ARCANGELO PRESENTS Three Bach Magnificats “Arcangelo is a ‘super-chamber ensemble’ of soloists who respond to each other’s lines yet allow each instrument’s individuality to shine.” SINFINI MUSIC PROGRAMME FOR MARTIN RANDALL TRAVEL • M USI C FE S TIVALS AB TA No. Enjoy Tudor and Stuart court Y6050 Three Bach Magnificats entertainment (without worrying 5085 THURSDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2015, 19:30 jc bach if you’ve fallen out of favour). Magnificat w.e22 js bach The Suffolk Festival: Music of Tudor & Stuart England, 13–16 June 2016 Magnificat in d, bwv 243 This festival presents seven private concerts in magnificent parish churches and historic halls set within the pastoral landscape of East Anglia. 20-minute interval Between them, The Tallis Scholars and La Nuova Musica perform a range of liturgical music, and two operas: Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and John Blow’s Venus & Adonis. Musicologist Professor John Bryan and biographer Jonathan Keates give cpe bach talks on the performances. Stay in hotels in the market towns of Bury St Edmunds or Lavenham; the price includes Magnificat in d, wq.215, h.772 accommodation, meals and more. All brought to you by the UK’s leading experts in cultural tours. arcangelo Joélle Harvey, soprano Olivia Vermeulen, mezzo-soprano Iestyn Davies, countertenor Thomas Walker, tenor Thomas Bauer, baritone Jonathan Cohen, conductor housekeeping In accordance with the requirements of Westminster City Council persons shall not be permitted to sit or stand in any gangway. The taking of photographs and use of recording equipment is strictly forbidden without formal consent from St John’s Smith Square. Smoking is not permitted anywhere in St John’s Smith Square. Refreshments are permitted only in The Footstool Restaurant. Please ensure that all digital watch alarms, pagers and mobile phones are switched off. During the interval The Footstool Restaurant is open for licensed refreshments. The Footstool Restaurant will be closed to the public after the concert. Image: Bury St Edmunds, lithograph c. 1850. Saint John’s Smith Square sw1p 3ha Box Office Tel: 020 7222 1061 www.sjss.org.uk St John’s Smith Square Charitable Trust Registered charity no: 1045390 Registered in England, company no: 3028678 Visit martinrandall.com/suffolk-festival or contact us for details: +44 (0)20 8742 3355 • [email protected] INTRODUCING WELCOME FROM Arcangelo Jonathan Cohen Arcangelo is one of the world’s leading Category at the 2012 Gramophone Classical Music Awards. Other ensembles, bringing together exceptional recordings include ‘Enchanted Forest’ welcome to this concert of musicians who excel on both historical with Anna Prohaska on Deutsche Magnificats at St John’s Smith Square. Grammophon, ‘Amoretti’ with Arcangelo aims to present a large and modern instruments under the Christiane Karg (Mozart, Gluck) on baroque choral work each year. Among direction of founder, artistic director Berlin Classics, Handel’s ‘Finest Arias this repertoire, Johann Sebastian Bach’s for Base Voice’ with Christopher Purves Magnificat is a prominent, very high and conductor Jonathan Cohen. on Hyperion and ‘Monteverdi Sestina quality piece of music, which I was very Madrigals’. ‘Bach Mass in B Minor’ keen for us to perform. Many composers numerous invitations to appear at major (2014) was voted Gramophone Editor’s wrote a Magnificat, the canticle of Mary, festivals and concert halls in Europe choice, Sunday Times album of the week, and so it was no surprise to discover and America including Wigmore Hall and has received a 2015 Gramophone further Bach Magnificats, including (London), Musikverein (Vienna), Award nomination. Spring 2015 releases one by his second-eldest son cpe and Prinzregententheater (Munich), were Mozart violin concertos with three his son Johann Christian, the Philharmonie (Berlin), Salzburg Festival Vilde Frang on Warner Classics which “London Bach”. We have chosen his (Austria), Carnegie Hall (New York), was No 1 in the UK specialist classical last one to open the concert. Aldeburgh Festival (uk) and the chart, ‘Scene!’ album of concert arias We’re thrilled to be presenting these Edinburgh International Festival (uk). with Christiane Karg, and Mozart & three works together, in what I hope Busy in the recording studio, Arcangelo Haydn concerti, both highly acclaimed. Borggreve Marco will make an interesting juxtaposition arcangelo’s players believe that has received five star reviews for Autumn 2015 releases are Arias for of musical style and contrast, a veritable the collaboration required in chamber ‘Porpora cantatas’ and ‘Arias for Benucci with bass Matthew Rose peek into the hierarchy of influence music, whether working in duos or Guadagni’ with Iestyn Davies on and Bach violin concerti with Alina and relationships in the Bach family. as a chamber orchestra, is the highest Hyperion; the latter