9/27/2020 Timothy Albrecht Performs Bach Live-Stream!

2020–2021

MUSIC AT EMORY

This livestream concert is presented by the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage Box Office/Audience Information 404.727.5050 • schwartz.emory.edu

Photographs and Recordings Digital capture or recording of this concert is not permitted.

Event and Program Information Available online at schwartz.emory.edu.

Cover Photo

By Mark Teague.

Acknowledgment Eternal thanks to Donna and Marvin Schwartz for their many contributions.

2020–2021

MUSIC AT EMORY

Timothy Albrecht Performs Bach Live-Stream!

Sunday, September 27, 2020, 4:00 p.m.

Live from Emerson Concert Hall Schwartz Center for Performing Arts

Well-Tempered Clavier, Book I, Part 1 Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Timothy Albrecht, piano, clavichord, harpsichord, and organ Prelude and Fugue in C Major, BWV 846 Prelude and Fugue in C Minor, BWV 847 Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Major, BWV 848 Prelude and Fugue in C-sharp Minor, BWV 849 Performed on the Steinway Piano Prelude and Fugue in D Major, BWV 850 Prelude and Fugue in D Minor, BWV 851 Performed on the John Morley (London) Clavichord Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Major, BWV 852 Performed on the Graves Memorial Portative Organ Prelude and Fugue in E-flat Minor, BWV 853 Performed on the Steinway Piano Prelude and Fugue in E Major, BWV 854 Prelude and Fugue in E Minor, BWV 855 Performed on the Kingston Harpsichord Prelude and Fugue in F Major, BWV 856 Performed on the Graves Memorial Portative Organ Prelude and Fugue in F Minor, BWV 857 Performed on the Werner Wortsman Memorial Organ

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About the Instruments Emerson Concert Hall is home to three performance Steinways, including a New York Steinway Model D Concert Grand acquired in 2019 and made possible through a generous donation from Donna and Marvin Schwartz.

The petite John Morley Clavichord belongs to Timothy Albrecht and was brought from his home to the Schwartz Center stage just for today’s concert.

The Graves Memorial Portative Organ was made possible through the generosity of Edith Graves and other family and friends in memory of Sarah Graves 09C and Allen Graves and in honor of Don Saliers. We gratefully acknowledge this generous contribution.

The Kingston Harpsichord belongs to Don E. Saliers, theologian in residence and retired William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship. For many years he directed the Master of Sacred Music program at Emory, and was an organist and choirmaster at Cannon Chapel for 35 years. The harpischord has been on loan for the past decade.

Emerson Concert Hall houses the 14-ton Werner Wortsman Memorial Organ built by top North American builder Daniel Jaeckel and installed in 2005.

The organ is named in honor of Werner Wortsman 47C. Wortsman was raised in Germany with a love for classical music and opera, and at age thirteen came to the United States to escape Nazi rule. He served in United States Army intelligence in World War II before majoring in journalism at Emory. Living most of his adult life near campus, Wortsman (1925–2009) owned a radio station, wrote two books, and participated in Emory alumni events. The value he placed on education, music, and the arts inspired his bequest to the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory. The organ, which serves as the visual focal point in the Schwartz Center’s Emerson Concert Hall, was named for him in 2011, in recognition of his generous gift to the Arts at Emory.

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Program Notes Timothy Albrecht’s Bach Live-Stream! performance today features the first half of the Well-Tempered Clavier, the very first collection (1722) with a major and minor piece written on each successive note of the chromatic scale. But, what does that mean and what does it really matter? Why would a performer not offer a Sunday afternoon program with more variety, instead of insisting on the mind-numbing uniformity of a continuous string of preludes and fugues?

The following may both partially answer these questions and also enhance the listening experience: Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (WTC) is actually quite diverse, as each entry contrasts with its neighbors in key, structure, content, and mood. Although it is true that every fugue begins the same, i.e., with a solo melody then imitated in higher or lower voices, each WTC fugue has its own unique character—some are more lyric, others dance-like, and so on.

Since Bach’s WTC does not designate a specific keyboard instrument, today’s recital offers different keyboards/Clavier, each tuned in a different way (“well-tempered”). Because most know the modern piano best, we begin there, then move on to other keyboards beloved in Bach’s own time.

