Brandenburg & The Baroque

Perelman Theater

Perelman Theater

Jeffrey Brillhart

Conductor and Harpsichord

Concerto Grosso in D Minor, Op. 3, No. 11, RV.565
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)

The Concerto Grosso in D minor is part of a set of 12 concerti for stringed instruments, L’estro armónico, composed in 1711. It was his first collection of concerti appearing in print. Each concerto was printed in eight parts: four violins, two violas, cello and continuo. For each concerto there are seven independent parts conforming to the traditional concerto grosso format – the small ensemble of solo instruments interplay with the string orchestra. L’estro armónico is considered one of the most influential collections of instrumental music to appear during the 18^th century.

Concerto in D minor is written for two violins, cello and string orchestra. The first movement, written in ABA form (Allegro), creates an unusual texture with the two violins playing as a duet and then are answered by a similar duet for obbligato cello and continuo. The second movement (adagio e spiccato) is slow but punctuated with a siciliano dance rhythm before shifting to the joyous third movement ritornello – a form of siciliano that can only be described as quintessential Vivaldi.

Although the Concerto Grosso in D Minor is a beautiful example of the eighteenth century chamber orchestra, it is best known as a transcription by J.S. Bach who transcribed it for organ as BWV 596 only 2 years after its original composition.

Symphony in C Minor J-C 9 & Symphony in F Major J-C 32
Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700-1775)

Sammartini is recognized as the first composer to write concert symphonies and is justifiably coined as the “Father of the Symphony” who was an important formative influence on the pre-Classical symphony and on the Classical style later developed by Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. In the world musical world he matured into, the two most popular musical genres of instrumental music consisted of the suite, a multi-movement collection of dances typically written to showcase different styles and the Italian overture which is a short, light piece played before an opera with a fast-slow-fast structure. Sammartini combined these two genres by incorporating a structured format comprised of three movements: a three-part first movement where a central is presented, developed, and brought back again, a second moment that is slow and melodious; and a final fast dance movement, usually a rondeau.

His two symphonies on this program are both splendid examples of his early symphonic writing, each scored for strings and continuo. Symphony in C Minor begins with a dramatic movement pushed ahead by driving, dotted rhythms that gives way to a sweet and tender middle movement in E-flat major. The furious third movement dances in an unrelenting triple meter. Symphony in F Major utilizes four-part strings in three movements. The first movement is the intellectual movement of the symphony, adhering to strict musical structure (a binary sonata form) while the second movement moves to D minor for a beautiful but rather introspective andante. The third movement delights in its exuberant dance theme, a lively and jaunty allegro assai.

Dances from Le temple de la Gloire, Les Fêtes D’Hébé, and Les Boréades
Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764)

Probably the dominant composer of French opera and harpsichord compositions, Rameau was also perhaps the most celebrated in the eighteenth century. His theory synthesized the vocabulary of musical practice into a concise scientific system by incorporating ideas in the French Enlightenment into practical considerations of music theory. Amidst his prolific compositional output, Rameau produced over a half dozen major treatises concerning questions of musical science. In his deep-seated intellectual ambitions, Rameau was a quintessential product of Enlightenment rationalism.

Born in Dijon, Rameau moved to Paris in 1722 where he would remain for the rest of his life. In 1733, at the age of fifty years old, his first opera was performed–an adaptation of Racine’s Phèdre entitled Hippolyte et Aricie. The immediate success of this tragédie en musique launched Rameau’s career as an opera composer. Over the next thirty years, he would compose another two-dozen stage works that solidified his position as the undisputed master of French music until his death. Throughout this time, he also continued to produce theoretical works, developing his theory of harmony in collaboration with numerous philosophes and scientists of his day.

Le temple de la Gloire, Les Fêtes D’Hébé, and Les Boréades are three fine examples of Rameau’s incidental dance music in his operas. Dance was the life blood of the French court, and it permeated every sphere of musical life.  Rameau was an expert at weaving ballet movements into the dramatic fabric of his works. His ballet episodes are frequent and essential to the overall dramatic design of the operas. The original dance steps for all of his operas are lost, but the music itself is so vivid that it suggests its own choreography. Rameau’s music is exceptionally animated with such abrupt changes of mood and scoring that it must have inspired dancing which bordered on the manic – a far cry from the traditional view of French courtly dances as graceful, refined and perfectly posed. He also takes a new broom to the Menuets imbuing them with a wistful quality, rich in rustic drone-like harmonies and with ravishing, gilded melodies.

Violin 1

Luigi Mazzocchi
Meichen Liao Barnes
Igor Szwec
Joe Kauffman
Natalie Rudoi DaSilva

Violin 2

Natasha Colkett
Liz Kaderabek
Andrea Levine
Chris Jusell

Viola

Mary Yong
Yoshi Nakano
Chieh-Fan (Jay) Yiu

Cello

Branson Yeast
Tom Kraines

Bass

Anne Peterson