Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824): A Thematic Catalogue of His Works by Chappell WhiteReview by: Simon McVeighMusic & Letters, Vol. 67, No. 4 (Oct., 1986), p. 397Published by: Oxford University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/735141 .

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Giovanni Battista Viotti (1755-1824): a Thematic Catalogue ofhis Works. By Chappell White. pp. xix + 175. 'Thematic Catalogues', xii. (Pendragon, New York, 1985, $65.00.)

Viotti's pivotal role in the development of violin playing has long been recognized in the

many anecdotal but far from reliable histories of the instrument. Only in the last 30 years has the spotlight of modern scholarship been focused on this influential figure, notably in the work of the late Boris Schwarz and of Chappell White. The publication of this excellent

catalogue in the Pendragon series represents a major step forward. It may be asserted immediately that the catalogue in Remo Giazotto's Giovan Battista

Viotti (Milan, 1956) has been entirely superseded. Here is confirmation that Giazotto's catalogue was not only inaccurate but also capricious (for example in the assigning of confident dates of composition on no discernible grounds). His numbering, still reproduced here and in other modern catalogues, must surely be jettisoned in favour of Professor White's system?even if its Hoboken style (e.g. VIa:25a) is slightly more cumbersome. The new catalogue also makes numerous corrections and additions to RISM (which perhaps followed Giazotto too closely, to the extent of listing the same three violin duets under two

separate headings). Here modern objectivity reigns supreme. The compiler has not even allowed himself

suggestions as to approximate dates of composition of the violin concertos, such as he has

published elsewhere (in Fontes Artis Musicae, xx (1973), 111-24; and, revised, in The New Grove). In some cases, the first edition may have appeared ten or more years after

composition or first performance. The deliberate lack of assessment of sources leaves much to be done by future editors of Viotti's music. With printed sources a first edition is identified, and later editions follow (including modern scores); but no attempt is made to clarify the status of and relationship between these various sources. There are even some

descriptions such as 'possibly from Boyer's plates' when copies of both editions are extant. If this reticence is entirely comprehensible in view of the magnitude of the task involved, the treatment of manuscript sources is frankly confusing. Autograph scores and parts are

naturally given pride of place. But manuscript copies also find prominence ahead of printed sources, despite the reasonable assertion in the Introduction that they were very likely copied from the prints themselves. Under r-vactly the same heading ('Manuscripts') are also entered late-nineteenth- and twentieth-century manuscript scores?undoubtedly useful for scholars but almost certainly valueless as source material.

These organizational ambiguities apart, the catalogue is admirably presented. Viotti's oeuvre is something of a minefield, with innumerable arrangements made by known and unknown hands during his lifetime: a string trio might turn up as either a violin duet or a

piano trio, for example, and even Viotti's opera arias were derived from his violin concertos. Professor White has authoritatively unravelled this tangled web, and with its

ample cross-referencing the catalogue is unusually convenient to use. Dating of the editions is meticulously established, and the appendix of publishers' plate numbers may be useful to scholars from other fields. As usual, English editions prove the most difficult to pin down; it is to be hoped that present attempts to computerize information from London newspapers will lead to clarification of this area in the future.

In general the incipits are well drawn?only when leger lines are involved is there some deterioration of quality. And it is helpful to have both tutti and solo entries in the concerto movements. One minor complaint remains?for editions after 1800 which did not get into RISM (most did) at least one library location should surely have been cited. Undoubtedly this publication will inspire renewed interest in Viotti's music; it is also of great potential value to the student of music publishing in the years around 1800.

Simon MgVeigh

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