The Well-Tempered Ear
A biopic about Vivaldi is in the works
Leave a Comment
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 baroque master and violin virtuoso Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741, below) composed the most recorded piece of classical music of all time: “The Four Seasons.”
The work was composed around 1720 and published in 1723, but because Vivaldi died in poverty and his music fell into obscurity, it was not rediscovered and recorded until 1939. And scholars are still finding manuscripts and rediscovering works by the prolific composer who has some 500 concertos and 40 operas to his credit.
The Roman Catholic priest with flaming red hair who was admired by J.S. Bach and who taught at an orphanage for girls in Venice, Italy, has been the subject of numerous biographies, critical studies and even novels, including mystery novels.
But now — after a 20-year delay since the script was completed and submitted — Vivaldi is about to hit the Big Screen in a biopic.
Last year saw “Maestro” about Leonard Bernstein and his wife. And a movie about opera diva Maria Callas is in the works with Angelina Jolie in the title role.
It seems a trend that might perhaps help attendance as concert organizations still are struggling to recover from the Covid pandemic. One wonders if we will see more Vivaldi programmed in response to his increased visibility and publicity his music will get thanks to Hollywood.
For more background and details, here is a link to the story on Classic FM:
Which is your favorite of the four violin concertos that make up “The Four Seasons”?
And what about Vivaldi’s other pieces, including the glorious “Gloria”?
The Ear particularly likes Vivaldi’s concertos for two violins. It is in A minor, RV 523, and you can hear the first movement played by Simon Standage and Collegium 90 in the YouTube video at the bottom.
Do you recommend a particular work by Vivaldi?
What is your favorite piece — choral, operatic, instrumental — by The Red Priest?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #YouTubevideo, academy, Android, Angelina Jolie, Antonio Vivaldi, Apple, Arts, attendance, audience, background, Baroque, biography, biopic, blog, British, Cello, Chamber music, Chandos, Chandos Records, choral music, Christianity, Classic FM, Classical music, Collegium 90, Collegium Musicum 90, composer, compsition, Concert, concerto, Concerto for Two Violins, covid, critical study, death, delay, details, die, director, double concerto, duckduckgo, Early music, Emmy, Emmy award, Facebook, fall, favorite, film, Four Seasons, girls, Gloria, glorious, Google, Google Alert, Google Alerts, Google Search, hear, Hollywood, instrumental, Italian, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Ottman, Leonard Bernstein, link, Madison, Maestro, manuscript, Maria Callas, Master, Microsoft, Microsoft Bing, movie, movie news, Music, music news, mystery, mystery novel, news, novel, obscurity, opera, operatic, Orchestra, orphanage, OS, Oscar, Overture Center, pandemic, particular, piece, popular, post, posting, poverty, priest, producer, program, prolific, publish, Radio, recommend, recorded music, recording, recover, red hair, Red Priest, rediscover, Religion, Roman Catholic, RV, Rwitter, scholars, screenplay, script, share, Simon Standage, Sonata, Spring, summer, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, The Well-Tempered Ear, UK, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Venetian, Venuce, Viola, Violin, virtuoso, visibility, Vivaldi, vocal music, want, Well-Tempered, winter, Wisconsin, WordPress, Wordpress.com, work, works, X, YouTube
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!
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
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Choir sings a holiday program of Bach, Vivaldi and other composers this coming Saturday night
1 Comment
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 Wisconsin Chamber Choir (below top) will perform a holiday program this coming Saturday night, Dec. 14, at 7:30 p.m. at the First Unitarian Society of Madison’s Atrium Auditorium (below bottom, in a photo by Zane Williams), 900 University Bay Drive.
The program features Antonio Vivaldi’s “Gloria” paired with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Advent cantata, Nun komm der Heiden Heiland (Now Come, Savior of the Nations, BWV 61), performed with the professional orchestra Sinfonia Sacra.
(You can hear the familiar and energetic opening of Vivaldi’s “Gloria” — performed by Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists — in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Complementing the Vivaldi and Bach works are additional selections, including a unique collection of O Antiphons — Latin prayers for the season of Advent.
For more information about the musical form, go to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_Antiphons
Strikingly modern compositions by John Tavener (below top, in a photo by Steve Forrest), Vytautas Miskinis and Pavel Lukaszewski alternate with French Baroque settings by Marc-Antoine Charpentier (below bottom).
Seasonal carols round out the program in arrangements by three of the WCC’s favorite composers: Peter Blotch; the late American composer from Minneapolis Stephen Paulus (below); and Giles Swayne.
Advance tickets are available for online for $20 ($10 for students) from http://www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org/tickets or Brown Paper Tickets; or in person at Orange Tree Imports and Willy Street Coop, or from a member of the choir.
The ticket price at the door is $25.
Founded in 1998, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir has established a reputation for excellence in the performance of oratorios by Bach, Handel, Mozart and Brahms as well as a cappella works from various centuries and world premieres.
WCC artistic director Robert Gehrenbeck (below), who heads the choral program at the UW-Whitewater, has been hailed by critics for his vibrant and emotionally compelling interpretations of a wide variety of choral masterworks.
Since 2002, the WCC has presented cantatas and oratorios with full orchestra, annually or biennially, including last season’s Christmas Oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach.
The players assembled for these performances, known collectively as Sinfonia Sacra, are members of the best regional orchestras, including the Madison Symphony Orchestra, the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, the Madison Bach Musicians, the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble and Sonata à Quattro.
