’TIS NATURE’S VOICE 2022-23
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Academy of Ancient Music confirmed their status as perhaps the finest period-instrument ensemble performing today… Opera Today
We are AAM Academy of Ancient Music is an orchestra with a worldwide reputation for excellence in baroque and classical music. Using historically-informed techniques, period-specific instruments and original sources, we bring music vividly to life in committed, vibrant performances.
Established nearly 50 years ago to make the first British recordings of orchestral works using original instruments, AAM has released more than 300 albums to date, collecting countless accolades including Classic BRIT, Gramophone and Edison awards. We now record on our own-label AAM Records, and are proud to be the most listened-to period-instrument orchestra online, with over one million monthly listeners on Spotify. Beyond the concert hall, we engage the next generation of periodinstrumentalists with side-by-side sessions, masterclasses and other opportunities designed to bridge the gap from the conservatoire to the profession, safeguarding the future of historical performance. AAM is Associate Ensemble at the Barbican Centre, London and the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice, and Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge, Milton Abbey International Summer Music Festival and The Apex, Bury St Edmunds.
Visit us at aam.co.uk to find out more
At a glance
’TIS NATURE’S VOICE 2022-23 Les Élémens A virtuosic celebration of nature and music 9 November 2022
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West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
The Musical Offering Unfolding the secrets of Bach’s gift for a king 2 February 2023
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West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Hail! Bright Cecilia Purcell’s hymn to music – the voice of nature itself 8 March 2023
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West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Scherzi musicali Novelties, parodies and flights of fancy 20 April 2023
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West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Il Trionfo del Tempo Handel’s spectacular, rarely performed oratorio 10 May 2023
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West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
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Welcome
from
John McMunn Chief Executive ’Tis Nature’s Voice; thro’ all the moving Wood Of Creatures understood: The Universal Tongue to none Of all her num'rous Race unknown! So writes the poet Nicholas Brady (adapting Dryden’s Song for St Cecilia’s Day) in the libretto to Purcell’s great ode Hail! Bright Cecilia. A bold claim indeed, as while it has become a cliché to refer to music as ‘the universal language’, few have gone quite so far in asserting its extension beyond humanity to the natural world. Such boldness feels apposite however in the current moment, and so we’ve chosen to dedicate our 2022/23 season to exploring the idea of nature, the natural world and our own place within it. Inevitably this takes in chattering songbirds, croaking toads, raucous storms and swirling tides. But it also considers the nature of music itself, the environments humans have created for themselves and indeed the very meaning of life. High-mindedness aside, the root of it all is simple: music of the very highest quality – by Handel, Vivaldi, JS Bach, Purcell and others – performed to the very highest standard by our acclaimed musicians. To paraphrase Brady: what else could so charm the sense or captivate the mind?
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from
Laurence Cummings Music Director It’s my great pleasure to welcome you to Academy of Ancient Music’s 2022/23 season, ’Tis nature’s voice: a year-long exploration of the natural world and our place within it. We begin with Rebel’s Les Élémens and its famous discordant Chaos chord, soon resolving into Vivaldi’s Flute Concerto in D major ‘The Goldfinch’ and Handel’s beloved Organ Concerto in F major ‘The Cuckoo and the Nightingale’. The season further unfolds with an exploration of JS Bach’s The Musical Offering, Purcell’s exuberant Hail! Bright Cecilia, an evening of ‘musical jokes’ and Handel’s great (and too infrequently performed) earlier oratorio, Il Trionfo del Tempo. Along the way, we’re privileged to work with some of the world’s great performers including AAM’s leader Bojan Čičić, singers Sophie Junker and Reginald Mobley, and our very own principal musicians who take solo roles across the season. Truly all of nature is here and I hope you will share in it with us. We look forward to welcoming you soon!
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LES ÉLÉMENS
Rebel Les Élémens Telemann Violin Concerto in A major ‘The Toad’ Vivaldi Flute Concerto in D major ‘The Goldfinch’ Vivaldi Violin Concerto in E-flat major ‘The Storm at Sea’ Handel Organ Concerto in F major ‘The Cuckoo and the Nightingale’ Telemann Overture in C major ‘Ebb and Flow’
Academy of Ancient Music Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord Cuckoos, nightingales, flood tides and a big bang, as Laurence Cummings conducts a virtuosic celebration of nature and music – baroque style. For the composers of the 18th century, nature wasn’t an optional extra: it was an everyday reality. So of course it found its way into their music too, and this delightful concert finds frogs and toads invading a concerto, wind instruments turning into songbirds (both caged and wild) and composers in Venice and Hamburg putting to sea on the tides of harmony. In short, all of nature is here, in music that’s alternately playful, touching and elemental in its ingenuity and power. Laurence Cummings directs soloists from within AAM, and begins with arguably the most astonishing natural wonder in all baroque music: the ear-tingling chaos with which Jean-Féry Rebel opens his suite Les Elémens. Music that was ahead of its time then – and timelier than ever today.
