American Bach Soloists 2014 Festival & Academy Brochure

JEFFREY THOMAS music director

Bach’s Inspiration Tracing the influences of Italian, French, and North German composers on Johann Sebastian Bach’s music, the 2014 American Bach Soloists Festival & Academy will feature works by Vivaldi, Pergolesi, Buxtehude, and Bach’s forebears.

Musical delights and discoveries will fill the days and nights of the 2014 Festival. From largescaled masterworks for full orchestra, choir, and vocal soloists to intimate instrumental works, there will be something for everyone to enjoy.

inspiration

a person or thing that inspires

Friday July 11 2014 8:00 p.m.

Bach’s Inspiration - Part I

American Bach Soloists & American Bach Choir Jeffrey Thomas, conductor Johann Christoph Bach Es erhub sich ein Streit Dieterich Buxtehude Jesu, meines Lebens Leben Johann Kuhnau Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern Frederick the Great Concerto for Flute in C Major

DEBRA NAGY

Sandra Miller, flute

Alessandro Marcello Concerto for Oboe in D Minor

ERIC JURENAS

Debra Nagy, oboe

Johann Sebastian Bach Tilge, Höchster, meine Sünden transcribed/arranged from Giovanni Battista Pergolesi: Stabat Mater Eric Jurenas, countertenor Mary Wilson, soprano

J. S. Bach found great inspiration in important compositions by previous generations of the Bach family including Es erhub sich ein Streit, an exciting antiphonal work by his uncle Johann Christoph Bach written for the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels, scored for double chorus, 6-part strings, and 4-part trumpet ensembles. Dieterich Buxtehude’s music—both for ensembles and organ—was equally revered by Bach, as was the music of Johann Kuhnau, who preceded Bach at his post in Leipzig. Even Frederick the Great ignited a spark of inspiration when he gave Bach the musical subject on which the “Musical Offering” is based.

Bach’s practice of copying scores from other composers allowed him to study how they worked out their ideas. He would often transcribe them into new works additionally layered with his own ideas. One of the most fascinating of these re-workings is his transformation of Giovanni Battista Pergolesi’s famous Stabat Mater into a German-texted paraphrase of a Psalm. In Bach’s hands, the soaring operatic vocal lines of the Italian original become beautifully elaborate counterpoint. Bach increased the sonority of the instrumental ensemble by composing a completely new, independent, and exceedingly ornate viola line.

Saturday July 12 2014 8:00 p.m.

Bach’s Inspiration - Part II American Bach Soloists

Johann Adam Reincken Partita No. 1 in A Minor Nicolaus Bruhns Mein Herz ist bereit Dieterich Buxtehude Mit Fried und Freud ich far dahin Klaglied Georg Melchior Hoffmann Meine Seele rühmt und preist

DEREK CHESTER

Derek Chester, tenor

Johann Sebastian Bach Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F Major John Thiessen, trumpet

Amore traditore “Musical Offering” Trio Sonata

JOHN THIESSEN

Elizabeth Blumenstock, violin ~ Max van Egmond, baritone Corey Jamason, harpsichord ~ Steven Lehning, violone ~ Judith Malafronte, alto Robert Mealy, violin ~ Sandra Miller, flute ~ Debra Nagy, oboe William Sharp, baritone ~ William Skeen, violoncello ~ Kenneth Slowik, violoncello

In October of 1705, Bach was given one month’s leave from his job to walk 250 miles to Lübeck to hear performances given by Dieterich Buxtehude. He was so taken by this great musician that he overstayed his leave by nearly 4 months. The first half of this evening’s performance features the sort of music Bach would have heard on this excursion. After intermission, ABS will perform mature works by Bach composed after he had absorbed all he could from his forebears, peers, and colleagues, including the second Brandenburg Concerto and the trio sonata from the “Musical Offering,” based on a theme given to Bach by Frederick the Great.

inspiration

the quality of being inspired, especially when evident in something: a rare moment of inspiration

Sunday July 13 2014 7:00 p.m.

Sunday July 20 2014 2:00 p.m.

Johann Sebastian Bach: Mass in B Minor

Academy Festival Orchestra & American Bach Choir Jeffrey Thomas, conductor

The composition that many call the greatest musical work of all time will be performed by the ABS Academy Orchestra, the American Bach Choir, and soloists from the Academy, conducted by ABS Music Director Jeffrey Thomas. Fanfare Magazine wrote that “Thomas’ direction seems just right, capturing the humanity of the music…there is no higher praise for Bach performance.”

Never performed during Bach’s lifetime, the master composer documented his entire career of compositional styles, and even those of his predecessors, in this monumental testament to the epitome of Baroque ideals. Comprised of movements hand-picked by Bach from more than 35 years of his compositions, from beginning to end there is no equal to the perfection of this composition, presented annually at the ABS Festival.

The American Bach Soloists Academy—the educational component of the ABS Summer Bach Festival—offers advanced conservatory-level students and emerging professionals unique opportunities to study and perform Baroque music in a multi-disciplinary learning environment.

Academy participants are featured exclusively in three evenings of Academy-in-Action Concerts. Additionally a number of Academy-related events are offered to the public at no charge, including…

Public Colloquia

Master Class Series

Lecture Series

Annual engaging forums for performers and audience members alike explore a variety of topics centered on historical, artistic, and practical considerations of performing Baroque music today.

The ABS Academy opens its doors to the public to witness the artistic transformations that make Master Classes so tremendously exciting, as performers and their master teachers share their knowledge and insights.

