Past Events - Early Music Vancouver

Digital Concert: The Odyssey of Kryštof Harant

Friday, January 20, 2023 | 7:30 p.m. | This concert was originally performed on December 1, 2022 at Christ Church CathedralOnline

“… the evening provided what felt like a secret portal into a vibrantly multicultural distant time,” Janet Smith, Stir Vancouver

This concert was originally recorded on December 1, 2022.

Artists: Ensemble Cappella Mariana directed by Vojtěch Semerád, Constantinople directed by Kiya Tabassian, and narrator Bill Richardson

The life journey of the Czech nobleman, traveller, humanist, soldier, writer and composer Kryštof Harant from Polžice and Bezdružice ended prematurely on the Old Town Square in Prague on June 21, 1621, when he was executed for participating in the Protestant Bohemian Revolt. The goal of this project of Ensemble Cappella Mariana is to present his surviving compositions and introduce listeners to his literary legacy – his record of a unique trip to the Middle East which he chronicled in his book Journey from Bohemia to the Holy Land, by way of Venice and the Sea published in 1608. During the 16^th and 17^th centuries the vibrancy of music – and art in general – founded on Eastern traditions from Persia to the Eastern Mediterranean, contributed to the creation of multicultural societies. Dialogue and mutual enrichment between artists of different cultures were commonplace. We find evidence of these musical and cultural exchanges in period works that appear in musical manuscripts of 17^th century Ottoman, Persian and post-Byzantine origin. In this concert, these compositions will be combined with other masterpieces surviving for centuries through the oral tradition and handed down from one generation to the next; together they provide a comprehensive picture of the atmosphere and local colour of the places Harant himself visited and the music he heard on his travels.

Harant’s colourful work, narrated by Bill Richardson, will guide you on a musical journey to the exotic lands of Cyprus, Jerusalem, Sinai, and Cairo. “The Journey is like a beacon which will act as a guide for both ensembles – a geographical, historical, cultural and inner voyage of discovery to distant horizons,” says Vojtech Semerad, director of Cappella Mariana.

Pre-Concert Talk at 7 p.m.: Sylvia L’Ecuyer in conversation with Vojtech Semerad (Director, Cappella Mariana) and Kiya Tabassian (Director, Constantinople).

This concert is generously supported by Marianne Gibson and Delma Hemming.

This concert is also made possible through the support of the Ministry of Culture of Czech Republic, The Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Quebec.

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Festive Cantatas: J.S. Bach Magnificat & Cantata BWV 110 (Let Our Mouth Be Full of Laughter)

Saturday, Dec 17, 2022 | 7:30 p.m. at The Kay Meek Arts CentreSunday, December 18, 2022 | 3 p.m. at The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts

NOTE: There is another performance of this concert on Saturday, December 17 at The Kay Meek Arts Centre in West Vancouver. Tickets for that performance must be purchased through the Kay Meek Arts Centre’s Box Office. This concert is part of both the Masterworks Series Subscription and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra Series Subscription.

Artists: The Pacific Baroque Orchestra directed by Alexander Weimann; Hélène Brunet and Arwen Myers, sopranos; Krisztina Szabo, alto; Jacques-Olivier Chartier, tenor; and Sumner Thompson, bass

The boys’ choir of the St. Thomas church in Leipzig was founded in 1212, and to this day, it still is one of the most prestigious ambassadors of musical culture in Germany. Historically, the choir director had to prepare the services in four churches and organize the music for city functions. Bach held the position from 1723 to his death in 1750; he was appointed only after two of his colleagues, further up on the list, Telemann and Graupner, had declined.

There is a Pre-Concert Talk for the December 18 concert at The Chan only and it starts at 2:15 p.m. with broadcaster/author Bill Richardson in conversation with Alexander Weimann and cornetto player Matt Jennejohn.

