Program
Program Notes
Biographies

Musica Pacifica

Dancing in the Isles

Saturday, March 20, 2010 8:00 pm Synod Hall

Something for everyone! With rousing Baroque folk and dance music from Scotland, Ireland, and England, this program includes arrangements of traditional Irish and Scottish folk tunes, dance suites from the English theater, Jacobean masque music, trio sonatas by Scots Oswald and McGibbon, as well as works with a Scottish flavor by Matteis and Veracini, and Purcell’s famous “Three Parts upon a Ground” to boot! Come and kick up your heels!

Musica Pacifica

Judith Linsenberg, recorder
Elizabeth Blumenstock, & Julie Andrijeski, violins
David Morris, viola da gamba
Charles Sherman, harpsichord
with special guest Danny Mallon, percussion

Program

Dancing in the Isles

A Jacobean Masque           The Temple Anticke           La Volta           Cuperaree or Graysin           The L. Zouches Maske           The Fairey Masque Suite No.4 in C major, from the Broken Consort, Part 1 (1661)           Fantazie - Courant - Ayre - Saraband English Country Dances           Newcastle           Rufty Tufty           Irish Lamentation           Scotch Cap           Jack's Maggot

Anonymous William Byrd (c.1543-1623) after Thomas Morley Anonymous Giles Farnaby (c. 1563-1640) Robert Johnson (c.1583-1633) Matthew Locke (1621/2-1677) arr. Musica Pacifica

* * * INTERMISSION * * *

Traditional Scots Tunes           Johnnie Faa           The Gordon           My Lame Leg           Tullymet Hall           Lord Saltoun 3 Parts Upon a Ground A Sonata of Scots Tunes(1740)           Largo - O Mother what shall I do           Adagio - Ettrick Banks           Andante - She rose and let me in           Largo - Cromlit's Lilt           Andante - Polwart on the Green from Sonata in A major, Op. 2, No.9           Scozzese: un poco andante et affettuoso Traditional Irish Tunes           Bridget Cruise(Turlough O'Carolan)           Planxty Toby Peyton II(O'Carolan)           Larry O'Gaff           The Kid on the Mountain           The Mountain Rose

arr. E. Blumenstock Purcell James Oswald (Scotland/London, 1710-1769) Francesco Veracini (Italy, 1660-1768) arr. Blumenstock

Program Notes

Dancing inthe Isles

During the 17th and 18th centuries, an astounding range of musical styles, influences and cultural survivals co-existed in the British Isles. At the same time that the most fashionable continental musicians were transforming the cultural life of London, centuries-old Irish and Scottish culture was being preserved in the rural villages of the rugged northwestern outerlands, where Celtic languages are spoken to this day. A growing cultural fluidity added to this mix, so that composers and audiences began to grow accustomed to a blending of musical styles and idioms from across the British Isles and throughout the European continent.

The Restoration of the Stuart monarchy, following the death of Cromwell, was a period of cultural experimentation in England unlike any before or perhaps since. It was marked by a fascination with foreign music, literature, costume and design, and the re-opening of the public theaters provided many opportunities for playwrights and composers alike. Purcell's incidental music for "The Prophetess, or the History of Dioclesian" was composed in 1690 for an adaptation of an earlier play loosely based on the life of a third-century Roman footsoldier-turned-emperor whose rise to power was foretold by an oracle. Purcell and the librettist Thomas Betterton extended their semi-operatic version of the play by adding new musical material, including a monster scene (to make use of the stage machinery at the Queen's Theatre in Dorsett Garden), a "Butterfly Dance" and a concluding masque celebrating the triumph of Love. The suite is a typically Purcellian mixture of musical styles, including an overdotted French overture and a selection of dances which evoke rural England, courtly France, lively Spain (The Canaries) and pagan Rome (the Dance of Bacchanals).

The English court masque was a form of entertainment that combined music, dance, costume, scenery, and machinery, that was popular from the late 16th century to the late 17th century. The dances in the masque fell into two broad categories: The Antimasques (or Antickes) were burlesque dances performed by professional dancers and acrobats. Their music was characterized by frequent changes of meter and tempo, swift modulations, alternation of contrasting moods, and often ending with a lively dance of popular origin. The Temple Anticke and The Fairey Masque are such dances. These were in strong contrast to the Maine Masques, which were performed by the royalty, and nobility currently in high favor at the court. Their music was more sedate, dignified, and harmoniously structured. Cuperaree or Graysin (probably wrongly attributed to Coperario) and L. Zouches Masque were main masque dances. L. Zouches Masque, probably referring to the sponsor of the masque, Baron Edward Zouche, is a set of variations on the popular tune All in a Garden Green/Onder de Linde groene, also set by van Eyck and Sweelinck.

