CENTRUM PRESENTS “CLASSICS IN CONTEXT” - 2013/14 CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES PHILHARMONIA CHAMBER PLAYERS: BAROQUE TREASURES March 14, 2014 - Wheeler Theater - 7:30 p.m. Centrum’s Baroque Treasures concert is generously sponsored by Leah Mitchell and Nancy McLachlan BAROQUE TREASURES: BACH, HANDEL & VIVALDI PHILHARMONIA CHAMBER PLAYERS

Sherezade Panthaki, soprano / Stephen Schultz, flute / Marc Schachman, oboe Kati Kyme & Lisa Weiss, violins / Anthony Martin, viola / William Skeen, violoncello Hanneke van Proosdij, harpsichord

Georg Phillip Telemann (1681-1767) Trio Sonata in E minor from Tafelmusik II Affetuoso - Allegro - Dolce - Vivace Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) Concerto for Flute Op. 10, No. 3 in D major, “Il Gardellino” Allegro - Cantabile - Allegro Benedetto Marcello (1686-1739) Concerto for Oboe in D minor Andante spiccato - Adagio - Presto George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Trio Sonata Op. 5, No. 4 in G major Allegro - A tempo ordinario - Allegro non presto - Passacaille Gigue: Presto Menuet: Allegro moderato

- INTERMISSION - Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068 Air Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) Cantata “O! angenehme Melodei!” BWV 210a

Length of performance is approximately two hours. Latecomers will be seated during suitable intervals in the program. The use of cameras or recording devices of any kind is strictly prohibited. Please turn off your digital alarms or cellular telephones before the performance begins. At first glance the sequence of pieces in today’s chamber music program suggests a pleasing assortment, a chocolate box of Baroque favorites, offering a miscellany of familiar composers to sample. But there is a hidden ingredient linking the pieces you will hear, derived from the cosmopolitan nature of the musical styles of the early 18th century and how they were ab- sorbed and combined by the greatest musical confectioner of them all, J. S. Bach.

Bach was an omnivore. Not for him to limit his taste to one cuisine— French, Italian, or German. In spite of this broad interest in foreign musi- cal styles he was not a traveling man. True, as an ambitious 20 year old he had walked the 500 mile round-trip from Arnstadt to Lübeck to meet and hear the famous virtuoso Buxtehude. This adventure earned the young musician a rebuke from his employers for overstaying his leave. Sebastian spent his entire adult life in central Germany where his fore- bears had been career musicians for generations. He did visit nearby cities to evaluate organs, to see friends, and hear performances, but he made no visit to Italy like Handel’s, none to Paris like Telemann’s. A 120 mile trip, this time in a carriage, to Berlin near the end of his life was a big event, resulting in the Musical Offering to Frederick the Great. Bach was confined to Leipzig by his official duties as a performer, composer, and conductor, as well as domestic duties to his many offspring for whose education and welfare he was responsible. Regardless of what he might have wanted to do or where he might have wanted to go, getting any extended time off to travel was not possible.

But travel in time was something that Bach did perhaps more than most Bach of his contemporaries. It helped him to connect with his family’s past that he came from a long line of practical musicians. It is said that in some parts of Thuringia in the late 17th century the word “Bach” was generic for musician because it was so com- mon for a Bach to be playing or writing music for the church or town festivities. Sebastian throughout his life collected and compiled an Albachisches Archiv (Archive of the Senior Bachs), including compositions by previous generations of his family. Such a regard for the music of the past is characteristic of his universal appetite for learning.