This concert is generously sponsored by Tony & Margie Knox, Linda Leonard, and Dr. Katherine Paton

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The Art of The Lute with Thomas Dunford

Friday, November 25, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.Christ Church Cathedral

Artists: Thomas Dunford, lute

The lute arrived in Europe from Moorish Spain, spreading rapidly in the 15th century and becoming the most popular instrument among courtiers and commoners in the 16th century. Henry VIII played the lute, and made sure that his three children – the future monarchs Edward VI, “Bloody” Mary, and Elizabeth I – learned it, as well. The lute was also a popular feature in late Elizabethan and early Jacobean theatre, which was enjoying its own golden age in the works of William Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

John Dowland, an indisputable master of the lute and lute song repertoire, is quite ‘Shakespearian’ in the range of emotion and expression found in his music, and in his ability to absorb and synthesize the cultural influences of his day.

Bach arranged his Fifth Cello Suite for the lute which gives us unsuspected harmonies and a better understanding of how and where Bach would add ornaments. Thomas Dunford, following in Bach’s footsteps, arranged Bach’s First Cello Suite for archlute, a lute with an extended neck and unstoppable bass strings like the theorbo.

Giovanni Girolamo Kapsperger was an Austrian-Italian virtuoso performer and highly original composer whose compositions for the lute and theorbo were fundamental in the development of these as solo instruments.

Pre-concert Talk at 7 p.m.: Suzie LeBlanc in conversation with Thomas Dunford.

This concert is generously supported by José Verstappen and Jonathan Drance.

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From War to Peace: Heinrich Schütz and His Time

Saturday, November 5, 2022 | 7:30 p.m. St. Andrew’s Wesley United Church

Note: This concert is part of both the Masterworks Subscription Series and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra Subscription Series

Artists: Arwen Myers and Danielle Reutter-Harrah, sopranos; Nicholas Burns, alto; Lawrence Williford, tenor; Sumner Thompson, baritone; musica intima; Cappella Borealis; the Baroque Orchestra Mentorship Programme and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra under the direction of Alexander Weimann; Alex Fisher, concept and programming

A collection of musicians including musica intima, Capella Borealis, and the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, join forces to mark the 350th anniversary of prolific composer Heinrich Schütz’s death. Directly affected by the violence and political tension that accompanied the Thirty Year’s War (1618–1648), Schütz produced works of comfort and lamentation to directly comment on the conflict. Alongside the famous Saul, Saul, was verfolgst du mich? (1650) and settings of the Psalms of David, we end with the splendid hymn of thanks “Danket dem Herren” (“Thanks be to God”) with trumpet calls that might be heard as a call to arms, or as a celebration of peace long desired.

Pre-concert Talk at 7 p.m. features UBC School of Music’s Dr. Alex Fisher in conversation with Alexander Weimann, director of the Pacific Baroque Orchestra on the importance of Schütz and his music.

This concert is generously sponsored by Birgit Westergaard and Norman Gladstone.

This concert is generously supported by a Digital Now grant from the Canada Council for The Arts.

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A New Springtime of the World

Friday, October 28, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.Christ Church Cathedral

Artists: Ensemble Diabolus in Musica

During the 12th century, as the famous historian, Georges Duby said, “a new springtime of the world blossomed, on the old Latin stock.” The unchanging social order which prevailed before the year 1000 was now jostled by the feudal system. In southern France castles and monasteries were built, far from the declining influence of the king or the pope. Painting, sculpture, architecture, and music celebrated the beauty of the world in a new way.

In the same regions and exactly at the same time, Roman art flourished and new chants were being created in the generous acoustics of these new basilicas and chapels. In the domains of the great Saint-Martial de Limoges abbey notably, polyphony birthed its first audacious and jubilant elaborations, and the first notated secular songs of France were being created by the troubadours who celebrated courtly love.

Diabolus in Musica is a French medieval music ensemble founded in Paris in 1992. Now under the direction of Nicolas Sansarlat, the ensemble continues to programme rediscovered Medieval works alongside the richness of the well-known musical works by the Troubadours, Trouvères and the Notre Dame School.

Join us for the Pre-concert Talk at 7 p.m. – our Artistic and Executive Director, Suzie LeBlanc chats with Nicolas Sansarlat, director of Musica in Diabolus, and Emmanuel Vistorky, one of the singers from the ensemble.

This concert is generously supported by Agnes Hohn.

