The Glory of Baroque

Born in Eisenach, Germany, March 21, 1685; died in Leipzig, July 28, 1750

In an era when musicians were mere servants either of the church or a princely court, Bach was an early example of a successful musical entrepreneur whose ambition and talent allowed him to jump rapidly from

one post to another in the pursuit of higher earnings and greater artistic challenges. After brief stints as organist at the churches of Arnstadt and Mühlhausen, in 1708 he moved on to the ducal court of Weimar where he quickly won fame as one of Germany's greatest virtuoso organists as well as a masterful composer of organ works and church cantatas. Yet ever restless for new opportunities, in 1717 he abandoned this secure niche to become composer at the much smaller princely court of Cöthen. The move seemed doubly odd since the Cöthen court followed the Reformed or Calvinist faith, which permitted only unaccompanied hymns in its church services; thus Bach would virtually have to abandon the organ. But there were positive inducements. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen was a highly cultivated musician who maintained a fine orchestra and a rich program of secular music at his court. And he offered higher wages, an important concern considering Bach's rapidly expanding family (he was eventually to sire 20 children!).

At Cöthen, Bach created much of his finest secular instrumental music, including concertos for solo instruments in the manner of Vivaldi. Since these were intended as ephemeral pieces to be quickly replaced by newer concertos, only a few survive today. In fact, we would not have the superb concerto in D minor for two violins, if Bach had not later arranged it for two harpsichords in Leipzig in the early 1730s; fortunately, the original violin parts were found as well.

At Weimar, Bach had studied Vivaldi's concertos as well as the works of such Italian violin masters as Corelli and Torelli. At Cöthen, he put what he had learned to work, using Vivaldi's concerto form of three movements in f

ast-slow-fast tempos and enriching it with his own stronger contrapuntal and architectural gifts. The Baroque concerto placed far less emphasis on virtuoso solo display than would the concertos of the Classical and Romantic periods. Instead the listener's ear is stimulated by the contrast between the orchestral passages (known as the "tutti," meaning "all") and the solo sections. In this concerto, the two violin parts are equal in importance and difficulty.

Movement one opens with a big and elaborate tutti, with rich contrapuntal play between the orchestral string parts. Thus, the soloists present the illusion of less complexity, as well as needed airiness, when they finally enter. The tutti and the soloists each have distinct themes: the orchestra's beginning with a rising four-note scale, the soloists' with descending scales and angular upward leaps.

Focusing on the soloists, the slow movement is one of the most beloved and sublime movements Bach ever wrote: a love duet in which the two violins curve around each other in dance-like imitative phrases. Notice the tender simplicity of the four-note descending phrases when the two come together in euphonious sixths. The poignant expressiveness of this music derives from the many stings of dissonance between the instruments resolving into sweet consonance.

The lively third movement is one of Bach's most ingenious. Here the roles of soloists and orchestra are intermingled so that the soloists lead the opening tutti and then later imitate an orchestral accompaniment with energetic chords. The opening three-note motive that launches the theme is constantly repeated by the orchestra or echoed by the second soloist. And in his 3/4 meter, Bach happily accents any beat, or portion thereof, in an infectious display of rhythmic vivacity.

Ronald Royer is a prominent Canadian composer with numerous performances, commissions and commercial recordings. His compositions have been performed throughout Canada, Austria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico and the United States by leading soloists, ensembles and over forty orchestras.

Born in Los Angeles into a family of professional musicians, Ronald Royer began his career as a cellist, performing with such ensembles as the Utah Symphony, Pacific Symphony and Toronto Symphony, as well as working in the Motion Picture and Television Industry in Los Angeles during the 1980’s. Mr. Royer began serious studies in composition in the 1990’s, receiving a Master’s Degree in Composition from the University of Toronto in 1997. In June 2004, he became the Composer-in-Residence for the Orchestras Mississauga supported by a residency grant from the Canada Council for the Arts. Mr. Royer is an associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre and works as an Instructor of Music for the University of Toronto Schools.

The Viola Concerto is a commissioned work by Sinfonia Toronto and this performance is the world-premiere. The concerto will be in the style of baroque music with contemporary references.

Chaconne by Tommaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745) arranged for solo violin and orchestra by Ottorino Respighi

Some musical experts do not believe Tomaso Antonio Vitali to be the true author of the Chaconne in G minor. However, until there is any proof to the contrary, the Bolognese composer may as well be considered at least the putative father of this well-known piece.

Opinions also vary on the origin of the chaconne. Spain and France have been suggested, and also Italy, where some claim it was invented by a blind musician, whence "cieccona" (blind in Italian is "cieco"), which went on to become "ciaccona." Another equally fanciful idea is that it could be "ciacco," which is a diminutive of Francesco.

The chaconne started as a dance similar to the passacaglia, based as it is on continuous variations of the melody on a bass, which was originally a ground bass but was treated more freely later.

Tartini is one of those late Baroque composers who conventionally attract ‘second tier’ status and reputation. Yet, his music is consistently better than such a ranking suggests: more profound, more original, genuin

ely creative, more melodic and more skilfully orchestrated and arranged. Not much is known about Tartini’s early life and musical influences. But we do know that he was brought up and

became musically active in that part of north-eastern Italy which is called ‘The Sacristy of Italy’… puritan, conservative, unadventurous. Here, too, he fell foul of the Church. The city of Padua - livelier than some in the region – was Tartini’s home for years, although we know he visited Assisi and Prague.
It seems likely that innate wit, ability and drive coupled with real curiosity brought out in Tartini the qualities necessary to build a, subsequently renowned, violin school which attracted pupils from across Europe. It was the same determination that compelled Tartini to write extensively on acoustics and musical theory. It was also surely Tartini’s temperament - a sensitivity to criticism - that caused him to react in baffled, mildly combative and defensive ways when attacked by more progressive figures later in his life. Born just before the death of Purcell, Tartini died in Padua in the year Beethoven was born; he composed more than 130 violin concertos, the same number of violin sonatas, and a quarter that number of trio sonatas.

Violin Concerto No. 2 in E Major, BWV 1042 by Johann Sebastian Bach

Born in Eisenach, Germany, March 21, 1685; died in Leipzig, July 28, 1750

Besides recycling freely from his own catalog throughout his career, Bach capitalized on music from other composers, whether in his organ improvisations, as a basis for rearrangement, or folding them into his own original works. An example of this borrowing from a common pool of successful musical material appears at the beginning of Bach’s Concerto for Violin in E Major; the three chords and pause that introduce the work appear at the beginning of about two dozen of Vivaldi’s concertos. The well-traveled motive is an effective herald of the joyful music to come.

Continuing in the Vivaldi mold, Bach weaves the soloist in and out of the ensemble texture through episodes and recaps of the main material, and extends the span of the movement in a long detour through different minor keys (C-sharp and G-sharp) before returning to the opening music. The journey into C-sharp minor proves especially significant because it is home key of the Adagio, a poignant lament featuring prominent melodies in the lower strings. The Allegro assai finale adheres most closely to the Baroque ritornello format, with episodic musings by the soloist separating verbatim restatements of the orchestral theme.