Music of the Spheres
Indianapolis Early Music's Spring Concert, 26 March 2010
7:30 p.m. St. Paul's Episcopal Church
6050 North Meridian Street $15 Tickets
"Long before classical music was stodgy, it was sometimes dangerous, unpredictable, and bizarre. Johnson and Tanaka conjured up a little of that old magic, delivered with gusto and the fluency of true improvisers." —San Francisco Chronicle
Music of the Spheres, formed in 2000, is a newly-emerging early music group based in San Francisco and Atlanta. Music of the Spheres was a main event at the 2002 Bloomington and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, resulting in several broadcasts on National Public Radio's Harmonia.
"We believe that music exists to captivate the imagination, stir memories, and evoke intensely personal emotions in both listener and performer alike, and we desire to bring a wider audience to classical music through performances which focus on these aspects. We enjoy giving lively, fun and informative performances, and are available for concerts, series, festivals, recordings and advanced master classes."
Appearing for this evening's performance are:
Jeanne Johnson, Baroque violin
Joanna Blendulf, Baroque cello
Elisabeth Wright, Harpsichord
Mark Cudek, Guest Artist. Baroque Guitar
Alison Edberg, Guest Artist, Baroque Violin
Stanley Ritchie, Guest Artist, Baroque Violin
Program
Sonata Op. 5, #12 “La Folia”
Arcangelo Corelli (1633-1713)
Sonata terza in g minor from Sonatae unaraum fidium (1664)
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1623-1680)
Ricercar VII in d minor for solo cello
Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690)
Sonata V from 8 Sonatae a Violino Solo (1681)
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Temblante
Xacaras Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Albarillo - Jacaras - Fandango17th- early 18th century Diferencias
-INTERMISSION-
Award presentation by Indianapolis Early Music to Stanley Ritchie in recognition of his distinguished career as a teacher and performer.
Sonata XXI con tre violini (1615)
Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1553/56-1612)
Three Parts upon a Ground, Z. 731
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Folias from Il primo libro (1650)
Andrea Falconieri (1585/86-1656)
Ciaconna from Canzoni overo sonate concertate, Op. 12 (1637)Tarquinio Merula (1594/95-1665)
Sonata Op. 1, #12 “La Follia,” RV 63
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
La Folia (literally “madness”) was a dance which originated in Portugal in the late 15th century, but was associated primarily with Spain and Italy by the early 1600’s.
Until around 1670, it was a fast, vivid, “indecent” dance which earned its moniker because the dancers appeared to be wild with craziness. By the late 1600’s, it had morphed into a slower and slightly less wild dance with a bass pattern and chord progression in ¾, like a passacaglia or chaconne. It was a Top 40 Hit like Greensleeves; both of their melodies and bass patterns have been used extensively in variations by generations of composers, and indeed both tunes are still crowd-pleasers today!
In addition to the Folias you will hear tonight by Corelli (1700), Vivaldi (1705) and Falconieri (1650), La Folia has been embroidered upon by countless composers including Lully, Marais, Geminiani, , Uccellini, Farinelli, Vitali, Alessandro Scarlatti, Cabanilles, Murcia, Sanz, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Boccherini, Paganini, Hummel, Cherubini, Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Liszt, and Berlioz. Purportedly, Beethoven even quotes eight bars of it in the harmony his Fifth Symphony Andante! The Folia is one of many Spanish dances of the 17th and 18th centuries whose influence is still clearly heard in Latin music of today. These Baroque-era dances encapsulated many different characters and affects, and some were even outlawed because of their indecent erotic nature!
Although most of the choreography has sadly been lost, the tunes as well as some popular variations (“diferencias”) have been notated for posterity. The Albarillo was a guitar tune played for country dances. The Jacara (or Xacara) imitated the swagger and street music of the “jacques,” young urban men who wandered the streets at night in packs, looking for trouble and prone to vulgarity. Although the Jacara is typically sung in the dialect of Madrid sub-culture, it nonetheless became a very fashionable dance even among aristocrats due to its exciting, driving rhythm. The Fandango was a lively and popular flamenco couple dance with castanets and hand-clapping, often used at festive celebrations. The dance was so extravagant that the word ”fandango” has come to mean “quarrel,” “fuss,” or “brilliant exploit” in the vernacular!
Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), a native of Spain, was organist at Valencia Cathedral, where he also studied to become a priest. Although he apparently didn’t travel much beyond Valencia, he performed and was known at least as far as France. A great Spanish keyboard composer, he is sometimes referred to as “the Spanish Bach.” Tarquinio Merula (1594/95-1665) was a violinist and organist. He served as organist and maestro di cappella in his birthplace of Cremona, where he spent most of his life. He also served as maestro di cappella at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo around 1622 and 1633-1642, and as organist in the Warsaw court of King Sigismund III of Poland in 1623. Andrea Falconieri (1585/86-1656) was from Naples when it was under Spanish rule. He worked there as a lutenist and composer of theatre music, and for 25 years worked between Parma, Florence, Modena, Venice and Genoa. He also spent seven years in Spain, writing a number of works dedicated to people of the Spanish court. In 1639, he returned to Naples as lutenist in the royal chapel, later advancing to maestro di capella, and died of plague there in 1656.
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1623-1680) and Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704), influenced by Italian “stil phantastic” composers Marini, Castello, Uccellini and Pandolfi, pushed the limits of violin technique with greater virtuosity, double stops, and a higher pitch range. Their violin works exemplify the early free-form sonata, which alternated wild improvisatory sections with metered dance-like sections. During a time when Italians dominated the European musical scene, both were famous violin virtuosi and widely-published composers. Schmelzer, born in Austria, was also a cornettist, and served in the Viennese imperial court orchestra. His violin sonatas of 1664, which contain Austrian folk elements, were the first to be published by a non-Italian, and he became the first Austrian Kapellmeister at the Habsburg court after long line of Italians. Like Falconieri, he died of plague - ironically, in Prague, where the imperial court had gone to escape it. Biber was greatly influenced by Schmelzer, and may have studied with him. Biber was born in Wartenburg, Bohemia, where his father was huntsman and gamekeeper for Count Christoph Paul von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn. Biber worked briefly for the Count’s sons, particularly Archbishop-Prince Karl von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, who influenced him with his love of virtuosity and tone-painting. In 1670, Biber left without permission during an official journey, and went to Salzburg, where he became Kapellmeister in 1684. He was called “the formidable virtuoso” by Jacob Stainer, the best violin maker of the day.
The modern sonata was born in the hands of Arcangelo Corelli (1633-1713), who created some of the first expectations regarding harmony, the number and order of movements, and the symmetry of form. A household name during his lifetime, Corelli was a sought-after teacher and soloist, whose students included Geminiani, Bonporti, Albinoni, and Locatelli. He was also one of the first composers whose fame spread across Europe through the expanding printing industry. He was elected to Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica in 1670 when he was barely 17 years old, and to the famous Arcadian Academy in 1706. He spent most of his career in Rome in prestigious leadership positions, and was a violinist for Queen Christina of Sweden and for Cardinal Pamphili, in whose palace he lived during a time when most musicians were servants. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was influenced by the German prototypes of Biber and Schmelzer, and by Corelli and the Venetian school; his “La Folia” sonata has great similarities to Corelli’s in structure, variations and techniques. Born in Venice, he was ordained and nicknamed “The Red Priest” due to his fiery hair. He served as a violinist at St. Mark's, and as maestro di violino for the Ospedale della Pieta, an all-girl orphanage, where he had to write two concertos a month! By 1716, he was famous throughout Europe as both a composer and violinist, even performing twice for the Pope himself.
Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690), a virtuoso cellist and composer in Bologna, contributed to the solo cello repertoire at a time when the cello was just beginning to come out of its traditional basso continuo role and into the limelight. Inspired by the increasing virtuosity of the Bolognese concerto style, Gabrielli's G major Sonata reflects his awareness of the instrument's sonority and virtuosic capabilities through the use of chords, florid scale passages and active string crossings. Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1553/56-1612) was born into a large family of musicians in Venice. Although not related to Domenico, he was the nephew of composer Andrea Gabrieli and may have studied with him. Giovanni was organist at Scuola di San Rocco and at St. Mark’s, and worked at the Munich court chapel under Orlando di Lasso from 1575-1579. He also taught Monteverdi, who succeeded him at St. Mark's. Gabrieli is best known for his Venetian-school antiphonal polychoral works, which position two or more choirs across from each other to create the first “stereo effect.”
This style influenced Schutz and Praetorius, and is evident as well in his three violin sonata. Henry Purcell (1659-1695), called the “English Orpheus,” was brought up near Westminster Abbey and was a choirboy in the Chapel Royal. He studied with John Blow and Matthew Locke, and was already a published composer at age 8! He succeeded Locke as composer for the King's string ensemble, and succeeded Blow as organist for the Chapel Royal. His Three Parts Upon a Ground, which was never published, employs the compositional devices of imitation, inversion (upside down), retrograde (backwards), and at one point, all of the voices imitating the ground bass.