Scholars now believe that Byrd’s La Volta has no connection whatsoever with his famous pupil, Thomas Morley. Rather, it was dedicated to Lord or Lady Morley, patrons of the composer. Byrd set a simple corranto (a lively dance in triple meter) called "Italiana" in English and Scottish lute sources. Ottorino Respighi used the same tune three centuries later in his "Ancient Airs and Dances" suite.

Renowned as a composer of instrumental music and opera, Matthew Locke flourished with the return of the Stuart monarchy and renewal of the arts that followed. He composed incidental music for the coronation of Charles II in 1661, and the following year was appointed to the positions of Organist and Composer in Ordinary to the King. Records indicate that he was an extremely cantankerous and difficult individual. Nevertheless, he became close friends with the young Henry Purcell, who learned a great deal from him and eventually succeeded Locke to his positions at court. Locke was a fervent believer in upholding the indigenous English musical character and resisting the fashionable influences that were then sweeping in from Italy and France. The little Suite in C Major is a fine example of Locke's bracing and original style: The opening Fantazie is distinguished by mercurial shifts in mood and dramatic harmonic contrasts; the Courante makes use of clever imitative techniques; the melancholy Almande keeps us off balance with its irregular and unpredictable phrase lengths; the Saraband (a quick dance during this period) startles with its rhythmic games--only the most confident could possibly dance to this music!

There are written references to English Country Dance going as far back as the 1400s, but it emerged as a distinct genre during the reign of Elizabeth I in the 16th century. The dances were most likely amalgamations of the Continental courtly dances brought to the Elizabethan court by Italian and other foreign dancing masters and the popular dances done by the English country "folk." In 1651, John Playford published the first printed collection of country dances, entitled "The English Dancing Master," which went through many different editions over the next 130 years, adding or deleting dances as fads and fashions changed. (Rufty Tufty and Scotch Cap are from Playford’s original edition.) Country dancing gained popularity throughout England, as well as Scotland, Ireland, Europe, and the American colonies, and peaked in the late 18th century (as described, for example, by Jane Austen). After a hiatus of about 100 years in the 19th century, interest in these dances reawakened in the early 20th century and has continued through to today, with hundreds of new dances and tunes in English country dance style being composed by English, American, and European composers in the last 30 years.

The boundaries between folk and classical music from Scotland and Ireland are blurry, to say the least. Scottish and Irish dance tunes retain the two-part structure and continuous driving rhythms of many baroque dances, and popular song continues to be cherished in both countries as part of a living tradition of performance and composition. This music has enjoyed an enormous resurgence in popularity in the last few decades, with folk, rock, crossover, and “fusion” performers all adding their own spin to this wonderful and adaptable repertoire. Elizabeth Blumenstock has arranged suites for Musica Pacifica in this spirit. It is likely that the earliest versions of Scots and Irish tunes were performed without even the accompaniment of a bass line; some tentative and often uninspired bass lines were composed during the 18th century, but there was little in the way of counterpoint or countermelodies offered during the Baroque era.

The Chaconne "Three Parts Upon a Ground" is probably Purcell's most extravagant work based on a ground bass (simple, repeated bass figure) commonly used by English composers of the time. Here, the ground is repeated 28 times, with a coda marked "drag," made from its last four notes. Due to stylistic evidence, it is believed that the piece dates from the period between 1680 and 1683: between the composition of the great early Fantasies for viol and the more "modern" violin sonatas of three parts. Purcell employs the complexities of the earlier works (particularly canons of all kinds) but begins to show some of the more virtuosic touches characteristic of the latter.

During the intense and long-lasting period of infatuation with all things Scottish that swept the Continent in the 18th century, many composers and poets fell under the sway of the beautiful Celtic tunes. Veracini, Geminiani, Haydn and Beethoven, to name just a few, all made arrangements of them; Haydn set hundreds of them, and added a violin part to the keyboard and vocal lines. Veracini's homage to Scottish taste, in the movement from his Sonata for violin in A major, “Scozzese,” is a minor masterpiece of blended Italian and Scottish styles.

In London, James Oswald's compositions "in the Scotch Taste" proved similarly tantalizing to genteel audiences. Oswald was a composer, concert promoter and music publisher who began his career as a dancing instructor in the Scottish lowlands. His earliest compositions were fiddle variations on popular tunes, some of which he published anonymously or under the nom-de-plume "David Rizzio.” A variety of musical opportunities brought him first to Edinburgh and eventually to London, where he perfected his compositional skills in both "Scottish" and "classical" idioms, which he frequently combined. His "Sonata of Scots Tunes" is just such a hybrid: Oswald gives pre-existing Scots folk tunes a standard Italianate trio sonata treatment, juxtaposing pieces of different character and giving each a supportive basso continuo line.