For more information about the Wisconsin Chamber Choir, including how to join it as well as its future concerts, reviews, biographies, history and recordings, go to: https://www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org
Tags: #ACappella, #ACappellaMusic, #AmericanComposer, #AntonioVivaldi, #ArtisticDirector, #AtriumAuditorium, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrownPaperTickets, #ChoralMusic, #ChristmasCarol, #ChristmasHoliday, #ChristmasOratorio, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #CriticalAcclaim, #EnglishBaroqueSoloists, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FavoriteComposers, #FirstUnitarianSocietyofMadison, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #GilesSwayne, #HolidayCarols, #HolidayMusic, #HomeWebsite, #JesusChrist, #JohannesBrahms, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnEliotGardiner, #JohnTavener, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #Marc-AntoineCharpentier, #ModernMusic, #MonteverdiChoir, #MusicalInterpretation, #MusicCritic, #NewMusic, #OAntiphons, #OrangeTreeImports, #OrchestralAccompaniment, #PavelLukaszewski, #PeterBloesch, #RobertGehrenbeck, #SaturdayNight, #SeasonalMusic, #SinfoniaSacra, #SonataaQuattro, #StephenPaulus, #TheEar, #UnitarianSociety, #UniversityofWisconsin-Whitewater, #VytautasMiskinis, #WillyStreetCoop, #WisconsinBaroqueEnsemble, #WisconsinChamberChoir, #WisconsinChamberOrchestra, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #WorldPremiere, #YouTubevideo, a cappella, Advent, alternate, American, annual, Antonio Vivaldi, arrangement, Artistic director, Arts, Atrium Auditorium, audience, Bach, Bach cantata, Baroque, Baroque music, biennial, biography, Bloesch, blog, Brahms, Brown Paper Tickets, Cantata, Carols, centuries, Choir, choral, choral music, choral singing, chorus, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Christmas, Christmas Oratorio, Classical music, Claudio Monteverdi, collection, compelling, composer, Concert, conductor, critic, department, door, Early music, emotional, energetic, English, English Baroque Soloists, excellence, Facebook, familiar, favorite, First Unitarian Society of Madison, France, French, future, George Frideric Handel, giles swayne, Gloria, Handel, Holiday, interpretation, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, John Eliot Gardiner, John Tavener, Latin, like, link, Lukaszewski, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marc-Antoine Charpentier, masterwork, member, Miskinis, modern music, Monteverdi, Monteverdi Choir, Mozart, Music, musical, nations, New Music, night, O Antiphons, online, Orange Tree Imports, oratorio, Orchestra, orchestral accompaniment, Paulus, Pavel Lukaszewski, performer, person, Peter Bloesch, players, post, posting, pray, prayer, premiere, professional, program, recording, reputation, review, Robert Gehrenbeck, Saturday, savior, Season, seasonal, seasonal music, selection, setting, share, Sinfonia Sacra, sing, Singing, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, song, Stephen Paulus, Swayne, symphony, tag, Tavener, The Ear, ticket, unique, Unitarian, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, various, Vivaldi, vocal music, Vytautas Miskinis, WCC, Website, Willy Street Coop, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, world, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Early Music Festival’s 20th anniversary Grand Tour includes a silent movie and rare books as well as lots of varied music to mark its success after 20 years. Part 2 of 2
Leave a Comment
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE 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
A big anniversary deserves a big celebration – and that is exactly what the organizers of this year’s Madison Early Music Festival, which is marking its 20th year, have come up with.
All concerts include a pre-concert lecture at 6:30 p.m. The concerts begin at 7:30 p.m.
Here’s the link for all the information about MEMF: https://memf.wisc.edu/
Tickets are $90 for an all-event pass. Individual concerts are $22, $12 for students. Tickets are available for purchase online and by phone at 608-265-ARTS (2787) with a $4 service fee; or in person at the Campus Arts Ticketing Box Office @ Memorial Union.
Co-artistic director Cheryl Bensman-Rowe recently wrote about the festival in a Q&A for this blog. Yesterday she spoke about the overall concept and the first weekend’s concerts. Here is a link to Part 1:
Here is Part 2 of 2:
What events take place next week?
The concert on Tuesday, July 9, is going to be a unique experience for MEMF audiences. HESPERUS creates the soundtrack for the 1923 silent film “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” with music (below) from 14th- and 15th-century France. (The cathedral was started in 1163 and finished in 1345.)
Compositions include French and Burgundian music from 1300 to 1500, featuring Guillaume de Machaut, Jehan l’Escurel, Guillaume Dufay, as well as lesser-known composers such as Vaillant, Morton and Borlet.
On Friday, July 12, the vocal ensemble Calmus (below) performs “Faith and Madness,” a program of a dialogue between sacred music masterpieces followed by madrigals that portray madness, love, war and loneliness.
Composers include Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina, Heinrich Schütz, Claudio Monteverdi, Carlo Gesualdo, Clement Janequin and others.
All of the singers are graduates of Leipzig’s renowned St. Thomas Church Choir School. Calmus was founded in 1999. This a cappella quintet embodies the rich choral tradition of its hometown, the city associated with Johann Sebastian Bach and Felix Mendelssohn.
To hear a preview of their arrangement of Bach’s “Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland,” BWV 659, visit: https://youtu.be/WNzzUU0GcF4
Can you tell us about the program and performers for the All-Festival concert on Saturday, July 13?