The strength of his family ties certainly came to Sebastian’s aid when he was orphaned at an early age and consequently taken in by his elder brother Johann Christoph, a student of the renowned organist and composer Johann Pachelbel. There is an un- substantiated story that tells us much about Bach’s self-education. It is said that Johann Christoph had forbidden his little brother access to a certain manuscript of organ works that Sebastian wanted to see. Undeterred, he managed to extract it from its locked cabinet night after night and copy it by moonlight for his own use. This apocryphal story illustrates two aspects of how this young man became the monument that continues to incessantly impelled him, when he could not yet succeed by his own strength, impress us three centuries later—his determina- to seek aid from the models existing in his time. At first Vivaldi’s concertos af- tion to improve himself and, perhaps even more forded him this assistance…He studied the chain of the ideas, their relation important, the methods he used. to each other, the variations of the modulations, and many other particulars. The changes necessary in the ideas and passages composed for the violin, but The pilfering of the forbidden manuscript and not suitable to the keyboard, taught him to think musically.” that 500 mile walk—imagine the roads in the ear- ly 18th century and the weather in late autumn in In Vivaldi’s Il gardellino, a flute concerto published after Bach had made North Germany!—are evidence of an indomita- his keyboard transcriptions, we can hear clearly the first movement’s open- ble drive for self-improvement. But it is the copy- ing material punctuating the solo instrument’s various bird calls and flirta- ing of the organ works (by hand! by moonlight!) tions with the violins in the open air. And true to form that music returns to that is key. In our lifetimes we have seen pen and bookend the movement. In keeping with the outdoorsy mood established ink give way to photocopying and scanning, and in the first movement, the second presents a pastoral serenade for the solo live performance now uneasily competes for our flute, accompanied by just the cello and harpsichord. Birds return in the attention with music experienced privately via last movement to remind us of the concerto’s nickname, “The Goldfinch”. electronic means. In previous times, music existed only in performance, heard either directly or privately while reading it or writing it down. The copying of music by hand is far more than a means to reproduce its notation. It is a way to study it, its construction, its flow of thought and argument, and its utilization of the instruments or voices it is writ- ten for.

The music that Bach reportedly copied by moonlight was for his primary instrument, the organ. But Bach’s manuscript of Branbenburg Concerto No. 1 Bach was also a capable string player. According to his son Carl Philipp Emanuel, “he liked best Not just Vivaldi’s concertos were reworked by Bach. We are particularly for- to play the viola…in his youth, and until the ap- tunate that Bach also turned his attention to an oboe concerto by Ales- proach of old age, he played the violin cleanly sandro Marcello. The composer, ever respectful of the performer’s collab- and penetratingly.” According to his first biogra- orative share in the creation of an effective performance, wrote a simple pher, Johann Nicholas Forkel, “his ardent genius and rather plain slow movement as an opportunity for the oboist to show was attended by an equally ardent industry, which off his improvisatory abilities. However, even as a young man Bach was supremely confident that his own skills of invention could match any virtu- oso’s. His elaboration for harpsichord of Marcello’s line The Baroque flute is made for the solo oboe is a demonstration of what might of wood, of which the most happen anytime Bach sat down at the keyboard. For- commonly used are box- tunately Bach’s ornaments can be readapted to the wood, ebony, and grena- oboe, so that we get to hear Bach as it were unseating dilla. It has a conical bore Marcello in the intricately wrought Adagio. that is wide at the end with the embouchure hole and That Bach could and did match his impromptu artist- tapers to become signifi- ry with other composers’ worked-out compositions is cantly more narrow at the attested to in this description from his son Carl Philipp bottom. Emanuel Bach:

In musical parties where quartets or fuller pieces of in- strumental music were performed and he was not otherwise employed, he took pleasure in playing the viola. With this instrument, he was, as it were, in the middle of the harmony, whence he could best hear and enjoy it, on both sides. When an opportunity offered, in such parties, he sometimes also accompanied a trio or other pieces on harpsichord. If he was in a cheerful mood and knew that the composer of the piece, if he happened to be present, would not take it amiss, he used to make extempore, either out the figured bass a new trio, or of three single parts, a quartet.

A propos quartets made from trios, we have a four part version of the Trio #4 from the set of 7 Trios, Op. 5 by George Frideric Handel. However, this is not a case of Bach adding a part to his distinguished contemporary’s composition. Although Bach was a great admirer of Handel’s music, the two men never met, even though they came within a few miles of each other on a couple of occa- sions. According to some partisan opinion in the 18th century Handel had pur- posefully avoided meeting Bach since he was perhaps his only worthy rival in organ playing. Perhaps so, but the two men inhabited entirely different worlds. Handel, the traveller between Germany, Italy, and England, was primarily a man of the theatre, whereas Bach the homebody was a man of the church.

