recorder notes · saturday, march 30 @ 2-3 pm: recorder music from around the world ages 9 through...
TRANSCRIPT
SEATTLE RECORDER SOCIETY
Recorder Notes
April 2019
Vol. L, No. 8
www.seattle-recorder.org
From the Music Director (Vicki Boeckman)
Greetings Everyone,
Ah, the spring has returned! The beauty at this time of year in our beloved Pacific Northwest never ceases to astound me, and the sight of the magnificent snow-covered mountains in all their splendor always takes my breath away. The drive back to Seattle from the Columbia Gorge workshop a couple of weekends ago was a stunning ride with every mountain clearly visible along the way: Hood, Adams, Helens and Rainier, and even a glimpse of Baker from a particular spot on Lake City Way.
Well, dear members, another season has zipped on by and the April meeting will be the last formal playing session of the season. Our own Miyo Aoki will be leading the session, so please keep on reading to see what she has planned.
Looking ahead to next season, please feel free to approach me either in person or via email with any thoughts or desires that you have for the music we play, suggestions for guest conductors, or opening programs. The SRS is here for you. I am really excited about the stellar faculty and the abundant topics offered at the Port Townsend Early Music Workshop in Tacoma in July. The summer is filled with workshops around the country and the choices are many, but I highly encourage you to support this very special local one and sign up if you can. It will be a memorable week.
Newsletter Deadline for May Issue:
Friday April 19
SRS Meeting
Friday, April 12, 2019
@ 7:30 pm
Playing session led by Miyo Aoki
All sizes of recorders and viols are welcome.
No Back Room Gang
However, Miyo will provide parts tailor-made for those
who usually prefer playing in the back room.
Content Highlights
Port Townsend Workshop (Registration Open!)
Members Night
Events Calendar
March Meeting
ROPS Concert Report From our President (Nancy Gorbman)
The upcoming membership meeting will include a short annual SRS Business Meeting. This will take place after our announcements at the beginning of the meeting. We will be choosing a President-Elect, who will run Members’ Night in May of 2020 and serve as President for our 2020 - 21 season. The Board’s nominee is Janice Klain. If you wish to nominate someone else during the busi-ness meeting, you must secure their permission ahead of time before we vote.
2018/2019
SRS Meetings
Meetings are usually (but not always—see *’d dates below) held on the first Friday of each month, September to May, at 7:30pm,
Maple Leaf Lutheran Church, 10005—32nd NE, Seattle. Meetings often include a short performance of interest to recorder or viol players, en-semble playing for all levels of recorder players, and a begin-ning recorder ensemble.
A $5 donation is requested for non-members.
*April 12 *May 10
Refreshments (April)
Fruit
Christiane Schulz
Veggies
Nancy Gorbman
Baked goods
Cathy Lacefield Chu-Lan Chiong
Thank you
for volunteering!
April Meeting (Miyo Aoki)
For the April meeting, I will bring selections from my favor-ite body of music: that of Elizabethan England. I find the music of this time and place to be exquisitely written, with singable lines combining in complex and unpredictable ways. This excellence of craft is probably due in part to the fact that many of the composers of this period’s surviving instrumental music also worked for the church, writing the music we associate today with a high soprano choirboy sound echoing in a stone cathedral. We will warm up on two simple pieces (a pavin and “gallyard”) from the Lumley Partbooks, an important source of English music of the six-teenth century, and then progress to more complex, con-trapuntal music by composers such as William Byrd and
John Taverner (who actually predates Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, but his music is too glorious to leave out!). In addition, I was inspired by Kris Kwapis’s fascinating presentation on the trumpet at the March meeting and will bring the charming piece “The song called Trumpets”, by Robert Parsons. To those of you in the Backroom Gang, you will be with us in the main room for the April meeting, but never fear, I will have parts tailored for you! SATB, great- and contrabass record-ers are welcome, as are viols. Feel free to e-mail me ([email protected]) if you would like me to send you a part in advance.
Local Recorder Happenings
Saturday, March 30 @ 2-3 PM: Recorder Music from Around the World
Ages 9 through adult.