The All-Festival Concert includes all of our workshop participants and faculty. We work together to prepare the concert all week and it is truly a MEMF community project. Grant Herreid (below) has created the All-Festival program this year. Grant is a genius at designing a program that tells a musical story featuring MEMF’s faculty and participants.
“Musical Postcards from The Grand Tour” features a narrator, loosely based on Thomas Coryat (below, at sea and in the Alps), the English 17th-century century travel writer, who, as a young man, travels throughout Europe in search of music. Beginning in London, 1641, the musical itinerary continues to Venice, Rome, Naples, Dresden, Paris, and back to London.
The program features so many wonderful composers, and the large ensemble pieces are: the Gloria from Monteverdi’s Selva morale et spirituale; the beautiful Miserere of Gregorio Allegri; Nun danket alle Gott by Heinrich Schütz; Domine salvum fac regem setting by Jean-Baptiste Lully; and, as an ending, This point in time ends all your grief from Ye tuneful muses by Henry Purcell.
Are there other sessions — guest lectures, certain performers, particular works — that you especially recommend for the general public?
All the planning that goes into each festival leads me to encourage the general public to attend everything! The concert series, lectures and workshops have so much to offer.
The special moments that I’m looking forward to are singing in the All-Festival concert and performing Allegri’s Miserere,a stunning piece that I have never heard performed in Madison. (You can hear it in there YouTube video at the bottom.)
I also look forward to hearing the fantastic musical soundtrack created by HESPERUS for the silent movie “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and the Calmus singing connection back to Bach through their musical education in Leipzig, plus experiencing all the different travelogues of the past as they come to life through narrations and music.
Special events include a dance with a live band drawn from the MEMF Faculty with dance instruction by Peggy Murray, Grand Tour Dance Excursions, at the Memorial Union in the Great Hall on Thursday, July 11, at 7:30 pm. https://memf.wisc.edu/event/07-11-2019-2/
The lecture series features some well-known Madisonians like J. Michael Allsen (below top), who writes program notes and lectures for the Madison Symphony Orchestra and Maria Saffiotti Dale (below bottom), curator at the Chazen Museum of Art.
There will be a special exhibit created for MEMF in the lobby of Memorial Library by Jeanette Casey, the head of the Mills Music Library and Lisa Wettleson of Special Collections at Memorial Library. This curated display includes materials about the Grand Tour, including one of the oldest travelogues from 1611 written by Thomas Coryat.
The exhibit will be in the lobby of Memorial Library (below) and open to the public from Saturday, July 6, through Thursday, July 18, with a special talk about the exhibit during the festival on Monday, July 8, at 11:30 a.m.
This partnership allows the library to display rarely seen original and facsimile publications, some dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries within the context of the MEMF theme.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
In 1611 Thomas Coryat, the author of the travelogue Crudities foretold what you will hear at MEMF in 2019:
“…I heard the best musicke that ever I did in all my life…so good that I would willingly goe an hundred miles a foote at any time to heare the like…the Musicke which was both vocall and instrumental, so good, so delectable, so rare, so admirable, so superexcellent, that it did even ravish and stupifie all those strangers that never heard the like”.
Get your tickets for the concert series. Attend the lectures. Take some classes. See a movie. Come and dance with us. Join us to experience the ultimate musical gap year at our 20th anniversary celebration!
Tags: #14thCentury, #15Century, #ACappella, #All-FestivalConcert, #ArtisticDirector, #AtSea, #Beautifulmusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BoxOffice, #BurgundianMusic, #BurgundyFrance, #CarloGesualdo, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #ChoralePrelude, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ClaudioMonteverdi, #ClementJanequin, #DresdenGermany, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FacultyMember, #FelixMendelssohn, #FilmMusic, #FrenchMusic, #GapYear, #GeneralPublic, #GiovannidePalestrina, #GrandTour, #GrantHerreid, #GreatHall, #GregorioAllegri, #GuillaumedeMachaut, #GuillaumeDufay, #HeinrichSchütz, #HenryPurcell, #InstrumentalMusic, #J.MIchaelAllsen, #Jean-BaptisteLully, #JeanetteCasey, #JehanL'Escurel, #JohannSebastianBach, #LeipzigGermany, #LondonEngland, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonWisconsin, #MadrigalSingers, #MariaSaffiottiDale, #MemorialLibrary, #MemorialUnion, #MillsMusicLibrary, #MovieScore, #MusicEducation, #NaplesItaly, #NotreDamedeParis, #ParisFrance, #PeggyMurray, #ProgramNotes, #RenaissanceMadrigal, #RomeItaly, #SacredMusic, #SilentMovie, #St.ThomasChurch, #TheAlps, #TheHunchbackofNotreDame, #ThomasCoryat, #TravelWriter, #VeniceItaly, #VocalMusic, #YoungMan, #YouTubevideo, 