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Arts@Darton Concert Series

EUROPEAN MASTERS

IN 18 TH

CENTURY ENGLAND

a concert by:

Ensemble Chaconne

Peter H. Bloom, Baroque Flute

Carol Lewis, Viola da Gamba

Olav Chris Henriksen, Baroque Lute and

English Guitar

Darton Theatre

2400 Gillionville Rd

Feb 8, 2012

7:30 pm

Program

EUROPEAN MASTERS IN 18 TH

CENTURY ENGLAND

ENSEMBLE CHACONNE Peter H. Bloom, Baroque Flute; Carol Lewis, Viola da Gamba

Olav Chris Henriksen, Baroque Lute and English Guitar

Sonata in a minor (Hallenser Sonata No.1) Georg Frideric Handel Adagio (1685-1759) Allegro Adagio Allegro

Concerto in D major (per liuto) Antonio Vivaldi Allegro giusto (1675-1741) Largo Allegro

Solos for viola da gamba in d minor Carl Friedrich Abel Adagio (1723-1787) Allegro

When Sable Night Thomas Linley, Sr.

(1732-1795)

Sweetest Bard Ignatius Sancho (1729-1780)

Presto Anne Ford (1737-1824) Che ciascun per te sospiri Johann Christian Bach

(1735-1782)

Fantasie for English guitar in C major Rudolf Straube (1717-1785)

Trio V in C major Felice de Giardini Allegro (1716-1796) Prestissimo

Sonata IX in d minor Johann Christian Fischer Adagio (1733-1800) Allegro molto Minuet The Instruments:

Boxwood & ivory flute, anon., mid-18th century

Thirteen-course Baroque lute by Joel van Lennep, Rindge 1992, after Schelle

English guitar, anon., ca. 1765, in the style of John Preston

Bass viola da gamba by Guy Derat, Paris 1989, after Jaye

Program Notes After the restoration of Charles II to the English throne in 1660, the role of musicians in London began to differ from that of musicians elsewhere in Europe. The rulers of most European countries and states kept strict control over the arts in their domain; in London, however, while the royal court sponsored several musicians, other aristocracy and members of the upper middle class were affluent enough to support independent musicians through concerts, lessons and sales of sheet music.

Drawn to this independence, the German composer Georg Frideric Handel ended his stay in Italy and settled in London in 1712. The title of the sonata, “Hallenser,” refers to a musicologist’s contention that the work was written by the teen-aged Handel during his years in Halle. All evidence is to the contrary: Its style and form reflect musical trends of the 1720s and later; its techniques and nuances are those of Handel’s maturity; and it was first published in 1730. “Londoner” would perhaps be a likelier title, but the old nickname has stuck.

Antonio Vivaldi’s music was well known among the English and European aristocracy in the first half of the 18

th century, when many of them

traveled to Italy on Grand Tours, and brought back the latest musical scores. Of Vivaldi’s several works for lute, the most famous is the Concerto in D Major. The original orchestration calls for lute, two violins and bass. Since one violin always doubles the lute in the orchestral sections, the texture of the piece is that of a trio sonata. Thus the popular 18

th -century

combination of flute, lute and viol covers the score.

The composer and viola da gamba virtuoso Carl Friedrich Abel grew up in a family whose members were in close contact with the family of Johann Sebastian Bach. By 1759, Abel moved from Germany to England, where he became one of the musicians employed by Queen Charlotte. When Johann Christian Bach moved to London, he and Abel shared lodging until Bach married in 1773. Together J.C. Bach and Abel created the Bach-Abel concert series, a chamber music series that lasted sixteen years and ended when Bach died in 1782. The unaccompanied solos for viola da gamba are from Abel’s personal manuscript.

Thomas Linley, Sr. was a composer who collaborated with playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, head of the Drury Lane Theater in London. “When Sable Night” is an aria from The Duenna, a ballad opera by Linley, with a libretto by Sheridan.

Ignatius Sancho, born on a slave ship traveling from Africa to the West Indies, rose to become the first African to vote in a British election. Among other accomplishments, he composed music, performed on stage, and corresponded with literary and artistic notables in London. The song “Sweetest Bard” is based on an ode by the famous actor David Garrick.

Anne Ford came from a family of high standing, and she created a scandal when she performed on stage, singing and playing English guitar, viola da gamba and musical glasses. Thomas Gainsborough’s full-size portrait of her was also shocking because of her somewhat risqué pose. The “Presto” is in rondo form and comes from her Lessons and Instructions for Playing the Guitar (London 1761).

Following the death of his father, Johann Sebastian Bach, in 1750, Johann Christian Bach continued his musical studies in Berlin with his older brother Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. Six years, later, J.C. Bach traveled to Italy, and by 1762 he settled finally in London. The most famous composer active in England at that time, Johann Christian Bach was the first to perform solo music for the London public on a new instrument: the pianoforte. “Che ciascun per te sospiri,” which is in the form of a minuet, comes from Sei canzonette à due, op. 4 (London 1765).

Rudolf Straube, who played both lute and harpsichord, had been a favorite student of Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig. In 1754 he moved to London, where a new form of cittern, called the “English guitar,” was rapidly becoming popular. Straube composed some of the finest music for the instrument. The “Fantasie” was published in Three Sonatas for the Guittar… (London, 1768).

The Italian violin virtuoso Felice de Giardini came to London by 1750, presumably to replace Sammartini. Giardini was one of a very few composers to write trio sonatas with a specific part for the English guitar.

