Reappropriating J.E. Galliard's Music 2, A Simple Clue

John Ernest Galliard's Six Sonatas for Bassoon (1733), a collection which he is mainly remembered for today, are deceptively presented. At face value, the modern bassoonist would see them as simplistic pieces with a number of quirky movements. Because of this, the sonatas have been relegated to the 'beginner' repertoire lists of numerous conservatories and you would almost never find one included in a serious recital program.

Reappropriating J.E. Galliard's Music 1, A Short Biography

Every bassoonist has played a sonata by John Ernest Galliard at least once in their career. Many have been exposed to the International Edition of his bassoon sonatas of 1733, and they are commonly heard at a beginner bassoon recital. Though I encourage the use of this material as a teaching aid, I am disappointed to find that few see these works as appropriate artistic material for a mature performer. If seen through the lens of a modern bassoonist, the Galliard sonatas are easy pieces, if a bit quirky. If one were to contextualize them, however, they would see that they were a product of an important theatrical composer in early 18th Century London. In the next posts on the subject, let us reappropriate the Galliard sonatas.

Five Weeks

Today marks the end of an incredibly busy chapter. Five weeks ago I boarded a plane to Amsterdam to begin the first of a series of projects which would test me both technically and psychologically. Sitting in Gatwick airport on my way back to Basel, I have yet to feel a sense of relief despite coming to the realization that I've survived this stressful period.

Google Maps c. 1746

The Centre for Metropolitan History and Museum of London Archaeology has georeferenced a map using the Google Maps platform.

In taking John Rocque's impressive A plan of the cities of London and Westminster, and borough of Southwark, and laying it over the current map and marking common points between the original survey and the GIS (you can read all about the process here, a wonderful interactive map has been created.

John Rocque's original map, divided into 24, 3.84 x 2.01 meter sheets.

This is as good of a look as one can get if you're interested in the geography of Handel's London.

Check it out at locatinglondon.org.