14th century, 15thCentury, a cappella, All-Festival concert, Alps, anniversary, arrangement, Artistic director, at sea, audience, author, band, beautiful, blog, Borlet, box office, Burgundian, Burgundy, BWV, Calmus, Campus, Carlo Gesualdo, cathedral, celebrate, celebration, century, Chazen Museum of Art, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, choral music, chorale prelude, Christian, church, city, classes, Claudio Monteverdi, collection, community, composer, Composition, concept, Concert, curator, dance, design, dialogue, display, Dresden, Early music, Education, ending, Europe, event, exhibit, experience, Facebook, facsimile, faculty, faith, Felix Mendelssohn, festival, fim, foretold, forward, France, French music, gap year, general public, genius, Germany, Gloria, God, graduate, Grand Tour, Grant Herreid, Great Hall, Gregorio Allegri, grief, Guillaume de Machaut, Guillaume Dufay, Heinrich Schütz, Henry Purcell, Hesperus, hometown, instrumental music, interview, Italy, J. Michael Allsen, Janequin, Jean L'Escurel, Jean-Baptiste Lully, Jeanette Casey, Johann Sebastian Bach, lecture, Leipzig, library, like, link, live, London, loneliness, Love, Lully, Madison, Madison Early Music Festival, Madison Symphony Orchestra, madness, madrigal, Maria Saffiotti Dale, masterpieces, materials, member, MEMF, Memorial Library, Memorial Union, Mills Music Library, Miserere, moral, Morton, mountains, movie, muses, Music, Music education, musical, Naples, narrator, new, Notre Dame, online, organizer, original, Palestrina, Paris, part, participants, partnership, pass, past, Peggy Murray, performer, phone, planning, Point, portray, post, postcards, prepare, preview, program, program notes, project, public, purchase, Q&A, quintet, reader, Rome, sacred music, school, sea, series, setting, share, silent film, singer, sooundtrack, soundtrack, special, spiritual, St. Thomas Church, story, Student, subscriber, tag, tell, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, theme, Thomas Coryat, tickets, time, tradition, travel, travel writer, travelogue, unique, Vaillant, Venice, vocal music, war, week, weekend, work, workshop, year, young man, YouTube
Classical music: Saturday brings percussion music, chamber music and choral music, much of it free
3 Comments
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
As you can tell from earlier posts this week, this weekend will be very busy with music.
But Saturday is especially, offering percussion music, chamber music and vocal music, much of it FREE.
PERCUSSION MUSIC
At 1:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Percussion Ensemble of the Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras will perform its 18th annual Percussion Extravaganza.
It features the world premiere of “Common Mind” by composer and WYSO alumnus Jon D. Nelson (below). For more a bout Nelson and his music, go to: http://jondnelson.com
More than 150 performers – instrumentalists, singers and dancers – will be featured.
Here is a link to details about the event, including ticket prices:
https://www.wysomusic.org/wyso-percussion-ensemble-to-present-the-2019-percussion-extravaganza/
CHAMBER MUSIC
At 3:30 p.m. in Morphy Hall, the Perlman Piano Trio plus two guest artists will give a FREE concert.
The program is the “Kakadu”Variations in G major, Op. 121a, by Ludwig van Beethoven; the Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49, by Felix Mendelssohn; and the Piano Quintet in F minor by Cesar Franck. (You can her the first movement of the Mendelssohn Trio performed in the YouTube vide at the bottom, by pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Itzhak Perlman and cellist Yo-Yo Ma.)
Members of the quintet, based on an annual student piano trio supported by Kato Perlman (below), are: Kangwoo Jin, piano; Mercedes Cullen, violin; Micah Cheng, cello; Maynie Bradley, violin; and Luke Valmadrid, viola.
A reception will follow the concert.
CHORAL MUSIC
At 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW-Madison Concert Choir (below top) will perform a FREE concert under conductor Beverly Taylor (below bottom), who is the director of choral activities at the university.
AN UPDATE: Conductor Beverly Taylor has sent the following update about the program:
“I’m happy to update our Saturday, April 6, free concert at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall:
“The Concert Choir is singing a program called “Half a Bach and other good things.”
“We’re singing just half of the B Minor Mass: the Kyrie and Gloria (12 movements), which were what Bach originally wrote and sent off for his job interview!
We have a small orchestra and a mixture of student and professional soloists: Julia Rottmayer, Matthew Chastain, Wesley Dunnagan, Miranda Kettlewell, Kathleen Otterson, Elisheva Pront and Madeleine Trewin.
The remaining third of the concert is an eclectic mix of modern composers (Petr Eben’s “De circuitu eternal,” Gerald Finzi’s “My Spirit Sang All Day”), Renaissance music (Orlando Gibbons’ “O Clap your Hands”), spirituals and gospel.
