Did you know that the famous "mixted taste" was generated in the German-speaking countries? 18th century Germany, with its many small-states and particularism, allowed a funding of art and culture in a decentralized way and therefore supporting diversity. Thus, each court mantained its own orchestra. The resident composers seized this opportunity, creating a musical language which shaped the course of music history in a lasting way. You're invited to look over their shoulder!
Works by Telemann, Graupner, Goldberg, etc.
Son & lumière: baroque music at Versailles court
At the French court of Louis XIV. and Louis VX. in Versailles, only the best French musicians and composers were engaged, whose work not only affected Parisian music life but was admired in the rest of Europe. In the transition from the 17th to the 18th century, not only great operas, masses and ballets were created, but also chamber music, especially for the chambre du roi, including some of the gems of its genre. Works by Couperin, Marais, Rameau, Telemann and Hotteterre
Telemann: Paris Quartets
Dianthus Ensemble with Sarah Perl, viola da gamba
"The astonishing manner in which the quartets were played by Messrs. Blauet, transverse flute, Guignon, violinist, Forcroy, his son on the viola da gamba, and Edouard, violoncellist would deserve to be described here at length if only there were sufficient words available to do so. In short, they pricked up the ears of people at the court and in the city so that they became very attentive and, in a short time, I received general approbation which was accompanied by even greater politeness." Thus wrote Telemann in his autobiography about the performance of his quartets on his visit to Paris 1737. With these jewels of chamber music we experience him as a versatile and imaginative master of composition.
Bach & Sons in Berlin
The lives of the three most famous members of the Bach family (Johann Sebastian and his oldest sons Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel) took them, for shorter or longer periods, but always with lasting resonance, to Berlin as well. In our concert we confront the three composers, in close familiar bond but musically so distinct from each other. Triosonatas by J.S., C.P.E. and W.F. Bach and Canons from the musical offering.
Paris 1737
1737 represents an extraordinary crossroad between German and French music in the history of the 18th century: the celebrated Georg Philipp Telemann traveled by invitation of several musicians to Paris, where his works were played at Concerts Spirituels, first time ever for a German composer. That same year saw the premiere of the revolutionary work "Les éléments" of Parisian composer Jean-Féry Rebel. Chamber music by Telemann, J.-P. Guignon, Blavet, and "Les éléments" by J.-F. Rebel.
Dulzura Espiritual
Dianthus Ensemble with Anna Alàs i Jové, mezzosoprano
In "Dulzura Espiritual", the sacred cantata is portrayed from two different points of view but with similar characteristics: Georg Friedrich Handel and José de Nebra. Each of them, in a very different moment of their career, published a collection of sacred pieces for solo voice and chamber music ensemble around 1725. The expressiveness of the Spanish language melts with Nebra's music full of fervor, contrasting with the intimate religious tone that Handel's German arias invite us to experience. Cantatas and arias by Handel and Nebra, and Spanish instrumental music.
Music for the court of Frederick the Great
Galant style meets northern German Empfindsamkeit: the Frederician court music during the Rheinsberg, Berlin and Potsdam years with its thrilling interplay of emotions represents one of the most appealing tonal languages between the Baroque and Classic periods. Works by C. H. Graun, Quantz, C. P. E. Bach, Kirnberger, Frederick the Great
