Open Book One of Couperin’s Pieces de Claveçin and look at the first two pages of music. In contrast to the published volumes of d’Anglebert, Rameau, Le Roux and Marchand, Couperin opens not with a prélude, or improvisatory awakening of the instrument but rather with an Allemande Grave. Four of the five suites of Book 1 (and several in the following three volumes) have … [Read more...] about Francois Couperin: The beginning of a long look.
Archives for 2012
Bastille Day
From the Salon to the Scaffold Notes to a program at Maverick Concerts for July 14th, 2012 Bastille Day I prefer that which touches me to that which surprises me The composer, François Couperin (1668-1733) I prefer the bizarre to the insipid The painter, Anne-Louis Girodet (1767-1824) Nothing (happened) The King Louis XVI, Journal entry for July 14, 1789 July 14th is … [Read more...] about Bastille Day
Lamentations and Ululations: Notes before a program
Antonio Vivaldi came to prominence on the coat tails of Johann Sebastian Bach. This was a favor returned, as Bach’s own style went through a metamorphosis with his discovery of the Venetian master’s brilliant energy and rational, transparent, and effective form. Everything in Bach evolved, from harpsichord music to extended arias and choral writing. So, when the Bach … [Read more...] about Lamentations and Ululations: Notes before a program
Sans Souci-Notes before a concert
A journal of our visit to Sans Souci and notes on a program of the Four Nations Ensemble in New York City on March 7th, 2002 A day at Sans Souci, Frederick the Great’s favorite home, is immersion in a Rococo world. The gardens cascading below the pavilion (it is neither a palace nor chateau but a Prussian Trianon) are as visually complex as the interior walls are energetic with … [Read more...] about Sans Souci-Notes before a concert
Berlin and the Sing-Akademie
The melancholy that pervades French 18th century art springs from an observation that nothing lasts; nothing fine, happy, exquisite, delicious, amorous, luminous, nothing lasts. Leaving Versailles is leaving Eden and leaving Paris is done with regret. Heaven on earth may well be a moment in which our taste buds are being ravished, our eyes delighted, and all our senses … [Read more...] about Berlin and the Sing-Akademie