Celebrate spring with the enchanting sounds of the recorder. Take a musical jour-ney from the Medieval period (the oldest recorder discovered dates back to 1400 A.D.!), through modern times. Experience the many sizes, shapes and sounds of this wonderful wooden wind instrument. Richmond Beach Library. Details Here
Sunday, April 7: Recorder Duo Concert with Laura Faber and Mike Woolf
Please join Laura and Mike for a recital of music spanning the 14th through 21st centuries, including music of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and modern eras. 3pm at the Sand Point Community United Methodist Church 4710 NE 70th St, Seattle.
Saturday, April 13 @ 9:30 AM - 5:15 PM: Moss Bay Recorder Society Meet
Moss Bay Recorder Society invites you to our annual Recorder Meet—a chance to play music all day long.
Three sessions led by three inspiring coaches—Miyo Aoki, Charles Coldwell, and Jonathan Oddie. Also a fun potluck lunch and a chance to see old friends and may-be meet some new ones. Regisration will begin at 9:15 so we are ready to play at 10. You can come for all day or choose just one or two of the sessions.
Bring all sizes of recorders, other compatible instruments, a music stand and something for the potluck.
Local Recorder Happenings (continued)
Maple Leaf Lutheran Church, 10005 32nd Ave NE, Seattle.
Coffee and tea, paper plates, napkins, cups, and plastic cutlery will be provided (of course, the environmentally conscientious may bring their own reusables). All are welcome. Hope to see you there!
Baroque Winds: Chamber music for recorder, oboe, bassoon, and flute
With Vicki Boeckman (recorder), Sand Dalton (oboe), Caroline Nicolas (cello), Jeffrey Cohan (baroque flute) and Jonathan Oddie (harpsichord).
April 22 at 7:00 PM: First Presbyterian Church in Bellingham April 23 at 7:00 PM: Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle April 24 at 7:00 PM: Knox United Church in Vancouver, BC April 25 at 7:00 PM: St. Luke's Memorial Episcopal Church in Tacoma April 26 at 7:00 PM: Brickworks in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island April 27 at 1:00 PM: Grace Church on Lopez Island April 27 at 7:00 PM: Orcas Adventist Fellowship Church in Eastsound, Orcas Island April 28 at 2:00 PM: St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Port Townsend April 28 at 7:00 PM: St. Augustine's in-the-Woods Church on Whidbey Island
Seattle Recorder Society’s Members’ Night on May 10!
Per long-standing tradition of the SRS, the final meeting of the season is Members’ Night. Any SRS member can sign up to perform up to 5 minutes as a soloist or with their ensemble. There are no restrictions on performance style, and past years’ performances have ranged from traditional recorder literature to poetry readings to saxophone ensembles. It’s always fun playing for such a supportive audience and also fun for those not performing. You may send performance info (title and composer of piece, names of consort members) to President Nancy Gor-bman ([email protected]).
Registration is Open for The 2019 Port Townsend Early Music Workshop
July 7-13 at the lovely campus of the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma. We are especially excited to welcome the composer Sören Sieg from Germany. Check the website to see details and register for the workshop.
SRS Board Members (2018/2019)
Music Director: Vicki Boeckman (206-985-9916)
[email protected] Music Director Emeritus: Peter Seibert (206-329-2774)
[email protected] Officers: President: Nancy Gorbman (206-852-4762)
[email protected] President-Elect: Michael Bancroft (206-523-6668)
[email protected] Past President: Molly Warner (206-523-5192)
[email protected] Newsletter: Mike Woolf (206-300-6623)
[email protected] Secretary: Kathleen Arends (425-649-9869)
[email protected] Treasurer: Richard Ginnis (206-633-1969)
* * * * Membership: Betty Swift (206-323-3879)
[email protected] Refreshments: Maja Eberhardt (206-525-4283)
[email protected] Librarian: Hanan Bell (206-695-2276)
[email protected] Webmaster: Charles Coldwell (206-328-8238)
Concerts and Events Calendar
Saturday, March 30 @ 2-3 PM: Recorder Music from Around the World Ages 9 through Adult. Richmond Beach Library. Details Here
Saturday, March 30 @ 7:30 PM: Joyne Hands—A Musical Celebration of Renaissance Masterpieces Miyo Aoki, Shulamit Kleinerman, Caroline Nicolas, Kevin Payne, Jonathan Oddie. Featuring works by Allison, Byrd, Dowland, Gibbons, and Morley. Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle. Suggested Donation $20.
Sunday, April 7 @ 3:00 PM: Recorder Duo Concert with Laura Faber and Mike Woolf Please join Laura and Mike for a recital of music spanning the music of the 14th through 21st centuries, including music of the Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, and modern eras. Sand Point Community United Methodist Church, Seattle.
