Handel and Bach by candlelight: the holidays.Byline: Bob Keefer The Register-Guard For generating that warm, cozy holiday feeling in the coming week, you probably can't beat the Oregon Mozart Players' annual candlelight concert that will be performed three different nights in Eugene and in Springfield. "Baroque for the Holidays" will feature Johann Sebastian Bach's fifth Brandenburg concerto along with pieces by George Frideric Handel and Giuseppe Torelli Giuseppe Torelli (April 22, 1658–February 8, 1709) was an Italian violist and violinist, pedagogue and composer, who ranks with Arcangelo Corelli among the developers of the Baroque concerto and concerto grosso. and a somewhat lesser known Baroque composer, Baldassare Galuppi. The ensemble will perform in two venues in Eugene and Springfield, both of them churches lit by candlelight. "There is something about Baroque music Baroque music describes an era and a set of styles of European classical music which were in widespread use between approximately 1600 and 1750.[1] This era is said to begin in music after the Renaissance and was followed by the Classical music era. at the holiday time of year that is very attractive to people," says Mozart Players artistic director Glen Cortese, who will conduct. "Regardless of what your beliefs, are it recalls a tradition or nostalgia." Christmas as we know it was practically born in Baroque Germany, so the music has natural holiday associations. Most people will be familiar with the intricate polyphonous po·lyph·o·ny n. pl. po·lyph·o·nies Music with two or more independent melodic parts sounded together. po·lyph music from Bach's fifth Brandenberg, which includes a long, breakaway harpsichord harpsichord, stringed musical instrument played from a keyboard. Its strings, two or more to a note, are plucked by quills or jacks. The harpsichord originated in the 14th cent. and by the 16th cent. Venice was the center of its manufacture. solo in the first movement. The virtuoso cadenza ca·den·za n. 1. An elaborate, ornamental melodic flourish interpolated into an aria or other vocal piece. 2. An extended virtuosic section for the soloist usually near the end of a movement of a concerto. - probably played by Bach himself at the concerto's premiere - is sometimes said to have been the origin of the solo keyboard concerto The phrase keyboard concerto may indicate a harpsichord, piano, or organ concerto, or, rarely, a work suitable for performance on more than one keyboard instrument. Harpsichord concerto . Much of the Brandenburg is faced paced, energetic and intellectual, as Bach's music tends to be. The Handel concerto, one of 12 concerti grossi in his Opus 6, is quieter. "The reason I picked this one for this performance is, it's more subdued and contemplative," Cortese said. "I picked that because much of the Brandenburg is so active and such a flurry of fast notes. I thought it would be good to have a contrast to that. Music like that gives people space to let their imaginations go and relax a little bit and have some time to rest. We live in such an unbelievably fast paced world. To be able to sit somewhere and listen to quiet music for a while is a break." The Torelli piece is his Christmas concerto, traditionally performed on Christmas Eve. Galuppi, who lived from 1706 to 1785, was a Venetian composer who wrote a lot of operas. The two pieces on the program are concerti grossi in the same style as the other works. Soloists will be Yvonne Hsueh, violin; Jill Pauls, flute; and Barbara Baird, harpsichord. She is subbing for John Jantzi, who withdrew after the concert was announced ``due to unforeseen circumstances,'' the Mozart Players said. CONCERT PREVIEW Oregon Mozart Players Oregon Mozart Players is a professional chamber orchestra based in Eugene, Oregon. The orchestra presents six concert sets in a typical season, in addition to numerous small ensemble performances and recitals by guest artists. : Baroque for the Holidays Program: Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5; Galuppi's Concerto a Quattro Nos. 1 and 2; Handel's Concerto Grosso concerto grosso: see concerto. concerto grosso Principal orchestral music of the Baroque era, characterized by contrast between a small group of soloists and a larger orchestra. , Op. 6 No. 6; and Torelli's Concerto Grosso, Op. 8 No. 6, the Christmas concerto When and Where: 7:30 p.m. Monday Ebbert Church, 532 C St., Springfield; and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, First Christian Church First Christian Church can refer to:
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