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Origin
editThis page started when I heard a recording of Op3 Six Concerti Grossi, and was intrigued by how a composition in the Baroque style seemed a hybrid with the Classical.
Transitions -- from one cultural period, paradigm, or social fashion to its successors -- are especially interesting to me because the choices between established elements of one style and the consequences of innovations forming the next add a whiff of extra drama. To the fresh listener, the twists of the compositional line can be more surprising, the results feel more creative, and the composer's struggle to maintain the fit and finish of craft (against the uncertainty of how specific choices might work when audience reactions are unknown) more dramatic.
Looking back on what I discovered, apparently Pieter's deep immersion throughout his life in small groups of amateur musicians was the factor that assured him that he did balance creative innovation with retaining notable audience appeal by his craft. So far, I don't yet sense him as an inventor of elements of the new classical style, but more an innovator that, by introducing classical inventions in a highly receptive but outlying province produced enduring worth.
After spending half his life looking for a perch providing economic stability, he only found a ledge (like most of the faculty at that time) as the insufficiently paid college organist. The basis of his economic and reputational competency then, like the source of his rediscovery now, was his work itself: The hybrid vigor of combining classical innovations into the Baroque forms familiar to his main market -- the broad enthusiasm of amateur musicians and their social networks.
So, taken with the sound of a CD, I searched for information. There was no article in the English WP, and only short articles in the Dutch and German wikipedias. At that time, the German linked him with the Cambridge in Massachusetts, possible but unlikely. Then, I double-checked several other sources and found that Hellendaal settled in at Cambridge University, England, not Harvard U. Then, too, the other on-line sources were barely more than lists of chronology or a few sparse entries of works or publications. However, these other sources were sufficient to confirm the error in the German WP.
I thought I'd just correct the German article, but then got drawn into adding more to the list, and then to the idea of providing an English article. Now, I feel that the current version, with much added from non-web sources, is still lacking. For one failure, it lacks enough information to more than hint on what was going on in the times, in the man, and in the core force - the works themselves.
To address these lacks, by WP policy, will require a prospectus for future work, and an engagement with the Projects that either have claimed this topic so far, and those that by their charters should participate.Having just left a long stint in public office, I hope now to find time and colleagues to respond to these lacks.
Elder?
editIs this the same person as Hellendaal the Elder? If so, could someone make that a redirect to this page? Thanks, Boleyn (talk) 09:31, 10 December 2010 (UTC)
Answer?
editYes, according to the 1983 Dutch dissertation on his life and works (I added the reference to the article), he sometimes was known as "the Elder" after his son, "the Younger" became known as a musician. They collaborated on a piece, as now noted in the newly expanded list of works.
Besides adding much new material, found as I tracked down info to answer your question, I rewrote the lede to make the distinction clearer.
Perhaps someone else will find much more material on "the Younger", but for now I couldn't see the justification to create a new entry for him.