The Well-Tempered Ear
October’s FREE virtual and online Just Bach concert is this Wednesday at noon. It lasts 30 minutes. Here are details
5 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement about the month’s Just Bach virtual concert from co-founder and violist Marika Fischer Hoyt.
The online concert takes place at noon CDT this Wednesday, Oct. 21.
Please join us as Just Bach shares the timeless beauty of music by Johann Sebastian Bach (below) from our home in the nave of Luther Memorial Church (LCM), 1021 University Ave.
We are thrilled to participate in LMC’s weekly “Music at Midday” concert series.
As part of this virtual online series, Just Bach concerts (below) take place at NOON on the third Wednesday of each month: Sept. 16; Oct. 21; Nov. 18; Dec. 16; Jan. 20; Feb. 17; March 17; April 21; and May 19.
The online programs last approximately 30 minutes instead of 60 minutes.
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, it is still too risky to have in-person audiences, so Music at Midday concerts are posted on the Luther Memorial website: https://www.luthermem.org/music-at-midday/
In addition, Just Bach concerts are posted on the Just Bach website, the Just Bach Facebook page, and the Just Bach YouTube Channel, where you can still hear the season’s opening concert in September. Links are below.
Viewing the concerts is FREE, but we ask those who are able to help us pay our musicians with a tax-deductible donation at https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7A4R7CA8VDRMG&source=url
Just Bach co-founder and graduate student soprano at the UW-Madison Sarah Brailey (below) will provide the opening welcome remarks at this Wednesday’s program.
Our guest artists this month, the Madison-based baroque ensemble Sonata à Quattro (SAQ, below top in a photo by Barry Lewis) will perform the instrumental Sinfonia from Cantata 146, featuring organist Mark Brampton Smith (below bottom). You might recognize this as the first movement of the well-known Harpsichord Concerto in D Minor, BWV 1052.
Members of SAQ, who normally use period instruments and historically informed performance practices, will play modern instruments this time because of the organ pitch. SAQ members will continue the program with movements from the solo Cello Suite in G Major and the solo Violin Sonata in G Minor.
Sarah Brailey returns to lead the final chorale from Cantata 146, which uses the familiar tune from “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” (You can hear “Jesu, Joy” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
We encourage viewers to sing along by following the chorale sheet music, which will be displayed on the computer screen, as Mark Brampton Smith accompanies on the organ.
We need this soul-centering music now more than ever. So we invite the music community to join us at noon this Wednesday, Oct. 21, for a wonderful program of music by J.S. Bach.
OCT. 21 PROGRAM:
• Cantata 146: Opening Sinfonia
• Solo Cello Suite in G Major, BWV 1007: Menuets I and II, Courante
• Solo Violin Sonata in G Minor, BWV 1001: Adagio, Presto
• Cantata 146: Final chorale: Freu dich sehr, o meine Seele (Rejoice greatly, oh my soul)
Guest Ensemble: Sonata à Quattro, whose members are: Christine Hauptly Annin, violin; Nathan Giglierano, violin; Leanne League, violin; Marika Fischer Hoyt, viola; Charlie Rasmussen, cello; and Mark Brampton Smith, organ.
Sarah Brailey provides the welcome and leads the chorale.
Dave Parminter is the videographer.
Here, in order, are links to: the Just Bach webpage; the Just Bach Facebook page; and the Just Bach YouTube channel:
youtube.com/channel/UCcyVFEVsJwklHAx9riqSkXQ
Tags: #AncoraStringQuartet, #ArtisticTeam, #BachCantata, #BaroqueEnsemble, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloMusic, #ChamberMusic, #CharlieRasmussen, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristineHauptlyAnnin, #CityofMadison, #ConcertSeries, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #DaveParminter, #FacebookPage, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GraduateStudent, #GuestArtist, #HarpsichordConcerto, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HomeWebsite, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JesuJoyofMan'sDesiring, #JohannSebastianBach, #JustBach, #LeanneLeague, #LutheranChurch, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MarkBramptonSmith, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Meet-and-Greet, #MusicatMidday, #NathanGiglierano, #OnlineConcert, #PayPal, #PeriodInstruments, #SarahBrailey, #SingAlong, #SoloCelloSuite, #SoloViolinSonata, #SonataaQuattro, #SopranoSinger, #StringQuartet, #TheEar, #TheUW, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #YouTubevideo, #ZoomMeeting, 30, 60, accompaniment, accompany, adagio, Ancora String Quartet, announcement, April, artistic, Arts, ask, audience, audiences, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, beautiful, beauty, blog, BWV, Cantata, Cantata 146, CDT, cellist, Cello, cello music, center, centering, Chamber music, Charlie Rasmussen, chat, choral