Building Our Future Audience

It's never too early to recruit our future audiences. Indeed, I can hardly think of a more important activity: if we leave our youth behind, who will attend early music concerts in the coming years? Time is always precious, so why would someone come to an early music concert if they thought of it in terms of ancient and obscure instruments performing old and boring music?

So, the outreach program of the San Diego Early Music Society is more than a duty, it is a passion. This year we were especially fortunate to bring members of Musica ad Rhenum to Oak Park Elementary. I'm embarrassed to admit that Oak Park's existence has eluded me: more properly, it should be referred to as Oak Park Music Conservatory. It is part of our magnet school program, focused on providing a broad education, but with additional exposure to music. I thought music education was largely dead in California public schools, so this was an exciting find for me.

I could hardly imagine a better early music ensemble to bring with us. The five members of Musica ad Rhenum are fun to hang around with: good natured, spontaneous, and generous. I noticed in their formal performance last night that they played as a group of peers – there was no prima donna, but rather a friendly gathering of virtuosi collaborators.

We had lots to show these budding musicians. They were naturally fascinated with the contrast between the small harpsichord we brought and the modern piano. One observant child wondered why the baroque violin didn't have a chin rest. There was a lot of interest in the nearly keyless baroque flute, demonstrated by Jed Wentz; they could relate to this  because it was a kind of cross between the recorders and modern flutes they play.

Viola da gamba player Cassandra Luckhardt led a wonderful discussion of the differences between the gamba and cello, assisted by baroque violin cello player Job ter Haar. See the size and feel the energy of this enthusiastic audience. These kids are not only our future audience, they are our musical future.

The Apotheosis of Beauty

Next Friday, Musica Ad Rhenum will present a program entitled 'Apotheosis of the Beauty' and beautiful it promises to be. We will indeed get to hear two of the 'Paris' quartets which are among the best pieces Telemann ever wrote.

Why Paris ? Some details about his trip there and the compostion of these new quartets can be found in his autobiopgraphy: "My long-planned trip to Paris where I had already been invited several years ago by some of the virtuosi who lived there and had taken great pleasure in [performing] some of my printed music finally took place around Michaelmas, 1737. This trip took 8 months. In Paris I had had engraved in copper for publication, after having received from the king the permission and copyright for 20 years, new quartets (by previous subscription) and 6 sonatas consisting entirely of melodic canons. The astonishing manner in which the quartets were played by Messrs. Blauet, transverse flute, Guignon, violinist, Forcroy, his son on the viola da gamba, and Edouard, violoncellist would deserve to be described here at length if only there were sufficient words available to do so. In short, they pricked up the ears of people at the court and in the city so that they became very attentive and, in a short time, I received general approbation which was accompanied by even greater politeness. [...] Thus I left Paris with a feeling of having achieved great pleasure and in the hope that I would return again in the future. (Translation by Thomas Braatz, 2009)"
Note that Mr Frocroy in this case was no less than Jean-Baptiste Forqueray (whose music we heard played by Blandine Rannou a month ago) and Mr Blauet is the famous Michel Blavet. There is no mention of the harpsichordist which probably means that Telemann himself played in these concert too. And what a concert it must have been !

On the program too -and to keep the "Parisian" link- are pieces by Francois Couperin. It is well known that Couperin always tried to reconcile the Italian and French tastes in music and his 'Grande Sonade en Trio' l'apotheose de Corelli is one of the best example of it. The (delicious) French subtitles read :

"Corelli au pied du Parnasse prie les Muses de le Recevoir parmi elles Corelli charmé de la bonne réception qu'on lui fait au Parnasse, en marque sa joye. Il continüe avec ceux qui L'accompagnent.
Corelli buvant à la source d'Hypocrêne. Sa troupe continue
Enthouziasme de Corelli causé par les eaux d'Hypocréne
Corelli après son enthouziasme s'endort ; et sa Troupe jouë le Sommeil suivant
Les Muses réveillent Corelli, et le placent auprès d'Apollon
Remerciment de Corelli "

Which can be roughly translated as :

"Corelli at the foot of Parnassus prays the Muses to receive him among them
Corelli charmed by the favorable reception given to him on Parnassus expresses his joy. He continues with those who accompany him.
Corelli drinking at the spring of Hippocrene. His troupe continues on.
Corelli's divine frenzy caused by the waters of Hippocrene
Corellu after his divine frenzy falls asleep and his troupe plays the following sommeil.
The Muses awake Corelli and place him at Apollo's side.
Corelli's thanks."

And since we are talking about Francois Couperin, there was no way to omit his solo harpsichord music in such a concert. Michael Borgstede, the harpsichordist of Musica Ad Rhenum and who has just recorded his complete 'ordres' for Brilliant Classics will thus present 5 pieces from the 25th ordre. He will be joined by Jed Wentz, flauto traverso, Igor Rukadze, violin, Cassandra Luckhardt, viola da gamba and Job ter Haar, violoncello, for the rest of the program.
Don't miss this exciting concert. For more details, please visit www.sdems.org. Friday, Nov 20, 8pm, St James by the Sea.

