2024/2025 Debut Season
Friday, May 9, 2025
Bach's
Coffee Cantata
Vivaldi Concerto grosso
And works of Corelli, Rameau, and Purcell
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Program notes by Martin Pearlman
Bach, Coffee Cantata
For about a decade in the 1730s, Bach directed a local Leipzig ensemble called the Collegium Musicum, which regularly performed concertos, suites and other works at Zimmermann’s Coffee House. It was a time when coffee houses had become popular throughout much of Europe, but there were nonetheless some writers warning that coffee was unhealthy or that coffee houses were disreputable places for women to be seen. This cantata, which would have been performed at Zimmermann's Coffee House, is a satire on that debate. It is the closest that Bach ever came to writing a comic opera.
The work has no overture. It begins instead with a narrator quieting down the coffee house audience: "Be silent! stop chattering." We are then introduced to Herr Schlendrian, a rather stuffy, pompous man who is frustrated that his daughter Lieschen won't stop drinking coffee. She loves coffee and is unwilling to give it up. Schlendrian threatens to withhold her various privileges, but nothing persuades her to give up coffee – until he tells her that he won’t allow her to marry. At that point, she seems to give in, and Schlendrian goes out to find her a husband. Lieschen, however, secretly spreads the word that she will only agree to marry a man who promises in writing that she can drink coffee whenever she wants. The work ends with the three singers declaring, “Cats will always chase mice, and daughters will always drink coffee.”
Vivaldi, Concerto grosso, Op. 3, No. 11
This concerto comes from a collection of twelve concertos that Vivaldi published in 1711 as his Opus 3. These were his first published concertos, and they created a sensation in musical circles throughout Europe. The rhythmic energy and the sense of invention in this music had an enormous influence on many composers of his day, including Johann Sebastian Bach. This eleventh concerto of the set was one of the works that Bach not only studied but that he copied out and transcribed for keyboard. In his hands, this work for two violins, cello and orchestra became a concerto for solo organ.
The concerto begins with just the three soloists playing D minor arpeggios and scales in a driving, motoric rhythm. That energetic opening leads into an Allegro fugue for the full ensemble and then a beautiful slow movement featuring the solo first violin. The concerto ends with another energetic Allegro.
Corelli, Concerto grosso in F Major, Op. 6, No. 6
The concerto that we play this evening is from a collection of twelve concerti grossi published in 1714, the year after Corelli's death. The collection became immediately famous throughout Europe, and its popularity has never waned. The story is told that when it was first performed in England, the audience was so enraptured that the musicians had to play all twelve concertos over again. Years later, the music was still so popular that Handel's publisher commissioned him to write twelve concertos of his own modeled on those of Corelli, in order to publish a "best seller." Corelli's work was studied also by Bach and other composers of his time and has continued to be loved for its lively character, the clarity of its harmony, its beautiful sonority and its polished elegance.
This sixth concerto, like all of the concerti grossi in his Opus 6, is built around the contrast between two groups of instruments: a trio of soloists (two violins and a cello) and the larger ensemble. Corelli himself would originally have played the first violin solo and would have led the ensemble from that position.
Much of Corelli's career was spent in Rome, where he directed an orchestra that was renowned for its beautiful sound and discipline. One of his students wrote about the precision he demanded of his players, especially in having them all bow together with the same bow stroke: "He would immediately stop the band if he discovered one irregular bow." One of the great violinists of his time, Corelli was also a famous teacher. He produced some of the finest violinists of the next generation and, through them, he enormously influenced violin technique for generations to come.
Purcell, Suite
The orchestral suite that we play this evening is a compilation of orchestral music from various works that Purcell wrote for the theater. Interestingly, most of his theater music does not come from major stage works, such as his opera or semi-operas. Rather it is made up mostly of small pieces that he wrote to be inserted into spoken dramas, in some cases just a single song or instrumental number for a play. Abdelazer and The Married Beau, from which we take two of these pieces, are both such plays. (In our time, the "Rondeau"from Abdelazer has become famous as the subject of Benjamin Britten's The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra.)On the other hand, Timon of Athens and The Fairy Queen were both stage adaptations of Shakespeare, for which Purcell provided more extensive music.Since these dramas are rarely performed today, a suite of pieces such as this gives us a chance to hear some of the beautiful music that he wrote for them.
