Concert Program - Atlanta Baroque Orchestra

The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra
John Hsu, Artistic Director & Conductor
Descriptive Music
By
Italian Composers
Sunday 17 February 2008
3:00 p.m.
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church
3180 Peachtree Road NW
Atlanta, Georgia
Descriptive Music by Italian Composers
made possible by the sponsorship of Lois Z. Pyle
Concerto Grosso Op. 5, No. 6, “Christmas”
for strings and continuo
Giuseppe Sammartini
(1693-1751)
Spiritoso-Allegro-Spiritoso
Rondo: Allegro moderato e grazioso
Pastorale: Andante sostenuto
Concerto a quattro in E-flat Major,
Op. 7, No. 6, “Lament of Arianna”
for 2 violins, viola, cello, and strings
Pietro Locatelli
(1695-1764)
Andante-Allegro-Adagio-Andante-Allegro
Largo-Largo andante-Grave
Allegro-Largo
intermission
“The Inchanted Forest”
for 2 violins, viola, cello, 2 flutes,
trumpet, 2 horns, strings and continuo
PART I
Andante
Allegro moderato
Andante
Allegro moderato-Andante-Adagio
Allegro moderato
Andante spiritoso
Allegro
Grave-Allegro
PART II
Andante affetuoso
[Allegro vivace]
Allegro moderato
Andante-Allegro-Andante-Allegro
Allegro molto
Andante
Allegro-Affetuoso-Allegro
Francesco Geminiani
(1687-1762)
THE ATLANTA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA
John Hsu, Artistic Director & Conductor
Violin
Karen Clarke
Gesa Kordes
Shawn Pagliarini
Martha Perry
Valerie Arsenault
Ruth Johnsen
Ute Marks
Viola
Melissa Brewer
Elena Kraineva
Violoncello
Stephanie Vial
Eckhart richter
Flute
Catherine Bull
Janice Joyce
Violone
Melanie Punter
Horn
Richard Seraphinoff
Russell Williamson
Harpsichord
Daniel Pyle
Trumpet
Barry Bauguess
The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra was founded under the leadership of Lyle Nordstrom, along with
founding-members Catherine Bull, Jeanne Johnson, Daniel Pyle, and Eckhart Richter, who felt the
need for a permanent, professional, historical-instrument orchestra in the Southeast. The unique,
transparent sheen of “early” instruments, coupled with their capability of a delightful variety of
articulations, allows voices and instruments to blend into a unified, yet clear, sound that is very difficult
to achieve with “modern” instruments. Since its founding in 1997, the ABO has been applauded for its
freshness and verve, and for its delightful, convincing performances of a wide range of earlier works.
The Orchestra received initial generous support from the Atlanta Early Music Alliance and a variety of
individuals, and has also depended on donations of time and money from the musicians themselves.
The ABO is a not-for-profit corporation based in Atlanta, and is 501(c)3 (tax-exempt). Contributions,
which are tax-deductible, are greatly appreciated and are central to the survival of a venture such as
this. If you would like to support the ABO and its future programming, please send checks made out to
“The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra,” 303 Augusta Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30315. There is also a great
opportunity for friends of the arts in the community to serve on the Atlanta Baroque Orchestra board.
Please visit our website at www.atlantabaroque.org for more information on the ABO.
John Hsu is the Old Dominion Foundation Professor of Music Emeritus at Cornell University, where he
taught for 50 years (1955-2005). He was the founder and conductor of the erstwhile Apollo Ensemble
(a period instrument chamber orchestra) and a renowned virtuoso player of the viola da gamba and
baryton. As both a conductor and an instrumentalist, he has been awarded grants by The Fund for
U.S. Artists at International Festivals and Exhibitions, a public/private partnership of the National
Endowment for the Arts, the United States Information Agency, The Rockefeller Foundation, and the
Pew Charitable Trusts. He has performed throughout North America and Europe, and made awardwinning recordings. Among them are his CD of Haydn Baryton Trios (with violist David Miller and cellist
Fortunato Arico), which was chosen Winner in the Music Retailers Association's Annual Award for
Excellence in London, 1989; and his CD Symphonies for the Esterhazy Court by Joseph Haydn (with the
Apollo Ensemble), which was nominated for the 1996 International Cannes Classical Music Award. In
recognition of his edition of the complete instrumental works of Marin Marais (1656-1728), the most
important composer of music for the viola da gamba, and for his performances and recordings of
French baroque music for the viola da gamba, the French government conferred on him the
knighthood Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in May of 2000.
He is a graduate of the New England Conservatory of Music, which awarded him the Honorary Doctor
of Music degree in 1971, and the Outstanding Alumni Award in 2003. He is also Artistic Director
Emeritus of the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities, the pioneering musical
organization in the historical performance movement in this country, founded by Albert Fuller in 1972.
Program Notes by John Hsu
The three composers on this program were all Italians who spent their professional lives elsewhere.
Giuseppe Sammartini (1695-1750) and Francesco Geminiani (1687-1762) went to England, and Pietro
Antonio Locatelli (1695-1764) to Amsterdam.