   

Biographies

Musica Pacifica

Musica Pacifica achieved recognition as one of North America's premiere baroque ensembles soon after the group's founding in 1990. They have been described by the press as "some of the finest baroque musicians in America" (American Record Guide) and "among the best in the world" (Alte Musik Aktuell). At home in the San Francisco Bay area, the artists are members of Philharmonia Baroque and American Bach Soloists, and they appear with many other prominent early music ensembles nationally and abroad. They have collaborated with such early music luminaries as Stephen Stubbs (lute/guitar) and Maxine Eilander (harps); sopranos Ellen Hargis and Julianne Baird; countertenor and cornettist, Michael Collver; bassoonist Michael McCraw, and Baroque dancers Linda Tomko & Co.

Mining a rich vein of Baroque literature for mixed wind/string ensemble, the group performs the spirited chamber concerti of Vivaldi and Telemann, colorful dance suites from the courts and opera houses of France, rousing folk music from Ireland and Scotland, and the more intimate solo, duo, and trio sonatas from European countries as diverse as Poland, Spain, Austria, and England.

Musica Pacifica's stylish, high-energy, and virtuoso performances have consistently received enthusiastic reviews from critics and audiences alike. These qualities have led to appearances on such prestigious chamber and early music concert series as Music Before 1800 and the Frick Collection (NY), Tage Alter Musik (Regensburg), the Shrine to Music Museum (Vermillion, SD), the Cleveland Art Museum, the Pittsburgh Renaissance and Baroque Society, the Seattle Early Music Guild, Milwaukee's Early Music Now, the Houston Early Music Society, the Los Angeles County Museum, the San Diego Early Music Society, and the Cambridge Early Music Society (MA), among many others. They have been a featured ensemble at the Berkeley Early Music Festival three times, and their first appearance there was cited in Early Music (UK) as "perhaps the standout of the entire festival." They have performed at festivals in Germany and Austria and have been heard on German National radio as well as on National Public Radio’s "Performance Today" and "Harmonia."

Each of Musica Pacifica's seven CD releases--Bach Trio Sonatas and a 2-CD set of Marais, Pièces en trio on Virgin/Veritas; Alessandro Scarlatti Concerti da camera, Mancini Concerti da camera, Telemann Chamber Cantatas and Trio Sonatas, Vivaldi La Notte: Concerti per strumenti diversi , and Fire Beneath My Fingers, on Dorian have won national and international awards, including the highest ratings in several CD magazines and each one being chosen as "CD of the Month" by the early music journal Alte Musik Aktuell (Regensburg). Fire Beneath My Fingers was touted as “one off the most exciting Baroque recordings I’ve heard” on Audiophile Audition, and was a featured recording on Minnesota Public Radio. The Telemann CD, described by Early Music America Magazine as "superbly elegant . . . exemplifying the finest in historical performance today," won Chamber Music America and WQXR's 2003 Record Award honoring the best chamber music recordings of the year. The Mancini recording was cited as a "Noteworthy Disc" in the 2000 International Antonio Vivaldi Awards for Italian Early Music in Venice--the only CD that year by a North American ensemble to receive the honor.

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Judith Linsenberg, recorder, is one of the leading exponents of the recorder in the US and has been acclaimed for her "virtuosity," "expressivity," and "fearless playing." She has performed extensively throughout the United States and Europe, including solo appearances at the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center; and has been featured with such leading American ensembles as the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco and Los Angeles Operas, the Oregon Symphony, LA Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, the Portland and Seattle Baroque Orchestras, the Oregon and Carmel, Bach Festivals, Musica Angelica of Los Angeles, and others. She is the winner of national performance awards and has premiered several new works for the recorder. Ms. Linsenberg has recorded for Virgin Classics, Dorian, harmonia mundi usa, Koch International, Reference Recordings, Musical Heritage Society, and Hännsler Classics. A Fulbright scholar to Austria, she was awarded the Soloist Diploma with Highest Honors from the Vienna Academy of Music. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Princeton University, holds a doctorate in early music from Stanford University, and has been a visiting professor at the Vienna Conservatory and Indiana University’s Early Music Institute in Bloomington. She has taught at Stanford, the SF Conservatory, and at early music workshops throughout the United States.

