Yale Collection of Musical Instruments presents
T h e D a r k h o r s e C o n s o rT Kiri Tollaksen and Alexandra Opsahl, cornetti and recorders Greg Ingles (director), Erik Schmalz, and Mack Ramsey, sackbuts and recorders
in
The Golden Age of Brass Seventeenth-Century Music of Germany, England, and Italy 15 Hillhouse Avenue
New Haven 4 November 2018 3:00 p.m.
Yale Collection of Musical Instruments 15 Hillhouse Avenue New Haven
4 November 2018 3:00 pm
TheDark Horse Consort The Golden Age of Brass gerMany Daniel Speer
Sonata á 5 from Die Bänkelsängerlieder Musikalische-Türkischer Eulenspiegel (1688)
Samuel Scheidt
Canzon super Cantionem Gallicum, SSWV 67 Ludi musici (1621)
(1636-1707)
(1587-1654)
englanD Matthew Locke (c. 1621-1677)
Music for His Majesty’s Sackbuts and Cornetts (1661) Air Courante Allemande Allemande
Jacob van Eyck (1590-1657)
Daphne (diminutions)
John Adson
(1587-1640)
Three Pieces for Cornets and Sagbuts
Nos. 19, 20 and 21 from Courtly Masquing Ayres, London (1621)
reTurn To gerMany Andreas Hammerschmidt
Suite in G á 5 Aria Galliard Ballet Sarabande
Johann Vierdanck
Sonata XXXI, “Als ich einmal Lust Bekam” Capricci, Canzoni, und Sonaten (Rostock, 1641)
(1611/12 - 1675)
(1605-1646)
INTERVAL
I Ta ly Giaches de Wert (1535-1596)
Vezzosi Augelli L’Ottavo Libro de Madrigali à 5 (Venice, 1586)
Giovanni Gabrieli
Canzona no. 2, C187 à 4
(c. 1554-1612)
Canzona no. 1 “La Spiritata,” C186 à 4 Canzona per sonare con ogni sorte di stromenti (Venice, 1608)
Andrea Gabrieli
Sancta et immaculate à 5
Claudio Merulo
Canzon 23 à 5 Canzoni per sonare con ogni sorte di stromenti
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583-1643)
Canzon 5 à 4 Canzoni da sonare a 1,2,3 &4 (Venice, 1634)
Claudio Merulo
Canzon 18 à 5
Giaches de Wert
O Primavera (prima parte) O dolcezz’ amarissime (seconda parte) Et s’altri non m’inganna (quarta parte) L’Undecimo Libro de Madrigali à 5 (Venice, 1595)
(1532/33-1585)
(1533-1604)
This concert is being recorded and streamed live over the internet. Please turn off all cellphones and electronic devices.
This concert is made possible by the generous support of the Associate Members of the Collection. 3.
Program Notes
The Brass Quintet - Then and Now The modern brass quintet has a history even longer than the existence of some of the instruments that make up the ensemble. The modern grouping of two trumpets, French horn, trombone and tuba had its beginnings in the 16th century, with an ensemble of two cornetti and three sackbuts. In this time before valves, the trumpet parts were taken by the cornetti, the wooden instrument with finger holes like a recorder, but buzzed with a small, acorn-shaped mouthpiece. The alto, tenor and bass of the ensemble were taken by a consort of various-sized sackbuts. Though the renaissance ensemble might look quite different from its modern counterpart, the function of the group has changed little since those early years. Our program will showcase the variety of brasswind-based repertoire, tying the modern usage of the ensemble to the old, while featuring works that were appropriate to their function then yet are still featured in the modern brass quintet canon. It is comforting to realize that most of the uses of brass chamber ensembles haven’t changed over the centuries. Early wind ensembles, like the Piffari della Doge in Venice, the Concerto Palatino in Bologna, the Stadtpfeiffer in German cities and Waites in London performed many of the same duties for which similar modern ensembles are hired. One of the premier employers of utility brass chamber ensembles was, and is, the Church. Whether for weddings, funerals, or important liturgical feast days, such as Christmas and Easter, town bands in the 16th and 17th centuries were gainfully employed by religious institutions. Aside from accompanying singers, these ensembles performed canzonas of various sizes, like the ones made famous by Giovanni Gabrieli, as well as sonatÌ di chiesa (church sonatas). Canzonas and sonatas were used as music to be played during reflection in the service or while the clergy were traveling during processions. The two collections of canzoni by Girolamo Frescobaldi give a veritable encyclopedia of settings, from solo canzoni for soprano or bass instruments, to various duos, trios and quartets for every imaginable mix of instruments. Canzonas and sonatas played for the court had the same structure as their church counterparts, but were used as a means of entertainment. Arguably, one of the most well known to modern players is the Canzona Bergamasca by Samuel Scheidt. A great organist in Leipzig, Scheidt was deft at composing a melody and interweaving it through all of the voices in a very engaging style, to great effect. The Bergamasca comes from his collection Ludi Musici (1621) and in that collection there are several other canzoni that could easily make the journey into the modern brass quintet canon. His Canzon super Cantionem Gallicum, or Canzon on a French Song, begins by staggering the subject through every voice a number of times before breaking it apart like a developmental section. The canzoni by the Italian Claudio Merulo begin with a
