All in the Family (4/3/25)

A Gotham Early Music Scene Concert
Caroline Nicolas ~ viola da gamba, Jeffrey Grossman ~ harpsichord

Works by J.S Bach and C.P.E. Bach—all in the family. But as they say in the infomercials: wait, there's more! Here's the program.

Allegro WKO 2056 – Carl Friedrich Abel (1723–1787)
Sonata for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord in D Major, BWV 1028 – J.S. Bach (1685–1750) – Adagio; Allegro; Andante; Allegro
Sonata in C Major for Viola da gamba and Basso Continuo*, Wq 136 – C.P.E. Bach (1714–1788) – Andante; Allegretto; Arioso
Toccata in G Major, BuxWV 164 – Dieterich Buxtehude (1637–1707)
Sonata for Viola da gamba and Harpsichord in G minor, BWV 1029 – J.S. Bach – Vivace; Adagio; Allegro

So, as we see, it wasn't really all in the family. C.P.E. Bach was one of papa's (many) children. The other two composers were close to the family in that they were composing around the same time.

The first work, Abel's Allegro for solo viola da gamba, was fairly calm, tempo-wise, for an Allegro (to my ears) and blended into (attacca, no pause) the appropriately slow first movement of the first J.S. Bach piece where the viola da gamba seemed to be in somber mode, as was the harpsichord. The second movement was bright and pleasant, with a nice viola da gamba/harpsichord interplay. The third movement was slower and soothing—the longest movement we'd heard so far. The fourth movement was fun and jolly, almost at a frantic pace from time to time.

N.B. There was tuning before the third work. N.B. Playing on period instruments requires additional tuning. Ask, if you're interested.

C.P.E. Bach's Andante (first movement) was fairly quick and cheerful for an Andante. The second movement was playful, but not too much, and lengthy (like father like son?) and had a clever ending. The final movement had interesting phrases, with pauses for breath built in—very song-like—hmm, Arioso.

The retuning here made sense, and I called it ahead of time (see attacca). Buxtehude's toccata was for solo harpsichord, a first for me; I'm only familiar with his organ works. There was an intro, a second section, and a busier third section that then calmed down for the ending—attacca—the first movement of the final J.S. Bach piece. It was brisk but thoughtful, as in not really rushed, though the harpsichord writing was brisker than for the viola da gamba, and there was a nice unison section that led into the second movement that was slow, lovely and song-like with a poignancy that I enjoyed. The final movement was bright, with a quick tempo (yet solid) and not restrained at all, just well contained. A great way to end the concert.

ConcertMeister

*Turn away if you're squeamish. Period instruments, specifically violins, violas, and cellos use gut strings. Yes, made from the guts of animals. As a result, they don't retain tuning the way that metal strings do. Please don't hate me; I'm merely the messenger.

Orchestra of St. Luke's NYC Five Borough Tour (3/23/25)

The Music of Chen Yi

Alex Fortes, violin; Katie Hyun, violin; Liuh-Wen Ting, viola; Daire Fitzgerald, cello; Chen Tao, xiao and dizi; Liu Li, guquin (<-- more on those later); and Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

Sprout – Chen Yi – St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble (a string quartet)
Secluded Organ – Tang Dynasty – 618–907 AD – Liu Li (guqin)

And that's where the printed program went out the window.

This was the first of a free NYC Five Borough Tour concert. I attended the Snug Harbor Staten Island concert, a first for me, though I have been to Staten Island for other events. The concert was under the auspices of the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble, a subset of the St. Luke's Orchestra. The tour was part of Carnegie Hall's Citywide Concerts—free music throughout NYC.

The printed program turned out to be not exactly what we heard. 

Chinese Folk Songs – Zhou Long (a contemporary composer and the husband of Chen Yi) – was an amalgamation of settings of five Chinese folk songs. For the first, Lan Hua Hua, Chen Tao played the tune on a xiao, a Chinese vertical bamboo flute, similar to a recorder. Of course, the tunings and scales are different to our western ears. The tune was then followed by Zhou Long's arrangement/treatment scored for string quartet. The same type of treatment followed for Zhou Long's Driving the Mule Team, Jasmine Flower, Horseherd's Mountain Song, and Leaving Home, which had sadness built into the tune that captured the mood very well. It was more wistful than mournful. All of the Zhou Long arrangements had the tune played beforehand, which was very helpful.

Here's my one quibble. When Liu Li played the guqin (a seven-stringed plucked instrument), I never got a chance to see it, since she was on the far right (stage right) part of the stage. It would have been very helpful to have shown the audience, from the center of the stage, the guqin, the xiao, and the dizi (a transverse bamboo flute).

The final work, Chen Li's Sound of the Five, with the string quartet and an added solo cello, was four movements that were very similar to the works that preceded them.

It was very interesting to be exposed to different instruments, scales, and tunings. I just wish they had been presented better. But it was a free concert, so beggars can't be choosers.

ConcertMeister