Broadwood Junction – Francis Liu (violin), Patrick T. Jones (keyboard), Sarah Stone (Baroque cello), Evan Saddler (percussion)
The name Broadwood Junction is taken from an 1809 Broadwood square piano found and purchased at an estate sale. (Square piano is a bit of a misnomer; it is really rectangular.) Similar in nature to a modern piano, it is smaller, with a smaller keyboard range and a much smaller sounding board (and no steel frame to amplify the sound). Hence, it sounds more like a harpsichord but the strings are not plucked. It has a softer sound but can be amplified, Vivaldi-style, by playing many notes over and over again, very rapidly.
Announced from the stage:
Assorted pieces from A Selection of Scotch, English, Irish and Foreign Airs Adapted for the Fife, Violin, or German Flute: Humbly Dedicated to the Volunteer and Defensive Bands of Great Britain and Ireland (Published in Glasgow, 1782–1801)
Sonata in G Major, Op. 25, no. 3, C. 128 (1795) – III. Rule Brittania. Rondo Vivace – J.L. Dussek (1760–1812)
Variations on “God Save the King,” W0O 78 – L.V. Beethoven (1770–1827)
Concerto for the Harp or Piano-Forte, Op. 15 (1789) – III. Rondo: Molto Allegro – Dussek
The Naval Battle and Total Defeat of the Dutch Fleet by Admiral Duncan (1797) – Dussek
Note those dates, especially the Dussek. Just after 1776 and its aftermath (major war). Britain was trying to establish itself as a major superpower. And they liked their really, really long titles. But enough of history and politics; on to the music. The mix of Airs was introduced by drum, violin (folk tune–style, i.e., almost fiddle), then with added piano and cello. It was very chamber music–esque, taking the airs/tunes and matching/smashing them together.
Even though we didn’t hear the lyrics for the first Dussek movement, they were read to us: “Rule, Brittania, Brittania rule the waves.” Not ‘rules’ because, as noted above, Britain was not yet the superpower it wanted to be.
The Beethoven was for solo piano. Strangely, Mr. Jones was playing the 1809 piano from an iPad score. Totally weird. The variations were fairly straightforward for the first two or three, and then ventured into a perpetual motion variation, followed by a rhythmically diverse one, followed by one with a much wider range from the piano keyboard. A minor mode, more subdued variation followed, ending with block chords with filips at the end of each main phrase. Hmm, Beethoven seems to have known what he was doing.
Another set of airs from the first piece on the program followed, with violin and cello (strummed and plucked); violin and drum; drum and violin (yes, there is a difference) with a sort of a reel; and drum, violin, and cello, with the sense of a round, though it really wasn’t. Next, announced from the stage, was The Ploughboy, which had a jolly feel though it seemed a little contrived; it was not really my favorite.
What followed was A Ploughman Sailor and then attacca right into the Naval Battle, which included a slide show of notes from the score, referring to specific portions of the score. The piece was very dramatic, especially because it incorporated all four performers, and the tambourine, added to the percussion mix, added a lot to the drama. The text ‘narration’ was bit kitschy but actually worked.
This was a pleasant, somewhat intriguing look into an earlier era—one which I thoroughly enjoyed. Rule, Brittania, indeed! Just not here.
ConcertMeister
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