ArsAntiguaPresents.com

 

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Today we will listen to a performance of an unusual instrument, the hurdy-gurdy. It’s a stringed instrument that produces sound via a crank-turned rosined wheel that acts at the bow. Notes are played by a keyboard that presses small wood wedges against the strings to change their pitch. The hurdy-gurdy sound is characterized by several drone strings, creating a sound similar to a violin and the bagpipes.

Jacques-Christophe Naudot, born in 1690, was a French composer, typesetter, and flutist. Most of his compositions were published in Paris between 1726 and 1740, and his most well-known work is the opus 17 No. 5 flute concerto. The poet Denesle wrote a book called “Syrinx, ou l’origine de la flutte”, which was dedicated in part to Naudot and published in 1739. “Babioles” or “baubles”, published about 1750, are duets by Naudot, suitable for hurdy gurdies or bagpipes.

In this performance of Iile Babiole and Menuets I and II, we’ll hear Robert Green playing the hurdy-gurdy.

Duration: 4:33

 

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Born in 1667, Michel Pignolet de Monteclair made his way to Paris in 1697, and by 1699 was playing the basse de violon in the Paris Opera and gaining renown as a teacher. Acknowledged as one of the most important composers of the post-Lully generation, his stage works influenced Jean Phillipe Rameau’s orchestration and dramatic music. He gave a more prominent role to his obbligato instruments than any other composer of cantatas before his time, as evidenced by the use of totally independent bass lines. In fact, his music to La Triomphe de la Constance features extensive substantive solo passages for the bass viol.

In this performance of music from La Triomphe de la Constance, we will hear Amy Conn, soprano, Craig Trompeter, viola da gamba, and Doug Schneider, harpsichord.

Podcast length: 13:55

 

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Claudio Monteverdi

Today we’re excerpting from the Monteverdi opera Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria. The Return of Ulysses to His Country is an opera consisting of a prologue and five acts to an Italian libretto by Giacomo Badoaro, based on the final portion of Homer’s Odyssey. It was Claudio Monteverdi’s first opera for Venice, and had a very successful run of ten performances at the Teatro Santi Giovanni e Paolo beginning in February 1640. The opera was then taken to the Teatro Guastavillani in Bologna, and in 1641 was revived again in Venice. The first modern revival was lead by Vincent d’Indy in Paris in 1925.

In this performance we’ll hear singers from the Chicago Opera Theater, who are joined by Ars Antigua for the Prologue and 10th scene from Act V.

Rizo Arellano, L’Humana Fragilita
David Young, Tempo
Kari Sorenson, Fortuna
Micaela Oeste, Amore
Melina Pineda, Penelope
Melina Pineda, Melanto
Edmundas Seilius, Eurimaco
Robert Burt, Iro
Jason Collins, Ulisse
Stephen Hargreaves, harpsichord
Craig Trompeter, violoncello
Jerry Fuller, violone

 

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Today we’ll hear Rachel Barton Pine perform- not on her usual violin, but with a viola d’amore. This unusual instrument has fourteen strings, seven of which the player bows and seven that are not touched and ring sympathetically.

The first known mention of the name ‘viol d’amore’ appeared in John Evelyn’s diary on the 20th of November, 1679, who praised its ‘sweetness’ and ‘surprising sound’.

Rachel Barton Pine is joined in the WFMT studios in Chicago by Martha Perry and Garry Clarke, violins, William Bauer, viola, Pablo Mahave-Veglia, violoncello, Jerry Fuller, double bass, and Greg Hand, harpsichord. They’re playing one of seven concertos that Antonio Vivaldi wrote for the viola d’amore, in D Major.

Video of this performance can be viewed here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZ0wV3iiNzg

 

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Patrick O'Malley, recorder; Jerry Fuller, violone

Today we’re featuring music of Francesco Barsanti, born around 1690 in the Tuscan city of Lucca. This city was- and would be- a center of Italian culture for centuries, boasting such notable denizens as Luigi Boccherini and Giacomo Puccini.

