The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: The FREE one-hour, monthly midday concert series “Just Bach” debuts with excellent playing and outstanding singing as well as practical problems such as downtown parking and timing
6 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like It”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
By Jacob Stockinger
Here is a special posting, a review written by frequent guest critic and writer for this blog, John W. Barker. Barker (below) is an emeritus professor of Medieval history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also is a well-known classical music critic who writes for Isthmus and the American Record Guide, and who hosts an early music show once a month on Sunday morning on WORT FM 89.9 FM. For years, he served on the Board of Advisors for the Madison Early Music Festival and frequently gives pre-concert lectures in Madison. He also took the performance photos.
By John W. Barker
Marika Fischer Hoyt is becoming ever more ubiquitous, not only as a performing violist in orchestral, string quartet and period-instrument ensembles, but also as organizer of musical activities, especially as devoted to the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below).
Hoyt (below) has already revived the annual “Bach around the Clock” spectacular each spring to mark Bach’s birthday, but now she has established a monthly series of FREE midday concerts at Luther Memorial Church called “Just Bach.”
The first of this series was held last Thursday afternoon, Sept. 27, at 1 p.m. in the church sanctuary at 1021 University Avenue. Ten musicians participated.
The singers were UW-Madison alumna Sarah Brailey, soprano (below); mezzo-soprano Cheryl Bensman Rowe; tenor Wesley Dunnagan; UW-Madison bass-baritone Paul Rowe.
The players were Kangwon Lee Kim and Leanne League, violins; Fischer Hoyt, viola; James Waldo, cello; and Luke Conklin, oboe. All played on period instruments, with Mark Brampton Smith playing the organ.
The hour-long program offered Bach’s “Little” Organ Fugue in G minor, and two full cantatas: BWV 165, “O heiliges Geist- und Wasserbad” (O Bath of Holy Spirit and Water) for Trinity, and BWV 32, “Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen” (Dearest Jesus, My Desire), a dialogue cantata. (You can hear the opening aria of Cantata BWV 32 in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
Both set the type of Pietistic Lutheran German texts standard for such church compositions of the day, and each built around pairs of arias and recitatives for different solo singers.
BWV 32, which adds an oboist (below, second from right) to the string players in some of the movements, is particularly interesting in representing a series of exchanges between the Soul (Seele) and Jesus Himself, culminating in direct duos between them.
Each cantata ends with a harmonization of a traditional Lutheran chorale. In the spirit of the program’s venue, the audience was asked to sing them, in German, from prepared sheets. In these, and in an English hymn from this church’s hymnal, the audience was prepped by Brailey, who served as general hostess.
In purely musical terms, the performances were really excellent, with both vocalists and instrumental players of established talents. And certainly the very atmosphere of a church setting evoked the composer’s original purposes. (The church’s ample acoustics enriched the musical performances, though they badly undermined spoken material on the microphone.)
Previously, the Madison Bach Musicians has been a rare group giving us specimens of the generally neglected cantatas, but now this “Just Bach” series will augment the works’ availability.
Subsequent concerts in this series will be switched to 1 p.m. on WEDNESDAY afternoons on Oct. 31, Nov. 28 and Dec. 12.
For more background, including the addresses of Facebook and Instagram sites of “Just Bach,” go to:
But prospective attendees should be warned of practical problems. The early afternoon time is difficult for most people, there is no parking facility, and access to the venue will likely be limited to those already in the vicinity.
For all that, I reckoned some 40 or so people in the audience – with no one eating lunch, even thought that is permitted. So artistic merits might still surmount obstacles.
