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the presence of King Friedrich Wilhelm 11 at Berlin in 1784, although on
which instrument is not clear. 28
There are three extant sets of pieces involving viola da gamba by Lidl, all in
a three-movement layout, of which the six sonatas for gamba and ce11o 29 and
six trios for violin, viola da gamba and cello 30 are available in modern editions.
There is a musical connection between one of the sonatas and a gamba sonata
attributed to F. X. Hammer (see below). Lidl also composed eight (the manuscript
states six, to which two additional works appear to have been added)
divertimenti for viola da gamba, viola and figured bass. 31 None of these works
is dated, but stylistically the sonatas at least appear to have been written no
later than the 1770s: although in a classical idiom, their relative brevity suggests
the earlier end of that decade, unless, of course, they were deliberately
composed in this manner so as to avoid extensive modulation away from the
tonic. In addition, Lidl is known to have composed six at present untraced
duets stated to be for viola or violin and gamba, three trios for gamba, viola
and cello, and three sonatas for gamba, violin and cello. Some if not all of the
28 See Flassig, Die solistische Gambenmusik, 220, who believes that Gerber's initial report
of this (1790; see note 37) might have confused Lidl with Abel. Gerber's statement subsequently
made its way into later reports on Lidl, such as that in Fetis, Biographie universelle, and
Grove (1980).
29 Six Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Cello, ed. H. Miloradovitch, (Albany, California,
1996); Three Sonatas for Viola da Gamba and Violoncello, ed. D. Beecher [sonatas 1, 4 and
5] (Canada, 1997). There are a number of minor differences between these two editions,
including some textual ones, the result of the adoption of different variant readings that
exist in the two extant manuscript sources. Miloradovitch has speculated that the six
sonatas might have been originally composed for the baryton and later arranged for the
viola da gamba (Six Sonatas, i). Neither editor appears to have been aware of the compositional
connection with F. X. Hammer. For a stylistic description of all three sets of
pieces, see Flassig, Die solistische Gambenmusik, 221-4. All 20 gamba works by Lidl consist
of three movements, and three of the title-pages include the abbreviated forename 'And:'
= Andreas (the second copy of the six sonatas is both untitled and unsigned). All 20 works
are preserved at F-Pn.
30 String Trios, ed. D. Beecher, 2 vols. (Canada, 1999). All six trios follow an identical
formula of Vivace-Andante-Tempo di Menuetto except for the finale of no. 6, which is entitled
Rondeau moderato although it consists of the same two repeated sections of music in rounded
binary form found in the majority of these finales.
31 Manuscripts of all three sets of Lidl's compositions involving the viola da gamba have
been in F-Pn since the end of the eighteenth century. Whether Lidl had a formal relationship
with the French court is unknown; according to the notes in vol. 11 of Beecher's edition, the
Paris library purchased the manuscripts of the trios in 1797, 'arranged from originals in the
composer's possession for a Mr. Dogny'.
32. See Flassig, Die solistische Gambenmusik, 280-81. Flassig's source of information (a
Hamburg catalogue) may be in error about the scoring of the six duets: violin and viola or
gamba would be a far more logical combination, given the nature and respective range of
each of these three instruments (and see also note 33). The cited combination of gamba with
viola and cello in the trios may be compared to that of various works by Haydn for baryton.
33. Lidl's published set of six quartets, Op. 2, three for string quartet and three for flute,
violin, viola, and 'violoncello obligato', for example, suggests more than an accompanying cello
part. His six published duettos for violin and viola, 'with a separate part for the violoncello, to
be play'd occasionally instead of the Tenor', Op. 3, may be related to the lost duets involving
viola da gamba noted above (there is also a second set, Op. 6, consisting of three duettos for
violin and viola and three for violin and cello).