Rameau, Pièce de clavecin en concert
Rameau's five Pièces de clavecin en concerts, or Harpsichord pieces in ensemble, call for only three instruments: a harpsichord and two other instruments to "accompany" it. Here the harpsichord is a soloist, rather than being in its usual role of accompanist. As for the accompanying instruments, he offers three choices: violin and viola da gamba, two violins, or flute and violin. "Accompanied harpsichord music" was a new idea at the time, and Rameau's brilliant publication popularized it to a wide audience.
Following French tradition, he gives each movement a title. In this third work of the set, the first movement is called "La la Poplinière" after Rameau's patron, Alexandre Le Riche de La Pouplinière. The second movement is a character piece: "La Timide" (Timid); and the title "Tambourins" in the final movement refers to a wild dance accompanied by a tambour or tenor drum.
Rameau spent his life mostly outside the circle of the French royal court. Very few details are known about his early career, but for most of his later career, he enjoyed the patronage of the wealthy tax collector and financier Le Riche de la Pouplinière. He conducted his patron's private orchestra, lived for some years in his mansion, and socialized with other artists and luminaries in La Pouplinière's circle, including Voltaire and Rousseau. Rameau was known as a thorny character with no close friends but was nonetheless a central figure in that circle.
To the outside world, he was known mainly for his writings on music theory, which are still the basis of much theory teaching today. But then, at the age of 50, he suddenly achieved enormous success with the premiere of his first opera. Few people expected that this theorist could write music of such depth, brilliance and colorful orchestration. One leading composer of the day remarked, "This man will eclipse us all." And as one great opera after another followed from his pen, Rameau firmly established his reputation as the greatest French composer of his day.
Friday, March 28, 2025
Bach’s
BRANDENBURG
CONCERTO No. 5
Vivaldi recorder concerto with recorder virtuoso Aldo Abreu
And music of Handel and Purcell
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Program notes by Martin Pearlman
Handel, Concerto grosso
In the fall of 1739, immediately after finishing his Ode for St. Cecilia's Day, Handel began composing twelve concerti grossi. His publisher, John Walsh, had invited him to compose the concertos along the lines of those of Corelli, which he had earlier published to great success. Such a set by Handel, he felt, should sell very well.
Handel worked on his concertos in a white heat of inspiration, completing the entire set within the astonishing space of one month. The dates of completion written at the ends of the concertos range from September 29 to October 30, an average of one concerto every 2-1/2 to 3 days. Much in these concertos reflects the Corellian model that Walsh had hoped for: a trio of two solo violins and a cello contrasting with the larger ensemble, as well as some of the same dance movements and types of counterpoint that we hear in Corelli. But Handel's forms are often on a grander scale and more varied than his model.
Although it was published as the eleventh of the set, this concerto was actually the twelfth and last to be composed. With Walsh pressuring him to finish and the composer himself under pressure to prepare for the upcoming concert season, Handel decided to adapt most of this concerto from a pre-existing work, the Organ Concerto in A Major which he had first performed earlier in that same year. The organ version and the orchestral concerto are essentially the same music, the differences being mainly in small adaptations for the new medium, refinements of rhythmic details, and new inner voices for violas. Only the second movement Allegro of this concerto grosso is newly composed, and that music was later used by Handel as the model for a new organ concerto. Although this is an extreme example of Handel's borrowing from other works, it was not uncommon for him to borrow from his own earlier music or even from works of other composers. However, the Handelian magic generally transformed his "borrowings" into music that was fresh and often greater than the original.
Purcell, Three Parts on a Ground
The word "ground" in the title of this work refers to the short, simple bass line that repeats throughout the piece. It creates a foundation over which the three violins spin out a series of brilliant variations. This is an early work of Purcell, thought to have been written around 1680, before his more famous theatrical dramas, but it already shows his genius in working with a ground bass, a technique for which he is justly famous. The harmony also shows his early taste for introducing occasional "blue notes," surprisingly spicy but beautiful dissonances.