Tags: #AmericanRecordGuide, #AncoraStringQuartet, #BachAroundtheClock, #BachCantata, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BlogReview, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ContrapuntalMusic, #EmeritusProfessor, #FacebookPost, #GermanLanguage, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #HolyTrinity, #InstagramVideo, #InstrumentalPlayer, #IsthmusNewspaper, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnW.Barker, #JustBach, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonEarlyMusicFestival, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarikaFischerHoyt, #MedievalHistory, #MusicCritic, #OrchestralMusic, #OrchestraPlayer, #OrganFugue, #OrganMusic, #PaulRowe, #PeriodInstrument, #SacredMusic, #SarahBrailey, #StringQuartet, #SundayMorning, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #ViolaMusic, #WORT-FM89.9, #YouTubevideo, acoustic, activity, alumna, American Record Guide, Ancora String Quartet, aria, Arts, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, baritone, Baroque, bass, bass-baritone, birthday, blog, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, choral music, Chorale, Christian, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, counterpoint, desire, devoted, dialogue, Early music, earlymusic, emeritus professor, English, Facebook, fugue, German, graduate, harmony, historically informed performance practices, History, holy, hymn, hymnal, Instagram, Isthmus, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, John W. Barker, Just Bach, language, lecture, Luther, Luther Memorial Church, Lutheranism, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Marika Fischer Hoyt, Mezzo-soprano, microphone, Midday, month, monthly, morning, Music, New York City, Oboe, Orchestra, organ, organize, parking, Paul Rowe, performance, period instruments, photo, photography, Pietism, piety, practical, problem, recitative, sacred, sacred music, sanctuary, Sarah Brailey, series, singer, solo, soprano, soul, spirit, Spring, String quartet, Sunday, tenor, text, time, timing, Trinity, United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, violist, vocal music, vocalist, Wisconsin, WORT-FM 89.9, YouTube
Classical music: “Just Bach” — a monthly mid-day FREE concert series — starts this Thursday at 1 p.m. in Luther Memorial Church. Plus, the FREE fifth annual UW Brass Fest takes place Friday and Saturday
2 Comments
IF YOU LIKE A CERTAIN BLOG POST, PLEASE FORWARD A LINK TO IT OR SHARE IT (not just “Like It”) ON FACEBOOK. Performers can use the extra exposure to draw potential audience members to an event.
ALERT: This Friday and Saturday, the UW-Madison’s Mead Witter School of Music will host Brass Fest V. It features guest artists and the faculty group The Wisconsin Brass Quintet. Events are FREE and OPEN to the public. For a schedule and more information about events and performers, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/brass-fest-v-alumni/
By Jacob Stockinger
A new and noteworthy monthly event starts this Thursday. Here is an announcement:
“Just Bach” is a new monthly mid-day concert series in Madison. It celebrates the music of Johann Sebastian Bach (below).
The series of hour-long concerts kicks off at 1 p.m. this Thursday, Sept. 27,at Luther Memorial Church (below), 1021 University Avenue.
Admission is free, but goodwill offerings will be accepted.
The Madison series, inspired by a model and successful program established by conductor Julian Wachner at the Trinity Wall Street Church in New York City, will offer monthly concerts at Luther Memorial Church, presenting programs curated from Bach’s sacred vocal repertoire.
As in New York City, the concerts will open with all present singing a hymn, followed by an organ solo, with the rest of the program devoted to cantatas, motets, and possibly oratorios or passions. An important component of the initiative will be the training and inclusion of local singers for the chorus. The period-instrument orchestra will include local and regional players.
Audience members may take in food and beverage for their lunch, which can be consumed during the program.
This Thursday afternoon, organist Mark Brampton Smith (below) will play the “Little” Fugue in G Minor, BWV 578 (heard, with a graphic depiction, in the YouTube video at the bottom); and the choir and orchestra will perform two beautiful cantatas: O heileges Geist- und Wasserbad (O Bath of Holy Spirit and Water), BWV 165; and Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen (Dearest Jesus, My Desire), BWV 32.
Adds the organizer Marika Fischer Hoyt (below), who also directs the annual Bach Around the Clock event in March: “The goal of this series is to share the immense range of Bach’s vocal and instrumental repertoire with the Madison community at large.
“The period-instrument orchestra will bring the music to life in the manner and style that Bach would have conceived. Members of the artistic team will prepare local singers to perform alongside seasoned professionals and develop a familiarity and love of the repertoire.
“The audience will be invited to sing along during the opening hymns and the closing cantata chorales.
“The dream team bringing this venture to Madison consists of four individuals who have each dedicated a significant portion of their careers to the music of J.S. Bach: soprano Sarah Brailey, who did her master’s at the UW-Madison and won the Handel Aria Competition; mezzo-soprano Cheryl Bensman-Rowe; UW-Madison professor and bass-baritone Paul Rowe; and modern and baroque violist Marika Fischer Hoyt who also performs with the Madison Bach Musicians, Sonata à Quattro and the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
The vocal soloists for the concert on this Thursday will be Sarah Brailey (below), Cheryl Bensman-Rowe, tenor Wesley Dunnagan, and Paul Rowe. The period orchestra of local and regional baroque players will be led by concertmaster Kangwon Kim.
