Welcome to Salut! Baroque’s 2024 Concert Series paying tribute to our Musical Personalities
Music is dramatic, passionate, tragic and reflects our cultural identity. It inspires, creates joy and conveys mood and emotion. At times, music is synonymous with politics and power.
We owe an enormous debt to our musical pioneers: the composers, patrons, publishers and the librarians who conserved the music we still perform. Completing the picture were the 17th and 18th century historians who give life to the period – describing their friendships with composers, how first performances were received, and sharing the gossip of the day.
Join us in 2024 for a year of musical journeys as we explore music beyond the notes to the stories that helped create the musical masterpieces that continue to enchant us.
CONCERT 1
The Genius
CPE Bach described his father’s house as “like a pigeonry, and just as full of life”, with Johann Sebastian keeping an open house where “no master of music was likely to travel through [Leipzig] without making my father’s acquaintance and letting himself be heard by him”. Bach was a genial host, in contrast to his combative relationship with authority. The complex character behind the music we admire so greatly was not always so well regarded during his life, and it was often his rivals who enjoyed the greater success. This program places the genius of Bach’s music beside the composers who most impacted his life and work.
Performers
Anna Fraser (Soprano), Sally Melhuish and Alana Blackburn (Recorders), Sally Walker (Baroque Flute), Meg Cohen (Baroque Violin), John Ma, Baroque (Viola, Canberra concert), Suzie Kim, Baroque (Viola, Sydney concert), Tim Blomfield (Baroque Cello), Simon Martyn-Ellis (Theorbo), Monika Kornel (Harpsichord)
Program
Buxtehude – Cantata Herr, wenn ich nur dich habe BuxWV 38
Telemann – Ouverture-Suite in F minor, TWV 55:f1
Bach – Aria Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben
Bach – In This Shady Blest Retreat from Vauxhall Songs
Reincken – Sonata No. 1 in A minor Hortus Musicus
Caldara – Aria In lagrime stemprato il cor qui cade
Graupner – Ouverture-Suite in D major GWV 418
Monteverdi – Madrigal Lamento della Ninfa
Keiser – Ihr fliegenden Sänger from Opera Orpheus
Hurlebusch – Adagio from Concerto in A minor
Handel – Aria Occhi Belli, Voi Sol SieteI
Bach – Ouverture; Badinerie from Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor
Friday 16 February 2024, 7.30pm
Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Sunday 18 February 2024, 3.00pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
CONCERT 2
The Influencers
Expectations were high for salaried composers during the Baroque period. Constant demands for new repertoire required inspiration and creativity as well as talent. Influence ebbed and flowed between composers, nations, styles and beliefs. Bach was inspired by his devoutness and his vast collection of other composers’ works; Handel reinvented himself between German, Italian and English styles, depending on where he was living and what was fashionable; Purcell loved theatrical spectacle; and Rameau was fascinated by the exploration of culture from abroad. In turn, our curious composers influenced generations of musicians to continually discover new horizons of musical creativity.
Andrew O’Connor (Bass-Baritone), Sally Melhuish (Recorder), Jane Downer (Baroque Oboe, Recorder), Meg Cohen (Baroque Violin), Julia Russoniello (Baroque Violin), Karina Schmitz (Baroque Viola), Suzie Kim (Baroque Viola), Tim Blomfield (Baroque Cello), Simon Martyn-Ellis (Theorbo), Monika Kornel (Harpsichord)
Program
Avison – Concerto No. 5 in D minor
Bach – Aria Ich habe genug from Cantata BWV 82
Biber – Battalia in D major, C61
Handel – Aria O ruddier than the cherry
Locke – Lilk; Curtain Tune; Rustick Air; Minoit
Vivaldi – Aria Se il cor Guerriero
Buxtehude – Sonata; Vulnerasti cor meum
Rameau – Air pour les esclaves africains; Tambourins I-II; Air pour l’adoration de soleil; Air pour les Sauvages
Lambert – Ma bergère est tendre et fidèle
Telemann – Concerto in G major for Viola, TWV 51:G9
Purcell – Aria What Power Art Thou?
Monteverdi – Damigella tutta bella
Friday 3 May 2024, 7.30pm
Wesley Church, 20 National Circuit, Forrest, Canberra
Sunday 5 May 2024, 3.00pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
CONCERT 3
The Historian
Travelling widely throughout Europe and befriending musicians from Handel to Haydn, it is hard to believe that Charles Burney began his career as an indentured servant musician. With his intellect and extensive networking, Burney embarked on cultural pilgrimages, leaving a legacy of strongly opinionated letters, three books and four volumes of the History of Music. These reveal some of the most extraordinary aspects of daily and cultural life during the baroque period. Burney’s historical accounts, replete with gossip and withering observations, enrich our appreciation of the compositions and provide us with a rich source of cultural history.
Friday 21 June 2024, 7.30pm
Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Sunday 23 June 2024, 3.00pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music
Performers
Sally Melhuish and Alicia Crossley recorders, John Ma and Ella Bennetts Baroque Violin, Suzie Kim Baroque Viola, Tim Blomfield Baroque Cello, Will Hansen Baroque Double Bass, Monika Kornel Harpsichord with Duncan Driver as Dr Charles Burney
Program
Johann David Heinichen – Vivace from Concerto in G major SeiH 214
Johann Joseph Fux – Turcaria; Janitschara from Sinfonia a 3 in C major
Joseph Haydn – Adagio from Symphony in D Major Hob.I:6 Le Matin
Joseph-Nicolas-Pancrace Royer – La Marche des Scythes
Georg Friedrich Handel – Vivace; Largo; Allegro from Concerto Grosso Op. 3/2
Antonio Vivaldi – Allegro from Concerto in A Major con flauti obligati, RV 585
Henry Purcell – A Bird’s Prelude & Chaconne from The Fairy Queen
Francesco Geminiani – Andante; Allegro moderato; Grave; Allegro moderato
Nicola Matteis – Ground per fa la mano from Trio in D minor
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach – Allegretto-Presto from Sonata in C minor
Georg Philipp Telemann – Concerto in A minor TWV 52:a2 Gravement; Vistement
CONCERT 4
The Networker
With his exceptional networking skills and his 43-year association with the Dresden Court Orchestra, including 27 years as concert master, Johann Georg Pisendel was the beating heart of the most famous orchestra in 18th century Europe. Pisendel gathered and inspired a remarkable group of musicians and composers, including Vivaldi, Telemann, Bach, Albinoni, Quantz and Zelenka, many of whom dedicated works to him. Pisendel was a fastidious music copyist during his tenure. He also amassed a collection of more than 2,000 music scores from his trips to Italy and France, giving the orchestra unparalleled access to repertoire.
Friday 11 October 2024, 7.30pm
Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
Sunday 13 October 2024, 3.00pm
Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music