I ended my last post, almost half a month ago, with some questions I had hoped to explore "in the next week." Predictably, a number of distractions have prevented me from writing anything that would be worth your time to read. In lieu (for now) of any well-developed philosophical musings, however, here's a bit of documentation from the most recent "Bach Explored" concert.
One doesn't get to hear (or play!) a viola d'amore every day. Since it was a very important instrument to Bach and his colleagues -- particularly to Pisendel -- I felt that it would be wrong not to feature it at least once during the series. I'm fortunate to own a very beautiful original 18th-century viola d'amore, and I'm always thrilled when I get the chance to perform on it. (After all, under "normal" circumstances, it comes out of the case only a few times per year, invariably for the St. John Passion.)
I don't have any closeup photos of my d'amore, but you can see it in this picture -- twelve pegs and all!
Last week, I performed an anonymous 18th-century dance suite on it. Here's a recording of the gorgeous Aria.
And the viola d'amore doesn't just do slow and beautiful. Here's a fast movement from the same work:
The viola d'amore's harmonic vocabulary is somewhat limited, since the open strings are tuned in a two-octave arpeggio, and you can take full advantage of its resonance only in that home key. (Notice, for example, in the second half of the fast movement, that the chords disappear as soon as we move to E-flat major.) Nonetheless, the sacrifice in modulatory freedom is amply compensated by resonance and chordal possibilities. One can imagine the inspiration that Bach, Pisendel, and the other great, early polyphonists derived from this instrument.
One doesn't get to hear (or play!) a viola d'amore every day. Since it was a very important instrument to Bach and his colleagues -- particularly to Pisendel -- I felt that it would be wrong not to feature it at least once during the series. I'm fortunate to own a very beautiful original 18th-century viola d'amore, and I'm always thrilled when I get the chance to perform on it. (After all, under "normal" circumstances, it comes out of the case only a few times per year, invariably for the St. John Passion.)
I don't have any closeup photos of my d'amore, but you can see it in this picture -- twelve pegs and all!
Last week, I performed an anonymous 18th-century dance suite on it. Here's a recording of the gorgeous Aria.
And the viola d'amore doesn't just do slow and beautiful. Here's a fast movement from the same work:
The viola d'amore's harmonic vocabulary is somewhat limited, since the open strings are tuned in a two-octave arpeggio, and you can take full advantage of its resonance only in that home key. (Notice, for example, in the second half of the fast movement, that the chords disappear as soon as we move to E-flat major.) Nonetheless, the sacrifice in modulatory freedom is amply compensated by resonance and chordal possibilities. One can imagine the inspiration that Bach, Pisendel, and the other great, early polyphonists derived from this instrument.
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