After the debut, Just Bach dates go to Wednesdays and will take place at 1 p.m. on Oct. 31, Nov. 28 and Dec. 12.
Our Facebook page is at https://www.facebook.com/SingetdemHerrn
Our Instagram account is at https://www.instagram.com/_just_bach_/
A website is in the process of being constructed.
We are extremely grateful to Pastor Brad Pohlman and the congregation of Luther Memorial Church for hosting the series this Fall.
We invite the Madison community to come spend a lunch hour with the sublime music of J.S. Bach – feed your body and soul!”
Tags: #BachAroundtheClock, #BachCantata, #BaroqueEra, #BaroqueMusic, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassFest, #BrassMusic, #CherylBensman-Rowe, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianChurch, #ChristianReligion, #ConcertSeries, #FacebookPost, #Free-of-Charge, #GeorgeFridericHandel, #HandelAriaCompetition, #HolySpirit, #HolyTrinity, #HolyWater, #HomeWebsite, #InstagramVideo, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JulianWachner, #JustBach, #KangwonKim, #LittleFugue, #LunchHour, #LutherMemorialChurch, #MadisonBachMusicians, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MeadWitterSchoolofMusic, #Mid-day, #NewYorkCity, #OrganMusic, #PaulRowe, #PeriodInstrument, #SacredMusic, #SarahBrailey, #SonataaQuattro, #TheEar, #TheWell-TemperedEar, #Thursdayafternoon, #TrinityWallStreetChurch, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #VocalMusic, #WallSt., #WallStreet, #Wednesdayafternoon, #WisconsinBrassQuintet, #YouTubevideo, admission, Arts, audience, Bach, Bach Around the Clock, baritone, Baroque, bass, beverage, blog, Blog post, brass, brass fest, Cantata, celebrate, Cello, Chamber music, Cheryl Bensman Rowe, choral music, Chorale, chorus, Christian church, church, Classical music, composer, Concert, concert series, concertmaster, congregation, depiction, desire, Early music, Facebook, faculty, fall, food, free, Friday, fugue, George Frideric Handel, goodwill, graphic, Handel Aria Competition, holy, holy water, host, hosting, hymn, information, Instagram, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Johann Sebastian Bach, Julian Wachner, Just Bach, Kangwon Kim, life, local, Love, lunch, lunch hour, Luther Memorial Church, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Mead Witter School of Music, Mezzo-soprano, modern, monthly, motet, Music, new, New York City, night, offering, oratorio, Orchestra, organ, organist, organizer, Passion, pastor, Paul Rowe, player, professional, professor, program, regional, repertoire, sacred, Sarah Brailey, Saturday, schedule, singer, Singing, soloist, Sonata, Sonata à Quattro, soprano, symphony, tenor, The Ear, Thursday afternoon, training, Trinity Wall Street Church, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal, vocal music, water, Website, Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, YouTube
Classical music: Easter is a perfect time to ask: How religious was Johann Sebastian Bach?
5 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
This Sunday is Easter 2018.
It seems a perfect time ask: How religious was the great Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach (below)?
It also seems a perfect time to listen to Bach.
After all, has any composer written more Easter music or greater Easter music than Bach did in his passions, oratorios and cantatas?
According to the new book “Bach and God” by Michael Marissen, Bach — who was composing prolifically in the early days of the Protestant Reformation and Lutheranism — was far more religious than many Bach specialists, especially modern ones, have believed.
Here is a long and highly informative book review from The New York Times:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/30/arts/music/bach-religion-music.html
And while you are reading the book review, you can listen to Bach’s “Easter Oratorio,” BWV 249. Here it is in a YouTube video that features the Bach specialist and scholar John Eliot Gardiner conducting singers and instrumentals — for soloists plus the Monteverdi Choir and the English Baroque Soloists — in a wonderful period-instrument performance, with historically informed performance practices.
