BOOKING
programs, 2003-2004
Chamber Music · Holiday Concerts · Collaborations/Commissions
American Baroque's adventurous concerts combine 18th-century music with new works, composed for the group through collaborations and commissions. With a presentation style that is both engaging and informative, the group uses a variety of approaches in concert: through pre-concert discussions or informal commentary during the performance, with discussions of their instruments and their unique programming, to multimedia and mixed media settings that combine technology and tradition.
In addition to the following offerings, we would be happy to customize or design a new program for your series.
Most of American Baroque's programs are for 5 performers (flute, oboe, violin, viola da gamba, and harpsichord); however, the group occasionally invites guest players.
Chamber Music:
"L'Europe Galante"
Concerto in G (G.P. Telemann)
Trio in b minor (G.F. Handel)
XIVeme Ordre (F. Couperin)
Concerto del Gardellino (the Goldfinch) (A. Vivaldi)
Sonata Op. V (A. Corelli)
Quartet in G (Telemann)
A variety of gems from the most fashionable musical centers of the Baroque highlight this whirlwind tour: Vivaldi's Italy, Handel's London, Telemann's Germany and Couperin's France.
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"A Night in Versailles"A colorful evening of works by Louis XV's favorite composers, highlighted by American Baroque's inimitable renditions of music from Rameau's Les Fetes D' Hebe and Francois Couperin's Quatorzieme Ordre.
(9 performers)
For this program, a sample CD is available upon request.
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"Traditions"Tamper Resistant (Dan Becker,1996)
Sonata for violin (Marco Uccellini, 1603-1680)
Sonata in G minor for oboe (Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741)
To Invoke the Clouds (John Thow, 1995)
Trio in e minor from Essercizzi Musici (G.P. Telemann, 1681-1767)
CIRCA (Belinda Reynolds, 1996)
Premier Concert Royal (François Couperin, 1668-1733)
Quartet in G major from Tafelmusik (Telemann)
American Baroque's most popular program. Dan Becker's Tamper Resistant is a humorous re-working of the G Major Quartet by Telemann, featured later in the program; and provides a context for the introduction of new music that is inviting rather than alienating. John Thow's To Invoke the Clouds uses digital processing of the baroque flute sound to create a dreamy, echo-filled experience. And Belinda Reynolds' CIRCA has been applauded by many audiences as a satisfyingly organic work that represents a new style and sound for baroque instruments.
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"Four Seasons, Three Graces"Three Graces (Carolyn Yarnell, 1998)
Eve
Eulalia
Love Song (for Emma)
The Four Seasons (Antonio Vivaldi, 1678-1741)
Featuring the stunning Prix de Rome-winning piece by Bay Area composer Carolyn Yarnell, and American Baroque's dazzling chamber-group arrangement of Vivaldi's most treasured work.
(6 performers)
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"A Musical Celebration of the Millenium"Selections from Les fetes d'Hebe (Jean-Phillipe Rameau, 1683-1764)
Concerto "Il Gardellino" (Antonio Vivaldi , 1678-1741)
Artificial Light (Randall Woolf, 1996)
Quatorzieme Ordre (François Couperin, 1668-1733, arr. by American Baroque)
Of Hammered Gold (Jonathan Berger, 1999, commission for Chamber Music America's Musical Celebration of the Millenium)
This fascinating exploration of music and technology combines the grace of the French baroque with the wonders of contemporary electronics. Rameau's ballet, expertly orchestrated by American Baroque, provides intriguing contrast to Randall Woolf's Artificial Light, which uses samples of American Baroque's previous recordings and marries them to the live performance. And Jonathan Berger's Of Hammered Gold uses the 18th concept of the bird organ, a device which taught birds to sing, to build a unique electronic instrument that mirrors live performance (see Collaborations/Commissions below for more information).
Holiday Concerts:
"A Christmas Celebration" (with soprano)In Nativitatem D.N.J.C. Canticum (Marc-Antoine Charpentier)
Rosary Sonata (HIF von Biber, 1644-1704)
Paris Quartet No. 6 in e minor (G.P. Telemann)
(Intermission)
Sonata in B minor for flute and basso continuo, from Tafelmusik (G.P. Teleman)
Le Carillon de Cithere (François Couperin, 1668-1733, arr. by American Baroque)
Three Songs by Charles Ives (Charles Ives, arr. Roy Whelden)
Traditional Carols (Arr. by Roy Whelden)
Greensleeves - Es ist ein Ros entsprungen
Pastorale from Christmas Concerto (Arcangeli Corelli, 1653-1713)
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"An International Holiday Concert" (with soprano)O di Betlemme altera poverta (Alessandro Scarlatti, 1660-1725, arr. by American Baroque)
Concert Royale #4 in G (François Couperin, 1668-1733)
Ad gaudi, ad iubilo (Maria Xaveria Peruchona, late 17th c., arr. by American Baroque)
Two Hebrew Songs (Salmone Rossi, 1570-ca. 1630, arr. by American Baroque)
Bar-e-khu
Ele mo`adei adonai
Three Songs for Jerusalem (Jonathan Berger, 1993)
Trio in e minor (G.P. Telemann , 1681-1767)
New Music Collaborations/Commissions:
"New Music for Old Instruments"For violin, flute, oboe, harpsichord, cello, viola da gamba, synthesizer/sampler, and soprano (7 performers).
Tamper Resistant (Dan Becker)
More Spirit Than Matter (Carolyn Yarnell)
Spooks (John Halle)
CIRCA (Belinda Reynolds)
(Intermission)
Shall We Go..? (Melissa Hui)
11 Miniatures (Marc Mellits)
authentically classic (Ed Harsh)
A radical adventure of historical proportions! This concert consists of 8 pieces commissioned through a collaboration with the Common Sense Composers' Collective in 1996. The creative effort of some of the best young minds in American new music, this project represented a significant increase in available repertoire for historical instruments! A delightful combination of humor, technology, parody, reverence, audacity and beauty.
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"Songs Of Cold Mountain"by Roy Whelden, 1997
For Narrator, mezzo-soprano, flute, oboe, violin, harpsichord, synthesizer, percussion, cello, triple harp, and viola da gamba (9 performers).
A multimedia presentation. Technical rider.
Han Shan's Dream
Try and Make It
Like a Passing River
My Home was at Cold Mountain
The Devil
Asking Why
Clambering up the Cold Mountan Path
Cold Mountain is a House
The Wrecked Town
It's Cold
Morning after Morning
This work by Roy Whelden is a song cycle of poems by 7th-century T'ang dynasty writer Han Shan. Whelden uses the translations of Gary Snyder, who injects his Beat-generation soul into these very mystical, yet curiously human, texts. Whelden's craft for weaving rhythms and counterpoint brings the sound of historical instruments into the folk realm, and the end result is a truly American experience. A mystical, multimedia presentation, with readings from Charles Frazier's novel Cold Mountain.
For this program, a sample video is available upon request.