Francis Liu, violin; Patrick T. Jones, keyboard; Sarah Stone, Baroque cello; Lucy Dhegrae, mezzo soprano
Broadwood Junction was one of the guiding forces behind this concert, along with the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts’ vast holdings. Big breath—Broadwood Junction was formed because the first three artists named above discovered an 1809 Broadwood square piano at an estate sale and decided that they had to have it. Here’s the tie-in to this concert: There is a passage in Emma, by Jane Austen, about the delivery of a square piano. “The instrument usually featured in Austen’s novels is the piano which had only relatively recently supplanted the harpsichord in English drawing rooms. Broadwood pianos were fashionable and it is a Broadwood which arrives so mysteriously at Mrs Bates’ house for Jane Fairfax to play ... a very elegant looking instrument ... a large sized square pianoforte.”
http://www.musicweb-international.com/austen.htm#ixzz4xQpCG2ao
Now the problem: Broadwood Junction’s square piano had some emergency problems and was replaced by a pianoforte. Confused yet? Nevertheless, all of the music performed on Saturday afternoon was collected in Jane Austen’s bound volumes of music that she either purchased or copied out by hand. That’s dedication. And if memory serves, LPA has eighteen of Austen’s bound volumes in their collection. She was by no means a slacker.
Robin Adair, Theme and Variations for Piano (later sung) –
George Kiallmark (1781–1835)
Trio for Keyboards, Violin, and Cello, B. 445 – III. Rondo – Ignaz Pleyel (1757–1831)
Cymon and Iphegenia: Cantata for tenor, violin obbligato, and harpsichord (1753) – Thomas Arne (1710–1778)
Country Dance – Anonymous
Augustin for harpsichord and flute, or violin – Joseph Wõlfl (1773–1812)
The Whim of the Day – James Hook (1746–1827)
The Beggar Girl; Nobody Coming to Marry Me – Anonymous
The Battle of Prague – I. Slow March; II. Largo; III. The Attack; IV. Grave;
V. Finale Andante – Frantisek Kotzwara (1730–1791)
If you’re like me and don’t recognize too many of those composers (except maybe Pleyel, Arne or the ever-popular Anonymous), don’t feel too bad. Bound volumes usually contained popular songs of the day—some maybe not even planned for mass public consumption. In addition, the violin and cello in this concert were essentially period instruments as well, i.e., they used gut strings (no, not catgut but yes, strings made from sheep or cow intestines, often wrapped with other materials). The sound is a little more harsh and, for want of a better word, unpolished than modern strings). Anyhoo, off we go!
The first piece was mostly delicate although there was one variation that was much more energetic. The vocals that were added were strophic and mostly simple, straightforward settings of the text. The Pleyel was rather jolly and I found myself noticing that because of the period instruments, I needed to focus more intently on listening to the music.
The Arne, sung here by a mezzo, was a nice juxtaposition of recitative, instrumental interludes, and quasi-arias/songs, presenting what was essentially a morality play. The last verse was the closest we got to a real aria. The next three pieces seem to have been played out of order, so it’s hard to really comment on them, though it seems to me that the Country Dance was a combination of complementary tunes joined together with pianistic show-off moves that seemed almost improvisatory.
The next three pieces were in that not really for public consumption mode—they were essentially parlor songs, to be sung in the home as opposed to being presented on the stage, a sort of equivalent to the novelty songs of yore (think Yes, We Have No Bananas, etc.). So, The Whim of the Day had a folk-song feel but also a bit silly. The Beggar Girl and Nobody Coming to Marry Me were of that same genre, except they were a little sadder and mock-sentimental.
The Battle of Prague seems to be in a category all its own. Apparently there were many Battle pieces in that era and they were very popular, if not even overdone. Miss Austen had at least three versions of Prague within her eighteen bound volumes of music. The movements themselves were not all that discernible, so there were often cues written into some of the scores, similar to the cues that would later be sent out with silent films, so that a ‘score’ could accompany the film. Some of Miss Austen’s cues were shown on screen as we heard the battle unfolding, and they were enlightening, entertaining, and amusing. As was par for the course in those days, there was the almost requisite God Save the King thrown into the mix.
A fun endeavor, if slightly marred by the lack of the square piano (which I have heard before in a previous Broadwood Junction performance at LPA). Throughout, all of the players were just great and Ms. Dhegrae was very effective in providing words to what might actually have been heard in Miss Austen’s drawing room. She even played the drum quite well in The Battle of Prague!
ConcertMeister
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