Tags: #BachAndGod, #BaroqueMusic, #BookReview, #ChoralMusic, #ChristianReligion, #EasterOratorio, #EnglishBaroqueSoloists, #HistoricallyInformedPerformancePractices, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnEliotGardiner, #MartinLuther, #MichaelMarissen, #MonteverdiChoir, #PeriodInstruments, #ProtestantReformation, #ReligiousMusic, #TheNewYorkTImes, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, Arts, Bach, Bach and God, Baroque, Book, Cantata, Cello, Choir, choral music, chorus, Christ, Christian symbolism, Christianity, Classical music, composer, Early music, earlymusic, Easter, English Baroque Soloists, God, historically informed performance practices, holy, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Eliot Gardiner, Luther, Lutheranism, Madison, Monteverdi Choir, Music, New York Times, oratorio, Orchestra, Passion, period-instrument, Protestant, Reformation, Religion, religious, review, Sunday, The New York Times, time, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, vocal music, Wisconsin, 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: Today is Thanksgiving Day, 2017. The Ear gives thanks for music with Beethoven’s own unforgettable hymn of thanksgiving
1 Comment
By Jacob Stockinger
Today is Thanksgiving Day, 2017.
That means it is a good time to recognize and be grateful for — music.
As Franz Schubert once said, “Anyone who loves music cannot be quite unhappy.”
That’s not a surprising sentiment, of course, coming from a composer with so much humanity and empathy who wrote the song “An die Musik” (To Music).
The Ear finds what Schubert said to be true and has many things to be thankful for, including you, his readers.
He also gives thanks for all the people who make music possible from the composer to the audiences, from the performers to the presenters, from the stagehands to the tuners and so many more.
Presenting music is a lot more complex and collective or cooperative than many realize, and those who make it happen should not be taken for granted.
So what is the best way to express one’s gratitude and thanks for music?
In one of the often perplexing late string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven (below), a tuneful and accessible and unforgettable sacred or holy song of thanksgiving, written in the Lydian mode, suddenly bursts forth.
Beethoven composed it after he had survived a serious health crisis that he feared would prove fatal. The irony is that he recovered and composed the quartet, then died only two years later.
Still, it seems a perfect way to mark this day.
So in the YouTube video at the bottom is the “Heiliger Dankgesang” from Beethoven’s String Quartet in A minor, Op. 132, with a colorful bar graph that helps the listeners to visualize the structure of this special piece of music:
What piece of music would you name to express being thankful?
Tags: accessible, Arts, audience, Beethoven, Cello, Chamber music, Classical music, collective, color, colorful, composer, cooperative, crisis, death, empathy, express, fatal, Franz Schubert, graph, gratitude, Health, Holiday, holy, humanity, Jacob Stockinger, Ludwig van Beethoven, Lydian, Madison, mode, Music, Orchestra, performer, perplex, piece, presenter, sacred, sentiment, songh, Stagehand, String quartet, structure, Thanksgiving, tune, tuneful, tuner, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, visualize, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Madison Bach Musicians announces its 14th season with music by Vivaldi, Bach and Purcell
2 Comments
By Jacob Stockinger
The Ear has received the following announcement from founder, artistic director and keyboardist Trevor Stephenson about the upcoming season of the Madison Bach Musicians (below):
“This season we are thrilled to present three wonderfully diverse programs of baroque masterworks.
“We’ll start in September with Imitation, exploring the Baroque fugal art of Antonio Vivaldi (below top) and Johann Sebastian Bach (below bottom) — with guest cellist Steuart Pincombe.
“December marks MBM’s seventh annual Baroque Holiday Concert (below, in a photo by Kent Sweitzer). This year we’ll feature Johann Sebastian Bach’s elegant Cantata 32 plus Vivaldi’s dramatic Winter from the Four Seasons.
“To cap it all off in April, we’ll test the limits of comic-tragic juxtaposition with a double-billing: Bach’s highly-caffeinated Coffee Cantata paired with the heart-rending operatic masterpiece Dido and Aeneas by Henry Purcell (below).
“Please join us as we explore this wonderful repertoire on period instruments in acoustically magnificent settings reminiscent of Baroque performance spaces.
“We invite you to become a Madison Bach Musicians season subscriber. As a subscriber, you will receive the largest savings on ticket prices, preferred seating, and easy online ordering. And this year we’re offering some exciting new subscription options, including a 2-concert package ($62, $55 for seniors 65 and over, $32 for students with ID) or 3-concert package ($90, $80 for seniors 65 plus, $45 for students with ID), and a very economical student subscription rate.
“Ticket sales make up our most reliable and vital funding source. Your support through season subscriptions gives us the financial security to produce these creative and artistically ambitious programs. I hope you will consider subscribing to this series of outstanding musical events.
“Thanks for supporting baroque music in Madison.
See you at the concerts!