Indianapolis Early Music's Spring Concert, 26 March 2010
7:30 p.m. St. Paul's Episcopal Church
6050 North Meridian Street $15 Tickets
"Long before classical music was stodgy, it was sometimes dangerous, unpredictable, and bizarre. Johnson and Tanaka conjured up a little of that old magic, delivered with gusto and the fluency of true improvisers." —San Francisco Chronicle
Music of the Spheres, formed in 2000, is a newly-emerging early music group based in San Francisco and Atlanta. Music of the Spheres was a main event at the 2002 Bloomington and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, resulting in several broadcasts on National Public Radio's Harmonia.
"We believe that music exists to captivate the imagination, stir memories, and evoke intensely personal emotions in both listener and performer alike, and we desire to bring a wider audience to classical music through performances which focus on these aspects. We enjoy giving lively, fun and informative performances, and are available for concerts, series, festivals, recordings and advanced master classes."
Appearing for this evening's performance are:
Jeanne Johnson, Baroque violin
Joanna Blendulf, Baroque cello
Elisabeth Wright, Harpsichord
Mark Cudek, Guest Artist. Baroque Guitar
Alison Edberg, Guest Artist, Baroque Violin
Stanley Ritchie, Guest Artist, Baroque Violin
Program
Sonata Op. 5, #12 “La Folia”
Arcangelo Corelli (1633-1713)
Sonata terza in g minor from Sonatae unaraum fidium (1664)
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1623-1680)
Ricercar VII in d minor for solo cello
Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690)
Sonata V from 8 Sonatae a Violino Solo (1681)
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)
Temblante
Xacaras Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712)
Albarillo - Jacaras - Fandango17th- early 18th century Diferencias
-INTERMISSION-
Award presentation by Indianapolis Early Music to Stanley Ritchie in recognition of his distinguished career as a teacher and performer.
Sonata XXI con tre violini (1615)
Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1553/56-1612)
Three Parts upon a Ground, Z. 731
Henry Purcell (1659-1695)
Folias from Il primo libro (1650)
Andrea Falconieri (1585/86-1656)
Ciaconna from Canzoni overo sonate concertate, Op. 12 (1637)Tarquinio Merula (1594/95-1665)
Sonata Op. 1, #12 “La Follia,” RV 63
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
La Folia (literally “madness”) was a dance which originated in Portugal in the late 15th century, but was associated primarily with Spain and Italy by the early 1600’s.
Until around 1670, it was a fast, vivid, “indecent” dance which earned its moniker because the dancers appeared to be wild with craziness. By the late 1600’s, it had morphed into a slower and slightly less wild dance with a bass pattern and chord progression in ¾, like a passacaglia or chaconne. It was a Top 40 Hit like Greensleeves; both of their melodies and bass patterns have been used extensively in variations by generations of composers, and indeed both tunes are still crowd-pleasers today!
In addition to the Folias you will hear tonight by Corelli (1700), Vivaldi (1705) and Falconieri (1650), La Folia has been embroidered upon by countless composers including Lully, Marais, Geminiani, , Uccellini, Farinelli, Vitali, Alessandro Scarlatti, Cabanilles, Murcia, Sanz, J.S. Bach, C.P.E. Bach, Boccherini, Paganini, Hummel, Cherubini, Rachmaninoff, Kreisler, Liszt, and Berlioz. Purportedly, Beethoven even quotes eight bars of it in the harmony his Fifth Symphony Andante! The Folia is one of many Spanish dances of the 17th and 18th centuries whose influence is still clearly heard in Latin music of today. These Baroque-era dances encapsulated many different characters and affects, and some were even outlawed because of their indecent erotic nature!
Although most of the choreography has sadly been lost, the tunes as well as some popular variations (“diferencias”) have been notated for posterity. The Albarillo was a guitar tune played for country dances. The Jacara (or Xacara) imitated the swagger and street music of the “jacques,” young urban men who wandered the streets at night in packs, looking for trouble and prone to vulgarity. Although the Jacara is typically sung in the dialect of Madrid sub-culture, it nonetheless became a very fashionable dance even among aristocrats due to its exciting, driving rhythm. The Fandango was a lively and popular flamenco couple dance with castanets and hand-clapping, often used at festive celebrations. The dance was so extravagant that the word ”fandango” has come to mean “quarrel,” “fuss,” or “brilliant exploit” in the vernacular!
