The 3rd regular concert was originally scheduled to be held in December 2007, but since we could not secure Sayadoh in December, we secured Chiba City Hall in January of the following year as an alternative.
Recorder ensemble
Aeolian Consort
The third regular Consert
--- Polyphony Music of the Renaissance and Baroque Periods ---
--- The Joy of Fugue ---
2008 / January /27 (Sun)
Chiba City Hall, Small Hall
Acknowledgements
Thank you very much for coming to the third annual concert of the Aeolian Consort. The Aeolian Consort is a recorder ensemble composed of seven members. We have been performing mainly choral and instrumental music from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. Although we are not always as good as we would like to be, we are confident that our love and enthusiasm for music are second to none.
This year's program, entitled "The Joy of Fugue," is mainly composed of pieces that use fugues. The works of Bach, the great master of fugue, will serve as the framework for the program, which will mainly consist of pieces from the Baroque period. The contents of this year's program are quite dense, but we will do our best, so please take your time and enjoy it.
~About Fuga~.
Fuga means "escape" in Latin. In Japan, it is often translated as 「遁走曲」 (a piece to escape), but this is a bit misleading. Fugue is not a " piece of music" in the first place. There are many pieces composed entirely of fugues, but there are just as many that use fugues in parts. A fugue is like a compositional form.
The definition of a fugue is really quite simple. One voice presents the theme at the beginning, and the other voices join in, presenting the theme one after the other. After that, you are free to do whatever you want. However, it is clear from the definition that it is polyphonic. However, there are exceptions to this rule.
The establishment of fugue can be traced back to around the 16th century. By the 17th century, it was fully established, culminating in Bach. The music of the 17th century was fully established, culminating in Bach, after which it entered the age of its application to the present day.
This year's program features a variety of fugues or fugue-like pieces. I have tried to include as much variety as possible, so I hope you will be able to understand the general outline of fugue. Please enjoy the program at your leisure.
This is one of Bach (1685-1750)'s earliest cantatas, dating from 1707-1708. The seven chorale verses are used sequentially in each movement, all based on the same chorale melody. The word "Versus" in the title means "verse" of the lyrics, not "vs". The movements vary in form: Versus 1 is for strings and chorus, Versus 4 is for chorus, Versus 5 is a bass aria with string accompaniment, and Versus 7 is a brief four-voice chorale. There is no pure fugue, but Versus 1 and Versus 4 are somewhat fugue-like.
Palestrina (1525-1594) was one of the leading Italian vocal composers of the 16th century. His counterpoint style, known as the Palestrina style, dominated the world. He left eight ricercare for instrumental ensemble. The format is somewhat different from fugue, but the way of presenting the theme at the beginning is just like fugue itself. The third piece we have chosen this time is a Phrygian piece that begins with the scale "mi".
Battiferri (1600,10-1682?) was a composer and organist active in Urbino and Ferrara, Italy. His 12 ricercare (he called them ricercaros) are a wonderful compilation of the fugal techniques of the time. It is said that Bach was also influenced by them. The seventh fugue we will be discussing here is a triple fugue. This is an advanced technique in which three different themes each appear in the form of a fugue, and all three are superimposed at the same time at the end of the fugue. Since it is a piece with a relaxed mood, we will play it with a recorder an octave lower than usual.
Parsons (c.1530-1572) was an English composer of vocal and instrumental music for which no detailed biography is known. It is not a fugue, but a fantasia that makes full use of counterpoint. The structure of the piece, which starts out slowly and gradually builds up as the notes become finer and finer, is quite powerful.
"Die Kunst der Fuge" is Bach's magnum opus, literally the culmination of his fugal technique. Using only one theme, it consists of 14 fugues and 4 canons. Each piece is numbered in the form of a contrapunctus number. Since they are often featured in recorder consort concerts, it may seem a little too late, but since we focused on fugues this time, we could not leave them out.
Contrapunctus 1 is a simple fugue that does not use complicated techniques with the theme. It is a masterpiece that marks the beginning of the fugue technique. Contrapunctus 9 is a double fugue that begins with a different theme and overlaps with the original theme. It is a bit surprising to hear two completely different themes played at the same time.
John Jenkins (1592-1678) was a leading 17th century English consort composer. He left numerous works, mainly fantasias. Perhaps because he experienced the upheavals of the Puritan Revolution, the Republic, and the Restoration of the monarchy during his lifetime, his style is quite conservative, and one might be forgiven for thinking he was a composer of a century ago.
His fantasias are written in various forms, including one that can be judged as a fugue on a single theme. The five-part Fantasia No. 5 is one of them. It uses the Stretta technique, in which the theme is slightly shifted and multiple themes are layered on top of each other, and the Enlarged technique, in which the note value of the theme is doubled. The theme appears here and there, and it is a very lively piece.
Cabanilles (1644-1712) was one of the leading Spanish keyboard composers of the 17th century. He is also known as the Spanish Bach. His style is very varied, with some of his works in the Baroque period itself and others using slightly older forms.
Tiento is a form that was popular in Spain in the 16th century, so it is a little old-fashioned. Although No. 1 is not a fugue, it uses techniques similar to fugue, such as transforming a single theme in various ways and combining it with other themes.
The Aeolian Consort always adds an in-nomine to each concert. The way the individual voices intertwine around the rather long melody of the in-nominee is somewhat reminiscent of a Christmas tree. How the voices intertwine with each other is where the skill is shown. This time, we decided to have all seven members participate. As one might expect, the number of songs with seven voices is much smaller, so we had to choose from Parsons' and Purcell's songs, which led us to Parsons' No. 4. It is a piece with no apparent motive, and the harmony changes in a vague way. The alto is in charge of the melody.
Fugues were not the exclusive domain of the Baroque era, so we decided to include one Romantic work. It is a bit surprising that Schumann (1810-1856) wrote a fugue. But it is not surprising since Schumann, along with Mendelssohn, was instrumental in the revival of Bach. Op. 72 is a collection of four fugues for piano. The second and following fugues are too pianistic and not suitable for recorder, but the first fugue is very suitable for recorder. It is a fine piece with an old-fashioned atmosphere and romanticism. The expanded form of the theme appears in the middle of the piece.
We still want to end the fugue with Bach, and BWV 542 is one of the most famous of Bach's great organ pieces. Bach has a lovely fugue of the same G minor key called the Small Fugue. In contrast, this one is so large that it is called a grand fugue. The Fantasia is also a rather unprecedented and daring piece that makes full use of the chromatic scale. Both are difficult in many ways, and both are challenging, but at the end of the day, they are masterpieces, so it is worthwhile to play them.