Irish Baroque Orchestra

Masterworks

If there are giants of 18th century baroque music, those giants are Vivaldi, Bach and Handel. In this series of 6 concerts we are presenting some of the very best instrumental compositions by these 3 composers.

At that time it was customary to publish music in sets of 6 or 12 compositions of a similar style. Vivaldi's concertos were the foundation on which Bach developed his instrumental style. Vivaldi's opus 8 concertos are a set of 12 concertos which include the famous “Four Seasons”. Vivaldi probably composed and performed these Concertos before he published the whole set, but in the published edition he included the set of sonnets which the music describes, a brilliant stroke which has ensured the enduring popularity of these concertos.

Two of the remaining 8 concertos exist in versions for oboe so we are using that instrumentation to make more variety. The oboe originated in France in the 17th century as an orchestral instrument, but once the Italians got their hands on it they transformed it into a virtuoso solo tool. In these concertos the oboe is called upon to play beautiful melodies as well as fast brilliant music (like the violin).

Although Handel was considered an English composer he was born, and grew up, in Germany. When he was a young man he went to Rome to study and work with Corelli. He was very creative in that period and obviously enjoyed his sojourn in the south. While he was there he wrote some magnificent pieces for Corelli and his ensemble of instrumentalists and singers. Later, when he came to England when George of Hannover ascended the throne, he incorporated English taste into his compositional style. Nevertheless there is a lot of Italian style in this Opus 3 Concerti Grossi which also use various combinations of wind instruments to make the orchestra sound more varied and colourful.

There is no other set of Concertos from the baroque era which have such a diversity of style and instrumentation as the Brandenburg Concertos. Although we know the autograph he presented to the Marquis of Brandenburg was never used for a performance, a lot of these pieces would have been composed and performed as single concertos or sinfonias for some years. Two movements of the first concerto turn up in a cantata, as does Brandenburg concerto no 3 but with wind parts added. The fourth concerto exists in a version with harpsichord playing the solo instead of the violin. Brandenburg 2 probably started life as a chamber quartet with continuo, to which Bach added some orchestral  tuttis (the ripieno has little to do in Brandenburg 2). Brandenburg Concerto no 5 exists in a version with a normal length cadenza for the harpsichord. The extended cadenza in the 5th concerto was probably composed after Bach made a transcription of a Vivaldi concerto “Il Grosso Mogul” in which the cadenzas, which share similar figuration, last up to  4 minutes. Brandenburg 6 seems to have an archaic flavour, and I suspect it was originally composed in Weimar, when Bach was still using old fashioned instrumentation with recorders, viols cornets and sackbuts.

These series offer a unique opportunity to discover the breath of creativity these major composers are renowned for.

Monica Huggett

In January 2010, the Irish Baroque Orchestra, led by its artistic director Monica Huggett, will perform the 3 greatest collections of concertos from the Baroque era:

Attachments:

Masterworks Flyer

[Calendar of Concerts and programme]

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