Elizabeth Blumenstock, one of the country's leading baroque violinists, is widely admired for her interpretive eloquence and technical sparkle. She serves frequently as concertmaster with Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, American Bach Soloists, the Goettingen Handel Festival Orchestra, and the Italian ensemble, Il Complesso Barocco, she is also a founding member of several of California's finest period instrument ensembles, including Musica Pacifica, Trio Galatea, and the Arcadian Academy. She has performed at the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, the Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Los Angeles Opera, the Carmel Bach Festival, the Oulunsalo Soi Festival in Finland and the San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, among many others. With over 90 recordings to her credit, she has recorded for Dorian, harmonia mundi, Virgin Classics, BMG, Reference Recordings, Koch International, Sony, New Albion and others. She is instructor of baroque violin at the University of Southern California, and teaches regularly at the International Baroque Institute at Longy.

David Morris (cello, viola da gamba) received his B.A. and M.A. in Music from UC Berkeley. He performs with The King's Noyse, the Sex Chordae Consort of Viols, The Galax Quartet, the New York State Baroque Ensemble, American Bach Soloists and Musica Angelica, and has performed with Tafelmusik, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, The Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles Baroque Orchestras and the Mark Morris Dance Company. He was the founder and Music Director for the Bay Area baroque opera company Teatro Bacchino, and has produced operas for the Berkeley Early Music Festival and the San Francisco Early Music Society. He has been a guest instructor in early music performance-practice at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Cruz, Cornell University, Oberlin College, Mills College and the SF Conservatory of Music. He has recorded for Harmonia Mundi, New Albion, New World, Dorian, NPR (with The King's Noyse) and New Line Cinema.

Charles Sherman, harpsichord, is recognized as one of the leading harpsichord soloists and continuo players in the country and has been called a "fluent virtuoso" by the Los Angeles Times. Since 1997, he has been a member of Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra and Musica Pacifica. Previously, as a member of the Aulos Ensemble (NY) for many years, he toured regularly throughout North America and overseas and recorded extensively. He has also performed with such acclaimed ensembles as the Philadelphia Orchestra, American Baroque (SF), Musica Angelica (LA), Handel & Haydn Society and Emmanuel Music (Boston), St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble and Concert Royal (NY), and at well-known music festivals, including Marlboro, Saratoga, the New England Bach Festival, the Boston and Berkeley Early Music Festivals, and Aston Magna. Mr. Sherman holds degrees in History and Musicology from The University of Chicago and in Harpsichord Performance from the Juilliard School, where he studied with Albert Fuller. He is one of today's leading exponents of the art of basso continuo realization and frequently teaches master classes on Baroque accompaniment. His recordings appear on the Dorian, Musical Heritage Society, Koch International, Referemce Recordings, and BMG labels.

Julie Andrijeski, violin, is one of the most active performers on the American early music scene today. She holds principal positions with many ensembles and orchestras in the US, including New York State Baroque, Apollo’s Fire, The King's Noyse, and Quicksilver. Recently, she appeared in Early Music Festivals in Bruges and Vancouver; and performed with the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra in Versailles. For many years, she was a member of Chatham Baroque. Her recordings appear on the Dorian, Centaur, and Musica Omnia labels. Ms. Andrijeski holds a D.M.A. in Early Music from Case Western Reserve University, where she now teaches baroque violin, and performance practice of music and dance, and directs the Case/CIM Baroque Orchestra and Chamber Ensembles. This year she is also Visiting Assistant Professor at the Oberlin Conservatory. During the summer, she is on the faculties of the Oberlin Baroque Performance Institute, the Madison Early Music Festival, and the Vancouver Early Music Festival. She also frequently combines her skills as violinist, choreographer, and dancer for theatrical productions and music/dance workshops.

Danny Mallon, percussion, holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in classical orchestral percussion from the Mannes College of Music in NYC, where he has been a faculty member since 1991. In addition to three recordings with Chatham Baroque on the Dorian label, he can also be heard on Piffaro's Dorian recording. He has recently recorded with the Baltimore Consort, Brio and on Ron McFarlane's solo recording on the new Dorian/Sono Luminus label. As well as recording spots for TV, radio and film, he has performed with Jordi Savall's period orchestra, "Le Concert Des Nations"; The Baltimore Consort; Ensemble Galilei; Rebel; Apollo's Fire; The NY Collegium; Artek; AmorArtis Chorus and Baroque Orchestra and with Paula Robison and Ken Cooper. His festival appearances include Spoleto; the Berkeley Early Music Festival; the Madison Early Music Festival; the east Coast Baroque Dance workshop; the International Festival of Latin American Renaissance and Baroque Music in Bolivia and the Festival of Baroque Music in San Louis Potosi, Mexico.