CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES

Interpreters
Iliana Machado, soprano
Julieta Navarro, mezzo-soprano
Daniel González, tenor
Fernando Rubio , bass
Lourdes Hige, oboe
Felipe Rodríguez y Gladys Silot, violin
Sandra García, viola
Carlos Sánchez, cello
Susana García, doouble bass

PROGRAM

J. S. BACH. Motet BWV 118 O

J. S. BACH. Mass Brevis in G minor BWV 236

Easter with Bach
“When I hear Bach’s music, I have the feeling that the eternal harmony speaks to itself, as it must have happened to God shortly before the creation of the world”, this is how Goethe would describe his perception of Bachian music and, in line with him, the program of this concert seeks to enrich and elevate the spiritual experience of Holy Week through the performance of two masterpieces by Johann Sebastian Bach.
with him, the program of this concert seeks to enrich and elevate the spiritual experience of Holy Week through the performance of two masterpieces by Johann Sebastian Bach.

Although the sublime choral piece that opens the concert,
O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht, BWV 118, has often been considered a cantata, it is technically a motet. It was composed in 1736/37, but the occasion for which it was written is unknown. The source of the text is a 1610 hymn by Martin Behm,
Some say it was probably written for a funeral procession, some say it was played at Bach’s own funeral!

The next work on the program is the Missa Brevis in G minor
BWV 236, one of the five masses Bach wrote between 1737 and 1748. To compose it, he recycled some parts of his cantatas, thus offering us a small showcase of his extraordinary compositions.

Performers
Lourdes Higes and Lourdes Vigueras, oboes
Salvador Salvador and Víctor Díaz, clarinet
Sara Galán and Xaro Martínez, bassoon
Antonio Serrano and Francisco Rodríguez, basset horns
Christian Morabito, José Antonio Sánchez, Joaquín Talens, and Ángel Lechago, French horn
Francisco Ballester, double bass 

PROGRAMME 

W.A. MOZART
Serenade n. 10 in B flat major, K. 361/370a 

Mozart’s “Gran Partita”
Serenade No. 10 in B flat major, K. 361/370a, more popularly known by the name “Gran partita,” partially due to its duration, around 50 minutes, was a turning point in chamber pieces for wind instruments. It was written for thirteen instruments: two oboes, two clarinets, two basset horns, two bassoons, four French horns and, as the sole string representative, a double bass. Including the basset horns, an instrument with a unique timbre developed just a few years earlier, is normally attributed to Mozart’s relationship with Freemasonry. This might suggest that this is a mature piece, written for his own delight. Despite its popularity, since thirteen performers are necessary, it is not regularly played in concert series. This is a score where active listening between the musicians is essential. Do not miss this opportunity to discover this exceptional score! 

Performers
Elina Sitnikava, violin
Stanislas Kim, cello
Karina Azizova, piano

PROGRAM
S. RACHMANINOV. Trio élégiaque in G minor
P. I. TCHAIKOVSKY. Piano Trio in A minor “To the memory of a great artist, N. Rubinstein”.

DEAR MASTER…

Russian composers seemed to find in the piano trio the perfect vehicle for paying homage to their masters. Tchaikovsky was something of a mentor to the young composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninov. His one-movement Trio élégiaque No. 1 dates from the year of his graduation, 1892, and is clearly inspired by Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor (1881-82), which we will hear later. This, in turn, is a lament for the loss of pianist Nicolai Rubinstein, Tchaikovsky’s close friend and mentor.

But do not think that the story ends here, because, curiously, the death of Tchaikovsky himself, in 1893, would motivate Rachmaninov to return to this format by writing his second Trio élégiaque in memory of the master.

Performers
Hevila Cardeña, soprano
Teresa López, mezzo-soprano
Lorenzo Moncloa, tenor
Alfonso Baruque, bass
Karina Azizova, piano

PROGRAM

Jule Styne
Let It Snow

Jonny Marks
A Holly Jolly Christmas

Navarre Popular
Chiquirriquitín

Spanish Popular
The old lady is coming

Andalusian Popular
Bell on bell

Venezuelan folk
Mi burrito sabanero

English folk
We Wish You a Merry Christmas (arrangement by Karina Azizova)

Franz Schubert
Ave Maria

Franz X. Gruver
Silent Night

John Newton
Amazing Grace

Richard Rodgers
The Sound of Music

Wallace Willis
Swing Low

Joe Beal & Jim Boothe
Jingle Bells Rock

Irvin Berlin
White Christmas

James Pierpoint
Jingle Bells

PROGRAM NOTES
By Cristina Roldán, musicologist.

Festive Christmas potpourri
What better way to prepare for the arrival of Christmas than through a selection of Christmas carols? This concert is made up of the essential Christmas carols: popular Castilian carols that for centuries have been part of the usual repertoire, along with other foreign ones adopted today almost as our own.

Interpreters
MAITE RAGA , FLUTE
SANDRA GARCÍA , VIOLA
LAURA HERNÁNDEZ, HARP

PROGRAM
Jean-Philippe Rameau
Harpsichord Pieces in Concert (arrangement for flute, viola, and harp)

Jean-Marie Lecrair
Sonata No. 8 in D Major

Maurice Ravel
Minuet in Trio

Jacques Ibert
Two Interludes for flute, viola, and harp.

Claude Debussy
Sonata para flauta, viola y arpa

PROGRAM NOTES
By Cristina Roldán, musicologist

Echoes of France

The timbres of the viola, flute, and harp comprise the sound palette of this concert, as if they represented the three colors of the French flag that unite their composers.

Jean-Philippe Rameau, one of the greatest musicians of the French Baroque, never thought of using this combination. In his Harpsichord Pieces in Concert, he originally used this instrument as a soloist, alongside the violin and the viola da gamba. It was Claude Debussy who first chose this exclusive sonic material, which he experimented with in his Sonata, the most cherished in his repertoire. Jacques Ibert, just a few decades younger than him, borrowed it for his Two Interludes, which reveal a completely French sensibility in balance, color, and vivid impression. And although Maurice Ravel, often compared to Debussy, only thought of the piano for his Sonatina, Carlos Salzedo soon proposed an arrangement for these instruments that immediately thrilled him.