But to return to Handel’s Trio: it was issued in a set hurriedly cobbled together to Antonio Vivaldi satisfy the London publisher of his previous set of trios, which had sold very well Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi is widely recognized and so required a sequel. At the time Handel was busy with opera and oratorio as the master of the Baroque instrumental concerto, and organ concertos, so he used recycled and repurposed works to satisfy the which he perfected and popularized more than any of demands of his publisher. his contemporaries. One of these things is not like the other... Comparing period and modern violins

The way that violins are made today are very different than when the instruments were made in the Baroque pe- riod (1600-1750 or so), but only a few of the differences can be seen right away. One of the first things that most people notice is that a baroque violin has no chinrest. Invented around 1810, the chinrest is a wooden device much like a shallow cup or bowl that allows a modern violinist to support the violin with the chin and shoulder. The baroque violin is held differently – with the left hand and the collarbone – so no chinrest is needed. Another thing many people notice is that the fingerboard (the piece of wood which runs under the strings) is shorter on a baroque violin than on a modern violin.

If you were looking at these instruments in person, you might also notice that the strings are different: three of the four strings on the baroque violin are plain sheep’s gut and the G string (the lowest one) is made of silver wire wound around a core of sheep’s gut. On the modern violin, the lower three strings are made of metal wire wound around cores of either gut or an artificial material and the highest string is a plain strand of steel wire. The high E string also has a special fine-tuning device visible on the tailpiece (the piece of wood near the chinrest to which the strings are attached).

More difficult to notice (but very significant) is the differences in the necks of the violins. On a baroque violin, the neck is attached to the body in the same plane as the body, and the fingerboard sits on a wedge of wood on top of the neck. On a modern violin, the neck is tipped back at an angle to the body, and the fingerboard is attached directly to the neck. Heads of three violin bows: (upper) modern While watching today’s players, the first thing one might notice is that the baroque violin is transitional (F. Tourte), swan-bill head of a held differently. The end of the violin rests on the player’s collarbone at one end and is sup- long 18th-century model, pike-head of a 17th- ported by the player’s left hand at the other, rather than being held between the chin and the century model. shoulder like a modern violin. The result is that the player’s head is free to assume a natural, relaxed position while playing.