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similar stretto, fugal unveiling of the motive, but are much shorter than those of Scheidt, keeping a more simple, chanson like character on which the canzonas originiated. Johann Vierdanck’s canzona on the tune “Als Ich Einmals Lust Bekam” is unique in its use of a German drinking song as its fugal subject. Apart from setting the melody in all voices like Scheidt would, Vierdanck surprisingly at times has the entire ensemble play the melody in numerous parallel octaves, much like a group of rabble rousers would sing it in a local German tavern. One familiar work to modern ears is the Sonata from Die Bänkelsängerlieder by Daniel Speer. Like the other pieces in his collection from 1688, the Sonata has a simple form but a wonderfully engaging melody. Speer harkens back to the polychoral works of Gabrieli by diving the quintet of players into two choirs of three players each. The pitiable tenor trombone has to play double duty, as the bass of the cornetti choir and the middle of the sackbut choir, having almost no rest throughout the piece. Another genre of pieces one might hear at a modern brass quintet recital is an instrumental arrangement of a vocal work. Whether it is a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke or the Beatle’s When I’m 64, the audience knows the piece well enough that it doesn’t need the text sung to appreciate the music. This was also done with the early quintet, playing familiar motets in church or popular madrigals in the town square to sound the hours of the day. The five-part madrigals by Giacches de Wert lend themselves exceptionally well to be played by brass instruments, with their nuances of harmonic color, beautifully shaped lines and the inherent florid madrigalisms. The text allows opportunity for the early brass players to show the range of their articulation, getting as close as possible to vocal diction. If one were to look at a written out rendition of an improvised solo on a popular tune by Charlie Parker, one would see many similarities to the renaissance practice of the diminution. In itself, a diminution is a set of highly virtuosic variations on a single line of a previously written piece of polyphonic music, often a popular tune. These could be played as is, or used to understand the current improvisational style, so that the performer could then improvise their own sets of variations spontaneously. There were also unaccompanied diminutions such as van Eyke’s Daphne, which is exactly like a set of modern variations on a basic melody, each set more breathtaking than the last. Similar to the modern swing band, with its trumpets, trombones and saxophones, early brass players were expected to play for dances, especially outdoor events, where their timber could be heard by the participants much more than strings or recorders. The dances were made up of short sections that were repeated several times, often with improvised ornaments on the repeats. There are two sets of British dance music specifically written for brass players, by Matthew Locke in his Music for His Majesty’s Sackbuts and Cornets and John Adson’s Courtly Masquing Ayers’ three movements “cornets and
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sackbuts.” Wind instrumentalists did not specialize like they do today, and were often asked to be able to play several instruments, much like a Broadway woodwind doubler. There are many painted depictions of early shawm bands, where one of the high treble players is off to the side of the group, rubbing his mouth, most likely because of fatigue. In order to lessen fatigue, and to be able to allow for more dancing, players were expected to double on instruments like the viol or recorder. We will present the dance suite by Hammerschmidt and a vocal motet by Andrea Gabrieli on recorders, both for a much needed timbral break as well as a “chop saver.”
About the Performers The early music ensemble Dark Horse Consort is dedicated to unearthing the majestic late Renaissance and early Baroque repertoire for brass instruments. Inspired by the bronze horse statues in Venice’s famed St. Mark’s Basilica, the ensemble attempts to recreate the glorious sounds of composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schütz. Dark Horse often expands to include vocalists and strings, which when combined recreates the rapturous kaleidoscope that was the sound of the early 17th-century instrumental ensemble. Dark Horse Consort has been featured on the San Francisco Early Music Series, the Boston Early Music Festival, the Renaissance and Baroque Society (Pittsburgh), in addition to multiple appearances throughout North America with vocal and instrumental groups such as The Toronto Consort, Blue Heron Choir (Boston), The Rose Ensemble (Minneapolis), Piffaro (Philadelphia), Tenet (NYC), Bach Collegium San Diego, Bach Vespers at Holy Trinity Lutheran (NYC), and the Clarion Music Society (NYC). Greg Ingles attended high school at the Interlochen Arts Academy and went on to graduate from the Oberlin Conservatory and SUNY Stony Brook. Before his career in early music Greg was the Solo Trombone in the Hofer Symphoniker. He enjoys unearthing rarely heard gems as the music director of the early brass ensemble Dark Horse Consort. Greg is a member of Piffaro and Ciaramella and will make his Carnegie Hall debut with Quicksilver this season. He has played with such ensembles as the American Bach Soloists, Chatham Baroque, Concerto Palatino, The Handel & Haydn Society of Boston and Tafelmusik. He played with the Globe Theater in their Broadway debut of Twelfth Night and Richard III. Greg is currently the Lecturer in Sackbut at Boston University and teaches at the Madison Early Music Festival each summer. Alex Opsahl studied recorder and cornetto at the Royal Academy of Music, graduating in 2004 with First Class Honors. While still a student, she won the 2003 Moeck Solo Recorder Competition. She went on to study privately in Italy with Bruce Dickey, continuing these studies at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis. She works now both as a cornettist and recorder player across Europe and the US. Ms. Opsahl has performed 6.