Friday, April 12 @ 7:30 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—International Woman of Mystery Born in Venice, Antonia Padoani Bembo showed prodigious talent as a singer, staged a daring escape from a violent marriage with the help of a globetrotting guitar virtuoso, and made her way to Paris, where she lived and composed under the protection of King Louis XIV. Soprano Natalie Ingrisano joins violinists Romaric and Corentin Pokorny, cellist Caroline Nicolas, and harpsichordist Henry Lebe-dinsky to explore the life, times, and music of this exceptional woman. The Collective, Seattle (ages 21+). Details Here
Friday, April 12 @ 7:30 PM: Ave Renaissance Women’s Choir—Music From Old and New England Ave Renaissance Women’s Choir is an auditioned amateur ensemble specializing in the performance of Renaissance polyphony. Trinity Parish Church. Details Here
Saturday, April 13 @ 9:30 AM - 5:15 PM: Moss Bay Recorder Society Meet Maple Leaf Lutheran Church in Seattle. Three sessions with three great conductors plus potluck lunch. Details Here
Saturday, April 13 @ 7:30 PM: Gallery Concerts Next Generation Competition Winner’s Concert Rachell Wong, violinist extraordinaire won our national juried competition for young artists! She will perform music of Bach, Biber, LeClair, Tartini and Veracini, accompanied by Byron Schenkman, harp-sichord. Join us to hear a star of tomorrow featured with a star of today! Queen Anne Christian Church in Seattle. Details (including a great recording of the soloist) Here
Sunday, April 14 @ 7:00 PM: Schenkman & Friends—Leclair and Rameau: The Age of Enlightenment An evening of decadent and delicious music from the late French Baroque, including Couperin’s La Paix du Parnasse (“Peace on Parnassus”), Leclair’s second Récréation de Musique, and selections from Rameau’s works for harpsichord, solo and accompanied. Monica Hugget, Toma Iliev, Joanna Blendulf, and Byron Schenkman. Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall, Seattle. Details Here
Sunday, April 14 @ 3:00 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—International Woman of Mystery Same as April 12, but at Resonance at SOMA Towers, Bellevue.
Sunday, April 14 @ 8:00 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—International Woman of Mystery Same as April 12, but at The Royal Room in Columbia City, Seattle.
Tuesday, April 16 @ 7:00 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—International Woman of Mystery Same as April 12, but at Capitol Cider in Seattle (ages 21+)
Tuesday, April 23 @ 7:00 PM: Baroque Winds: chamber music for recorder, oboe, bassoon and flute Presented by the Salish Sea Music Festival, with Vicki Boeckman (recorder), Sand Dalton (oboe), Caro-
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line Nicolas (cello), Jeffrey Cohan (baroque flute) and Jonathan Oddie (harpsichord). Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle. For additional dates and venues around the Puget Sound area, see the description in “Local Recorder Happenings” or at Details Here
Friday, April 26 @ 7:30 PM: Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Byrd Ensemble—Handel’s Messiah Bastyre University Chapel in Kenmore. Details Here
Saturday, April 27 @ 7:30 PM: Seattle Baroque Orchestra and Byrd Ensemble—Handel’s Messiah St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle. Details Here
Friday, May 3 @ Noon: Avi Avital—Vivaldi & Telemann Israel’s Avi Avital is leading a glorious revival of the mandolin in classical music, fueled by his “deep musicality” and “eye-watering virtuosity” (The New York Times). Playing music from the instrument’s first heyday in the 18th century, Avital’s rapid-fire plucks and sensuous strums leave no doubt as to why Vivaldi and others in his wake were attracted to this small but mighty instrument with a pene-trating tone. The mandolin plays particularly well with others, a strength exploited in the fascinating Sinfonia concertante by Leopold Koželuch, Mozart’s peer and rival in Vienna. This group showcase for trumpet, mandolin, piano and bass explores the folksy charms and elegant strides of four unlikely partners. S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium - Benaroya Hall, Seattle. Details Here
Friday, May 3 @ 8:00 PM: Avi Avital—Vivaldi & Telemann Same as above, but with wine tasting at 6:30. Details Here
Friday, May 3 @ 7:30 PM: Pacific MusicWorks—Handel’s Samson Composed immediately following his wildly successful Messiah, this dramatic tale of love, betrayal, faith, and redemption has remained one of Handel's most enduringly popular oratorios. Stephen Stubbs leads the Pacific MusicWorks orchestra and UW Chamber Singers with internationally ac-claimed tenor Aaron Sheehan in the title role. Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood. Details Here
Saturday, May 4 @ 7:30 PM: Pacific MusicWorks—Handel’s Samson Same as May 3, except at First Baptist Church, Seattle.