Another important difference lies in the way energy is transferred through the bow and onto the strings. Modern technique (using a modern bow) involves (to a certain extent) a ‘levering’ motion with the wrist and fingers of the right hand to press the hair of the bow against the strings. To do this ergonomically, the right elbow is characteristically held at about the same height as the wrist. In con- trast, a baroque violinist thinks more about using gravity to transfer the weight of the right arm through the bow and onto the string. As a result, again for ergonomic reasons, baroque violinists tend to play with the right elbow noticeably lower than the right wrist. Like Handel, Georg Philipp Telemann was well-travelled and worldly. Like Bach he was primarily self-taught, and like Paul Hindemith in our time he could play every instrument for which he wrote. He was a kind of one-man music industry, the composer of an enormous amount of music, some of which he engraved himself for sale from his house, the music director for several churches as well as director of an opera house, and also a music theorist. Telemann The Trio that opens our program is good example of Telemann’s stylistic inclusiveness. First he introduces the melody instruments as if they were Whereas Bach could study the instrumental works of Ital- characters in dialogue on stage, the oboe mournful, the flute encouraging, ian or French composers by obtaining their part books and eventually each taking the other’s part, fusing and parting several times copying their music by hand, it would have been impossible before coming to an agreement, a “clinch” like two opera stars whose em- to obtain all the performance materials for an opera in the brace never loses sight of the audience. The “tempo” mark Affettuoso does 18th century. But Bach had Big Ears! In 1738 Johann Matthias not indicate how fast the piece is to be played, but rather that it is to be Gesner wrote a description of Bach leading a performance in played “emotionally” with all the sighs and longing of the early Romantic Leipzig: poets expressed not in words but in tones. …if you could see him either playing the harpsichord with all After the brief survey of Johann Sebastian Bach’s Italian influences and the fingers of both hands, or running over the keys of the organ German contemporaries, we come to music of the Leipzig cantor himself. with both hands and, at the utmost speed, with his feet produc- Perhaps uncharacteristically, but appropriate to a chamber concert, here ing by himself the most various and at the same time mutually is nothing sacred. Like much of the first half, this is music that comes to us agreeable combinations of sounds in orderly procession, if you directly from the theater. But Leipzig, unlike the Hamburg where Telemann could see him…not only singing with one voice and playing his worked, or the London where Handel lived most of his life, or the Venice of own parts, but watching over everything and bringing back to Vivaldi, had no permanent opera establishment during Bach’s time there. the rhythm and the beat, out of thirty or even forty musicians, For whatever reasons, economic or ideological, Bach had no direct expo- the one with a nod, another by tapping with his foot, the third sure to opera at home and thus no stage for which to provide dramatic with a warning finger, giving the right note to one from the top works. of his voice, to another from the bottom, and to a third from the middle of it—all alone, in the midst of the greatest din made by Yet opera was the (un)Holy Grail of all composers. A successful opera was all the participants, and, although he is executing the most dif- the key to fame and riches. And beyond that, opera was the incubator of ficult parts himself, noticing at once whenever and wherever a musical innovation. Simply put, the invention of opera in 16th century Italy mistake occurs, holding everyone together, taking precautions led to music as we know it today. To be excluded from hearing or writing everywhere, and repairing an unsteadiness, full of rhythm in ev- opera was to be excluded from the leading edge of musical education and ery part of his body—this one man taking in all these harmonies experience. How then did Bach acquaint himself with the latest develop- with his keen ear and emitting with his voice alone the tone of ments in the opera house and elsewhere in an age before the internet, all the voices… even before recorded music? How did he create the large body of works vocal and instrumental, sacred and secular, that incorporate all styles of all nations? Such a man had but to attend an opera and listen to learn all operatic aria has been the prime tool for artists—writers, com- that could be of use to him. And so he often went to Dres- posers, performers—to explore these heightened psychologi- den, only 70 miles distant from Leipzig, in the company of cal states. On stage, nothing happens while a character, within his son Wilhelm Friedemann, to visit friends and to hear the her- or himself, faces the consequences of the action just ac- celebrated Dresden opera company, perhaps the best in complished, or being contemplated. Words and phrases are Germany and in the most up-to-date Italian style. Thus Bach repeated compulsively, even hypnotically, entire sections of was no stranger to the latest trends in opera, and it is not the poetic text return, so that the aria seems closed in on it- surprising that they found their way into his music. self. After the dream state of the aria the signal that time has resumed again is the resumption of the telling of the story, in The Aria from Bach’s third orchestral suite has been familiar recitative. for over a century as the “Air on the G String”, a blunt reduc- tion of its four-part string texture to an over- Bach’s cantata is not an opera, but with its single ripe violin solo with discreet piano accom- 1718 - New Orleans is founded by the singer and small ensemble it uses the main tech- paniment. In its original form it displays the French. niques of opera, the forward-moving narrative of characteristics of an operatic aria, with a long the recitative and the static reflection of the aria, 1720 - The population of American colo- note to begin, to show off the singer’s breath to make its points. The paradoxical thing about this nists reaches 475,000. Boston (pop. 12,000) control, standard procedure in an opening is the largest city, followed by Philadelphia cantata is that much the same music in much the aria, and interplay with the instrumental ac- (pop. 10,000) and New York (pop. 7000). same sequence was used repeatedly by Bach to companiment, over a walking bass line. What serve markedly differing functions at various times. is particularly Bachian about this aria is the 1729 - Benjamin Franklin begins publish- With adjustments to the text it honored a couple contrapuntal involvement of the entire tex- ing The Pennsylvania Gazette, which even- of political bigwigs and also celebrated a wedding, ture—it is not merely about the soloist, but tually becomes the most popular colonial but the version heard today is in praise of certain each line makes its own melodic contribution newspaper. Patrons of Music, very likely the audience of the to the whole. Leipzig Collegium Musicum, of which Bach was the 1731 - The first American public library music director in the 1730’s. Information and perfor- And finally, the real thing! Any doubts about is founded in Philadelphia by Benjamin mance material have been generously supplied to Franklin. the operatic origin of Bach’s cantata are settled the Philharmonia Chamber Players by Joshua Rifkin, by the sequence of musical events: five pair of who prepared the reconstruction of this version of recitatives and arias. In opera the recitative is Cantata 210 for his group The Bach Ensemble. the simple narrative engine that drives the plot forward, that tells the story. It is moves quickly and has very little repeti- – Anthony Martin tion or doubling back. Arias, on the other hand, represent a kind of time warp, in which a moment’s feeling is magnified Anthony Martin is a founding member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, as and explored at length while the action goes into suspended well as many other period-instrument groups, such as Orchestra of the Eigh- teenth Century, Artaria Quartet, Novello Quartet, and New Esterházy Quartet. animation. Many of us have had the experience at a moment He teaches Baroque violin at Stanford University. Martin lives with his wife, of extreme emotion (fear, or exaltation, or grief) where time Titia, a music therapist from the Netherlands, and their three children on the has seemed to drag slowly in comparison with our thoughts, Hayward Fault near Wildcat Canyon in the East Bay. our regrets, our anticipations. For the past five centuries the Rezitativ Recitative O! angenehme Melodei! O pleasing melody! Kein Anmut, kein Vergnügen No grace, nor pleasure kommt deiner süßen Zauberei comes close to your sweet magic charm und deinen Zärtlichkeiten bei. and your caressing gentleness. Die Wissenschaften andrer Künste The knowledge in art’s other branches sind ird’nen Witzes kluge Dünste: of earthly wit are clever vapors: du aber bist allein but only you vom Himmel zu uns abgestiegen, came down to us from heaven The Bachs’ life was not without personal trag- so mußt Du auch recht himmlisch sein. and so must be of heaven born. edy. Between 1723 and 1737 Anna Magdalena went through no less than twelve nine-month Arie Aria pregnancies (with the exception of the years Spielet, ihr beseelten Lieder, Play on, you soulful songs, 1729, 1734, and 1736). werfet die entzückte Brust cast down the enchanted breast in die Ohnmacht sanfte nieder; into gentle swooning; Eight of the twelve children died at ages vary- aber durch der Saiten Lust but using the strings’ delight, ing from an hour to five years. Of the remaining four children, one was seriously mentally-hand- stärket und erholt sie wieder. strengthen and revive them again. icapped (Gottfried Heinrich). The last child was born in 1742, when Anna Magdalena was 41 Rezitativ Recitative (and he 57). Ihr Sorgen, flieht, You troubles, flee, flieht, ihr betrübten Kümmernisse! flee, all you afflicted sorrows! Bach’s professional life was not entirely satisfac- Ein singend Lied A tuneful song tory either. It was among his official duties to macht herbes Grämen süße, makes bitter grieving sweeter, teach Latin to the schoolboys and to train the ein kleiner Ton tut Wunderwerke a single note works wonders choirs. Bach did not want to teach Latin and und hat noch mehr als Simsons Stärke, and has more than Samson’s power, had to pay a replacement from his own pocket. weil er, wenn Schwermut oder Bangigkeit for it, if sadness or anxiety Moreover, the school turned out to be in chaos, wie ein Philisterheer like hordes of Philistines lacking in discipline and with the musical level at an all time low (due to the weak disciplinary sich wider unsre Ruh erregt, rise up to disturb our rest, regime of the nearly seventy year old rector die Qual zerstreut und aus dem Sinne schlägt. dispels and drives the torment from our minds. Johann Heinrich Ernesti).