Tags: #BeverlyTaylor, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CesarFranck, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ConcertChoir, #EmanuelAx, #FacebookPosting, #FelixMendelssohn, #GeraldFinzi, #GospelMusic, #GuestArtist, #ItzhakPerlman, #JohannSebastianBach, #JonD.Nelson, #KakaduVariations, #KatoPerlman, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MassinBMinor, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #MillsHall, #ModernComposers, #MorphyHall, #OrlandoGibbons, #PercussionEnsemble, #PercussionMusic, #PetrEben, #PianoQuintet, #PianoTrio, #RenaissanceMusic, #SpiritualMusic, #ThemeAndVariations, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinYouthSymphonyOrchestras, #WorldPremiere, #Yo-YoMa, #YouTubevideo, activities, alumnus, audience, B Minor Mass, Beverly Taylor, blog, cellist, Cello, Cesar Franck, Chamber music, choral music, common, composer, Concert Choir, conductor, dancer, director, eclectic, Emanuel Ax, extravaganza, Facebook, Facebook post, Felix Mendelssohn, forward, free, Gerald Finzi, Gloria, gospel, guest artist, instrumentalist, Itzhak Perlman, Johann Sebastian Bach, Jon D. Nelson, Kakadu Variations, Kato Perlman, Kyrie, like, link, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Mass in B Minor, Mead Witter School of Music, Mills Hall, mind, mix, modern, Morphy Hall, movement, movements, Music, Orchestra, Orlando Gibbons, percussion, performer, Petr Eben, Pianist, Piano, Piano Quintet, Piano Trio, price, professional, program, Renaissance, Saturday, share, singer, small, soloist, spiritual, spirituals, tag, theme, theme and variations, ticket, University of Wisconsin, variations, Viola, Violin, violinist, violist, vocal music, Website, week, weekend, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestras, world premiere, WYSO, Yo-Yo Ma, YouTube
Classical music: The Madison Bach Musicians will give their eighth annual Baroque Holiday Concert this Saturday night
2 Comments
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
The Madison Bach Musicians will give their eighth annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below in a 2014 photo by Kent Sweitzer) on this coming Saturday night, Dec. 8, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium.
The critically acclaimed and well attended annual concert will follow the usual format with a 7:15 p.m. lecture by founder, artistic director and keyboardist Trevor Stephenson (below) followed by the concert at 8 p.m.
A critically acclaimed chamber ensemble of voices and period instruments will perform masterworks from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.
Performers include: Hannah De Priest, soprano; Margaret Fox, mezzo-soprano; Ryan Townsend Strand, tenor; Matthew Chastain, bass-baritone; Arash Noori, theorbo; Katherine Shuldiner, viola da gamba; and Trevor Stephenson, harpsichord.
The Ear asked Stephenson: Why are vocal music and Baroque music both so popular during the holiday season?
He answered: “Many holiday traditions focus on soulfulness and reflection. So, as my great-grandmother used to say, “Pay attention to the singing, it is closest to the soul.””
“On top of this, Baroque music—as one of the great achievements of Western culture—is a natural when reflecting upon the past,” Stephenson adds. “Baroque music is also festive and uplifting, and there is, I believe, some message within its intricacies and design that suggests that there is “a beautiful crystalline structure within which we all live.” (These words come from my colleague Norman Sheppard.)
“This concert marks the Madison Bach Musicians’ eighth consecutive year in the magnificent setting of the First Congregational Church. I simply cannot imagine a better acoustic and spiritual ambiance for this music. (Below is a performance from the 2016 concert in the same church.)
“The program will progress in chronological order from the very early 16th century up to the middle 18th century, from Josquin des Prez to Johann Sebastian Bach.
“We’ll start with the Kyrie and Gloria movements from one of Josquin’s last completed masterworks, the Missa Pange Lingua (c. 1515). Martin Luther’s praise for Josquin’s compositional genius was boundless: “Joaquin (below) is the master of the notes. The notes must do as he wills; as for other composers, they have to do as the notes will.”
“MBM is thrilled that virtuoso lutenist Arash Noori (below) from New York City will join us for this concert; second on the program, Noori will perform (on theorbo, which is a mega-lute) Niccolo Piccinni’s sparkling Toccata Chromatic and Gagliarda Prima published in the early 17th century.
“We’ll follow this with three musical gems for vocal quartet and continuo from the Kleine geistliche Konzerte (Short Spiritual Concerts, 1636−1639) that Heinrich Schütz (below) composed specifically for small ensembles, which were all that were available during the devastation of the Thirty Years’ War (1618−1648).
“The second half of the program is devoted to works by Bach. We’ll start with the exquisite Sonata in G major for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord; gambist extraordinaire Kate Shuldiner (below) from Chicago will be featured and I’ll accompany her at the harpsichord.
“We’ll follow this with two Christmas songs from the Schemelli Songbook—a collection published in 1736 of more than 60 spiritual songs for which Bach wrote most of the harmonizations and contributed several great original tunes to boot.
“Soprano Hannah De Priest (below top) and mezzo-soprano Margaret Fox (below bottom) will be featured in the bouncy and charming duet, Wir eilen mit schwachen, doch emsigen Schritten (from Cantata 78, “We hasten, with weak, yet eager steps, O Jesus, O Master, to You, for help!”), which you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Bach not only worshipped God, but also felt comfortable enough in the relationship to occasionally party; this work is an ingenious fusion of high art and polka romp!
“The concert will conclude with Bach’s glorious motet, Lobet den Herrn, alle Heiden (Praise the Lord, All Ye Nations). It was Mozart who — when he journeyed to Leipzig in 1789, or 39 years after Bach’s death, and heard the Thomaskirche choir perform a Bach motet, from memory, no less — exclaimed, “Now here is something one can learn from!””
TICKET INFORMATION
Advance-sale discount tickets are $30 general admission.
Tickets are also available at Orange Tree Imports and the Willy Street Coop East and West.
You can also purchase advance tickets online: www.madisonbachmusicians.org
Tickets at the door are $33 for general admission, $30 for seniors 65 and over. Student Rush tickets are $10 and will be on sale 30 minutes before the 7:30 p.m. lecture.