Saturday, May 4 @ 8:00 PM: Avi Avital—Vivaldi & Telemann Same as May 3 evening, with wine tasting at 6:30. Details Here Sunday, May 5 @ 3:00 PM: Sine Nomine Renaissance Choir—Saintly Women This concert will be presented by a smaller ensemble and will focus on music written in honor of female saints. Motets and other works by various composers, including portions of the rarely per-formed Missa de Sancta Anna by Pierre de la Rue. Trinity Parish Church, Seattle. Details Here
Tuesday, May 7 @ 7:00 PM: Salish Sea Early Music Festival—Boston Baroque Trio Elisabeth Wright (harpsichord), Susie Napper (viola da gamba), Jeffrey Cohan (flute) Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle. Details Here
Saturday, May 11 @ 7:30 PM: Gallery Concerts—The French Connection: Telemann in Paris Telemann was German, yet his brilliant Paris Quartets are decidedly (and deliciously) French! Savor their rich sonorities and those of other musical delicacies by Couperin, Forqueray and Marais. Vive la France! Janet See, baroque flute, Linda Melsted, violin, Joanna Blendulf, viola da gamba, Jillon Stop-pels Dupree, harpsichord. Queen Anne Christian Church, Seattle. Details Here
Sunday, May 12 @ 3:00 PM: Gallery Concerts—The French Connection: Telemann in Paris Same as May 11.
Sunday, May 12 @ 3:00 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—Agave Baroque While Italy was busy acquiring its status as the center of the 17th and 18th century musical world,
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composers and performers in north Germany, Scandinavia, England, and Holland were busy develop-ing their own unique sound, blending Italian influences with a distinctly northern sensibility and style. San Francisco’s free-spirited early music powerhouse Agave Baroque offers up this program of fiery, bold, and inventive works by Buxtehude, Sidon, Peterson, Blow, and Roman. Resonance @ SOMA Towers, Bellevue. Details Here
Sunday, May 12 @ 8:00 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—Agave Baroque Same as above, but at The Royal Room in Columbia City.
Sunday, May 12 @ 7:30 PM: Seattle Bach Choir—Cantata Concert Free concert of two Bach Cantatas: Erhöhtes Fleisch und Blut, BWV 173, and Himmelskönig, sei willkommen, BWV 182. A wonderful way to celebrate Mother’s Day. Trinity Parish Church, Seattle. Details Here
Tuesday, May 14 @ 7:00 PM: Pacific MusicWorks/Underground—Agave Baroque Same as May 12, but at Capitol Cider (ages 21+).
Saturday, May 18 @ 7:30 PM: Piffaro The Renaissance Band And Ensemble Eos Ce moys de May: Springs Take on Life, Love, and Longing Celebrate the joys, pleasures, and piquancies of Spring’s awakenings with Dufay’s delicious three-part setting Ce moys de May, as well as Jannequin’s chanson of the same title, Morley’s It was a Lover and his Lass from Shakespeare’s play As You Like It, De Rore’s Rejouyssons nous, together with lusty songs, sprightly dances, blissful ricercars of wistful melancholies, and battle pieces depicting love’s skirmish-es, such as Vecchi’s Amor Vittorioso. Bastyr University Chapel. Details Here
Sunday, May 19 @ 2:00 PM: Piffaro The Renaissance Band And Ensemble Eos Same as May 18, but at Trinity Parish Church, Seattle. Details Here
Tuesday, May 28 @ 7:00 PM: Salish Sea Early Music Festival—Bach’s Triple Concerto Carrie Krause (violin), Jeffrey Cohan (flute), Jonathan Oddie (harpsichord), Stephen Creswell (viola), Courtney Kuroda (violin), Caroline Nicolas (cello). Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle. Details Here
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March Meeting Notes (Kathleen Arends, photo Bill Stickney)
President Nancy Gorbman trilled us to order, and we welcomed a newcomer who lives in the neighborhood! Then Nancy introduced our guest Kris Kwapis to present "Sound the Alarm! (or, How to Play Trumpet Calls Without Being Thrown in Jail)".