Reviewing the City Musick

Valerie Scher of the San Diego News Network (www.sdnn.com) has just reviewed our concert by the City Musick. Her review can be found here.

If you have missed it, there was also another article by her a week ago about the SDEMS.

City Musick: Topping Tooters of the Town

"Waits" were bands of professional musicians who played at civic and ceremonial occasions in Renaissance England. These musicians were primarily wind instrument performers, playing the shawm, sackbut and cornett. A new group, City Musick, has been formed by the William Lyons, known to many from his work with the Dufay Collective, to perform the music of the waits.

The San Diego Early Music Society is fortunate to be able to present City Music on their premier American tour. Their program in San Diego, "The Topping Tooters of the Town," will feature dances, psalm tunes, canzonets and traditional tunes from 16th and 17th century England, and include works by Holborne, Morley, Phillips, Ravenscroft, Dowland among others.

Please join us on October 16th, at 8pm, at St. James by-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 743 Prospect Street, La Jolla for this concert which promises to be historically informative as well as fun! Tickets are available by calling (619) 291-8246, or through our Web site, www.sdems.org. Prices: General public - $25; SDEMS members - $22; students - $10.

Blandine Rannou

Albeit the opening concert of the 2009-2010 International Series of the SDEMS will be on October 16th with City Musick, we are very pleased to present the first of our two non-subscription concerts on October 9th: Harpsichordist Blandine Rannou will perform pieces by Louis, Francois and Armand-Louis Couperin as well as Forqueray and Balbastre at the Congregational Church in la Jolla

This is actually the second time Blandine Rannou will play for San Diego audiences. Her debut was in October 2003 when she was invited by the San Diego Harpsichord Society. She then played Rameau, Duphly, Royer and Forqueray (excerpts from the 1st suite) and those of us who attended it still remember it vividly and fondly. Jonathan Saville raved about her recital in the San Diego Reader: “I have never heard a harpsichord recital that delighted and moved me more than this splendid concert did.”

No wonder that we are really thrilled to have her back, especially since she will continue her exploration of the French harpsichord repertoire, for which she has a very special affinity (given how well her recordings of Rameau, Couperin and Forqueray have been received by critics worldwide). This time, we will get to hear most of the Couperin family (from the birth of the harpsichord in France with Louis to its death with Armand-Louis and of course stopping at its summit with François), Forqueray again with most of the 5th suite including the beautiful La Sylva and the devastating Jupiter and Balbastre’s all-time favorites La De Caze, La D’Héricourt and La Boullongne.

A concert not to miss for harpsichord lovers.

(October 9th at 8pm at the Congregational Church in la Jolla on Cave street. There is usually free street parking available, and plenty of $3 parking spaces just across the street. Tickets for this concert can be ordered from the SDEMS at (619) 291-8246 or www.tix.com with keyword search "Blandine Rannou".)

Really Early Music

From the New York Times


Scientists say that a bone flute, found at Hohle Fels Cave in southwestern Germany, is at least 35,000 years old.

Music and sculpture — expressions of artistic creativity, it seems — were emerging in tandem among some of the first modern humans when they began spreading through Europe or soon thereafter.

Archaeologists Wednesday reported the discovery last fall of a bone flute and two fragments of ivory flutes that they said represented the earliest known flowering of music-making in Stone Age culture. They said the bone flute with five finger holes, found at Hohle Fels Cave in the hills west of Ulm, was “by far the most complete of the musical instruments so far recovered from the caves” in a region where pieces of other flutes have been turning up in recent years.

For more pictures and a sound sample go to here

"fiendish virtuosity and expressive elegance"

The SDEMS is pleased to present an extra non-subscription concert on June 3 at 8pm : Harpsichordist Bertrand Cuiller will perform works by William Byrd, John Bull (the King's hunt), Louis Couperin, J.S. Bach (Italian Concerto) and Domenico Scartlatti. We chose the Congregational Church of La Jolla to hold this event because if its ideal intimacy for recitals, and its exceptional acoustics for harpsichord music (as demonstrated so often during the recitals presented by the San Diego Harpsichord Society in the past).

Bertrand Cuiller is one of the most promising harpsichordists of today. He studied with Christophe Rousset and Pierre Hantai, and was a prizewinner at the Bruges International harpsichord competition. His first solo recording of music by William Byrd, Peter Philips and John Bull, was awarded the prestigious Diapason d'or, and Choc du Monde de la Musique. When reviewing this recording, Diapason wrote : "... between fiendish virtuosity and expressive elegance. [...] This attention to tone color, to density of texture, to the profound meaning of the keyboard language, wouldn't be anything without superior abilities, and those of Bertrand Cuiller seem infinite."

More details on this concert (including a link to Bertrand Cuiller's own website and musical excerpts of his Byrd recording) can be found on www.sdems.org.