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Wednesday 9 November 2022, 7.30pm | West Road Concert Hall Tickets: £37.50, £29.50, £18.50, £5 (AAMplify) 20% discount for subscribers – see page 16 for all ticketing information
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THE
MUSICAL OFFERING
Unfolding the secrets of Bach’s gift for a king
JS Bach The Musical Offering BWV1079
Academy of Ancient Music Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
The Musical Offering: music written by a giant for a king, explored and performed by Laurence Cummings and AAM. On 7 May 1747, Johann Sebastian Bach arrived at the court of King Frederick the Great of Prussia. The greatest musician of his age locked musical wits with a monarch who saw himself as a philosopher, and Bach responded with The Musical Offering – a collection of pieces designed to put the nature of music itself to the ultimate technical, intellectual and emotional test. Dazzlingly imagined and endlessly rich, The Musical Offering has fascinated performers and scholars for centuries. Today, we unfold its secrets and explore its remarkable story, as Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music focus all their insight, energy and verve on one of music’s sublimest puzzles. Bach probes the nature of creativity, harmony and (of course) genius, in a masterwork that never grows old.
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Thursday 2 February 2023, 7.30pm | West Road Concert Hall Tickets: £37.50, £29.50, £18.50, £5 (AAMplify) 20% discount for subscribers – see page 16 for all ticketing information
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HAIL! BRIGHT CECILIA Purcell’s hymn to music – the voice of nature itself
Locke Suite from The Tempest Purcell Ode to Saint Cecilia Z328
Academy of Ancient Music Laurence Cummings conductor
‘Tis nature’s voice! Laurence Cummings and Academy of Ancient Music take Henry Purcell’s Ode to Saint Cecilia as the starting point for a musical journey through the whole of creation. ‘Hail! Bright Cecilia, Hail! fill ev'ry Heart / With Love of thee and thy Celestial Art!’ Saint Cecilia is the patron saint of music, and in London, in 1692 and at the height of his power and popularity, Henry Purcell composed this exuberant, blossoming hymn to music – an art that he saw as nothing less than the voice of nature itself. That’s just the centrepiece of a concert inspired by Purcell’s vision, a world where creativity holds the universe together and all music – from a soldier’s pipe to the choirs of Heaven – is part of a cosmic harmony. Purcell’s music has a special place in AAM’s story: directed by Laurence Cummings, it’ll sound livelier and more joyous than ever.
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Wednesday 8 March 2023, 7.30pm | West Road Concert Hall Tickets: £37.50, £29.50, £18.50, £5 (AAMplify) 20% discount for subscribers – see page 16 for all ticketing information
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SCHERZI MUSICALI
Novelties, parodies and flights of fancy
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Whether it was light dancing rhythms or the heavy tread of a ground bass, the mood was always right. The Times
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Farina Capriccio stravagante Westhoff Imitatione delle campane Walther Serenata a un coro di violini Scheidt Ludi musici Schmelzer Balletto à 4 ‘Fechtschule’ Biber Mensa sonora, Pars VI Schmelzer Polnische Sackpfeiffen Biber Battaglia à 10
Academy of Ancient Music Bojan Čičić director & violin Bo jan
Expect the unexpected, as Bojan Čičić opens the baroque era’s musical jokebook for an evening of novelties, parodies and flights of fancy by Biber, Schmelzer and their contemporaries.
Čič ić
Humanity is part of nature too – and never more so than when we’re transforming the world around us into music. For composers like Biber, Schmelzer, Farina and Scheidt, there was nothing that wasn’t musical: a fencing school, a busy street, a city bell-tower or the chaos and clamour of battle. You’ll hear them all in this flamboyant sonic extravaganza from six baroque masters letting their imaginations run off the leash. Expect bagpipes and bullets, pealing bells and rollicking dance tunes – plus a bunch of violins that think they’re harps. They’re painted from life by Bojan Čičić and Academy of Ancient Music – performers who know that the baroque era was at its best when it had a smile on its face.
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Thursday 20 April 2023, 7.30pm | West Road Concert Hall Tickets: £37.50, £29.50, £18.50, £5 (AAMplify) 20% discount for subscribers – see page 16 for all ticketing information
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IL TRIONFO DEL TEMPO Handel’s spectacular, rarely performed oratorio
Handel Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno HWV46a
Sophie Junker Beauty Anna Dennis Pleasure Reginald Mobley Disillusionment Nick Pritchard Time Academy of Ancient Music Laurence Cummings director & harpsichord
The Triumph of Time and Disillusionment: Laurence Cummings rediscovers the eternal truths (and very real delights) of Handel’s spectacular Italian oratorio.