music, Chorale, Christ, Christian, Christian church, Christine Hauptly Annin, church, Classical music, co-founder, community, composer, computer, Concert, concerto, coronavirus, Courante, Dave Parminter, December, display, donate, donation, Early music, ensemble, ever, Facebook, Facebook page, familar, February, final, first, free, God, graduate student, greet, guest artist, harpsichord, help, historically informed performance practices, Home, home website, in person, instrumental, instrumental msuic, interest, invite, Jacob Stockinger, January, Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, join, Just Bach, last, Leanne League, lesd, Luther Memorial Church, Lutheran, Lutheranism, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, march, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Mark Brampton Smith, May, Mead Witter School of Music, meet, meeting, menuet, minuet, minutes, month, more, movement, Music, Music at Midday, Musician, Nathan Giglierano, nave, need, noon, now, October, online, opening, organ, organist, pandemic, part, participate, pay, period instruments, post, posted, posting, presto, program, provide, Q&A, question, question-and-answer, recognize, Religion, remarks, return, risky, riveting, Sarah Brailey, screeen, screen, September, series, serve, sheet music, sinfonia, sing-along, singer, solo, solo cello suite, solo violin sonata, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, soprano, soul, String quartet, Suite, symphony, tax, tax-deductible, team, The Ear, thrill, timeless, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW, UW-Madison, videographer, viewer, viewing, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, virtual, vocal music, Website, welcome, well-known, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, wonderful, YouTube, Zoom
Classical music: Sunday brings the winners’ concert of the UW Concerto and Composition Competition plus a harpsichord recital
1 Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Two more noteworthy concerts will take place this coming Sunday, March 10.
UW-MADISON CONCERTO AND COMPOSITION COMPETITION
On Sunday night at 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the annual winners’ concert of the UW-Madison Concerto and Composition Competition will take place.
The concert features the UW Symphony Orchestra (below top) under conductor Chad Hutchinson (below bottom) with four instrumentalists, one singer and one composer. All are current students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music.
Admission is $12, but free to students, children, music majors, faculty and staff.
Well-know works on the program include: Adalia Hernandez Abrego and Jiawan Zhang playing the Concerto for Two Pianos in D minor by Francis Poulenc; Richard Silvers playing the first two movements of the Violin Concerto in A minor by Antonin Dvorak; soprano Cayla Rosché singing the first and third songs of the “Four Last Songs” by Richard Strauss; and Chia-Yu Hsu playing the Concertino for Bassoon and Orchestra by Marcel Bitsch. In addition, there will be the world premiere of “Fanfare for Orchestra” by student composer Anne McAninch.
To learn more about the concert, and to see photos and videos of the performers who discuss themselves and the works they will play, see the YouTube video below and go to:
HARPSICHORD RECITAL
Earlier on Sunday afternoon is a concert that should appeal to early music fans: At 3 p.m. the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, will present the fifth Annual Mark Rosa Harpsichord Recital.
The performance features harpsichordist Jason J. Moy (below), with special guests bass violist Katherine Shuldiner and baroque violinist Kangwon Lee Kim.
The all-French baroque program is called “The Angel, The Devil and The Sun King: Music and Rivalry in the Court of Louis XIV” and features works by Marin Marais, Antoine Forqueray, Jacques Duphly and Jean-Philippe Rameau.
Tickets will be available at the door: $20 for general admission, $12 for seniors, students and veterans.
Moy is director of the Baroque Ensemble and a harpsichord instructor at the DePaul University School of Music. He has performed across the United States, Canada and Europe, including every Boston Early Music Festival since 2013.
One of Chicago’s most sought-after early keyboard specialists, Moy was recently named artistic director of Ars Musica Chicago. He also plays as part of the Dame Myra Hess International Concert Series at the Chicago Cultural Center. Madisonians may be familiar with his playing from his appearances with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
You can hear him discuss playing the harpsichord and talk about its modern history in the YouTube video below. For more information, go to: www.jjmoy.com
Kangwon Lee Kim (below) is a versatile violinist on both baroque and modern violins. She is familiar to Madisonians as the concertmaster and assistant artistic director of Madison Bach Musicians. She has also given recitals throughout the U.S. and in Korea, Canada, Puerto Rico, Switzerland, Norway and the Czech Republic.