Arie Aria Bach’s official salary was only a fourth of his Ruhet hie, matte Sinne, Quiet now, weary minds, Köthen salary and he was much dependent on matte Sinne, ruhet hie! minds so weary, quiet now! extra earnings from musical services at funerals Eine zarte Harmonie A gentle harmony and weddings. In “good” years, his church choirs ist vor das verborgne Weh is for any hidden woe had to sing at one funeral a day, but in his letter Die bewährte Panacee. the proven panacea. to Georg Erdmann (1730), Bach complained that due to mild weather his income was fre- quently reduced. Rezitativ Recitative Unlike the Flemish and French harpsichords, Wiewohl, beliebte Musica, Although, beloved Musica, the baroque German harpsichord was a heavier, more solidly-built instrument with so angenehm dein Spiel your playing is so pleasing to deeper sonority. The organ chorale, and so vielen Ohren ist, so many ears, organ music generally, played an important so bist du doch betrübt und stehest in Gedanken da. you are so very depressed and lost in thought. part in German religious life, and in terms of Denn es sind ihr’r viel, For there are many sonority the baroque German harpsichord denen du verächtlich bist; who despise you; could almost be considered as a domestic mich deucht, ich höre deine Klagen I seem to hear your lamenting, organ. Indeed Gottfried Silbermann, famed selbst also sagen: thus even saying: Saxon organ-builder, friend and contempo- rary of Bach, also built harpsichords in his Arie Aria Freiberg workshops. Schweigt, ihr Flöten, schweigt, ihr Töne, Hush, you flutes, hush, you tones, klingt ihr mir doch selbst nicht schöne, even to me you don’t sound pretty; geht, ihr armen Lieder, geht hin, go, you wretched lyrics, hence, weil ich so verlassen bin. for I am so forsaken!