For more information, go to: www.madisonbachmusicians.org
Tags: #ArashNoori, #ArtisticDirector, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #CampRandallStadium, #ChamberMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ChristmasSong, #CriticallyAcclaimed, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #FirstCongregationalUnitedChurchofChrist, #Great-Grandmother, #HarpsichordContinuo, #HeinrichSchütz, #HighArt, #HolidayConcert, #HolidayMusic, #HolidaySeason, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JosquindesPrez, #LeipzigGermany, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MartinLuther, #Mezzo-sopranoSinger, #NewYorkCity, #NiccoloPiccinni, #OrangeTreeImports, #PeriodInstruments, #SeniorCitizen, #SopranoSinger, #SpiritualMusic, #StudentRush, #TenorSinger, #TheLord, #ThirtyYearsWar, #ThomasKirche, #TrevorStephenson, #VioladaGamba, #VocalMusic, #WillySt.Coop, #WillyStreetCo-op, #WolfgangAmadeusMozart, #YouTubevideo, acclaimed, accompany, acoustics, adult, ambiance, Arash Noori, Artistic director, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Baroque music, bass-baritone, beautiful, blog, Camp Randall Stadium, Cantata, Chamber music, Chicago, choral music, Christian, Christian religion, Christmas, chromatic, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, continuo, critically, death, design, devastation, Early music, Facebook, festive, First Congregational United Church of Christ, forward, founder, fusion, gem, genius, Germany, Gloria, harmony, harpsichord, Heinrich Schütz, Holiday, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, Josquin Des Prez, Kyrie, learn, Leipzig, link, live, Lord, lute, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Martin Luther, mass, Master, masterwork, message, Mezzo-soprano, motet, Mozart, Music, New York City, notes, Orange Tree Imports, period-instrument, Piccinni, polka, praise, Quartet, reflection, Religion, romp, Season, senior, share, singbook, Singing, Sonata, soprano, soul, soulfulness, spiritual, structure, Student, tag, tenor, theorbo, Thirty Years War, Thomas Kirche, ticket, toccata, tradition, Trevor Stephenson, tune, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, uplifting, viola da gamba, vocal music, war, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, word, YouTube
Classical music: This Sunday brings a preview of Bach Around the Clock 5. Plus, a FREE song recital is on Friday at noon.
4 Comments
CORRECTION: The two performances by the Madison Symphony Orchestra the were listed earlier in this post took place last Sunday, and are NOT scheduled for this coming Sunday. The Ear apologizes and regrets the error.
ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features mezzo-soprano Consuelo Sañudo (below) and pianist Jeff Gibbens performing music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven, Claude Debussy, Andre Caplet and Maurice Ravel. The concert runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
On this Sunday, March 4, you can hear a sample of the Bach Around the Clock marathon that will take place a week from Saturday, on March 10, from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in St. Andrew’s Episcopalian Church, 1833 Regent St.
The preview of the event that celebrates the 333nd birthday of Johann Sebastian Bach (below) will be this month’s Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen concert. It starts at 12:30 p.m. in Brittingham Gallery No. 3.
NOTE: It will also be live-streamed from the UW-Madison’s Chazen Museum of Art via the following website:
The program features the popular Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major (with flutist Dawn Lawler, below top, as soloist) and the familiar Harpsichord Concerto No. 1 in D minor (with Mark Brampton Smith, below bottom, as soloist). (You can hear the opening of the Harpsichord Concerto in the YouTube video below.)
There will also be selections by Bach from the books for the Suzuki method.
Information about the program and performers is on the website above.
For more information about the complete Bach Around the Clock, as well as the Chazen preview, including the full schedule of works and performers with times and information about live-streaming, go to:
https://bacharoundtheclock.wordpress.com
Tags: #BachAroundtheClock, #BrandenburgConcerto, #CarolBarnett, #ChazenMuseumofArt, #ClaudeDebussy, #EpiscopalChurch, #FolkMusic, #GuitarMusic, #HarpsichordConcerto, #JohannSebastianBach, #KeyboardConcerto, #LudwigVanBeethoven, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestraChrous, #MauriceRavel, #OvertureCenter, #RootsMusic, #SuzukiMethod, #TheWorldBeloved, #TinPanAlley, #UnitarianSociety, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, afternoon, American, Andre Caplet, Art, Arts, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, banjo, Baroque, bass, Beethoven, beloved, birthday, bluegrass, Book, Brandenburg Concerto, Chamber music, choral music, church, Classical music, composer, concerto, Debussy, Early music, eclectic, Episcopal, fiddle, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, Folk music, free, Gloria, guitar, harpsichord, hymn, information, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Keyboard, live, livestream, Love, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, mandolin, marathon, mass, Mezzo-soprano, Museum, Music, musicale, Orchestra, performers, Piano, preview, program, schedule, singer, Singing, soloist, song, spiritual, St. Andrew, streaming, Sunday, Sunday Afternoon Live From the Chazen, Suzuki, symphony, The World Beloved, time, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, works, world, YouTube
Classical music: The Wisconsin Chamber Choir will sing a varied holiday program about peace on Earth this coming Saturday night
3 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
This coming Saturday night, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir (below) will sing its holiday concert featuring works about peace on Earth.
The concert is at 7:30 p.m. in the Atrium Auditorium, (below, in a photo by Zane Williams) of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive.
The holiday message of peace and good will to all people resonates across the centuries. Tragically, the proclamation, “Peace on earth” is every bit as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.