Trevor Stephenson, Artist Director (below)”
September 23 and 24
Bach and Vivaldi: Imitation; with soloist Steuart Pincombe, baroque cello
Saturday, September 23, 2017; 6:45 p.m. lecture, 7:30 p.m. concert;
First Unitarian Society of Madison–Atrium Auditorium
Sunday, September 24, 2017; 2:45 p.m. lecture, 3:30 p.m. concert; Holy Wisdom Monastery in Middleton
Join us in this exploration of fugues and imitation from Bach and Vivaldi–two masters of the Baroque! Fugues are created when a musical line is introduced by one voice and then repeated with slight variations by any number of other voices. It’s always an amazing experience for audiences to hear and see how the different voices interact. Vivaldi has simplicity and Bach the complexity, but both play the fugue game with equal vigor.
Madison Bach Musicians is thrilled to have cellist Steuart Pincombe (below) returning for this season’s opening concert. Steuart can be heard in concert venues across Europe and quite possibly around the corner in your local brewery or cafe. Wherever he performs, Steuart aims to engage with his audience through creative presentations of the classical repertoire. Don’t miss this spectacular season opener.
December 9
Baroque Holiday Concert; Saturday, December 9, 2017; 7:15 p.m. lecture, 8 p.m. concert; First Congregational United Church of Christ
Our seventh annual Baroque Holiday Concert will once again be held in the beautiful and sonorous sanctuary of the First Congregational Church.
Soprano soloist Alisa Jordheim (below top) will be joined by oboist Aaron Hill and a baroque string ensemble in Bach’s lyrical masterpiece Cantata BWV 32 Liebster Jesu, mein Verlangen. And MBM concertmaster Kangwon Kim (below bottom) will be the featured violin soloist in Winter from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.
April 7 & 8
Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas and Bach’s Coffee Cantata, BWV 211
Saturday, April 7, 2018; 6:45 p.m. lecture, 7:30 p.m. concert
Sunday, April 8, 2018; 2:45 p.m. lecture, 3:30 p.m. concert
First Unitarian Society Atrium Auditorium (below, in a photo by Zane Williams)
MBM will conclude the season with period performances of the tragic operatic masterpiece, Dido & Aeneas, by Henry Purcell (below) paired in a double-billing with one of J. S. Bach’s rare comic outings, the mischievous Coffee Cantata―where substance-preoccupation (coffee, no less) and family dynamics collide.
We are pleased to offer the production of Dido and Aeneas as a semi-staged baroque opera featuring outstanding soloists, a full baroque orchestra, and beautiful dancing sequences ―thanks to the collaboration of director David Ronis (below top, in a photo by like Delalio) artistic director of the University Opera), Karen McShane–Hellenbrand (UW-Madison Dance Department), and baroque-performance specialist conductor and UW-Madison bassoon professor Marc Vallon (below bottom, in a photo by James Gill).
Come hear spectacular vocal soloists, a sumptuous chorus, gut-strung violins, violas and cellos, viola da gamba, lute, harpsichord, baroque flute―and an amazing wind machine. (You can hear “Dido’s Lament” in the YouTube video at the bottom.)
For more information and to see the season brochure, go to:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1nPBhC1sb3WWDZ5RG9CQ3VpSlNkVFM2d3AxQ3JiZmthQlNZ/view
Tags: Aeneas, Antonio Vivaldi, Arts, Bach, Baroque, Bassoon, Cantata, Cello, Chamber music, choral music, Classical music, coffee, Coffee Cantata, comedy, concertmaster, concerto, counterpoint, dance, David Ronis, Dido, Dido and Aeneas, Early music, First Unitarian Society of Madison, flute, Four Seasons, fugue, harpsichord, Henry Purcell, historically informed performance practices, Holiday, holy, imitation, Jacob Stockinger, Johann Sebastian Bach, Keyboard, lament, lecture, lute, Madison, Madison Bach Musicians, Marc Vallon, masterwork, monastery, Music, Oboe, Orchestra, program, Season, soloist, soprano, Steuart Pincombe, strings, symphony, tragedy, Unitarian, United States, university, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University Opera, Viola, Violin, vocal music, winter, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Madison Choral Project gives its fourth annual holiday concert, “I Was Glad,” this Friday night and Saturday afternoon. Plus, pianist Bill Lutes gives a FREE recital of Schubert and Schumann this Friday at noon
1 Comment
ALERT: The week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Meeting House of the First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features pianist Bill Lutes in a solo recital. The program includes the “Papillons” (Butterflies) by Robert Schumann and the final Sonata in B-Fat Major, D. 960, by Franz Schubert. The program runs from 12:15 to 1 p.m.