In 1695, about a decade and a half after this work, Purcell died at the early age of 36. He was at the height of his powers, and English music did not fully recover from the loss. There was no native composer of comparable stature to take his place. As a result, many of the leading composers in England during the coming century would be foreign born, bringing with them the latest in Italian styles. Among them were Handel and Bach's youngest son, Johann Christian.
Vivaldi
For a good part of his career, Vivaldi taught at the Ospedale della Pietà, a girls orphanage in Venice that was famous for the high quality of its music. Some of the girls became virtuosos on their instruments, and people came from all over Italy and beyond to hear their performances. The exact date of this concerto is not known, but it is likely that it would have been written for one of the girls at the Pietà.
The sopranino recorder, a smaller and higher instrument than the soprano recorder, was one of a family of instruments of different sizes that were seen during the Baroque. When this concerto is played today by an orchestra of modern instruments, the soloist typically plays a piccolo. However, the little sopranino recorder that we hear tonight is the instrument for which Vivaldi originally composed it.
Recorder music: Jacob van Eyck and Jacob van Noort
Jacob van Eyck and Jacob van Noort both lived during the "Golden Age" of Holland in the mid-1600's. Having recently gained its independence, The Netherlands became a world center for trade and enjoyed a rich cultural life. It was the time of Rembrandt and Vermeer.
Born into a noble family, Jacob van Eyck was blind from birth. After moving to the city of Utrecht, he became well known as a carillon player in the church towers above the city. His expertise in the science of tuning and the construction of bells led to his being appointed Director of the Bell Works for Utrecht. Down on the ground at the base of the church towers, however, he is said to have played the recorder to entertain people in the churchyards. Judging from the music that has come down to us, he was clearly a virtuoso player.
The unaccompanied recorder piece that we hear this evening, Engels Nachtegaeltje (The Little English Nightingale), comes from a two-volume collection of van Eyck's music titled Der fluyten lust-hof (The Flute's Pleasure Garden). Like his other works in the collection, it is a set of variations on a popular tune. In all likelihood, he would have improvised the variations and, at some point because of his blindness, would have dictated them to an assistant who could prepare them for publication. For this work, Aldo Abreu is playing a soprano recorder, a high recorder that is a bit larger and lower in range than the sopranino heard in the Vivaldi concerto.
Jacob van Noort held the prestigious post of organist at the Oude Kerk (Old Church) in Amsterdam. His piece that we hear this evening, Den Nachtegael (The Nightingale) is, like that of van Eyck, a set of variations on a tune. It comes from a collection of music by various composers called 'T Uitnement Kabinet (The Cabinet of Delights). For this work, Mr. Abreu is playing the smallest and highest instrument in the recorder family, the garklein ("very small") recorder.
Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 5
In 1721, Bach presented a manuscript collection of six concertos to the Margrave of Brandenburg, offering them as an example of "the little talents which Heaven has given me for Music." There is no evidence that the Margrave ever had any of the concertos performed or that he even acknowledged the gift, but having composed them over a period of years, Bach would undoubtedly have performed them at Cöthen during the time that he directed the ensemble at the Prince's court.
For a modern audience, used to a long tradition of harpsichord and piano concertos, it may be difficult to recapture the sense of novelty that listeners must have experienced when this concerto was first performed. The three soloists in the Fifth Brandenburg Concerto are flute, violin and harpsichord. While the flute and violin were frequent concerto soloists, this is thought to be the very first harpsichord concerto, an idea which may have been inspired by Bach's recent purchase of a new harpsichord in Berlin. Previously keyboard instruments had been accompanists in orchestras, whereas here, not only is the harpsichord elevated to soloist, but it gradually becomes the dominant soloist in the first movement, as it plays its famous solo cadenza for an extraordinary sixty-five measures. It is clearly a showpiece that Bach must have written for himself to play.
The second movement is for the three soloists alone. The trio of soloists then continue playing alone at the beginning of the third movement, until they are eventually joined by one section after another of the larger ensemble. Such a transparent beginning establishes a light character that is quite different from that of the first movement. Here the rhythms dance like a gigue.