string-writing during the solo sections is one of the distinctive features of this concerto, at least in comparison with other
concertos for guitar. Thematic interaction between solo and accompaniment during the long opening solo of the first
movement has already been mentioned. While the basic accompaniment texture consists of two violins and bass (though the
violas do enter occasionally), standard for the Parisian violin concerto of the time, Doisy departs from this frequently. In
addition to the homophonic accompaniment typical of early guitar concertos, Doisy introduces a wide range of texture and
varying degrees of interaction with the soloist, incorporating forte interpolations, sections of dialog and passagework in the
violins, and various combinations of pizzicato and arco. The effect, again, is to maintain momentum and character through
the solo sections, where the guitar (at least in comparison with a solo violin) might find it difficult to maintain dramatic
interest through extended sections of arpeggiated passagework.
Although the original engraving is a quite clear and apparently careful one, disagreement in the placement of dynamic
markings, both between the parts and between parallel passages, is frequent. Editorial interventions in these instances have
been signalled with the use of square brackets. In addition, occasional passages are encountered which are harmonically at
odds with the other parts; these have been reconstructed. In many cases it is impossible to distinguish between short dynamic
'hairpins and accent marks (nor to determine their intended placement), though both are clearly intended at various points.
Editorial decisions have been based on musical context (harmonic and melodic dissonance, motivic shape, syncopation, etc.).
Consequently, all such markings remain open to interpretation.
The fingering and position indications provided in the guitar part of this edition are Doisy`s. However, his method of
indicating an open string with an 'a has been changed to the more conventional symbol 'o, while his occasional method of
indicating an open string with a double stem (an upstem and a downstem attached to a single notehead), usually in a
bariolage-type passage, has been retained, with the feeling that the notation better represents the actual texture. Doisy
indicates the use of the then optional sixth string of the guitar by placing an '8 beneath notes that would be played one
octave higher on a five-string instrument (and which are notated at that higher octave); this notation has been modernised
(written at the lower octave).
All textual amendments presented in this edition (dynamics, accidentals and other markings) appear in editorial brackets.
Editorial slurs and ties are dotted. Reconstructed measures (missing in the original parts) are also bracketed. Obvious
typographical errors have been corrected silently. All other alterations are listed in the Revisions.
This present edition is based on a copy of the publication of ca. 1802-3 archived at the Library of the Royal Conservatory of
Music in Liege, Belgium. As was customary, the original publication consisted of parts only.
Stanley Yates
CHARLES DOISY
Charles Doisy acted in Paris as a guitarist, composer, and publisher around the turn of the 18th century, a period of
considerable guitar activity in France. Nothing is known of Doisy prior to 1797, when he opened a publishing business in the
French capital.
1
Here he principally published his own compositions and arrangements, almost exclusively for the guitar
(many of the publications engraved by himself). After Doisy`s death in 1806 or 07, his pupil Pierre-Joseph Plouvier took over
the publishing business. Besides some works for one, two and three guitars, Doisy`s compositions and arrangements above
all present the guitar in combination with other instruments: duets and trios with strings (violin, viola, cello) or winds (flute,
oboe, French horn, bassoon). Furthermore, he wrote two concertos for guitar and strings, the second of which was an
adaption of a violin concerto by Viotti. Doisy is perhaps best known for his guitar method, Principes Generaux de la Guitare.
published in 1801 and dedicated to Madame Bonaparte. This method, with its copious textual remarks, gives a thorough
account of the five-string guitar and its technique at the end of its era.
1
Anik Devries and Francois Lesure, Dictionnaire des editeurs de musique francais. Vol. I, Des origines a environ 1820
(Geneva: Editions Minkoff, 1979), p. 59.
Charles Doisy was one of the last advocates of the five-string guitar, his death coinciding with the final defeat of the old
guitar for the benefit of the 'modern six-string variety and the more short-lived lyre guitar two instruments of which Doisy
strongly disapproved as seen from the brief discussion in his guitar method. Notwithstanding, Doisy made concession to the
new times by, in most of his publications, including indications in the music for adopting the bass notes to a six-string
instrument, the title pages also frequently state that his music can be played on both five and six-string guitars.
His contemporary Pierre Gatayes (1774-1846), in a guitar method of ca. 1815, mentions Doisy as one of the leading guitar
virtuosos of the time, alongside Sor, Meissonnier, Carulli, and Lintant.
2
From the dedication of an early (before 1799) work
for guitar and piano by Doisy, it is clear that he was acquainted with the guitarist Vidal, who had written a guitar concerto
some ten years before Doisy.
In his Principes Generaux de la Guitare. Doisy writes about the concerto as a genre:
'The concerto is where one ordinarily makes spectacular displays, executing the most difficult passages. This
musical genre is very difficult to play on the guitar.
3
In spite of this, Doisy himself did not abstain the challenge of writing two concertos for the guitar.
The first concerto was originally published 1802-03, a date inferred from the following:
Doisy`s address on the original edition, sur le Boulevard au coin de la rue Montmartre (on the Liege conservatory copy
covered by a pasted-on label with a dealer`s imprint), was his first address when establishing his business in 1797.
4
By
Sept. 1803, Doisy was registered at a new address, indicating publication prior to that.
A catalogue of Doisy`s publications, appended to the Liege copy of the concerto, also lists this concerto. However, it is
not listed in a previous catalogue which can be dated 1801-02.
5
One detail, however, may suggest that the concerto had been composed somewhat earlier, although not actually published
until 1802-03. In his guitar method, Doisy presents a rather unusual way of notating harmonics, using French lute tablature to
indicate the string and fret where the harmonics are located, instead of writing the pitch of the harmonics in ordinary music
notation. In his second concerto, Doisy employs that tablature system; however, the first concerto does not make use of it,
here the harmonics are shown by ordinary notes, at sounding pitch, with a
o
` above the notes and son h.` (son harmonique)
written underneath. This may imply although by no means conclusively that the first concerto stems from before Doisy
developed his special notation system, presented in the 1801 method.
Doisy`s two concertos the second one was published ca. 1804 represent some of the first attempts in the genre, preceded
only by those of Vidal (Paris, 1792-93) and Antoine Lhoyer (Hamburg, 1802).
6
Erik Stenstadvold
2
Seconde Methode de Guitare a Six Cordes. op. 26, 2d ed., p. 4.
3
Principes Generaux. first part, pp. 53-4.
4
Devries and Lesure, op. cit.
5
Catalogue appended to a copy of Principes Generaux in B-Bc; this catalogue is clearly later than the 1801 catalogue
reproduced by Devries and Lesure.
6
Fernando Ferandiere, in a catalogue of his compositions appended to his Arte de Tocar la Guitarra Espaola (Madrid,
1799), lists six concertos for guitar and orchestra, but nothing more is known of these.