Juan Cabanilles (1644-1712), a native of Spain, was organist at Valencia Cathedral, where he also studied to become a priest. Although he apparently didn’t travel much beyond Valencia, he performed and was known at least as far as France. A great Spanish keyboard composer, he is sometimes referred to as “the Spanish Bach.” Tarquinio Merula (1594/95-1665) was a violinist and organist. He served as organist and maestro di cappella in his birthplace of Cremona, where he spent most of his life. He also served as maestro di cappella at Santa Maria Maggiore in Bergamo around 1622 and 1633-1642, and as organist in the Warsaw court of King Sigismund III of Poland in 1623. Andrea Falconieri (1585/86-1656) was from Naples when it was under Spanish rule. He worked there as a lutenist and composer of theatre music, and for 25 years worked between Parma, Florence, Modena, Venice and Genoa. He also spent seven years in Spain, writing a number of works dedicated to people of the Spanish court. In 1639, he returned to Naples as lutenist in the royal chapel, later advancing to maestro di capella, and died of plague there in 1656.
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (1623-1680) and Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704), influenced by Italian “stil phantastic” composers Marini, Castello, Uccellini and Pandolfi, pushed the limits of violin technique with greater virtuosity, double stops, and a higher pitch range. Their violin works exemplify the early free-form sonata, which alternated wild improvisatory sections with metered dance-like sections. During a time when Italians dominated the European musical scene, both were famous violin virtuosi and widely-published composers. Schmelzer, born in Austria, was also a cornettist, and served in the Viennese imperial court orchestra. His violin sonatas of 1664, which contain Austrian folk elements, were the first to be published by a non-Italian, and he became the first Austrian Kapellmeister at the Habsburg court after long line of Italians. Like Falconieri, he died of plague - ironically, in Prague, where the imperial court had gone to escape it. Biber was greatly influenced by Schmelzer, and may have studied with him. Biber was born in Wartenburg, Bohemia, where his father was huntsman and gamekeeper for Count Christoph Paul von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn. Biber worked briefly for the Count’s sons, particularly Archbishop-Prince Karl von Liechtenstein-Kastelkorn, who influenced him with his love of virtuosity and tone-painting. In 1670, Biber left without permission during an official journey, and went to Salzburg, where he became Kapellmeister in 1684. He was called “the formidable virtuoso” by Jacob Stainer, the best violin maker of the day.
The modern sonata was born in the hands of Arcangelo Corelli (1633-1713), who created some of the first expectations regarding harmony, the number and order of movements, and the symmetry of form. A household name during his lifetime, Corelli was a sought-after teacher and soloist, whose students included Geminiani, Bonporti, Albinoni, and Locatelli. He was also one of the first composers whose fame spread across Europe through the expanding printing industry. He was elected to Bologna's Accademia Filarmonica in 1670 when he was barely 17 years old, and to the famous Arcadian Academy in 1706. He spent most of his career in Rome in prestigious leadership positions, and was a violinist for Queen Christina of Sweden and for Cardinal Pamphili, in whose palace he lived during a time when most musicians were servants. Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) was influenced by the German prototypes of Biber and Schmelzer, and by Corelli and the Venetian school; his “La Folia” sonata has great similarities to Corelli’s in structure, variations and techniques. Born in Venice, he was ordained and nicknamed “The Red Priest” due to his fiery hair. He served as a violinist at St. Mark's, and as maestro di violino for the Ospedale della Pieta, an all-girl orphanage, where he had to write two concertos a month! By 1716, he was famous throughout Europe as both a composer and violinist, even performing twice for the Pope himself.
Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690), a virtuoso cellist and composer in Bologna, contributed to the solo cello repertoire at a time when the cello was just beginning to come out of its traditional basso continuo role and into the limelight. Inspired by the increasing virtuosity of the Bolognese concerto style, Gabrielli's G major Sonata reflects his awareness of the instrument's sonority and virtuosic capabilities through the use of chords, florid scale passages and active string crossings. Giovanni Gabrieli (c.1553/56-1612) was born into a large family of musicians in Venice. Although not related to Domenico, he was the nephew of composer Andrea Gabrieli and may have studied with him. Giovanni was organist at Scuola di San Rocco and at St. Mark’s, and worked at the Munich court chapel under Orlando di Lasso from 1575-1579. He also taught Monteverdi, who succeeded him at St. Mark's. Gabrieli is best known for his Venetian-school antiphonal polychoral works, which position two or more choirs across from each other to create the first “stereo effect.”
This style influenced Schutz and Praetorius, and is evident as well in his three violin sonata. Henry Purcell (1659-1695), called the “English Orpheus,” was brought up near Westminster Abbey and was a choirboy in the Chapel Royal. He studied with John Blow and Matthew Locke, and was already a published composer at age 8! He succeeded Locke as composer for the King's string ensemble, and succeeded Blow as organist for the Chapel Royal. His Three Parts Upon a Ground, which was never published, employs the compositional devices of imitation, inversion (upside down), retrograde (backwards), and at one point, all of the voices imitating the ground bass.