WCC director and conductor Robert Gehrenbeck (below), who directs the choral program at the UW-Whitewater and who is celebrating his 10th season with the group, writes in his program notes to the concert:
“According to New York Times foreign correspondent Chris Hedges, “Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history.” “This evening’s program by the Wisconsin Chamber Choir explores humanity’s yearning for peace through the centuries.
The centerpiece of the WCC’s 2017 holiday concert is British composer Gerald Finzi’s exquisite retelling of the Christmas story, In terra pax, for choir, soloists and chamber orchestra. Baritone Brian Leeper (below top) and soprano Ann Baltes (below bottom) are among the featured soloists, performing with members of Sinfonia Sacra, the WCC’s professional orchestra.
In his own program notes, Finzi explained that the Nativity “becomes a vision seen by a wanderer on a dark and frosty Chrismas Eve, in our own familiar landscape.”
Finzi scholar Andrew Burn elaborates: “On New Year’s Eve, 1926, the 25-year old Gerald Finzi (below) joined the bell-ringers of the tiny church of St. Bartholomew perched on the crest of Chosen Hill, near Gloucester, as they rang in the New Year. For Finzi, the experience was unforgettable—the frosty starlit night with bells ringing out from churches far and near across the Severn valley—and from it sprang the orchestral New Year Music and [25 years later] In terra pax, his last major composition.
In terra pax is a masterpiece in miniature. Finzi’s pacifism is at its heart, and his belief that men and women of goodwill should live harmoniously together. Weaving through the music are three ideas: the pealing of the bells with their joyous message, a phrase from the carol The First Nowell, and the alleluia refrain from the hymn Lasst uns erfreuen (‘Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones”).” (You can hear the opening of the work in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Complementing Finzi’s music are two other works with instrumental accompaniment: Felix Mendelssohn’s moving prayer for peace, Verleih uns Frieden, and an energetic Gloria from Johann Sebastian Bach’s Mass in A major.
Several more recent works bring the concert’s message up to date, including Cry Peace by Libby Larsen (below top) and the haunting Winter Solstice Carol by Giles Swayne (below bottom).
A varied selection of carol arrangements rounds out the program, including a resplendent setting of Silent Night by one of the WCC’s favorite composers, Peter Bloesch (below).
Founded in 1998, the Wisconsin Chamber Choir has established a reputation for excellence in the performance of oratorios by Bach, Mozart and Brahms; a cappella works from various centuries; and world premieres.
Advance tickets for the Dec. 16 performance are available for $20 ($10 for students) from www.wisconsinchamberchoir.org, via Brown Paper Tickets, or at Orange Tree Imports and Willy Street Coop (all three locations).
Tickets will also be available at the door for $25 ($10 for students).
Tags: a cappella, admission, alleluia, Andrew Burn, Arts, ATRIUM, auditorium, Bach, baritone, Baroque, bekll, Brahms, British, Carol, Cello, century, Chamber music, chamber orchestra, choral music, Chris Hedges, Christmas, christmas eve, church, Classical music, composer, Composition, Concert, conductor, correspondent, director, Early music, Earth, excellence, First Noel, First Unitarian Society of Madison, foreign, Gerald Finzi, giles swayne, Gloria, Gloucester, good will, gospel, heaven, hill, Holiday, holy, host, human, hymn, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johannes Brahms, journalism, Joy, Libby Larsen, Luke, Madison, masterpiece, men, Mendelssohn, message, miniature, Mozart, multitude, Music, nativity, New Year, New York Times, night, notes, Orange Tree Imports, oratorio, Orchestra, pacifism, peace, Peter Bloesch, prayer, premiere, proclamation, professional, program, refrain, relevant, reputation, ringer, Robert Gehrenbeck, Saturday, scholar, Season, Silent Night, soloist, soprano, St. Bartholomew, story, symphony, ticket, UK, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Whitewater, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Willy Street Co-op, Willy Street Coop, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Choir, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, women, world, world premiere, YouTube
Classical music: Women composers and performers are featured in FREE choral and guitar music this Sunday afternoon at Edgewood College and in a FREE noontime concert of vocal and instrumental chamber music this Friday
Leave a Comment
ALERT: The week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features “Kassia” with sopranos Rebekah Demaree and Susan Savage plus Sharon Jensen, piano, and Hsing-I Ho, flute, as well as “Aspects of Women” with music by composers Chaminade, Hairston, Laitman, Moore, Rodgers, Saint-Saens and Walker. The concert runs 12:15 to 1 p.m.
By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in the St. Joseph Chapel, 1000 Edgewood College Drive, the Edgewood College Choirs and Guitar Ensemble will perform a FREE concert.
The concert features performances by the Women’s Choir (below top), with conductor Kathleen Otterson (below top); the Guitar Ensemble with director Nathan Wysock (below middle); and the Edgewood Chorale and Chamber Singers, both conducted by Sergei Pavlov (below bottom).
The program features a performance of the Gloria in D major, RV 589, by baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. This performance features all choirs and student soloists Brandon Glock, baritone, and Summer Wluestenberg, soprano, as well as faculty soloist Kathleen Otterson, mezzo-soprano (below). (You can hear Vivaldi’s “Gloria” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Edgewood College’s Music Department has been recognized by the readers of Madison Magazine with the Best of Madison 2017 Silver Award.