disc won the Recital Ibragimova, both on Hyperion records. At their core, these works have the expressionA of what it means to make chamber music tradition; it spans out rather like the j.s. Bach Mass in b minor, concerts and recordings are greatly music. Setting it apart from other throughout the works with many varied which was our major choral concert tour reliant on this wide network of support. ensembles, all performers are committed ways of setting the music: solo passages and recording two years ago. If you like our work, I encourage you to to this chamber ideal and as such for trumpets, small arias, continuo This project is made possible with drop by our website, and subscribe to Arcangelo attracts an outstanding accompaniments, obbligatos; this is collaboration between the Tetbury our newsletter or become part of our calibre of performers who already have Music Festival, where the concert circle of friends. We would be delighted flourishing solo and chamber music Thank you will be recorded live by Hyperion to keep you posted on our future plans! careers. These are performers of dazzling Records, and deSingel arts campus technical ability who also have a passion We are particularly grateful to in Antwerp, Belgium. for faithful interpretation that goes far Greta Hemus, Carol and Peter I would very much like to thank beyond historical understanding. Honey, Felix Pole, Alan Sainer, and Arcangelo’s generous supporters and Adam Swann Adam Formed in 2010, Arcangelo has Michael Webber for generously donors who make it possible for all of supporting the Magnificats Project. exploded onto the musical scene with us on stage to realise our exciting artistic verve and energy and has since enjoyed plans, because our ongoing projects, 4 | Arcangelo Three Bach Magnificats | 5 PROGRAMME NOTES PROGRAMME NOTES Three Bach Magnificats johann christian bach was the than a last gasp of the Baroque era. eleventh of j.s. Bach’s children to survive j.c. Bach’s setting of the Magnificat infancy, and his youngest son. When dates from 1760, that is, during his Italian he was born, his father was already fifty years. It has more in common with Italian years old, and perhaps it is not surprising operatic writing of the time than the that, of all the master’s musical offspring, liturgical music of j.s. Bach. The first j.c. Bach took a path furthest from that section even gives a hint of Mozart’s johann christian bach (1735–1782): The Magnificat is considered to be the oldest of Johann Sebastian. One striking break operas to come, though Mozart would magnificat w.e22 of hymns to the Virgin. Its Latin title refers from family tradition was his conversion have been only four years old at the time to Catholicism. Having left the bosom of composition. The choice of Latin 1. Magnificat to the ‘magnification’ of the Lord by Mary’s of the Lutheran family he settled in text is obviously appropriate to the 2. Et misericordia Italy in 1755, and by 1760 he had been composer’s situation in Milan, but not soul, and the text is taken from the Gospel 3. Fecit potentiam appointed organist at Milan Cathedral. necessarily an indication of his embrace 4. Gloria Patri et filio of Luke, Ch. 1 vs. 46–55. This Bible passage He absorbed the influence of opera of Catholicism (full conversion was 5. Et in saecula saeculorum tells the story of Mary’s visit to her cousin as well as Catholic church music, and was not made until 1762). In the liturgy at invited to London in 1762 to oversee the St Thomas, Leipzig, where his father had Elizabeth — Mary is pregnant with the Christ production of three of his own operas. been Kantor, Latin was used in preference child, Elizabeth with John the Baptist. At the The English capital gave him the warmest to German to an unusual extent. of welcomes, and he became music The opening section, after an two women’s greeting, John leaps with joy master to Queen Charlotte. In that exuberant orchestral ritornello, in Elizabeth’s womb, and she blesses Mary capacity he was among the select court surrounds the solo soprano’s personal circle to witness a private performance response to the angel’s visitation for her faithfulness. Mary then proclaims by the eight-year-old Mozart; ‘John Bach’, with more general rejoicing from the her song of praise, the Magnificat. Although as he was known in London, gave the boy chorus. A new choral section begins at some of j.s. Bach’s compositions ‘Et misericordia’, reflecting on the Lord’s the text forms part of Matins in the Eastern as sight-reading tests. mercy. The passage that follows, Christian Church, in Western liturgy (both Sadly, j.c. Bach’s music fell out of ‘Fecit potentium’ is to our ears rather fashion and he died in poverty, though Handelian: as strings scurry and bustle, Catholic and Protestant) it is usually heard Queen Charlotte paid for his funeral the full complement of soloists and as part of Evensong or Vespers.