Giuseppe Sammartini was born in Milan in 1695. He and his younger brother Giovanni Battista
studied the oboe with their father, and both became oboists of the ducal theatre orchestra in Milan. He
immigrated to London in 1729, and soon became oboist in the King’s Theatre and Music Master in the
household of Frederick, Prince of Wales. He was considered the leading oboist of his time, and many of
Handel’s works for the oboe were intended for him. As a composer, he composed mostly sonatas and
concertos, and is best known for his 24 concerti grossi for two violins, cello, and orchestra of strings, to
which the “Christmas” Concerto belongs.
In the history of program music, Christmas was certainly among the most popular occasions for which
music was specifically composed. Sammartini’s “Christmas” Concerto shares a common trait with similar
works by his contemporaries in having a pastorale movement (here the last movement) that evokes
scenes of shepherds, integral to the story of the Nativity. The common musical devices used in such a
movement are the dotted rhythm of the siciliana and the presence of the drone. The first two
movements of this concerto both contain unusual features. The first movement, in the form of a French
overture (usually a fast fugal section enclosed by two similar slow sections) has a closing section that is
totally different in musical content and character from the introductory section. The second movement is
a minuet in Rondo form, in which the final couplet is itself a theme with variations. Both movements are
in the key of G minor, which makes the Pastorale in G major especially peaceful and soothing.
Pietro Locatelli was born in Bergamo in 1695, and went to Rome for his violin training in 1711. He
became a frequent performer at distinguished musical events in Rome between 1716 and 1723.
Thereafter, he sojourned in Mantua and Venice during 1723-1727, and concertized in Munich, Berlin,
Frankfurt, Dresden, and other German cities in 1727-1728, before settling in Amsterdam in 1729.
Locatelli may well be considered the first virtuoso of modern violin playing. His 12 concertos for the
violin introduced innovative technical demands that explored and broadened every aspect of violin
playing of the time, many of which remain challenging for players today. In spite of his stature as a
virtuoso violinist, he seldom performed during his 35 years in Amsterdam, preferring the life of a
composer instead. His works were published by the well-known Dutch publisher Roger & Le Cène, and
were widely circulated.
Locatelli’s “Arianna’s Lament” is a deeply moving and emotionally powerful work that depicts a specific
dramatic scene from a legend, in this instance, Arianna’s sorrow and suffering after being abandoned by
her lover Theseus on the island of Naxos. It is a concerto grosso with an unusual concertino that adds a
viola to the usual solo group of two violins and cello, and an unusual formal structure of ten sections
instead of the usual three or four movements. Although the composer gave no titles to each of the ten
sections, I see this work as divided into three parts: the depiction of the Isle of Naxos, the Lament, and
the depiction of Arianna’ agony and submission to fate. I hope that the imagined titles that I offer below
will help both listeners and performers to appreciate the composer's masterful tone painting in this
sensitive work of pathos.
Part I, Naxos
Andante: Starkness of the Isle of Naxos
Allegro: Turbulance of the sea
Adagio: Arianna wailing
Andante: Starkness of the Isle of Naxos
Allegro: Turbulance of the sea
Part II, Lament
Largo
Largo andante
Grave
Part III, Arianna
Allegro: Arianna’s agony
Largo: Her submission to fate
Francesco Geminiani was born in Lucca in 1687, studied with Corelli in Rome, but lived mostly in
England from 1714 until his death in 1762. In his lifetime, he was highly regarded not only as a
composer, often considered as an equal of Handel and Corelli, but also as a virtuoso player, influential
teacher, and author of musical treatises. As both a performer and composer, his propagation of
Corelli’s musical styles in England was enthusiastically received. The King was said to be among those
who heard Geminiani perform Italian violin sonatas accompanied by Handel.
Geminiani composed The Enchanted Forest for a stage production by the famous French Baroque
theater director Giovanni Niccolò Servandoni, based on selected events drawn from the thirteenth
canto of Torquato Tasso’s heroic poem La Gerusalemme Liberata (Jerusalem Delivered), which took
place on March 31, 1754, in the theater of the Tuileries Palace in Paris. This was neither an opera nor a
ballet, but a pantomime. According to a review of the event, it was a spectacular show that made use
of the best available stagecraft of the time.
Structurally, this composition is in two parts. The first part, beginning and ending in D minor, is
divided into eight sections of different lengths; the second part, beginning and ending in D major, is
divided into seven. The longer sections are complete movements in various forms, while the shorter
ones are transitional in character. It is in style a concerto grosso, featuring a concertino of two violins,
viola, and cello, with an orchestra consisting of strings, two flutes, two horns, trumpet, and basso
continuo.
When the music was published in London in 1755, it was introduced as “The Inchanted Forrest, an
instrumental composition expressive of the same ideas as the poem of Tasso of that title by F.