Rezitativ Recitative Doch fasse dich, dein Glanz Get ahold of yourself, your fame ist noch nicht ganz verschwunden is still not yet entirely gone und im Bann getan! and sent into exile! Ja, wenn es möglich wär, Yes, even if it were possible daß dich die ganze Welt verließe that the whole world would abandon you und deine Lieblichkeit verstieße, and your loveliness be banished, so komm zu unsre werten Gönner, come to our worthy Patrons, in ihre Gunst und Neigung her. to their care and favor. Sie wissen allein, They know alone wie Wissenschaft und Kunst zu schätzen müsse sein. how knowledge and art should be valued.

Arie Aria Werte Gönner, alles Wissen Worthy Patrons, all knowledge findet Gunst bei euren Füßen, Finds favor at your feet, ihr stehet denen Künsten bei. you have kept faith with the arts. Aber unter denen allen But among them all liebt eur’r gütiges Gefallen your kindly appreciation ein’ angenehme Melodei. loves a pleasing melody.

Harpsichord built in 2010 by John Phillips, Rezitativ Recitative Berkeley (CA); based on one built in 1722 by Geehrete Gönner, so bleibet fernerweit Honored Patrons, may your goodwill thus Johann Heinrich Gräbner, Dresden der edlen Harmonie mit eurer Gunst geneigt! evermore be inclined to noble Harmony! Solange sie noch Kinder schöner Stimmen zeiget, As long as she still gives children lovely voices, so wird sie allezeit they will constantly be singing eur’r Lob und eren Ruhm besingen; your praise and your fame; und, wenn es ihr erlaubt, and, with your permission, vor eur’r beständig Blühn for your continued prosperity sich itzt bemühn, she will make the effort ein wünschend Opfer vorzubringen. to offer her good wishes.

Arie Aria Seid vergnügt, werte Gönner, Be happy, worthy Patrons, werte Gönner, seid vergnügt! worthy Patrons, be happy! Ein ewige Lust An eternal joy bestelle die Wohnung in euerer Brust, Prepares to dwell within You, bis diese das Singen der Engel enzückt. Enchanting even the singing of angels.

NEXT PERFORMANCE

SCHUBERT Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat major, D. 898 Sunday, June 22, 2014 - 2 pm Wheeler Theater MOZART Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor, KV 304 FAURE Piano Quartet No. 1 in C minor

Tereza Stanislav, violin; Robert Brophy, viola City of John Walz, violoncello; Lucinda Carver, piano

Centrum is honored to welcome four of the most heralded chamber mu- Angels sicians of Los Angeles for the closing performance of its 2013-14 cham- ber series. Artistic Director and Associate Dean of the Thornton School Ensemble of Music at the University of Southern California, Lucinda Carver, has assembled a “dream team” of colleagues to comprise her piano trio for this illustrious affair, including two leading members of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and one from the Los Angeles Opera orchestra. RESERVE YOUR SEATS TODAY! “Carver makes musical thought manifest.” (360) 385-3102 x110 Los Angeles Times www.centrum.org