with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra under Ton Koopman, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Apollo’s Fire, Cappella Artemisia and American Bach Soloists. She has performed at the Wigmore Hall, Purcell Room and the Royal Albert Hall, and played in productions of L’Incoronazione di Poppea with both Oslo Opera and Glyndebourne Opera. She recently recorded the Vivaldi’s Concerto in C Minor, RV 441 with the Norwegian period orchestra Barokkanerne under the label 2L. Mack Ramsey has been a lifelong specialist in performance on early instruments, playing sackbut, recorder, Renaissance flute and classical era trombones. In addition to Dark Horse Consort, he frequently appears with baroque orchestras, such as Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society, Trinity Wall Street Baroque Orchestra, Clarion Society, Apollo’s Fire and Mercury Houston. Other ensembles include New York’s Green Mountain Project, Tenet, Toronto Consort, Piffaro and Pacific Musicworks. Overseas, he has performed and recorded with the Taverner Consort, directed by Andrew Parrott and with the Gabrieli Consort, directed by Paul McCreesh. A specialist in trombones and performance from the renaissance to the romantic periods, Erik Schmalz works internationally with many prestigious ensembles in addition to Dark Horse Consort. Among others, these include Tafelmusik, Piffaro, Ciaramella, Green Mountain Project, The Toronto Consort, Trinity Baroque Orchestra, Opera Lafayette, and Handel and Haydn Society. Performing on period trombones, renaissance slide trumpet, and recorder, his versatility also led him to be cast as one of the seven instrumentalists in the Globe Theater’s productions of Richard III and Twelfth Night on Broadway. Erik received degrees in trombone performance from Oberlin Conservatory of Music where he studied with Ray Premru, and from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music with Tony Chipurn. When not performing, he is usually maintaining and enjoying antique cars and boats, but can also be found teaching at summer workshops such as Mountain Collegium in Cullowhee, NC. He resides in Collinsville, Connecticut. Kiri Tollaksen enjoys a varied career as a performer and teacher. Praised for her “stunning technique, and extreme musicality,” she has performed and recorded extensively throughout North America and Europe with groups such as Concerto Palatino, La Fenice, Apollo’s Fire, Piffaro, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra, His Majesty’s Sagbuts and Cornetts, and Tafelmusik. Kiri is a founding member of the Michigan based ensemble Sfogati, and The Dark Horse Consort. As an educator, Ms. Tollaksen has been on faculty at the Early Music Institute at Indiana University (Bloomington), the Amherst Early Music Festival and maintains a teaching studio in Ann Arbor, Michigan where she resides with her husband and four cats. As a professional trumpet player (with degrees from Eastman, Yale and the University of Michigan), Kiri performs with the River Raisin Ragtime Revue and freelances throughout Michigan. For upcoming concerts, please visit http://www.KiriTollaksen.com. 7.
upCoMIng perForManCes In The 2018-2019 season Feb. 3
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Il FlauTo MagICo Boreas Quartett Bremen with guest artist Han Tol Music for five recorders
Feb. 24
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sTeven IsserlIs, cello roberT levIn, piano “Put them together and something magical happens.” --Gramophone
Mar. 31
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QuICksIlver baroQue Violini a due: An Italian Journey Works for two violins and continuo
Tickets may be ordered by telephone from the Yale School of Music box office at (203)432-4158 or over the Internet at: www.yale.edu/music Tickets
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$30.00 each, reserved seating $125.00, series of 5 concerts $25.00 each, senior citizens & Yale staff $15.00 each, students $25.00 each, Associate Member $100.00 series, Associate Member
Cover IMage Unknown (Roman) Cavalli di San Marco Copper and bronze, ca. 200-300 CE St. Mark’s Basilica, interior