So ph ie J unk er
Beauty knows that she’s fragile. Pleasure assures her that she’ll never fade – but then, he says that to all the girls. Disillusionment has some uncomfortable truths to tell, and Time, of course, always wins in the end. Or does he? In Handel’s allegorical oratorio, emotions take on a startlingly human form. Before he came to London, Handel took Italy by storm. They called him ‘the dear Saxon’, and in Il Trionfo del Tempo e del Disinganno he turns philosophy into pure theatre. Still relatively unfamiliar in the English-speaking world, it’s an absolute knockout: flamboyant, expressive and containing some of Handel’s very greatest melodies. It’s a real passion project for Laurence Cummings, who conducts four of the most charismatic vocalists on the current baroque scene.
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Wednesday 10 May 2023, 7.30pm | West Road Concert Hall Tickets: £37.50, £29.50, £18.50, £5 (AAMplify) 20% discount for subscribers – see page 16 for all ticketing information
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Join us
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The music is sublime, the individual personalities form a unique tapestry, and the opportunities afforded to meet players and learn about their period instruments is outstanding. AAM supporter
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Academy £1,000 Principal Chair Sponsor £3,000 Leader’s Circle £5,000 Bespoke packages available £10,000+
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As an Academy member, you will be at the heart of AAM. Immerse yourself in our work and meet our brilliant musicians through open rehearsals, interval drinks, postconcert dinners and special events. We also offer a bespoke ticketing service for our Academy members.
As an Associate member, you will be a valued part of the AAM family. Meet like-minded individuals at interval drinks and be among the first to hear about AAM news and plans for the future. You will also receive priority booking for our West Road and Barbican concerts.
Friends Gold Friends (individual £80 per annum, joint £120 per annum) Silver Friends (individual £40 per annum, joint £60 per annum) AAM Friends are invited to join us for an annual drinks reception and you will also receive updates on what’s happening ‘behind the scenes’. Gold Friends receive priority booking for our West Road and Barbican concerts.
To find out more, visit aam.co.uk/join-aam or contact Liz Brinsdon at liz.brinsdon@aam.co.uk | 07534 997803
Thank you
for your support 15
Cambridge subscription series West Road Concert Hall West Road, Cambridge CB3 9DP
Les Élémens 9 November 2022 | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
The Musical Offering 2 February 2023 | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Hail! Bright Cecilia 8 March 2023 | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Scherzi musicali 20 April 2023 | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
Il Trionfo del Tempo 10 May 2023 | West Road Concert Hall, Cambridge
How to book Online at cambridgelivetrust.co.uk/tickets Tickets £37.50, £29.50, £18.50, £5 (AAMplify) inclusive of booking fees Subscriptions Get 20% off and sit in the same seats when you book all five AAM concerts at West Road Concert Hall Visit aam.co.uk/subscriptions for more information Multibuy Get 10% off when you book three or more AAM concerts at West Road Concert Hall via cambridgelivetrust.co.uk/tickets
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AAM in London Barbican Hall Silk Street, London EC2Y 8DS
The Seasons with immersive projections 4 October 2022 | Barbican Hall, London
Messiah 16 December 2022 | Barbican Hall, London
Further concerts to be announced from September 2022
How to book Online at barbican.org.uk By telephone: 020 7638 8891 Monday–Saturday, 10am–8pm; Sunday and bank holidays, 11am–8pm Tickets Tickets: £50, £40, £30, £20, £15, £5 (AAMplify) plus booking fees * Multibuy Get 15% off when you book three or more AAM concerts at the Barbican Centre via barbican.org.uk *
Booking fees apply (£3 online bookings, £4 phone bookings). Booking fees are per transaction and not per ticket. If your booking contains several events, the highest booking fee will apply. Booking fees do not currently apply to in-person bookings. The booking fee may be reduced on certain events.
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Full programme details at aam.co.uk Music Director: Laurence Cummings Founder: Christopher Hogwood CBE Academy of Ancient Music Cherry Trees Centre, St Matthew’s Street Cambridge CB1 2LT UK
+44 (0) 1223 301509 info@aam.co.uk www.aam.co.uk Registered charity number: 1085485 All details correct at time of printing Associate Ensemble at the Barbican Centre, London Associate Ensemble at the Teatro San Cassiano, Venice Orchestra-in-Residence at the University of Cambridge Orchestra-in-Residence at Milton Abbey Summer Music Festival Orchestra-in-Residence at The Apex, Bury St Edmunds Artistic Partner to London’s Culture Mile Design by SL Chai Photographs: Chris Abney (cover) Benjamin Sheen (p.2) Benjamin Ealovega (p.3) Benjamin Ealovega (p.11) Jean-Baptiste Millot (p.13)
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