2015 SoHIP Summer Concert Series
June 23-25 Tramontana with Long & Away
Prière – 17th Century French Music for Viols and Voices
Prière is a joint project between Tramontana and Long & Away to present some of the most sublime French sacred music of the 17th century by Charpentier, Lully, Dumont, and Marais – all composers associated with the court of Louis XIV. Priere features the luscious viol consort music of Marais and Dumont, vocal trios with continuo by Lully and Charpentier, and the exquisite Litanies de la Vierge and Annuncite superi by Charpentier for combined voices and viols. Join us for an evening in 17th century France, with all the conveniences of the 21st century!
Tramontana: Elise Groves (soprano), Hilary Anne Walker (mezzo soprano), Gerrod Pagenkopf (coutertenor), Marcio de Oliveira (tenor) & James Dargan (baritone). Long & Away: Karen Burciaga, Carol Lewis, David Hunt, Shirley Hunt, & James Williamson (viols). Guests: Sean Lair (tenor) & Dylan Sauerwald (organ).
June 30-July 2 7 Hills Renaissance Wind Band
Music from the Regensburg Manuscript
One of the most important collections of wind repertoire from the sixteenth century is Regensburg BZ A.R. 775-777, a set of partbooks containing a selection of motets and madrigals by some of the top composers of the day. What makes it stand out from similar collections are the annotations, presumably made by the performers themselves, that detail specific instrumentation for many of the pieces – all some combination of cornetti (zinge), shawms (pommer), and sackbuts (posaune). We are excited to welcome Amherst Early Music’s beautiful new performance edition of pieces from this manuscript into our repertoire.
Christopher Belluscio & Michael Collver (cornetti), Matthew Groves (sackbut), Elizabeth Hardy (shawm, dulcian & recorder), Motoaki Kashino (sackbut), Liza Malamut (sackbut & recorder), Daniel Meyers (sackbut & recorder), Catherine Stein (shawm, dulcian & recorder), Matthew Stein (dulcian & recorder), and Daniel Stillman (shawm, dulcian & recorder).
July 7-9 Cavalier Consort
Defeat, Exile, and Return – King Arthur and the English Civil War
During the English Commonwealth, the royal court with its love of spectacle disappeared as a venue for musical performance. Meanwhile, Charles I’s heirs went into exile in France where they became enamored with all things French. With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the newly crowned King Charles II brought his French musical taste back to England. This program first demonstrates the native English style of the Commonwealth, focusing on abstract polyphony with sections of florid divisions. Next we turn to the evolution of the late seventeenth century style, when tastes shifted towards the dance music favored in France. We conclude by bringing the two threads together in a suite of instrumental music from Purcell’s King Arthur.
Chelsey Belt (violin), Karen Burciaga (treble viol & violin), David Hunt (bass viol & viola), Nathaniel Cox (theorbo), & James Williamson (bass viol & cello).
July 14-16 Canzonare
Virtuose Giovani – Musical Experimentation and the Women of Ferrara
In 1598, the music publisher Giacomo Vincenti praised the young women of the famous concerto delle donne, established by Duke Alfonso II of Ferrara as virtuose giovani. This program showcases music composed by Luzzasco Luzzaschi and Giulio Caccini for the ladies of the concerto delle donne, as well as the musica secreta of Ferrara at the turn of the 17th century by Girolamo Frescobaldi and Carlo Gesualdo. We will also present music by their teacher Cipriana da Rore as well as composers such as Claudio Monteverdi and Luigi Rossi, whose diminution style was influenced by Ferrara’s court.
Sarah Bellott (soprano), Kateri Chambers (flute), Dylan Sauerwald (virginal), with Stephanie Kacoyanis (contralto).
July 21-23 Aldo Abreu & Duo Maresienne
The Public Concerts of London - England at 1700
Public concerts unconnected to the royal court were a new feature of the London scene of the 1700s. This program is a sample of the music played in those concerts. Recorder sonatas were extremely popular in London at this time, and they featured prominently in these public concerts. Among the examples offered here are works preserved in a manuscript collected by French bassoonist and music copyist Charles Babel. This collection, Recueil de Pieces Choisies a Une et a Deux Flutes C. Babl” is housed in Eastman's Sibley Music Library.
Aldo Abreu (recorders), Carol Lewis (viola da gamba), & Olav Chris Henriksen (theorbo).
July 28-30 Ensemble ad Libitum
Stadler and Strings
Ensemble ad Libitum presents a program revolving around Anton Stadler, Viennese clarinet virtuoso, instrument designer, part-time composer, and inspiration for Mozart's clarinet works. As a composer, Stadler's works reflected the aesthetic of his modest upbringing, making use (and light) of Austrian folk songs and popular operatic works of the day. His first caprice also demonstrates the humor that initially captivated Mozart. Mozart's Clarinet Quintet was written specifically for Stadler and his newly invented "Basset Clarinet", which features an extended lower range. Mozart's astonishing use of the clarinet timbre in conjunction with the string quartet creates a work that remains one of the most well-known in the clarinet repertoire. A charming quartet by Haydn rounds out the program.
Thomas Carroll (clarinet & basset-clarinet), Go Yamamoto & Lisa Goddard (violins), Zoe Kemmerling (viola), & Patrick McGuire (cello).