At the Mormon University, Jerusalem, Ensemble PHOENIX presents "Glamour and Fashion: London on the 18th Century"

Moshe Epstein,Marina Minkin,Myrna Herzog,Lilia Slavny (photo:Eliahu Feldman)

For some strange reason, chamber music from Georgian England is rarely performed on our concert platforms. Of course, one major explanation might be the attitude that “no music of any worth was composed between that of Purcell and Britten”. Another might be that this instrumental repertoire was mostly performed in the private salons of the wealthy, an institution now almost forgotten.  For Dr. Myrna Herzog, founder and musical director of Ensemble PHOENIX, this music, belonging to the world of “Glamour and Fashion: London in the 18^th Century”, has as much delight to offer audiences as it has to its players. 18^th century London was alive with culture, with nightly performances at the Covent Garden and Haymarket Theatres, with more than 60 ostentatious pleasure gardens offering amusement. As to British music of the second half of the 18^th century, straddling the Baroque and Classical styles, the London scene was enhanced by the presence of such figures as violinist Felice Giardini, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel, Joseph Haydn and Carl Stamitz.

This writer attended the PHOENIX concert on March 5^th at the Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies (Mormon University). One of Jerusalem’s most scenic concert venues, the Center’s beautiful building and extensive landscaped gardens sit high up on Mount Scopus overlooking the Mount of Olives. Artists performing on period instruments were Moshe Aron Epstein-flute, Lilia Slavny-violin, Marina Minkin-harpsichord and Myrna Herzog-‘cello.

The evening opened with Trio in G-major of German-born Carl Philipp Stamitz, a virtuoso player on the violin, viola and viola d’amore. Stamitz (1745-1801) travelled extensively throughout Europe, his short sojourn of 1777-1778 in London bringing him much success. Performed by Epstein, Slavny and Herzog, the G-major trio set the scene for an evening of appealing, uncluttered music of genial charm. With Moshe Epstein playing the upper, more soloistic part and Slavny’s subtle, dedicated partnering, the artists offered performance rich in dialogue, in suave focused tone and delicate nuancing.

 In 1784, the European Magazine and London Review published an article that began thus: “To the honour of the present times, England is no longer to be pointed as barren of masters in the polite arts. Music, which formerly derived little advantage from natives of this island, now can boast of several Professors, who rival the Italian and German masters both in performance and in composition. The English school, we trust, will continue to do honour to the science of music: and it will afford us great pleasure to record occasionally the lives of such of the professors of the art, as, from their abilities and virtues, deserve to be transmitted to posterity.” The journal’s “composer of the month” was blind London-born organist and violinist John Stanley (1712-1786), a prominent figure in London’s musical life, a performer whose original organ voluntaries drew large crowds to the various churches and are performed to this day. A transitional composer between Händel and J.C.Bach, his musical style moved from the Baroque organ style to the pre-Classical concept. In Stanley’s Solo in D for German Flute op.1 No.7 (1740) a sonata in all but name, Herzog and Minkin played the continuo role (sympathetically realized on that of the composer). Moshe Epstein conveyed the clarity and sweetness of Stanley’s writing for flute; especially touching was the Siciliano (3^rd movement), to be followed by the elegantly stepping 4th movement, with its deftly handled flute variations most pleasurable.

Joseph Haydn’s Six Divertimenti à 3 opus 38 for flute, violin and ‘cello, were first published in London in 1784. The composer’s first chamber music to include the flute (possibly a gesture to the Earl of Abingdon, who had invited Haydn to come to London and was an enthusiastic flautist) the Divertimenti provided the middle classes with high quality entertainment.   Actually, much of the material of Trio No.4 is taken from one of his trios for baryton (a bizarre, ‘cello-type instrument). Displaying the delicate balance of togetherness and individuality, Epstein, Slavny and Herzog highlighted the heart-warming intimacy, the felicity, spontaneity and melodic beauty of this London Trio –  a hidden gem.

House composer at Drury Lane, London-born Thomas Arne (1710-1778) was known as a composer of masques, songs and fashionable Italian-type opera; he is also known for having composed “Rule Britannia” and “God Save the King”. Much of his output was burned in the Drury Lane fire of 1809; whatever remained was then forgotten for two centuries. The PHOENIX performance of his Trio op.3 No.6 in B-minor served as a reminder to listeners of his sophisticated, skilful instrumental writing, with each miniature movement a carefully-polished gem. The artists leaned into strategic dissonances, gave expression to tiny details, to chromaticism and tasteful ornamentation, all taking part in the lively banter of the final Allegro.