Join the members of the American Bach Soloists Academy for a series of enlightening and informative public lectures presented by the Academy faculty on a wide range of subjects centered on Festival themes.

Academy Events Saturday July 12 2014 2:30 p.m. Public Colloquium Baroque Instruments and Performers, Then and Now: Creating a New Fusion of Styles and Tastes Join Academy faculty and participants as they explore the national styles of instrument building and performance practice that made the Baroque era an always-evolving melting pot of musical flavors and cultures. Three 45-minute sessions of lively discussions will address the ultimate artistic decisions and rationalizations that must be made by modern-day performers as they seek to combine scholarship with our own contemporary concert circumstances and expectations. (Free) Monday July 14 2014 8:00 p.m. Academy-in-Action Series Chamber works including Bach’s Concerto for Three Harpsichords in C Major $10 Tuesday July 15 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class Series Harpsichord (Free) 5:00 p.m. Lecture Series: Kenneth Slowik Bach: “The Greatest Musical Orator That Ever Existed” (Free) 8:00 p.m. Academy-in-Action Series Chamber works including Telemann’s Völker Ouverture in B-flat Major $10

Wednesday July 16 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class Series Violin & Viola (Free) 5:00 p.m. Lecture Series: Robert Mealy The Presence of the Past: Bach’s Relations to his Musical Ancestors (Free) 8:00 p.m. Academy-in-Action Series Chamber works including Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Trumpets in C Major $10 Thursday July 17 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class Series Violoncello, Viola da gamba, Violone, & Contrabass (Free) 5:00 p.m. Lecture Series: Corey Jamason Postmodern Bach: French and Italian Styles Absorbed, Transformed, and Made Entirely New (Free) Friday July 18 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class Series Winds & Brass (Free) 5:00 p.m. Lecture Series: Jeffrey Thomas All Things in Moderation: A Look at Handel’s Oratorio Texts from Dryden, Hamilton, Jennens, & Milton (Free) Saturday July 19 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class Series Voice (Free) 5:00 p.m. Lecture Series: Debra Nagy Musical and Dramatic Performances of the Passion Story — Before Bach (Free)

Friday July 18 2014 8:00 p.m.

George Frideric Handel: L’Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato Academy Festival Orchestra & American Bach Choir Jeffrey Thomas, conductor

Verses by John Milton, one of England’s preeminent writers, inspired Handel to new heights of humanist expression in the composition of this utterly sublime work. Composed between two sacred choral masterworks, Israel in Egypt and Messiah, Handel created a secular oratorio combining the texts of two of John Milton’s pastoral poems, L’Allegro and Il Penseroso, and Charles Jennens’ Il Moderato.

Handel called upon his unrivaled ability to express emotions to create a kaleidoscopic, musical romp through the pleasures of Happiness, Melancholy, and—ultimately— Moderation: “Thy pleasures, Moderation, give, In them alone we truly live.” Performed by instrumentalists and singers from the 2014 Academy, this lavish panoply of more than 30 arias and choruses is an exquisite musical delight.

Saturday July 19 2014 8:00 p.m.

Distinguished Artist Series

Mary Wilson, soprano American Bach Soloists

George Frideric Handel Tra le fiamme Johann Sebastian Bach Non sa che sia dolore Concerto in D Major for Harpsichord Solo after Vivaldi: Violin Concerto in D Major

Antonio Vivaldi Concerto in B minor for Four Violins In furore iustissimae irae

inspiration

the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative

This program explores the “Italian side” of Bach, including his charming secular cantata about a student’s voyage.

Vivaldi’s music in particular inspired and influenced Bach’s own compositions more than that of any other composer. Ms Wilson will perform Vivaldi’s virtuoso motet “In furore” with its dazzling coloratura fireworks.

Also on the program are the Concerto for Four Violins—later arranged by Bach for four harpsichords—and another for solo violin that Bach arranged for harpsichord alone (both from Vivaldi’s famous Op. 3 collection, L’Estro armonico). Ms Wilson has won the admiration of ABS audiences performing the music of one of Bach’s peers, George Frideric Handel. They greatly admired each other’s music, although their paths never crossed. Handel’s Tra le fiamme, composed during his sojourn in Italy, warns that butterflies drawn to a flame will burn but a phoenix will rise again.

Festival Schedule Friday July 11 2014 5:00 p.m. Opening Night Dinner 8:00 p.m. Bach’s Inspiration - Part I Saturday July 12 2014 2:30 p.m. Public Colloquium: Baroque Instruments and Performers, Then and Now: Creating a New Fusion of Styles and Tastes” 8:00 p.m. Bach’s Inspiration - Part II Sunday July 13 2014 7:00 p.m. Bach’s Mass in B Minor Monday July 14 2014 8:00 p.m. Academy-in-Action Tuesday July 15 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class: Harpsichord 5:00 p.m. Lecture: Kenneth Slowik 8:00 p.m. Academy-in-Action

Wednesday July 16 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class: Violin & Viola 5:00 p.m. Lecture: Robert Mealy 8:00 p.m. Academy-in-Action Thursday July 19 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class: Violoncello, Viola da gamba, Violone, Contrabass 5:00 p.m. Lecture: Corey Jamason Friday July 18 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class: Winds & Brass 5:00 p.m. Lecture: Jeffrey Thomas 8:00 p.m. Handel’s L’Allegro...

Saturday July 19 2014 3:00 p.m. Master Class: Voice 5:00 p.m. Lecture: Debra Nagy 8:00 p.m. Distinguished Artist Series Mary Wilson, soprano Sunday July 20 2014 2:00 p.m. Bach’s Mass in B Minor

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