Johann Christian Fischer was a famous oboist who settled in London in 1768, having spent years at the courts of Dresden and Berlin. Fischer’s “Sonata IX” is a tour de force for both flute and basso continuo.

What began in London in the 18 th

century as an opportunity for music to be produced and enjoyed as a free enterprise – not just private shows for the exclusive audiences at court – led to the creation of a great international music scene. Today we are lucky to have a great body of

masterworks surviving from that time, some well-known to modern audiences, and many still waiting to be rediscovered and appreciated.

Olav Chris Henriksen

ABOUT THE PERFORMERS

Founded in 1985, ENSEMBLE CHACONNE is dedicated to vivid, historically informed performance of Renaissance and Baroque music on period instruments. The group tours widely in North America and Europe, appearing at venues including The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, Atlanta’s famed Spivey Hall, The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Florida, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Indiana State University, Boston’s legendary Jordan Hall, and the venerable Edison Theatre in St. Louis. The group was chosen for featured performances at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s residency at Davidson College; the National Meeting of the American Musicological Society in Columbus, Ohio; and the 30

th Annual Medieval and Renaissance Forum in Plymouth, New

Hampshire. Ensemble Chaconne's 2011-2012 season includes tours in Britain (featuring a concert at The National Gallery in London), Ontario, and the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and Southeastern United States. In 2009, the group was named to the Early Music America Touring Roster, one of only 33 ensembles in North America to receive the honor. The ensemble can be heard on Measure for Measure: The Music of Shakespeare’s Plays (Americas Musicworks, CD 1594), which was hailed for “vitality and character…style and verve" (MusicWeb International). PETER H. BLOOM, flute, tours internationally and appears on 30 recordings (SONY Classical, Dorian, Newport Classic, other labels) with distribution across North America, Europe and Asia. The Boston Globe called his playing “a revelation for unforced sweetness and strength.” Winner of the American Musicological Society’s Noah Greenberg Award for “distinguished contribution to the study and performance of early music,” he performs a wide range of chamber music from period-instrument performances to new music premieres. He is also a noted jazz artist. He

has given recitals from Boston to Bangkok and has performed with leading ensembles including Aston Magna Festival Orchestra, Olmsted Ensemble, New Mendelssohn Quintet Club, duo “2” (with pianist/harpist Mary Jane Rupert) and the internationally renowned Aardvark Jazz Orchestra (39

th

season). Recent appearances include a solo recital for the New York Flute Club; concerts across the U.S. with mezzo-soprano D’Anna Fortunato; concerts with “2” in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and Salaya, Thailand. He lectures widely and serves as historical performance consultant to the American Museum of Britain, New-York Historical Society, and Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts. He is a board member of The James Pappoutsakis Flute Competition. OLAV CHRIS HENRIKSEN, acclaimed throughout Europe and North America as a soloist on lute, theorbo and early guitars, is also a much sought-after ensemble player, performing and recording with the Boston Camerata, Handel & Haydn Society, Waverly Consort, Boston Baroque, Emmanuel Music, Musicians of the Old Post Road, Four Nations Ensemble, and Chanticleer, among others. Recent performances include Handel’s Water Music with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Bach’s St. John Passion with Emmanuel Music, as well as an appearance at the 2007 Spokane Bach festival, and concerts with the Boston Camerata in Paris and Normandy. His solo recording, La Guitarre Royalle: French Baroque and Classical Guitar Music, is on the Museum Music label; he has also recorded for Nonesuch, Erato, Pro Musica, Telarc and Decca. He performs and lectures frequently at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, playing musical instruments from the Museum’s collection. He has also lectured at Harvard University, Cambridge; Nelson Atkins Museum, Kansas City; Musikkhögskolen, Oslo; Aston Magna Academy, Rutgers University; and Lincoln Center Institute, New York. He teaches at the Boston Conservatory and the University of Southern Maine. The Boston Herald praised his playing of Dowland and Kapsberger, saying, “Henriksen was able to dazzle with his virtuosity in the fantastical figurations of John Dowland’s solo Fantasy for lute and Kapsberger’s similarly brilliant Toccata prima.” CAROL LEWIS has been called a “zestful and passionate champion” of the viola da gamba. She has demonstrated her musical virtuosity and versatility many times, as a soloist in recitals in the United States and abroad, as well as in performances of cantatas and Passions by Bach and others. An accomplished ensemble musician, she has toured and recorded extensively with distinguished early music ensembles including Hespèrion,

the Boston Camerata, and Capriccio Stravagante. Recent performances include appearances with Hespèrion at Lincoln Center (New York) and the Boston Early Music Festival concert series (Cambridge, MA), as well as with the Boston Camerata at the Indianapolis Early Music Festival, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum concert series (Boston, MA), and the Radio France Auditorium (Paris). She has recorded on Astrée, EMI, Lyrichord, Harmonia Mundi, Nonesuch, Erato, Atma Classique and Koch International. Ms. Lewis has taught at New England Conservatory of Music, at Amherst Early Music, and at the annual summer conclave of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. She is a co-founder of the Society for Historically Informed Performance. The Boston Herald called her playing “brilliantly florid,” and the Centre Presse (Poitiers, France) admired her “technique and musicality, her breathtaking dexterity.”

Exclusive management by Americas Musicworks, Rebecca DeLamotte, managing director

Toll free: 888-887-7169 ~ [email protected] ~ www.americasmusicworks.com

SPECIAL THANKS to Humanities Interim Dean Ms. Elizabeth Perkins, Dr.

Peter Sireno, Dr. Gary Barnette, and Dr. Jeff Kluball