In 1708, Barsanti ventured to Padova, where he had initially intended to pursue an education in the field of science. After keenly observing several concerts held at the university, Barsanti embarked on a composition career instead, focusing chiefly on music for the flute and the oboe. He spent many successful years in London as a noted flutist and oboist before venturing north to Scotland in 1735, where he lived for almost a decade and continued to compose.

Sonata in C Major  – Francesco Barsanti (b. ca. 1690)
Adagio / Allegro /Largo / Presto
Patrick O’Malley, recorder; Jerry Fuller, violone

Podcast length: 10:03

 

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Jerry Fuller, Devon Naftzger, Jesse McQuarters & David Schrader

This month, we’re featuring the winner of the Midwest Young Artists’ Early Music Competition, Devon Naftzger.

Devon began her musical studies on the violin when she was five years old. Her interests turned to the viola seven months ago and she began taking lessons this past summer at age 15. She currently studies viola with Desiree Ruhstrat at the Music Institute of Chicago. Devon enjoys participating in the Midwest Young Artist Symphony Orchestra, chamber program, and Early Music Academy. Devon looks forward to attending the Aspen Music Festival this upcoming summer.

 

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In this episode of Ars Antigua Presents (11 minutes), we’re celebrating Bach’s birthday on March 31st with a recording of his Trio in G Major, BWV 1039. Johann Sebastian Bach’s appointment as Kapellmeister at the city of Cöthen was basically a happy one, because his patron, the Prince of Cöthen, was a true music lover with a voracious appetite for instrumental music. In this post Bach had at his disposal a small but outstanding ensemble of musicians, which he used to perform all manner of secular music. These intensely expressive and often technically demanding, yet intimate, works have the usual texture of Bach’s instrumental sonatas, with two upper parts supported by a bass part.

In this music from the BWV 1039 trio sonata, we’ll hear Anita Miller Rieder, flute, Pablo Mahave-Veglia, violoncello, and Andrew Fredel, harpsichord.

 

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In 1772, the 16-year-old Mozart was living in Salzburg and penned a trio of light instrumental works called “divertimenti” – a form highly popular in the later 18th century. Though scored only for strings, these three works have sometimes been called the “Salzburg symphonies.” Today we’re going to hear one of these, which the young composer graced with strongly sentimental melodies and verve throughout. The initial allegro movement speaks richly in the sonata allegro form, followed by a lyrical andante. In the final presto, Mozart shows his wit and sense of humor with two very contrasting themes.

 

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Last month we featured the “Annunciation” violin sonata of Heinrich Biber; this month we feature his instrumental music that reflects on sacred themes. The Mystery Sonatas, also known as the Rosary Sonatas, constitute one of the virtuoso high points of Baroque violin literature, and the opening passacaglia fully displays Biber’s contrapuntally daring and technically demanding style of writing. Never one to leave his faith far behind, Biber included a set of engravings with his manuscript that illustrated each piece; this passacaglia and its opening incipit depicts the Guardian Angel. Jin Kim performs this piece on violin on this month’s episode.

 

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The 17th-century composer and violinist Heinrich Biber was born in Bohemia
and moved to Salzburg in 1670, where he flourished and was able to explore
his faith through music and composition. Brought up with a Jesuit
education, Biber frequently incorporated sacred themes into his instrumental works, including in his “Rosary” sonatas, compiled in those first years in Salzburg. Today we’ll hear the “Annunciation” sonata, which begins and ends with a rapid cascade of notes depicting the rustling of Archangel Gabriel’s wings as he descends from heaven to tell the Virgin she is to give birth to the son of God. In this performance, Bill Bauer is the violinist and Charles Metz the harpsichordist.

Program:

”The Annunciation” from the Rosary Sonatas – by
H.I.F. Biber (1644-1704), William Bauer, violin and Charles Metz
harpsichord

I. Preludium
II. Aria
III. Adagio
IV. Finale