Short answer: Secure and complete your apprentice-ship to a member of the Trumpet Guild. Or if you were a town musician, one of your number was al-lowed to play trumpet from a tower for an event. But any unauthorized person making a sound on a trumpet was subject to being jailed, or even physi-cally abused by Guild members. One such unfortu-nate had his teeth knocked out by his own horn!
The Trumpet Guild was quite exclusive, keeping the market from ever being flooded with trumpet play-ers. Trumpeters' official role in the military, learning and issuing hundreds of specific calls to action—military secrets!—made them elite. A patrician's wealth and rank could be inferred from the number of trumpet players he had among his musicians.
The trumpet was first an instrument of war and then an instrument of art. The natural, or Baroque, trumpet can only produce the pitches that are in its harmonic series; so in the low register, the available notes are fourths, fifths, and thirds away from each other. This creates the sound characteristic of trumpet signals such as "Reveille" and "To Arms". In the upper register, the available notes are closer together, and so a scale can be played.
Kris played for us several examples of the natural trumpet's use by composers, including "The Trumpet Shall Sound" from Handel's Messiah, and the opening of Monteverdi's Orfeo. She was playing a D trumpet. She could have replaced the crook with a longer one to play in C instead. And a smaller crook would be needed to play Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, in F.
Kris' account made for an entertaining and informative opening program. Thanks, Kris!
Then Vicki distributed a movement from Sören Sieg's African Suite No. 4: Moments of the Heart. The movement's title is Swahili for "Wistful". The lowest recorders played a rhythmically repeating arpeggio pattern, all of which fell on the beats, while the harmonized melody in the upper voices tended to move between the beats instead. "Listen below you as you play," Vicki told us, and had us articulate with "d" for a smooth sound. The melody and harmony were beautiful and emotional, and perfectly set off by the ostinato. Vicki called it "our warm-up," but it would have been a lovely closer as well.
Sören Sieg is slated for this year's "Port Townsend" workshop, so sign up already!
Then we looked at a Bach organ concerto. The pages were filled with sixteenth-note runs, "fiddly bits" for us to ren-der without sounding frantic. Vicki pointed out that in Baroque music, the first and third beats are sturdy and solid, and the second and fourth less important; so she had us look at the fast notes as gestures going from the first beat to the third, or third to first, and not as sixteen sounds per measure. We also paid attention to the many changes in key (not key signature, just key!), including a trip or two through the circle of fifths. And the C instruments learned a fin-gering to bring our high B-flats down into better intonation (half-thumb, 1,2, 5, 7).
And then we had Peter Seibert's arrangement (for Cléa Galhano) of Pixinguinha's Vou Vivendo. It sports at least three fun melodies and, of course, an exciting Latin feel. I hope I enhanced it, rather than annoyed you, with the small per-cussion I brought to play.
During this, the Back Room Gang worked on a piece for Members' Night: "Gagliarde" by Giorgio Mainerio. (Mainerio also composed the oft-recorded "Caro Ortolano".) They also looked through the American Recorder Society's publica-tion for Play the Recorder Month 2019, Phil Neuman's Fantasia on 'The Faithless Nancy Dawson'.
March ROPS Concert (Vicki Boeckman, photos Bill Stickney)
The Recorder Orchestra of Puget Sound presented their spring program on March 23rd in the lovely sanctuary of Ma-ple Leaf Lutheran Church. The large upside-down shaped Viking ship room is particularly favorable for recorders, not only for us as players but for the audience’s enjoyment as well. Many folks came up to me afterward with praise and enthusiasm about our intonation and sound in general. A gorgeous Ave Maria by Jean Mouton (arranged by Charles Coldwell) opened the program and set the mood. Two delightful pieces by the German composer Sören Sieg fol-lowed: Journey to Jinja for four soloists and recorder orchestra and Starry Sky for two soloists and recorder orchestra. The bulk of the program was another great arrangement by Charles: Ottorino Respighi’s Suite III of Ancient Airs and Dances, and we ended swinging our hips and dancing out the door to Peter Seibert’s arrangement of “Brazil” by Ari Barroso. Thanks to all ROPS members for your hard work and to Bill Stickney for the wonderful photos!