A contemporary, German court musician Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787), the last of the great viol players, moved to London in 1758, where he quickly established himself as a significant writer of chamber music. Slavny, Minkin and Herzog (the ‘cello here joining as an equal player, not in the continuo role) performed Abel’s Sonata No.2 in C-major op.9 No.1, (c.1772) a galant, lyrical bipartite work of the style of light chamber music popular in Georgian London. In the opening Moderato movement, Slavny’s elegant ornamenting of the repeats added to the work’s dapper feel as did the players added a touch of the inégal and made use of cadential dissonance, with detached textures chosen for the ensuing Vivace.  Their playing created a musical portrait Abel himself, a genteel character who hobnobbed with London’s artists, engravers and designers, those including Gainsborough and Cipriani.

Commissioned by The King’s Theatre in London to write two operas for the 1762-63 season, Johann Christian Bach (J.S.Bach’s youngest son) moved to London at age 27, making his home there, dwelling in prestigious locations and receiving the position of music master to Queen Charlotte and her family. In 1764, the younger Bach (1735-1782) began collaboration with Abel (who had studied with Johann Sebastian) in what was known as the Bach-Abel concert series; it was in those concerts that the two aired many of their works. Published in 1763 and dedicated to Queen Charlotte, J.C.Bach’s six opus 1 concertos were written for both the concert hall and for amateur musicians in the home. At the Jerusalem performance, this vibrant work made for fine concert fare. Its opening movement bristled with effervescent joie-de-vivre. In the Andante movement, the harpsichord solo shone through, accompanied by pizzicato (staccato on flute) chords. Then to the variations on “God Save the Queen”, conveyed with warmth of sound, its tutti punctuated by plenty of solo sections on the part of Minkin. The “London Bach”, steering away from his northern German background, was paving a new way for the concerto in the chamber music setting.

There can be no doubt that performing this music on period instruments conjures up all the timbres and intentions the above-mentioned composers would have had in mind. The flute Moshe Epstein was playing is an original Rudall & Rose instrument from London (1827), i.e. an early Romantic flute, its sound indeed similar to that of flutes heard in 18^th century England. It is totally different to the modern flute, having a much gentler, more modest sound; an instrument with totally different fingering, so quite challenging to play, Epstein sounded perfectly at home on it. The violin Lilia Slavny was playing is a copy of a 1734 Guaneri del Gesù instrument built by British violinmaker Roger Hargrave (Bremen). She and Herzog alternated between Classical and Baroque bows. For this program, Myrna Herzog chose to play a truly Baroque ‘cello made by Johann Adam Reigeld (Germany, c.1730); this unique instrument has a penetrating sound and what could only be described as a “very swollen belly”. Marina Minkin was playing her Flemish harpsichord, built by Klop (Holland).  

Not hosted by singer and actress Susannah Cibber (Thomas Arne’s sister) at her Sunday evening salons, where she was hostess to “a constellation of wits, poets, actors and men of letters” (according to Burney, who also attended), not seated on Chippendale chairs or drinking tea from Wedgewood cups, the Jerusalem audience was indeed offered a delightful and authentic taste of 18^th century English salon music in another of Myrna Herzog’s meticulously-researched and enlightening programs.

 

 

Ensemble PHOENIX to present "Glamour and Fashion: London in the 18th Century"

Flautist Moshe Aron Epstein (photo:Eliahu Feldman)

In Georgian times, Britain offered its citizens a wide range of entertainment. In London and the provinces, purpose-built auditoriums were built for the performance of plays and music (it was a time of much theatre music), with London’s Drury Lane, Covent Garden and Haymarket theatres, each seating several thousand people, abuzz nightly. Audiences included people of means seated in the boxes, with poorer people squeezed into hot and dirty galleries. Audience behaviour there was generally unruly. The ostentatious pleasure gardens became a special feature of the London entertainment scene: at the Ranelagh Gardens, boasting sweeping avenues, a Chinese Pavilion and a fountain of mirrors, concerts were held in the 200-foot-wide Rotunda. It is known that 12,000 people flocked to the Vauxhall Gardens to watch Händel rehearse his “Fireworks Music” in 1749. By the second half of the 18^th century, there were many spas and over 60 fashionable pleasure gardens in London as well as in a number in provincial towns, modelled on those of London. The public was also drawn to riding the new hot air balloons, the many fairs, exhibitions and to the viewing of a variety of strange beings and events. The latter included giants, midgets, the obese, unfortunate and the strange people, imported exotic animals, animal baiting and cock-fighting, not to speak of such curiosities such as the famous “performing pig” with its ability to spell and trained bees and birds, but also visits to view the inmates at London’s hospital for the insane – “Bethlehem”! “Passion and Madness”, one of Ensemble PHOENIX’s most fascinating and more theatrical programs, presented stories and music – mad songs and instrumental – inspired by the goings-on in the Bethlehem Hospital and the public’s fascination with them.

