The ‘Grand Tour’ was a 17th century tradition for upper-class Europeans to travel through Europe when they had come of age, especially to visit the major cultural centers of Paris and Rome. Follow along a similar path and hear the many styles of the 18th century European organ in this tour de force of organ music from the English, French, German, and Italian schools, including organ concertos by George Frederic Handel and Michel Corette. Featuring the Pacific Baroque Festival Ensemble and organist Mark McDonald.
This will be an organ concert with a difference – two organ concertos (with a small string ensemble) bookend this imaginative programme created by the Cathedral’s organist Mark McDonald.
In 1770, the musicologist Charles Burney took the first of his two journeys to the continent to collect material for his History of Music. As with many upper-class Europeans experiencing ‘The Grand Tour,’ Burney would have savored musical delights in France and Italy which inspired his well-received The Present State of Music in France and Italy. This concert’s musical journey will present some of the continent’s music that helped transform England’s musical scene, beginning with a charming organ concerto by Michel Corrette, then a suite by the iconic French organist Louis-Nicolas Clérambault. A wonderful arrangement by J.S. Bach of an Antonio Vivaldi concerto along with a Georg Muffat toccato complete the continental tour before returning to England to enjoy one of Handel’s organ concertos. These were created to be performed between the acts of his oratorios and became one of the biggest draws to London’s theatres. Handel’s friend Mrs. Pendarves declared them “the finest things I ever heard in my life.” Join us for this concert and judge for yourself if Mrs. Pendarves was correct.
With the theme of Music for Distracted Times, this year’s Pacific Baroque Festival will musically transport you back to Baroque England of the 17th and 18th centuries - a time when King Charles II sat on the throne and London was celebrated as a center of artistic expression. As Britain prospered, so did the arts as a flourishing middle class sought to enjoy the finer things in life, including music. The 'rage for music,' as it was known at the time, created an environment where composers such as the iconic Henry Purcell flourished. As a thriving center of commercial and cultural vitality, London also attracted musicians from across Europe, including Georg Frideric Handel, creating what today might be described as an incubator of musical ideas.
Performers
Mark McDonald, organ
Marc Destrubé, violin and artistic director
Kathryn Wiebe, violin
Eva Lymenstull, cello
Natalie Mackie, viola da gamba
Concert Programme
Michel Corrette (1707-1795)
Organ Concerto in G major, Op. 26, No. 1 (1756)
I. Allegro
II. Andante (Gavottes)
III. Allegro
Louis-Nicolas Clérambault (1676-1749)
Suite du Deuxième Ton (Livre d’Orgue, 1710)
I. Plein jeu
II. Duo
III. Trio
IV. Basse de Cromorne
V. Flûtes
VI. Récit de Nazard
VII. Caprice sur les grands jeux
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Concerto for 2 Violins and Cello in D minor, RV 565 (Op. 3, 1711)
Arranged for organ by J.S. Bach as BWV 596 (1713-14)
I. [Allegro]
II. Grave
III. Fuga
IV. Largo e spiccato
V. [Allegro]
Georg Muffat (1653-1704)
Toccata septima (Apparatus Musico-Organisticus, 1690)
George Frideric Handel
Organ Concerto in G minor, Op. 4, No. 1 (1736)
I. Larghetto e staccato
II. Allegro
III. Adagio
IV. Andante