For more information about Bill Lutes and his series of recitals, go to:
By Jacob Stockinger
This weekend, the Madison Choral Project (below top), Madison’s professional choir under the direction of Albert Pinnsoneault (below bottom), a former Edgewood College professor who now teaches at Northwestern University, will present two performances of its fourth annual Holiday-themed program “I Was Glad.”
The performances are on Friday, Dec. 16, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday Dec. 17, at 3 p.m. Both performances will be held at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 1609 University Avenue, near Camp Randall Stadium in Madison.
Tickets are available in advance at www.themcp.org, or at the door.
(Preferred Seating is $40, General Admission is $24/$28 and Students are $10)
The concerts feature a carefully curated selection of vocal music and readings, with the intent to lead the listener along a sublime journey of music and text.
Madison Choral Project is will partner again with Wisconsin Public Radio’s news editor Noah Ovshinsky (below), who will perform readings from works of Tim O’Brien, Billy Collins, William Wordsworth and others.
The Madison Choral Project will sing an eclectic mix of holiday-themed music in four sets, ranging from the 17th century to brand new compositions.
The program features two exciting world premieres by Eric Barnum (below top), the choral director at UW-Oshkosh, and MCP’s Composer in Residence, Jasper Alice Kaye (below bottom).
The first set of pieces, “Welcome to the Holy Space,” includes A Child’s Prayer by James MacMillan, Sanctus from Mass in G by Francis Poulenc and Our Father by Alexandre Gretchaninoff.
The second set, “Winter Comforts,” features two new commissions written for Madison Choral Project. Winter by Eric William Barnum will be followed by The Invitation by Jasper Alice Kaye. Lux Aurumque by Eric Whitacre will finish the set.
The third set, “Glad Tidings,” includes the concert’s titular piece, I Was Glad by C.H.H. Parry (heard in the YouTube video at the bottom), as well as beautiful works by Matthew Culloton, William Dawson and Jan Sandstrøm.
The final set, “Gathering and Blessing,” contains joyous settings of familiar texts set by Francis Poulenc, Ludwig van Beethoven, and arranger John Ferguson.
For more information or tickets, go to www.themcp.org.
Tags: Albert Pinsonneault, Alexander Gretchaninoff, Alexander Gretchaninov, Arts, Beethoven, Bill Lutes, Billy Collins, blessing, butterflies, butterfly, Camp Randall, Child, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, comfort, composer, Concert, Early music, Edgewood College, editor, Eric Whitacre, Eric William Barnum, First Congregational United Church of Christ, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Franz Schubert, gathering, glad, holy, Hubert Parry, I Was Glad, Jacob Stockinger, James MacMillan, Jan Sandstrom, Jasper Alice Kaye, John Ferguson, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Choral Project, mass, Matthew Culloton, Music, musicale, New Music, New Year, news, Noah Ovshinsky, Northwestern University, Papillons, Piano, poem, Poetry, Poulenc, prayer, premiere, readings, Schubert, Schumann, Sonata, space, tidings, Tim O'Brien, United Kingdom, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW-Oshkosh, vocal music, William Dawson, William Wordsworth, winter, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, YouTube
Classical music: Take a FREE choral tour of the past year’s holidays this coming Saturday night at the UW-Madison. Plus, pianist Mark Valenti performs a FREE recital of Milhaud, Schubert and Prokofiev this Friday at noon.
1 Comment
ALERT: This week’s FREE Friday Noon Musicale, to be held from 12:15 to 1 p.m. in the Landmark Auditorium of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed First Unitarian Society of Madison, 900 University Bay Drive, features pianist Mark Valenti. He will play Three Pieces from “Le Printemps” (Spring) by Darius Milhaud; the Sonata in A major by Franz Schubert; and the Sonata No. 7 in B-flat major by Sergei Prokofiev.
By Jacob Stockinger
This week brings two FREE concerts by several choral groups at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music.
On Friday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the University Chorus, Women’s Choir and Master Singers will perform a FREE concert. Sorry, no word yet about the program.
Then on Saturday night at 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Chorale will perform a FREE concert called “It’s a Jolly Holiday!” Director Bruce Gladstone (below, in a photo by Katrin Talbot) will conduct.