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Film: Who Killed LeClair? A Murder Mystery Concert

Now available until May 31, 2023Online

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Artists: Infusion Baroque, Mike Fan, actor

Infusion Baroque invites you to investigate the real-life murder of violinist-composer Jean-Marie Leclair, found stabbed to death in his home in Paris on October 23, 1764. Despite a thorough investigation and a plethora of suspects, no one was ever charged with the crime. Was it the composer’s estranged wife? A jealous colleague? Or something more sinister? Learn the details of the original investigation while enjoying a sumptuous program of music by the slain composer, and get to the bottom of Who Killed Leclair!

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Boccheriniana

Friday, October 14, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.Christ Church Cathedral

Artists: Members of the Accademia de’ Dissonanti – Elinor Frey, cello and direction; Laura Andriani, violin; Rossella Croce, violin; Isaac Chalk, viola; and Jan De Winne, flute

Boccheriniana celebrates one of the most delightful and original voices of the classical era, Luigi Boccherini, alongside European composers from the same era, Mozart, J.C. Bach, and Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen. During this time, now known for its elegant ‘galant’ music, Boccherini championed his instrument, the cello, and played as a travelling virtuoso until he settled in Madrid as court composer. Our concert showcases a variety of chamber music favourites: flute quintets, string trio, and quartets. Building on a successful 2020 tour, the program of the group Accademia de’ Dissonanti reunites string players Laura Andriani, Rossella Croce, Isaac Chalk, and Elinor Frey, together with the celebrated traverso player, Jan De Winne, flute professor at the Paris and Brussels conservatories.

This concert is generously supported by Zelie & Vincent Tan and David McMurtry.

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Heinrich Schütz 350 Anniversary Panel

Friday, October 14, 2022 at 11 a.m. PDTOnline

Join us on Friday, October 14 at 11 a.m. PDT for a livestream panel discussion as part of Schütz Fest marking the 350th anniversary of the death German baroque composer of Heinrich Schütz. This is in advance of our concert on Saturday, November 5 – From War to Peace: Heinrich Schütz and His Time. Born in 1585, Schütz had enjoyed an extraordinarily long life by the time of his death in 1672, mastering the widest diversity of musical practices ranging from the high Renaissance polyphony of his youth to the modern theatrical styles from Italy that dominated his older years. Having enjoyed the heights of Renaissance culture as a young man he would also suffer through the harsh years of religious and geopolitical conflict in Germany that we today call the Thirty Years War (1618–1648). The resurgence of war in our own time makes this a fitting occasion to recall how music reflects and shapes our understanding of conflict and reconciliation.

Moderated by Alex Fisher, PhD. Professor of Musicology at UBC, the distinguished panel will discuss topics such as: how German composers reacted and adapted to the circumstances of conflict in the early 17th century including musical aspects of the Thirty Years War, how composers captured heightened emotional states in their music, and how musical culture and soundscapes were heard across the divides between Catholicism and Protestantism.

Joining Dr. Fisher will be Bettina Varwig, PhD. Associate Professor at the Faculty of Music and Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge University and Derek Stauff, PhD., Associate Professor of Music, Hillsdale College, Michigan.

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The Other Seasons

Friday, September 30, 2022 | 7:30 p.m.Christ Church Cathedral

Artists: Ensemble Castor; Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt, violin and direction; Hélène Brunet, soprano

A fun alternative to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this concert pairs concertos for Ensemble Castor’s six musicians with arias and motets by the Venetian ‘Red Priest.’ We welcome the wonderful soprano Hélène Brunet who will unleash her dramatic abilities and virtuosic roulades through arias filled with nature characterizations such as birdsongs, tempests, hunts and pastoral life. Vivaldi uses themes from his Four Seasons in several of his vocal arias and ‘Gelido in ogni vena’ echoes the theme of the first movement of his famed Winter concerto.

“These players never fail to find something to say … lovely, imaginative performances on some sweet-sounding instruments!” – Gramophone, August 2017

Ensemble Castor:
Rodolfo Richter, solo violin
Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt and Nina Pohn, violins
Peter Aigner, viola
Kristina Chalmovska, cello
Barbara Fischer, double-bass
Erich Traxler, harpsichord

The Pre-Concert Talk at 7 p.m. features EMV’s Artistic/Executive Director Suzie LeBlanc in conversation with Petra Samhaber-Eckhardt and Hélène Brunet.

This concert is generously supported by Simon Murphy.

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