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Chatham Baroque Andrew Fouts and Julie Andrijeski, baroque violin Patricia Halverson, viola da gamba Scott Pauley, theorbo and baroque guitar Fresh Ayre Suite in d minor Pavan Galliard Air Almaine Galliard Christopher Simpson (c.1605-1669) Sonata no. VI in C major (1683) [] Canzona Largo Allegro Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Selections from The Division Violin (1684) John Playford (publ.) Ayres in E minor Nicola Matteis Aria Amorosa Preludio—Adagio Motivo Adagio Sarabanda (fl. c. 1670-c. 1698) ~Interval~ Pavan in G minor Sonata VI in G minor (1696) Adagio [Passacaille] Tickle Me Quickly Touch Me Lightly Aria [Giga]—Adagio Ciaccona Sonata no. IV in G Major, opus 5 Allegro A tempo ordinario Allegro Passacaille Gigue (Presto) Minuet (Allegro moderato) Henry Purcell Tobias Hume (c.1569-1645) Nicola Matteis (fl. c. 1670-c.1698) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) Our program spans about a hundred years of music in England and shows several important musical developments. From the 1650s to the 1750s, chamber music in the British Isles underwent a profound transformation. Music moved away from the homogenous ensembles of the early seventeenth century, such as the viol consort, and moved toward the newer baroque solo and trio sonatas with violin and continuo. This change was ushered in by the arrival of several important Italian masters in London, such as Matteis and Geminiani, who wrote music for the violin in a modern and dramatic style. From the 1680s onward, composers in England, whether native like Purcell, or expatriate like Handel, began to use the standard term “trio sonata” when writing for the combination of two trebles and continuo. During the same time, the violin began to supplant the viol as the principal chamber music instrument. With the arrival of the Italian masters, the violin rose from being a lowly street instrument to the most esteemed and virtuosic of all. Even before the arrival of the Italian violin masters, the Italian style of music began to make its way into the music of English composers. Christopher Simpson (c. 1605-1669) lived outside the mainstream musical scene of London for most of his career, spending the majority of his time under the patronage of Sir Robert Bolles of Lincolnshire. He was a viol player and composer whose two most important works were The Division Viol (London, 1659) and the Compendium of Practical Music (London, 1667), although the suite of dances performed here is found in a manuscript. These dances were probably composed around 1650 and may have been played by either two violins or two treble viols, with bass viol and continuo. The continuo parts would most likely have been played by one or two theorboes, though keyboard instruments would have been possible also. Although the scoring of these pieces is more in line with the newer Italian trio sonata, these dances retain characteristics typical of English suites of the time, with a slow, stately Pavan in duple meter, a triple-meter Galliard and a lively duple-meter Almaine. The suite also includes the more modern title Air, which ends with a drastic slow-down “drag” or “slower time” section at the end of the movement. Nicola Matteis (d. ca. 1707) was born in Naples in the first part of the seventeenth century, and eventually made his way to England “on foot with his violin under a full coat at his back.” He published five books of Ayres for the Violin, the first of which appeared in 1676. His Ayres can be described as something between sonatas and suites for solo violin and continuo: short dances are mixed with fugato and more serious Italianate movements. To each of his four books he later added a second violin part, effectively making them into trio sonatas, and cashing in on the new demand for this type of music. As a performer on the violin, Matteis was admired for his ability to perform “wonders upon a note.” He was also a guitarist and published a manual on composition and continuo playing for the guitar called The False Consonances of Musick (London, 1682). It opens with a set of five movements for solo five-course guitar. Matteis states that these ayres may be performed either with a bass or without, and he includes a printed bass line in the final two movements, which are performed here on the bass viol. As a performer on the guitar, Matteis “was a consumate master, and had the force upon it to stand in consort against an harpsicord.” Englishman Henry Purcell (1659-1695) produced an impressive quantity of music during his relatively short lifetime. A composer of operas, music for the stage, and sacred and secular vocal music, he also produced a small body of instrumental works including two collections of trio sonatas for two violins and basso continuo, both composed in the 1680s. The preface to the first collection, Sonnata’s of III Parts (1683) states that Purcell has “faithfully endeavour’d a just imitation of the most fam’d Italian Master’s.” While one can say that he succeeded in imitating Italian style on many levels, Purcell’s use of expressive dissonances and complex counterpoint in his trio sonatas betray not only his English roots, but his skill and creativity as a composer. Indeed, Roger North remarked that Purcell’s sonatas were “clog’d with somewhat of an English vein, for which they are unworthily despised.” The G minor sonata from his second collection is a single movement work based on the French dance known as the Passacaille. The recurring descending pattern stated by the bass is spare, a perfect foundation for the florid and at times heart-wrenching writing Purcell creates for the two violins. In contrast to the mournful affect of the G minor sonata, the bright key of C major in Sonata VI promotes a feeling more wholesome and upbeat. The second movement, a Canzona, is chockfull of imitative counterpoint while the third movement (Largo) beckons the listener to the dance floor for an elegant minuet. The trio sonata was not a genre on which George Frideric Handel (1685-1759) spent a great deal of time and energy. His interests and talents led him to the worlds of opera, oratorio, and other large-scale forms. Nonetheless, Handel’s surviving trio sonata compositions compare very favorably against those of his London contemporaries. Handel’s second collection of trio sonatas was issued in 1739 as Opus 5. Unlike the Opus 2 trios, which are original works composed around 1700-20, Opus 5 consists largely of compilations of movements taken from earlier orchestral works—such as the introduction to the Chandos Anthem I Will Magnify Thee (ca. 1717) and ballet music from Handel’s opera season of 1734-35—which are boiled down to trio sonata texture. Despite the loss of some harmonic and orchestral color due to the reduced texture, this collection presents a delightful array of some of Handel’s most memorable music. Opus 5, no. 4 (HWV 399) is a curious arrangement, as Anthony Hicks has noted: The Allegro and Allegro non presto movements, with a short linking passage, originally made up the complete overture to Athalia (1733). When Handel adapted it for Parnasso in Festa (1734) he replaced the opening Allegro with the “a tempo ordinario” movement, converting an Italian overture to a French one. The slightly awkward combination of all three movements in the sonata is one of the features that suggests it is not Handel’s own compilation [but that of his publisher].” This piece and others from Opus 5 seem to be largely “greatest hits” collections, designed to please audiences who wanted to experience Handel’s music outside the theater in a more intimate chamber setting. The Passacaille appears in Radamisto (1720), Parnasso in Festa, and Terpsicore (1734). The Gigue also appeared in Terpsichore, and the Menuet can be traced to dance music from Alcina (1735). The term ‘lyra way’ refers to a style of playing the viol where the music is chordal in character and is notated in tablature, similar to the system read by players of the lute family. In the viol system, the instrument’s six strings are represented by six lines; letters of the alphabet, placed above the appropriate line, represent each fret on the neck, thereby instructing the player where to place his or her fingers; finally, the specified rhythms to match the changing pitches are notated above the staff. The use of tablature for notation coupled with the use of different tunings for the open strings of the viol makes it possible for the player to play different kinds of chords in a broad spectrum of keys. There is a sizeable body of repertory for solo lyra viol, most of it written by English composers. One of the most prolific composers writing in this style was Tobias Hume (c.1569-1645), a viol player and a soldier whose sense of humor is revealed in the titles of his music.