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 Carolina Rodríguez, oboe
Salvador Salvador and Víctor Díaz, clarinet
Sara Galán and Xaro Martínez, bassoon
Antonio Serrano and performer to be confirmed, basset horns
Christian Morabito, Joaquín Talens, Ángel Lechago and José Antonio Sánchez, French horn
Francisco Ballester, double bass
PROGRAM
W. A. MOZART
Serenade n. 10 in B flat major, K. 361/370a
Mozart’s “Gran Partita”
The Serenade No. 10 in B-flat major, K. 361/370a, more popularly known by the name of “Gran partita” due in part to its length of around 50 minutes, marks a turning point in chamber works for winds. It is written for thirteen instruments: two oboes, two clarinets, two basset horns, two bassoons, four horns and, as the only representative of the string section, a double bass. The inclusion of the basset horns, an instrument of particular timbre developed only a few years earlier, is often attributed to Mozart’s association with Freemasonry, which might suggest that it is a mature work written for his own pleasure. Despite its popularity, as thirteen performers are required for its execution, it is not a common piece in concert cycles, being a score in which active listening among the musicians is a must, an unavoidable 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.
24/03/2024
4€
The entire proceeds from the Chamber Music Series 2024 will be donated to a social project of the Community of Madrid.