If these earlier points do not convince wary listeners, one may choose a differing approach: Simply imagine each piece as individual Bach offspring, each introducing themself to you, the listener. After all, Bach had 20 children, and imagined this way, today’s gaggle of 12 pieces is more than half of his brood!

Each “child” steps forward “The Well-Tempered Clavier presenting an individual is the highest and best personality. One shows a school; no one will ever nerdy, high IQ. Another tries create a more ideal one.” (like any middle child) to fit in and please. One may – Frédéric Chopin appear a deep thinker, while the next shows great dance skills; another enters telling a story, while a “sibling’s” hyper-sensitivity suggests a need for therapy. Thinking of each short prelude or fugue this way should both delight the recital listener as well as make proud the family progenitor, Johann Sebastian Bach!

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Timothy Albrecht The American Organist hails Timothy Albrecht, Atlanta’s Emory University organist, for his “creative, fertile imagination . . . electric performances . . . Lisztian virtuosity.” His recitals span Alaska to the Andes, and Texas to Taiwan. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung cites his “ever-present artistry and virtuosity.”

“Unforgettable, because inimitable,” writes the Darmstädter Beiträge zur neuen Musik.

Nobel Peace Prize–winner Desmond Tutu once wrote him about an upcoming performance, “I am so looking forward to that . . . knowing you will play as if your life depended on it!” He has performed organ music of Olivier Messiaen before the Dalai Lama.

Ambidextrous and possessing perfect pitch, Albrecht first studied piano with Eastern European musician Eugenia Prekosh. Elected to Phi Beta Kappa while at Oberlin College, he earned a doctorate at the Eastman School of Music, representing the United States at the Sixth International Bach Competition in Leipzig. England’s Cambridge University, where he has spent two sabbatical research leaves, has conferred him with Life Membership.

At Emory, Albrecht headed the graduate organ degree programs for a quarter of a century. He teaches master classes across the country for many chapters of the American Guild of Organists and he has performed and taught in Europe and Asia. He has also taught a master class at the Juilliard School in New York. His discography includes nine solo compact discs, and he has also composed 12 volumes of published Grace Notes for Organ.

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Music at Emory

The Department of Music at Emory University provides an exciting and innovative environment for developing knowledge and skills as a performer, composer, and scholar. Led by a faculty of more than 60 nationally and internationally recognized artists and researchers, undergraduate and graduate students experience a rich diversity of performance and academic opportunities. Undergraduate students in the department earn a BA in music with a specialization in performance, composition, or research, many of whom simultaneously earn a second degree in another department.

True to the spirit of Emory, a liberal arts college in the heart of a research university, the faculty and ensembles also welcome the participation of nonmajor students from across the Emory campus.

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More events coming soon to the Schwartz Center Virtual Stage schwartz.emory.edu/virtual-stage Jane Bunnett and Maqueque October 2, 2020 at 8 p.m.

Internationally acclaimed flutist, saxophonist, and pianist Jane Bunnett is joined by the brilliant Cuban female musicians of Maqueque. This awardwinning jazz ensemble performs a virtual concert exclusively for Schwartz Center audiences.

ECMSA Beethoven String Quartets

October 3, 2020 at 8 p.m.

The Vega String Quartet continues their exploration of the complete Beethoven String Quartets including ops. 18, No. 6; 74; and 132 with guest first violin David Coucheron. Award-winning classical music radio host Bill McGlaughlin gives an accompanying lecture.

Third Coast Percussion

November 13, 2020 at 8 p.m.

Grammy Award–winning, Chicago-based percussion quartet, Third Coast Percussion has created exciting and unexpected performances that constantly redefine the classical music experience. In this exclusive concert livestreamed from Chicago, the ensemble performs works from Perpetulum, a Philip Glass score the Chicago Tribune calls “rich in musical incident, its meters and textures constantly changing, its embrace of pitched and non-pitched instrumentation immensely appealing to hear.”

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Music at Emory Music at Emory brings together students, faculty, and world-class artists to create an exciting and innovative season of performances and events.

In a typical year, Music at Emory presents more than 150 events across multiple Emory venues; however, in this challenging season, we are committed to coming together virtually for a variety of musical offerings.

Spring 2021 concerts remain as scheduled, but are subject to change based on guidance from Emory University and public health officials.

Please visit music.emory.edu for the most up-to-date schedule and announcements.

404.727.5050 music.emory.edu