Once again, Ensemble PHOENIX is about to turn its focus to Georgian London, a period of unprecedented prosperity and of culture then becoming available to a wider cross-section of the public, in particular, the new middle class – successful merchants, traders, craftsmen and professionals. “Glamour and Fashion: London in the 18^th Century” will present audiences with fine instrumental music from London’s cosmopolitan musical scene of the second half of the 18^th century, its vibrant events enhanced by the arrival of such colourful figures as Felice Giardini, Johann Christian Bach and Carl Friedrich Abel and by the influx of such outstanding foreign musicians as Haydn and Stamitz.  Audiences will have the opportunity of hearing works of composers popular in their lifetime but not frequently enough heard on today’s concert platforms. Artists performing in this program will be Moshe Aron Epstein-Classical flute, Lilia Slavny-violin, Marina Minkin-harpsichord and PHOENIX founder Myrna Herzog-direction, cello.

Sat. 04 March at 20:30

Haifa, The Studio, Beit Hecht, 142 HaNassi St., Carmel Center 
Reservations: 04 836-3804

Sun. 05 March at 20:00


Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies, Mormon University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem
Tel: 03-6265621, concert details: concerts@jc.byu.ac.il

Thu. 09 March at 20:30
The PHOENIX Salon, Raanana
Reservations: info@phoenixearlymusic.com

Sat. 08 April 2017 at 11:00 (Rachel Ringelstein-violin)
The Eden-Tamir Music Center, Ein Kerem, Jerusalem
Reservations: 02-641-4250
 

 

Viola da gamba player Roberto Gini in a solo recital at the Eden-Tamir Music Center in Jerusalem

The hall of the Eden-Tamir Music Center, Ein Kerem (Jerusalem) was plunged into darkness. Roberto Gini, viola da gamba in hand, entered the stage, sat down and lit an old-fashioned standing lamp, shedding light on his music stand. Thus began “Les delices de la solitude” (The Delights of Solitude), a solo viol recital by the great Italian exponent of the instrument, Roberto Gini, on January 1st 2011. In a highly informative article written by Gini, the artist penned his thoughts on compiling such a program of works relatively little-known to the concert-going public. For music for the viol was, at least till the 18th century, “an introspective instrument that expresses itself in poetic and musical language, intimate and solitary”. Considering the problems of choosing suitable pieces for the program, Gini made it his aim to present listeners with “the soul and expressive potential of the instrument”. Roberto Gini performed the recital on a bass viola da gamba built by Pierre Bohr (Milan) in 1991 after an instrument by Michel Colichon (c.1666-1693).

The recital opened with some ricercars from “Regola Rubertina” (Venice, 1542) and from “Lettione Seconda della pratica di sonare il violone” (1543), treatises by recorder- and viol teacher Silvestro Ganassi dal Fontego, both important sources in the understanding of technical and expressive approaches to the gamba and instrumental music of the period. Gini’s playing of these pieces was subtle and richly colored, the ornate, melodic “searching out” quality of the ricercar form expressing itself in a spontaneous fashion. Spanish composer and theorist Diego Ortiz (1510-c.1570) published the first ornamentation manual for bowed instruments. Gini played Ortiz’ Fantasia terza. In the intimate space of the Eden-Tamir Music Center the listener becomes acutely aware of the shapes, moods and affects of these superbly crafted vignettes.