Katherine Shuldiner (below) graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory in viola da gamba. She performs regularly with other early music specialists, and ensembles such as the Bach and Beethoven Experience, VOX3 Collective and the Newberry Consort. She has taught at the Whitewater and Madison Early Music Festivals. www.kateshuldiner.com
Tags: #AdaliaHernandezAbrego, #AnneMcAninch, #AntoineForqueray, #AntoninDvorak, #ArsMusicaChicago, #ArtisticDirector, #BaroqueEnsemble, #BaroqueMusic, #BassoonConcerto, #BassoonMusic, #BassViol, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BostonEarlyMusicFestival, #BostonMassachusetts, #CaylaRosché, #ChadHutchinson, #ChicagoCulturalCenter, #ChicagoIllinois, #ConcertoCompetition, #CzechRepublic, #DePaulUniversity, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #FourLastSongs, #FrancisPoulenc, #FrenchMusic, #HarpsichordMusic, #JacquesDuphly, #Jason Moy, #JasonMoy, #Jean-PhilippeRameau, #JiawanZhang, #JohannSebastianBach, #KangwonKim, #KatherineShuldiner, #LouisXIV, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MarcelBitsch, #MarinMarais, #MarkRosa, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #ModernHistory, #MusicMajor, #MyraHess, #NewberryConsort, #OberlinConservatory, #PianoConcerto, #PuertoRico, #RichardSilvers, #RichardStrauss, #SchoolofMusic, #Sundayafternoon, #SunKing, #TheAngel, #TheDevil, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #UWSymphonyOrchestra, #VioladaGamba, #ViolinConcerto, #WhitewaterEarlyMusicFestival, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, Adalia Hernandez Abrego, admission, adult, afternoon, angel, Anne McAninch, annual, Antoine Forqueray, Antonín Dvořák, Ars Musica Chicago, Artistic director, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, Baroque Ensemble, bass viol, Bassoon, Beethoven, blog, Boston, Boston Early Music Festival, Canada, Cayla Rosché, Chad Hutchinson, Chamber music, Chia-Yu Hsu, Chicago, Chicago Cultural Center, children, Classical music, composer, Composition, Concert, concertino, concertmaster, concerto, conductor, court, current, Czech Republic, DePaul University, Devil, discuss, Early music, Europe, Facebook, faculty, fanfafe, First Unitarian Society of Madison, forward, Four Last Songs, Francis Poulenc, French, harpsichord, History, instrumentalist, Jacob Stockinger, Jacques Duphly, Jean-Philippe Rameau, Jiawan Zhang, Johann Sebastian Bach, Kangwon Kim, Katherine Shuldiner, Keyboard, Korea, like, lnk, Louis XIV, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Early Music Festival, Madisonian, major, Marcel BItsch, Marin Marais, Mark Rosa, Mead Witter School of Music, modern, Music, music major, Myra Hess, Newberry Consort, Norway, noteworthy, Oberlin Conservatory, Orchestra, performer, photo, Piano, playing, post, posting, Puerto Rico, Richard Silvers, Richard Strauss, rivalry, School of Music, share, sing, singer, song, soprano, specialist, staff\, Student, students, Sun King, Sunday, Switzerland, symphony, tag, talk, teach, two-piano, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Symphony Orchestra, UW-Madison, Veteran, veterans, video, viola da gamba, Violin, WaterwaterWisconsin, well-known, Whitewater Early Music Festival, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, word, work, world premiere, YouTube, Zhang
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Which classical composer has helped you the most during the Covid-19 pandemic?
6 Comments
PLEASE HELP THE EAR. IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR, SHARE IT or TAG IT (not just “Like” it) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event. And you might even attract new readers and subscribers to the blog.
By Jacob Stockinger
The holidays are over and as we close in on marking a year of the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic, The Ear has a question:
Which composer has helped you the most to weather the pandemic so far?
The Ear wishes he could say Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin or Brahms. And the truth is that they all played a role, some more than others.
But The Ear was surprised by the composer whose works he most listened to and liked — Antonio Vivaldi (below), the Red Priest of Venice who lived from 1678 to 1714 and taught at a Roman Catholic girls school.
Here is more about his biography, which points out that his work was neglected for two centuries and began being rediscovered only in the early 20th-century and still continues being rediscovered to the present day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonio_Vivaldi
The Ear isn’t talking about popular The Four Seasons although that set of 12 solo violin concertos has its charms and originalities.
The Ear especially appreciated the lesser-known concertos for two violins and the cello concertos, although the concertos for bassoon, flute, recorder, oboe, lute, trumpet and mandolin also proved engaging, as did the concerto grosso.
It was the 20th-century composer Igor Stravinsky (below) – the modern pioneer of neo-Classicism — who complained that Vivaldi rewrote the same concerto 500 times. “Vivaldi,” Stravinsky once said, “is greatly overrated – a dull fellow who could compose the same form many times over.”
But then did anyone turn to Stravinsky – who, The Ear suspects, was secretly envious — when they needed music as medicine or therapy during the pandemic?
Vivaldi was, in fact, a master. See and hear for yourself. In the YouTube video at the bottom, you can hear a performance of Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso in G minor, RV 535, performed by the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin.
Why Vivaldi? You might ask.
Well, it’s nothing highbrow.
The best explanation is that Vivaldi’s music simply seems like caffeine for the ears and sunshine for the eyes. His music isn’t overly introspective or glum, and it isn’t too long or melodramatic.
