LONG & AWAY

Swept Away By The Winds of Fashion: 17th-Century Italian Music For Viols

In early 17th century Italy, musical traditions were transformed by new forms and new instruments, leaving the older viola da gamba and its polyphonic music overshadowed, but composers still continued to write for the viol consort, mixing the old with the new. Our program will include Monteverdi’s “Lamento d’Arianna”; sonatas in stile moderno by Castello and Marini; a strangely chromatic work by Trabaci; lively court dances that lived on as sonata movements; and Legrenzi’s gorgeous farewell to the consort—his viol sonatas published in 1673. This music is a little more extroverted, a little more piano-forte, and, dare we say, even a little more passionate than commonly expected from a viol consort.

Karen Burciaga (treble viol), Rachel Cama-Lekx (treble viol), Peter Geiersbach (tenor viol), Jane Leggiero (bass viol), Tobi Szuts (tenor viol), with guests Brenna Wells (soprano), and William Good (theorbo)

SEVEN TIMES SALT

Rantin’ Pipe And Tremblin’ String: Scottish Music Of The 18th-Century

The music of 18th-century Scotland displays a surprising mix of folk and classical features. The Scottish dialogue between the two traditions is preserved in musical notation, thanks to the tastes of the times. Seven Times Salt explores this unique crossroads of folk and classical traditions in a new program of music by Oswald, McGibbon, McLean, Purcell, Matteis, and Geminiani, as well as pieces from Orpheus Caledonius, the Straloch lute and Dixon bagpipe manuscripts, and the Scots Musical Museum. We’ll pay homage to the Scottish drawing rooms and dance halls where the only difference between a fiddler and a violinist may have been the music in front of him!

Karen Burciaga (violin), Daniel Meyers (recorder, flute, bagpipes), Joshua Schreiber Shalem (viola da gamba), Matthew Wright (lute, guitar), with guests: Shari Wilson (soprano), and Alastair Thompson (harpsichord)

LA DONNA MUSICALE

Viva Le Italiane! 18th-Century Italian Women Composers

Some historians refer to the 18th century as the “Age of Women,” this was especially true in the Austrian Lombardy, which exhibited progressive and enlightened views on women and society. La Donna Musicale’s performance features the works of three woman composers of the time: Maria Teresa Agnesi, Anna Bon and Maddalena Lombardini. The works on this program range from delightful pastoral arias to the more typical Italian drama of unrequited love, interspersed with instrumental music.

7 HILLS RENAISSANCE WIND BAND

Eppur Si Muove: Music From The Lives of Galilei and Rubens

The achievements of Galileo Galilei and Peter Paul Rubens stand at a turning point in the world of Western culture, an age where scientific and artistic changes had profound social and political implications. Both Galileo and Rubens were innovators in their fields, and both were also active in the halls of power; Galilei boldly challenged the Catholic Church, while Rubens moved in political circles as a trusted ambassador of Philip IV in the Low Countries. The 7 Hills Band presents a program of music dedicated to the humanist spirit of these true “Renaissance men”, whose talents frustrated popes, delighted kings, and changed the face of 17th-century Europe.

Elizabeth Hardy (shawm, dulcian, recorder), Rigel Lustwerk (cornetto), Liza Malamut (sackbut), Daniel Meyers (sackbut, recorder, voice), Catherine Stein (shawm, dulcian, recorder, voice), Matthew Stein (dulcian), Daniel Stillman (shawm, dulcian, recorder), and Barbara Allen Hill (soprano)

LE TOURBILLON

Taste And See: Nature And Invention In Music From Hamburg And Berlin
Charmed by the pithy “inventive” wit, and the “natural” spontaneity that frequently marks the music of the northern cities Hamburg and Berlin, we couldn’t resist offering up a program featuring gems from the second quarter of the 18th Century. Anchoring the program will be two cantatas by Georg Philipp Telemann from the Harmonische Gottesdienst Collection, a series of 72 cantatas scored for one solo instrument and one solo voice. We will also feature a works by Schaffrath and C P E Bach, both of whom were active in Berlin: Bach at the court of Frederick the Great, and Schaffrath working for Frederick’s sister Amalia.

Graham St-Laurent (oboe), Stephanie Corwin (bassoon), Jason Wang (tenor), and Andrus Madsen (harpsichord)

The Owl And The Nightingale

This program features debate between sober owl and the cheery nightingale and some birdsong thrown in for good measure. C.P.E. Bach’s trio Sonata in G Minor “Sanguineus and Melancholicus” plays with this theme directly as one violin plays the role of the melancholic while the other plays the role of the sanguine in this age-old debate. Throughout the concert, the chipper solo voice of the recorder is juxtaposed with the melancholy voice of the viol.

Sarah Cantor (recorders), Jesse Irons (violin), Laura Gulley (violin), Emily Rideout (viola), Angus Lansing (viola da gamba), and Akiko Sato (harpsichord)

Light and Shadows: Music of Victoria & Gesualdo

Zefiro, a professional a capella vocal ensemble based in the Boston/Providence area, presents the pairing of Tomás Luis de Victoria’s joyous ‘Missa O quam gloriosum’ for All Saints Day with Gesualdo di Venosa’s haunting ‘Tenebrae Responsories for Holy Saturday.’

Ruth Berry (mezzo-soprano), Jacob Cooper (baritone), Pauline Lim (soprano), Cory MacLean (mezzo-soprano), Joel McCoy (tenor), Jonathan Moore (bass). and Jonathan Wiening (tenor)