Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra

Ouverture in D minor, from FVW K:d4

The organist and violinist Johann Friedrich Fasch was descended from a long line of Lutheran cantors and theologians. He studied at the Thomasschule in Leipzig and with Christoph Graupner in Darmstadt before taking up the position of court Kapellmeister in Zerbst. He remained in Zerbst until his death in 1758, but his reputation as a composer was widespread: his works were performed by Telemann in Hamburg, Bach in Leipzig, Pisendel in Dresden, and C.P.E. Bach in Berlin. He continued to send copies of his compositions to his former teacher Graupner in Darmstadt, and the library there includes a wealth of his instrumental works, including the Ouverture that opens this program.

Concerto grosso in C minor, Op. 1, No. 11

The virtuoso violinist Pietro Antonio Locatelli’s playing was said to run the gamut from “such fury as to wear out dozens of violins in a year,” to a sweetness and delicacy that would “make a canary fall off of his perch in a swoon of pleasure!” His three sets of orchestral concerti grossi reveal his compositional skills. They are beautifully crafted, harmonically rich, rhythmically inventive, texturally varied works modeled after Arcangelo Corelli’s celebrated Opus 6 concerti. One contemporary praised Locatelli for the novelty of his ideas, the sublimity of the themes, and the naturalness of his melodies, qualities which are well demonstrated in the C-minor concerto from his Opus 1 collection of twelve concertos, published in 1721.

Concerto in B-flat major for bassoon, RV 501 (“La Notte”)

Antonio Vivaldi’s descriptive concerto “La Notte” (The Night) exists in three versions: one scored for flute, bassoon, and strings; a similar version for flute without bassoon; and a quite different piece for solo bassoon and strings. Vivaldi’s ability to “paint” vivid pictures with a relatively small musical palette, made famous in The Four Seasons, is plainly evident in all three versions. Vivaldi’s night has a sinister beginning, interrupted by a flurry of ghostly spirits (Fantasmi). Sleep (Il Sonno) finally descends, and we follow the bassoonist through a mesmerizing dreamscape. In the final movement, daybreak finds the soloist rousing the strings from drowsy sleep, though not without a few resets of the “snooze” button on the orchestra’s part.

Chaconne from Alcyone

Marin Marais was one of Louis XIV’s most renowned instrumentalists, a virtuoso of the viola da gamba. In addition to his positions as a chamber musician, Marais was also a member of the opera orchestra of the Académie Royale de Musique and studied opera composition with Lully. This led to the composition of five operas for production at court. Alcyone, first performed in 1706, was the most popular, and was staged as late as 1771. Its glorious Chaconne has been a favorite of Tafelmusik since we first performed it over 40 years ago.

Orchestral suite in B-flat major

Included in the vast catalog of Telemann’s output are some 135 orchestral suites for various combinations of instruments, from strings only to full orchestra with trumpets and timpani. One of his favorite choices matches the scoring of the Tafelmusik core orchestra: two oboes, bassoon, strings, and continuo. Aisslinn Nosky has assembled an engaging selection of movements from three of Telemann’s suites for this orchestration. The dynamic opening Ouverture is followed by a sequence of lively dance movements. As is so often the case with Telemann, the winds are featured prominently throughout. The poignant Plainte, featuring solo oboe and violin, is an exquisite centerpiece.

Concerto in D minor for 2 violins, BWV 1043

The violin was one of Bach’s favored solo instruments: he turned to the violin as a counterpart to the solo voice in countless arias in his sacred works, and of course composed the remarkable sonatas and partitas for unaccompanied violin, works that remain at the very core of the violin repertoire three centuries later. Although primarily a keyboard player, Bach was also a capable violinist and violist, and he fully understood that the violin could be played on the one hand with great energy and virtuosity, and on the other with the most sublime and tender expression. This is evident in the contrasting movements of his concertos for solo violin, and especially in the Concerto for 2 violins in D minor, which has long been a favorite of violinists and audiences alike.

Sonata en symphonie No. 1 in G minor, Op. 3

The French violinist Jean-Joseph Cassanéa de Mondonville was born in Narbonne, settling in Paris as a young man and quickly rising to prominence as one of the city’s leading performers and composers. His 1734 publication of six Pièces de clavecin en sonates [Harpsichord pieces as sonatas], Op. 3, was particularly well received. The title refers to their scoring for harpsichord and violin, both parts equally elaborate, and as such an unusual melding of a solo harpsichord piece and a violin sonata. He later transcribed all six for a full ensemble, to be performed at the Concert Spirituel, a popular concert series in Paris. We end the program with the orchestral version of the colorful and vivacious first sonata and are grateful to Patrick G. Jordan for adding the missing viola part to complete the score.


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