The melodies and harmonies are always pleasing and energizing, and the tempi are just right, although bets are that the music is much harder to play than it sounds.
In short, Vivaldi’s extroverted music is infectious and appealing because it just keeps humming along — exactly as those of us in lockdown and isolation at home have had to do.
Happily, there are a lot of fine recordings of Vivaldi by period instrument groups from England, Italy and Germany and elsewhere that use historically informed performance practices. But some the most outstanding recordings are by modern instrument groups, which should not be overlooked.
With a few exceptions – notably Wisconsin Public Radio – you don’t get to hear much Vivaldi around here, especially in live performances, even from early music and Baroque ensembles. If you hear Vivaldi here, chances are it is The Four Seasons or the Gloria. Should there be more Vivaldi? Will we hear more Vivaldi when live concerts resume? That is a topic for another time.
In the meantime, The Ear wants to know:
Which composer did you most listen to or find most helpful throughout the pandemic?
Leave your choice in the comment section with, if possible, a YouTube link to a favorite work and an explanation about why you liked that composer and work.
The Ear wants to hear.
Thank you and Happy New Year!
Share this:
Tags: #AntonioVivaldi, #BaroqueBassoon, #BaroqueEnsemble, #BaroqueFlute, #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueRecorder, #BassoonConcerto, #BerlinGermany, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CelloConcerto, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristmasHoliday, #CircleofSound, #ConcertoGrosso, #CoronavirusPandemic, #COVID-19, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FavoriteComposers, #FluteConcerto, #FranzJosephHaydn, #FranzSchubert, #FredericChopin, #GreatBritain, #HappyNewYear, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #IgorStravinsky, #InstrumentalOrchestra, #ItalianBaroque, #JacobStockinger, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #LiveMusic, #LivePerformances, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #LuteConcerto, #MandolinConcerto, #ModernInstrument, #MusicTherapy, #NeglectedMusic, #NewYear's, #OboeConcerto, #OnlineConcert, #PeriodInstruments, #PresentDay, #RecordedMusic, #RecorderConcerto, #RedPriest, #RomanCatholic, #RomanCatholicism, #Self-Isolation, #Self-Quarantine, #StringMusic, #ThankYou, #TheEar, #TheFourSeasons, #TheU.K., #TrumpetConcerto, #Two-PartInvention, #UnitedKingdom, #VeniceItaly, #ViolinConcerto, #VirtualConcert, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediabiography, #Wikipediaentry, #WindMusic, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, 20th-century, Akademie Für Alte Musik Berlin, all, Antonio Vivaldi, appealing, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, Bassoon, bassoon concerto, Beethoven, Berlin, best, biography, blog, Brahms, caffeine, carhm, cellist, Cello, Cello Concerto, century, Chopin, choral music, Christian church, Christianity, Christmas, church, Classical music, comment, complain, composer, Concert, concerto, Concerto Grosso, conductor, coronavirus, dull, Early music, ears, energetic, energizing, energy, England, ensemble, envious, exception, explanation, extrovert, eyes, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, favorite, Fellow, flute, flute concerto, form, forward, Franz Joseph Haydn, Franz Schubert, Frédéric Chopin, girl, girls, Gloria, glum, Great Britain, group, Happy New Year, harder, harmony, Haydn, hear, help, highbrow, historically informed performance practices, Holiday, Home, hum, humming, Igor Stravinsky, infectious, instrumental music, introspective, isolation, Italian, Italian Baroque, Italy, Jacob Stockiner, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, like, listen, live, live music, live performances, lockdown, long, lonk, Ludwig van Beethoven, lute, lute concerto, Madison, mandolin, mandolin concerto, medicine, melodramatic, melody, modern, modern instrument, Mozart, Music, music therapy, neglected, neglected music, neo-Classicism, New Year, New Year's, Oboe, oboe concerto, oboist, online, opera, Orchestra, originality, overlook, overrated, pandemic, period instruments, pioneer, play, please, pleasing, popular, post, posting, present, present day, priest, quarantine, question, recorded music, recorder, recorder concerto, recording, Red Priest, rediscover, resume, rewite, rewrote, role, Roman Catholic, Roman Catholicism, RV, same, school, Schubert, secretly, see, share, simple, solo violin, Sonata, Sound, Stravinsky, string music, Student, sunshine, symphony, tag, teach, Teacher, tempi, thank you, The Four Seasons, therapy, times, topic, Trumpet, trumpet concerto, truth, Two-Violin Concerto, Tye Ear, U.K., United Kingdom, United States, Venice, video, Viola, Violin, Violin concerto, violinist, virtual, Vivaldi, vocal music, weather, Wikipedia, wind music, wisconsin public radio, wish, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, work, works, year, yourself, YouTube