Overture and Concerto
Graphic design by Inara Molinari
Concertos, concertos, concertos – Bach, Vivaldi, A. Scarlatti, Benda, an Overture by Fasch. Oh, and not forgetting variations by Mozart and the Ricercar a 6 from Bach’s The Musical Offering. In celebration of Michael Tsalka’s return to Australia two programs for harpsichords and/or strings are happening in June. Dr Michael Tsalka is renowned as a keyboardist extraordinaire. We are so delighted to welcome him back. Players include Shaun Ng and Tara Hashambuoy (violins), Daniel Cortes (viola), Lucy Cormack and Angus Ryan (cellos), Diana Weston (harpsichord).
Concert 1: June 3 @ 4 pm The Rose Room 51F Sunninghill Ave, Burradoo
Concert 2: June 4 @ 2.30pm All Saints Cathedral, Bathurst
Concert 3: June 17 @ 3 pm. Mosman Art Gallery, Mosman
‘This was a very charming and delightful concert performed with delicacy and vigour. There was fine ensemble work by all and some dazzling harpsichord playing’.
Program
Johann Freidrich Fasch (1688-1758): Ouverture FaWV K:g2 arr. Stephen Yates
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741): Violin concerto RV. 319 arr. for 2 harpsichords by Stephen Yates
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Ricercar à 6 from The Musical Offering BWV 1079 for two keyboards
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Variations after a theme entitled: “A woman is the most wondrous thing in the world” K. 613.
Vivaldi: Violin concerto RV. 229 arr. for 2 harpsichords by Stephen Yates
Camille Saint Saëns (1835-1921): Danse Macabre Op. 40 arr. E Guiraud
The number of Vivaldi’s concertos is immense – exceeding 500, the majority for solo violin and strings. Australian composer Stephen Yates’ love affair with Vivaldi has resulted in his arranging not one or two but 15 of Vivaldi’s violin concertos for 2 harpsichords. Completely at home with Italian baroque style, Yates has single-handedly considerably increased the repertoire for 2 harpsichords, enabling these stunning works to be heard in a different, but no less authentic way. But Yates has done more than a standard adaption of solo part with orchestral reduction. He has extracted, added and integrated the keyboard parts more or less equally between the players so that there is a true dialogue between them. In so doing he has created works that are peculiarly suited to harpsichords and it is hard to imagine them being rendered more effectively in their original form. Yates says he took inspiration for his arrangements from Bach, who also arranged concertos by Vivaldi for harpsichord.
While Yates has concentrated on repertoire by Vivaldi he has added this delightful overture by Johann Freidrich Fasch to his collection of works for 2 harpsichords – a German violinist and composer whose works were extremely popular in his day, though never published. Most of Fasch’s vocal music has been lost, though fortunately much of his instrumental music has survived. His music is said to bridge the gap between the baroque and the classical.
Originally for unspecified instruments, Bach’s Ricercar à 6 from The Musical Offering is worked along similar lines, interweaving the 6 parts between and within the keyboards. The Ricercar is part of a much larger thematically-linked work which Bach titled The Musical Offering and dedicated to Frederick II of Prussia. It is a collection of canons and fugues of increasing complexity together with a trio sonata for mixed instruments (flute, violin, cello and harpsichord) all based on Frederick’s fascinating chromatically-based theme (known as the ‘royal’ theme).
Mozart’s Variations for solo keyboard extend from K. 24 (which was composed when he was only 9) to the Variations in F major K. 613 based on “Ein Weib ist das herrlichste Ding” a theme from the musical comedy Der dumme Gartner. K. 613 which you will hear this afternoon, was composed in March 1791, Mozart’s last year. This is the composer’s most extensive, virtuosic and ambitious set of variations in which many parts feel entirely improvised.
The wild-card in our program is Saint Saëns’ Danse Macabre. Written in 1872 this wild saraband started as a song with piano accompaniment and text by Henri Cazali, later evolving into an orchestral tone poem. The poem follows the legend of Halloween when Death appears at midnight and calls forth the dead from their graves to dance for him until dawn. This transcription is by Ernest Guiraud for piano and four hands. The piece seems to have had many lives.