Geminiani.” However, no programmatic notes were given for any part of this work to indicate the
various events, scenic effects, or action of the mimes that the music was accompanying. Thus, it
behooves performers of this music today to imagine the possible portrayal and action on stage in
order to recapture the essence of each section of music in this lengthy work. The imagined titles that
I provide below are drawn from those accounts in the canto of Tasso’s poem that deals with the
struggles of the Crusaders who encamped near the ghostly forest of the demons and witches outside
Jerusalem. I hope that my attempted matching of music to the narrative helps to enhance our
enjoyment of this series of vignettes.
PART I
Andante: Crusaders’ encampment, stark but peaceful
Allegro moderato: Crusaders’ dance
Andante: Crusaders’ song
Allegro moderato: Appearance of belligerent demons Andante: Demons’ threats - Adagio: Crusaders’ fear
Allegro moderato: Attempt to resume the dance
Andante spiritoso: Appearance of heroic leaders
Allegro: Battle between Crusaders and demons
Grave - Allegro: Demons’ defeat - Crusaders’ high spirits
PART II
Andante affetuoso: A love scene
[Allegro vivace]: Children at play
Allegro moderato: Fortification of the encampment
Andante: Moment of peace curtailed by the following inflictions
imposed by the King of Demons Allegro: noisy disturbance Andante: ghostly visions Allegro: raging fire
Allegro molto: drought
Andante: Suffering of the Crusaders and their prayer to God
Allegro: God’s answer symbolized by the appearance of rain Affetuoso: Crusaders' expression of gratitude Allegro
Embellish A Melody!
Bach Club ($1.000 +)
An anonymous donor
An anonymous donor
An anonymous donor
Cathy Callaway Adams
Dr. & Mrs. David Bright
Peter & Patricia DeWitt
Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
Janie R. Hicks
Martha J. R. Hsu
Douglas A. Leonard
William E. Pearson III
Lois Z. Pyle
Dr. & Mrs. Eckhart Richter
Donald E. Snyder
Larry Thorpe & Dr. Barbara Williams
Susan Wagner
Vivaldi Club ($250-499)
Anne P. Halliwell
Dr. & Mrs. Ephraim R. McLean
Telemann Club ($100-249)
Joan Althouse
John & Linda Austin
Mr. & Mrs. Roger S. Austin
Beth Bell & Stephen Morris
Mr. & Mrs. Roy B. Bogue
Stratton H. Bull
Susan K. Card
Moncure and Sandy Crowder
Jeffrey & Martha Freeman
Dr. Alan Goodman
Dymples E. Hammer
Mr. & Mrs. Allan R. Jones
Virginia Ware Killorin
Hans & Christa Krause
Rich & Caroline Nuckolls
Rebeccas M. Pyle
Hans & JoAnn Schwantje
Handel Club ($500-999)
Donald N. Broughton & Susan L. Olson
Dr. & Mrs. William P. Marks, Jr.
Dr. George Riordan & Karen Clarke
Season Sponsors ($2,500 or more)
Anonymous Donor
Anonymous Donor
Peter & Patricia DeWitt
Janie R. Hicks
William E. Pearson III
Lois Z. Pyle
Donald Snyder
Larry Thorpe & Dr. Barbara Williams
The Atlanta Baroque Orchestra would like to thank the following persons and establishments
For contributing their time, talents, and energy in regard to the details of ABO concerts.
Atlanta Early Music Alliance (AEMA)
Janice Joyce & Chris Robinson
Janie Hicks
Peter and Patricia DeWitt
Martha Bishop
Peachtree Road United Methodist Church: Scott Atchison
And Camilla Cruikshank
Eckhart & Rosemary Richter
Russell Williamson
Valerie Prebys Arsenault
Sid & Linda Stapleton
Susan Wagner
Linda Bernard & RyeType Design
Cathy Adams & The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta
The ABO would also like to acknowledge the several thousand dollars worth of rehearsal time that has been graciously given to the
orchestra by its members. These concerts could not be given without their enthusiasm and support.
ABO Board of Directors
President: Eckhart Richter
Vice President: William E. Pearson III
Vice President for Development: Janie Hicks
Secretary: Susan Wagner
Treasurer: Peter DeWitt
Resident Director: Daniel Pyle
Cathy Adams
Dr. Alan Goodman
Janice Joyce
Ephraim McLean
Melanie Punter
Larry Thorpe
Come Hear our other 2007-08 Concerts!
30 March 2008, 3:00 pm
Bach’s Cantata 82 “Ich habe genug” plus concerto
For Two Violins & Brandenburg Concerti nos. 3 & 5
sponsored by an anonymous donor
11 May 2008, 3:00 pm
Classical Chamber Music for Strings and Winds
Haydn: String Quartet op. 77 no. 2; Feld-Parthie in F
Mozart: Divertimenti nos. 12 & 13 for Wind Sextet
sponsored by Peter & Patricia DeWitt
Visit our new web-site at
www.atlantabaroque.org
These concerts are made possible in part by a gif rom
Pro-Mozart Society of Atlanta
Presents
Jennifer Stumm, viola
Sunday 6 April 2008, 7:00 pm
Northside Drive Baptist Church (chapel)
3600 Northside Drive NW