Tuesday evening I broke my concert-fast (which was self-imposed, regretfully, in favor of preparing for my weekly appointment with Masao Kawasaki). The delightful repast which I partook of was constituted of the Double Violin Concerto, and the 3rd, 4th, and 5th concertos dedicated to the Margrave of Brandenburg by the Great One, the illustrious, prolific, the masterful, the inspired and inspiring
Johann Sebastian Bach. The wonderful performance was served up beautifully by
Apollo’s Fire, the Cleveland-based Baroque ensemble. There were between 3 and six violins, three violas, three celli, one bass, and, of course, the ubiquitous basso continuo instrument, the harpsichord (very ably handled by the group’s music director, Jeanette Sorrell). They were joined for the 4th and 5th Brandenburg Concertos by Baroque recorders and a flute. Incidentally, the 5th Concerto (for Flute, Violin and Harpsichord) is the first concerto ever to include a keyboard instrument as soloist (I’m not sure if organ is counted in this statement. It depends on when Handel started writing his organ concertos).
For those of you who don’t know very much about Baroque (approx. 1600-1750) performance practice, here are a few differences from modern standards:
Instruments:Slightly smaller than modern ones, with gut strings (sheep gut, NOT cat gut), rather than metal or synthetic core strings. The gut strings really give the string instruments a wonderful blending capability. Gut strings are, however, very sensitive to humidity, and become out-of-tune much easier than do modern ones.
Celli: No endpin to support the instrument. The player must hold up the instrument between his legs. This can be painful if you’re not used to it.
Bows:
Pre-
Tourte (Tourte worked in the early 19th century) constructions vary, but most have much “pointier” tips, and many are not held in place by screws, but by a locking lever-device. Many sticks are also convex shaped, rather than the modern concave design. The bow and string have a lot more “give” to them; they aren’t as springy as modern ones.
Tuning:
Modern instruments are generally tuned to A=440-443 cycles/second, depending on the orchestra. Baroque instruments are tuned, depending on what someone thinks is the most correct (i.e. latest) scholarship, to A=415-430 cycles/second. That’s somewhere around a ½ step lower than modern instruments, in equal temperament.
Here is an interesting article, if you care to look further
Vibrato:
From what I could tell, the violins and violas used it rarely, if ever. The celli used it on longer notes, but still sparingly. It creates a bright, pleasant, airy sound.
Posture:
Violinists and violists generally stand, so there’s a great deal more movement possible while playing. The harpsichordist (when playing
basso continuo, not solo) has his or her back to the audience. It was the vain Franz Liszt who in the 19th century turned the piano so that women could swoon simply by seeing his profile. They must have been pretty hard-up for entertainment back then.
The performances themselves were inspiring and so very full of life. I’ve not enjoyed a concert like that in a long time. One other interesting observation I made was that they took some serious rubato in several places. I was under the impression that that was taboo in a well-informed Baroque performance, but hey, it worked. It was a very refreshing evening of music composed
Soli Deo Gloria.