Scottish-born composer Tobias Hume (1569-1645), one of the most eccentric and enigmatic composers on record, was a soldier by profession. He was an amateur viol player, his “idleness addicted to Musicke”, however, clearly a virtuoso musician. His pieces treat the newly-popular gamba as an independent solo instrument, orchestrated with melody and harmony. Gini performed a group of pieces from Hume’s “Musicall Humors” (a pun on the composer’s name) (1605), written mainly in tablature, this being the first publication dedicated to the lyra viol – a style of playing that treated the instrument polyphonically, as the lute. An “outsider” in all respects, Hume wrote music that was often too abrasive in style to be played at court and too difficult to be played by amateurs. In the descriptive and tender “Captaine Humes Pavin”, Gini’s superbly paced reading of it is both singing and varied in textures, his mastery of liberty allowing time for the melodies and feelings intrinsic to the work to unfold. The pieces in this collection are peppered with memories of the soldier and mercenary’s experiences, travels and acquaintances – a dignified description of “Beccus an Hungarian Lord”, the earthy “Duke John of Polland his Galiard”, the saucy “Touch me Lightly” (Hume was a frequenter of brothels and pubs) and the hearty, carefree, rollicking “A Souldiers Galiard” (Captain Hume was known to carry the viol with him even when encamped in a field!) Gini’s imagination and daring use of textures allow him to read into the brazenly honest, witty, affecting and poignant character of these unique pieces.

Little is known about le Sieur de Sainte Colombe (c.1630-c.1700); he was a fine amateur player, was Marin Marais’ teacher. Never a court musician, he was known to have organized chamber music concerts in his private salon. He is known to have extended the viol range downwards with the addition of a seventh string, and instituted the use of silver-spun strings in France, thus allowing for greater contrast of range and timbre and a richer, more strongly anchored sound. From the time his volume of “65 Concerts a deux violes egales” was discovered in 1966 in Alfred Cortot’s music library, there has been much interest in the composer and his oeuvre. Roberto Gini performed one of Sainte-Colombe’s solo bass viol suites from the collection of some 144 pieces in the Tournus Manuscript (Burgundy). A work composed in the 17th century tradition of solo unaccompanied viol music, it is a highly intimate work, a world of sound connecting the player to his inner self. Gini remarks on how “similar the colors and movements of sound are to the colors , gestures and expressions of the paintings of Alexandre-Francois Desportes, Hyacinthe Rigaud or Jean-Marc Nattier…” Gini’s performance of the Prelude is detailed in its elegant play of voices, its detailed gestures, in its air of spontaneity and eloquence. In the Allemande, Sainte-Colombe’s use of the whole range of the instrument is evident, including the use of solid bass textures. Following the Courante, the Sarabande was expressed in a pensive, personal language, Gini spreading the musical map in front of the listener gesture by gesture. In the final richly detailed Chaconne, Gini reminds his audience of how creative and profound the process the reading such a text can be.

Taking the listener to the last era of the viola da gamba, we heard G.Ph.Telemann’s (1681-1767) Sonata a Viola di Gamba senza Cembalo in D major TWV 40:1 (1728-1729). Telemann first printed the work in his music magazine - the first of its kind in Germany – “Der getreue Music-Meister”. In its four movements, the sonata takes the listener on a whirlwind European tour. Gini plays the English-sounding Andante in poetic simplicity, his phrase endings finely chiseled. The Vivace, an Italian kind of virtuosic string piece, is followed by the German styled Recitatif, Gini’s presentation of each phrase articulate, each strategically positioned, the different voices poignant in conversation. The final Vivace is in the French gamba style, Gini’s treatment of its melodic shapes never overshadowed by technical bravura.

German-born Carl Friedrich Abel (1723-1787), composer of orchestral- and chamber music, was well-known for his lively collaboration with J.C.Bach in producing subscription concert series in London, where he spent the latter 20 years of his life. Abel was, however an expressive and technically virtuosic player of the outdated viol and was known as a master improviser (even when drunk). The Drexel Manuscript, belonging to the musical archives of painter Thomas Gainsborough, contains 29 pieces written by Abel for the viola da gamba. A product of the Classical period, the pieces do not classify as Baroque suites, neither were they written for performance in court: they are freely-composed, personal pieces for the composer to play for himself or in company at a time when much music was being played in the private homes of the wealthy middle class. Yet, as we heard in Gini’s performance of the pieces, the demands of dexterity, fingering and bowing on the part of the player hark back to those in earlier French viol works. Roberto Gini played four of Abel’s pieces, showing their delicacy, the emotion created by harmonic development, their melodiousness and embellishments. The last of the four pieces, hearty and bristling with voices and ideas, shows the viola da gamba as a truly virtuoso instrument; yet Gini manages to present its complexities in his touchingly straightforward and sincere fashion.

Roberto Gini’s program was as representative of the repertoire for solo bass viol as it was of his art and his profoundly personal connection with the instrument. The audience was deeply moved by his artistry and his humility.