NOTE: This concert is NOT to be confused with the usually packed Winter Choral Concert — with its theme of holidays, multiple choirs and several conductors — that will take place on Sunday, Dec. 6, at 2 and 4 p.m. at Luther Memorial Church.
Here are some program notes:
“This fall, the UW Chorale gets into the holiday spirit.
“But which one?
“An entire year of them!
“The ensemble starts with New Year’s Day and moves through the calendar year singing choral works to commemorate each festive day.
“They’ll celebrate President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Earth Day (below) and so on, with a variety of great music that will leave you wondering why you only think about hearing a choir sing at Christmas.
“Works include “My Funny Valentine,” “Free at Last,” Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Regina Coeli,” Howard Hanson’s “Song of Democracy,” Aaron Copland’s “The Promise of Living” and many more.” (You can hear Howard Hanson’s “Song of Democracy,” with words by poet Walt Whitman and with the famous Interlochen theme from his “Romantic” Symphony No. 2, in a YouTube video at the bottom.)
“There will be something for everyone as they explore the days we call “holy.””
Tags: Aaron Copland, Arts, Choir, choral music, Christmas, Classical music, Darius Milhaud, democracy, Earth Day, Easter, First Unitarian Society of Madison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Holiday, Holidays, holy, Howard Hanson, Interlochen, Jacob Stockinger, Luther, Madison, Mozart, Music, Music director, New Year's, New Year's Day, Orchestra, Piano, pieces, poem, poet, President's Day, Prokofiev, Romantic, sacred, Saint Patrick's Day, Schubert, secular, Sonata, song, Spring, Undergraduate education, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Valentine's Day, vocal music, Walt Whitman, Wisconsin, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, YouTube
Recent Comments
The Well-Tempered Ear 
Classical music: The Ear wishes you a Merry Christmas with three of his favorite pieces of music. What are yours?
3 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
Today – Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2019 – is Christmas Day.
There is so much great Christmas music written by so many great composers. You’ll hear a lot of it tomorrow morning on Wisconsin Public Radio, starting at 9 a.m..
But here are three of The Ear’s favorites.
One comes from the “Christmas Oratorio” by the German Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach and is loud, upbeat and brassy.
The second is “Lo, how a rose ere blooming” is by the early German baroque composer Michael Praetorius, and is so hauntingly quiet and intimate, sounding almost medieval or chant-like.
The third work, also intimate but on a much larger scale, is the “Shepherds’ Farewell to the Holy Family” from “The Childhood of the Christ” by the Romantic French composer Hector Berlioz.
Here they are, first the Praetorius — in the original German — and then the Bach and finally the Berlioz.
And here is a YouTube compilation with almost three hours of seasonal music:
What is your favorite piece of classical music to celebrate Christmas?
Leave your answer – with a YouTube link, if possible — in the Comment section.
Share this:
Tags: #BaroqueMusic, #BaroqueOratorio, #BlogPost, #BlogPosting, #BrassMusic, #ChoralMusic, #ChristmasDay, #ChristmasMusic, #ChristmasOratorio, #FacebookPost, #FacebookPosting, #Frenchcomposer, #GermanComposer, #GreatComposers, #HectorBerlioz, #HolyFamily, #JesusChrist, #JohannSebastianBach, #MerryChristmas, #MichaelPraetorius, #PieceofMusic, #RomanticMusic, #SeasonalMusic, #StateOfWisconsin, #TheEar, #VocalMusic, #WisconsinPublicRadio, #YouTubevideo, Arts, audience, Bach, Baroque, Berlioz, blog, brass, brassy, celebrate, chant, childhood, choral, choral music, Christ, Christian, Christianity, Christmas, Classical music, comment, compilation, composer, conductor, Early music, event, Facebook, Family, farewell, favorite, forward, French, German, great, great composers, haunting, Hector Berlioz, Holiday, holy, intimate, Jacob Stockinger, Jesus, Johann Sebastian Bach, Johanne Sebastian Bach, larger, like, link, Lo How a Rose, Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming, loud, Madison, mark, Medieval, Merry Christmas, Michael Praetorius, morning, Music, online, oratorio, Orchestra, piece of music, post, posting, quiet, Radio, reader, Religion, Romantic, scale, seasonal, share, shepherd, symphony, tag, The Ear, today, tomorrow, United States, upbeat, vocal music, Wisconsin, wisconsin public radio, WPR, you, yours, YouTube