Tags: Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, baritone, Baroque, Chamber music, chamber singers, Chaminade, Choir, choral music, Chorale, Classical music, college, composer, conductor, director, Edgewood College, ensemble, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, Friday, Gloria, guitar, Hairston, Jacob Stockinger, Laitman, Madison, Madison Magazine, Mezzo-soprano, Moore, Music, musicale, Piano, Rodgers, Saint-Saens, Sergei Pavlov, silver, singer, solo, soloist, soprano, St. Joseph, Student, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Vivaldi, vocal music, Walker, Wisconsin, woman, women, YouTube
Recent Comments
 | Brian Jefferies on Classical music: A major reass… |
 | welltemperedear on What made Beethoven sick and… |
 | rlhess5d5b7e5dff on What made Beethoven sick and… |
| welltemperedear on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
 | Robert Graebner on Beethoven’s Ninth turns 200… |
The Well-Tempered Ear 
To celebrate Pride month, here are lists of LGBTQ+ composers, performers and musical ensembles
1 Comment
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
June is Pride month.
And this weekend will see Pride marches and celebrations in some major cities including New York City, Chicago, Paris and Rome.
As time passes, scholars are finding out more about the LGBTQ+ composers, performers and musical groups that have been hidden by history.
And some ironies emerge. One can only imagine the response of conservative, right-wing Evangelical Christians who find out that the composer of “Messiah” – George Frideric Handel (below) — was queer, at least according to some researchers.
For most listeners, surprises abound.
Here is a good place to start. It is the very large Wikipedia entry of LGBTQ+ composers and performers, both contemporary and historical. The Ear finds it very informative. It is organized by the kind of musicians they are and the category of their sexual identity. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians
If you want to be more selective, try these: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/greatest-lgbtq-conductors-you-should-know/. They include Marin Alsop (below top) and her teacher and mentor Leonard Bernstein (below bottom).
Here is longer essay that focuses on lesbian conductors as well as gay men and reaches back to the Middle Ages: http://www.glbtqarchive.com/arts/conductors_A.pdf
And here is one with some great photos or pictures of the individuals: https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/great-classical-composers-who-were-gay/
Finally, here are some of the international music ensembles – with audio samples of their performances — made up of LGBTQ+ singers and instrumentalists, including the Rainbow Symphony of Paris (in the YouTube video at the bottom, performing the beautiful Gloria by the gay French composer Francis Poulenc in a benefit Concert Against Homophobia for UNESCO): https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/best-lgbtq-classical-music-ensembles/
Inevitably, some readers will react by asking: What difference does the sexual identity of composer or performer make? All that matters, they argue, is the music.
Here is a reply to that specious argument that focuses on Yannick Nézet-Séguin (below), the music director of the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra and the City Symphony of Montreal. It appeared in The New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/15/arts/music/yannick-nezet-seguin-met-opera-gay.html
Happy Pride – this month and every day of the year!
Do you have questions, additions or comments?
Leave them below.
The Ear wants to hear.
Share this:
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #BenefitConcert, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #ChamberMusic, #ChicagoIllinois, #ChoralMusic, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #GayPride, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #Handel'sMessiah, #HumanRights, #InstrumentalMusic, #JacobStockinger, #JesusChrist, #LeonardBernstein, #LGBTQrights, #MarinAlsop, #MetropolitanOpera, #MichelPignoletdeMonteclair, #MiddleAges, #MontrealCanada, #NewMusic, #NewYork, #NewYorkCity, #PhiladelphiaOrchestra, #PhiladelphiaPennsylvania, #PrideMonth, #PrideParade, #RainbowSymphonyOrchestraofParis, #RomeItaly, #SacredMusic, #SoundSamples, #TheEar, #TheMet, #UnitedNations, #VocalMusic, #Wikipediaentry, #YannickNezet-Seguin, #YouTubevideo, addition, Alsop, Arts, audience, Audio, Baroque, Baroque music, beautiful, benefit concert, Bernstein, bisexual, blog, Canada, category, celebration, Chamber music, Chicago, choral music, Christ, Christian, Christianity, cities, city, Classical music, comment, composer, Concert, conductor, conservative, contemporary, day, difference, Early music, emerge, ensemble, entry, Europe, evangelical, Evangelicals, Facebook, Facebook post, Facebook posting, female, Focus, forward, France, French, gay, gay Pride, George Frideric Handel, Gloria, good place, great, groups, Handel, happy', hear, help, hidden, historical, History, homophobia, homosexual, Homosexuality, human rights, imagination, imagine, individual, inevitable, instrumental music, instrumentalist, irony, Italy, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, June, kind, Leonard Bernstein, lesbian, LGBT, LGBTQ, like, link, list, Madison, major, male, Marguerite Luksik, Marin Alsop, Medieval, men, mentor, Metropolitan Opera, Middle Ages, month, Montreal, Music, Musician, New Music, New York, New York City, NYC, one, opera, oratorio, Orchestra, Paris, pass, Pennsylvania, performer, Philadelphia, Philadelphia Orchestra, photo, Piano, pictures, place, post, posting, pride, Pride month, Pride parade, queer, question, Rainbow Symphony Orchestra of Paris, research, researcher, right-wing, Rome, sample, scared music, scholar, selective, sexual identity, share, sing, singer, start, sub-category, surprise, symphony, tag, Teacher, The Ear, the Met, time, transsexual, UNESCO, United Nations, United States, video, Violin, vocal music, weekend, Wikipedia, Wisconsin, women, Yannick Nézet-Séguin, year, YouTube