Duo Seraphim

2.15pm, Sunday 4 July 2010

St Cuthbert's Presbyterian Church

10 Wilson Street, Brighton 

(click HERE for a map)

Kieran Crichton (Organ)

Matthew Schultz (Trumpet) 

Programme

Sinfonia in D – G. Torelli

Concerto in a minor [BWV 593] – A. Vivaldi, transcribed J.S. Bach

Canzona a 5 – G. Frescobaldi

Toccata

Ricercar

Bergamasca – Frescobaldi

Sonata detta la Verliche

Sonata detta dell’Arcinboldo – G. Fantini

Balletto—Corrente—Passacagli – Frescobaldi

Sonata detta del Stuffa

Sonata detta la Renuccini – Fantini

Toccata and Fugue in F Major [BWV 540] – J.S. Bach

Canzonetta super Beatus Vir – C. Monteverdi

Programme notes below the jump.

Although Guiseppe Torelli (born Verona 1658, died Bologna 1709) was more widely regarded during his lifetime as a virtuosic violinist and orchestral leader, he has come to be remembered as the most prolific composer of the Baroque era for trumpets, for which he composed more than 30 concerti.  Torelli studied composition with Giacomo Antonio Perti in Bologna, one of the most highly esteemed musicians of his age.  Torelli was a significant contributor to the development of the instrumental concerto, and the Sinfonia which opens today’s programme represents a fine example of Torelli’s style.

Johann Sebastian Bach (born Eisenach 1685, died Leipzig 1750) was much influenced by Italian music, and is known to have possessed a copy of Girolamo Frescobaldi’s Fiori Musicali.  Another influence on Bach was the concerti of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), and in order to explore this music more deeply, Bach made transcriptions of several concerti for the organ and harpsichord.  Vivaldi’s concerto style is notable for the interplay between two groups, the ripieno and concertino, or soloists.  Bach’s transcription of Vivaldi’s Concerto in a minor [BWV 593] represents this interplay through rapid changes of manual.  A grander conception of the concerto style comes in Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in F Major [BWV 540], which opens with a series of canonical passages, followed by an exuberant toccata characterised by spinning figuration and in which the composer spells his name – B A C H (the last note is B flat, known in German as H) – three times.  The fugue which follows can more accurately be described as a ricercar, where Bach explores the possibilities of two themes separately before combining them in the final section.

Girolamo Frescobaldi (born Ferrara 1583, died Rome 1643) stands next to Bach as one of the most outstanding organists of his time, and as a major influence on composers down to the present day.  Frescobaldi held organist positions at the Roman churches of Santa Maria in Travastere and St Peter’s Basillica, where he worked intermittently from 1608 until 1628, then again from 1634 until his death.  Frescobaldi was a multi-sided composer who published prolifically for his time, releasing collections of keyboard music, vocal pieces and choral music including madrigals and motets.  The Canzona seconda detta la Bernardinia (published in Rome, 1628) features florid writing for a solo instrument (violin or trumpet), accompanied by basso continuo.  The First Book of Toccatas and Partitas (published in Rome, 1627) contains settings of dance melodies, and today’s programme includes a short suite of three dances from among this collection.  Frescobaldi’s greatest collection was Fiori Musicali (“Musical Flowers,” published in Venice, 1635), from which we will hear a sample of his toccata style, a ricercar featuring obbligato instrument, and the Bergamasca.  This last piece has an inscription which informs the reader that “he who plays this Bergamasca will learn nothing from it.”  The piece itself describes the clumsy rustic dancing of the natives of Bergamo, reputed to be very awkward in their manners.

Girolamo Fantini (baptised Spoletto 1600, died Florence (?) 1675) is one of the more enigmatic figures of the Baroque era to English-speaking musicians.  Less mysterious is his influence on the development of the trumpet; in 1638 Fantini published a new trumpet method, which included a groundbreaking description of extended techniques that allowed the upper compass of the trumpet to be extended.  Fantini was active in many places in Italy, and famously performed in a concert with Frescobaldi in Rome in 1634.  The Ten Sonatas for Trumpet and Basso Continuo formed part of Fantini’s trumpet method, in which they were collected together with dances and other pieces exploring various techniques and styles.  The Ten Sonatas employ a direct compositional language, with minimal ornamentation and very sparing use of changing metres (a technique much beloved of Frescobaldi).

Claudio Monteverdi (born Cremona 1567, died Venice 1643) is one of the giants of music before the time of Bach.  Like Frescobaldi, Monteverdi was a prolific publisher with no fewer than nine books of madrigals to his credit, in addition to at least eighteen operas and the famous Vespers of 1610.  In 1613, Monteverdi was appointed Maestro di Cappella at the ducal Basilica of St Mark in Venice, where he built on the well-established traditions of choral and orchestral music in the liturgical life of the church.  The Canzonetta which brings today’s program to a close is based on Monteverdi’s famous motet Beatus Vir.