Untitled - The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra

28
Their loud up-lifted Angel trumpets blow,
And the Cherubic host in a
thousand choirs,
Touch their immortal Harps of
golden wires,
Till God his celestial consort us unite,
With Him, and sing in endless morn
of light.
Samson begins with a rather brief
Overture (the composer knew the
journey ahead was adventurous: in all,
63 numbers, including 26 recitatives,
14 arias, 2 duets, 18 choruses and
3 instrumentals). The Overture is set
brightly in G major and cast in 3/4
time in a stately, heralding manner.
Scored for a Baroque orchestra and
marked Andante pomposo, elegant
strings set the tone, complemented
by lambent horns in a primary role.
Listeners who are familiar with Messiah
will note the master’s signature at every
turn. At the midway point a momentary
interlude prepares for a brisk Allegro
in four-quarter time. Lilting rhythms and
cascading scales bear the style mark
known as rococo - ornamented melodic
writing inherited from the courts of
France.
As an aside: from time to time
conscientious listeners might notice that
some Baroque era CDs seem to be in
a lower key than noted in the title. The
reason is that today’s Renaissance and
Baroque specialists (some, not all) try to
recreate the same tonal effects which
prevailed when the music was written.
Here is the story: ‘pitch inflation’ began
to afflict performers after about 1790-
1800, when the ‘pitch standard’ began
to rise in very small increments to the
point that by around 1900 the great
masterworks were performed a solid
half-step higher than originally written.
As a result, some of today’s ‘authentic’
interpreters lower the tune-up pitch by
about a semitone. Thus, the Overture to
Samson, scored in G major, is recorded
in F-sharp major. Believe-It-Or-Not..!
Antonio Vivaldi
Italian composer
Born: March 4, 1678, Venice
Died: July 28, 1741, Vienna, Austria
Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra
in D major, RV.93
Allegro giusto
Largo
Allegro
First and only Classics performances:
April 3 and 4, 1987, featuring guitarist
Christopher Parkening, conducted by
Emmanuel Krivine; duration: 10 minutes
Antonio Vivaldi produced a catalog of
more than 850 works, including at least
475 concertos, 94 operas, and an
assortment of other pieces, both secular
and sacred. With regard to his life and
times, complete biographies reveal a
worldly individual with enough color
and zest for a Hollywood film.
Antonio became an ordained priest in
1703 (a means to the best education
in Italy), and by 1709 was assigned to
teach music at the Ospedale della Pieta
in Venice, a school for abandoned or
orphaned girls. It was at there that he
picked up his famous name tag - il prete
rosso - ‘the red priest’ - because of his
flaming red hair and ecclesiastical
office (to be sure, his celebrated
flamboyance also had something to do
with the nickname). But della Pieta was
a first class institute, with many gifted
students. Under Vivaldi’s direction both
the school orchestra and choir flourished
and became known around Europe for
their regular Sunday concerts. None
other than Jean Jacques Rousseau noted
in his famous Confessions:
“Music of a kind that is very superior
in my opinion and that has no
equal throughout Italy or perhaps
the world is that of the schools for
girls in Venice. Every Sunday at
church during Vespers music which
is composed and directed by the