Micrologus; Baroque Band

82-14 THE BAROQUE BAND

One of the most exciting early music trends in North America these days is the revival and interest in orchestral music of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in the ensemble for playing that music— something which is being familiarly referred to as the “Baroque band.” The idea of the Baroque band is to play the music on original instruments, or reproductions of original instruments, and with numbers of players which correspond to those normally available during the Baroque era. Obviously there was no standard number at that time, and we'll see that reflected in the groups we hear today, which range from 11 or 12 players up to about 30.

The latest entry into the field is Philharmonia: Baroque Orchestra of the West, which gave its premiere concert in San Francisco in February of 1982. The artistic director of that group, Laurette Goldberg, was in Cleveland recently, and I asked her about the rise of the Baroque band and its future in North America.

GOLDBERG: I think it's a natural development from the movement that started at the beginning of the century for historic performance, which really didn't get going till after the big war, the good war, until about 1950. Things start gradually to emerge out of the lowlands and and a few other baroque centers, out of Basel, and so we have we've had a development of taste and skill in performance practice, development of fine instruments, and of small chamber groups, which has reached a very high level. Well, the natural result then is when you develop a community of players, is then to be able to move to the next step, which is the big Baroque band sound, which involves multiple people on a part. And we're talking about 30 people as a big world band. And I think that it's happened because of the gradual education of both performers and the listener, and the consciousness that if if a trio sonata sounds exciting and interesting and more alive on original instruments played stylistically, then what, in fact, will Handel Water Music sound like? And I think that's how it, you know— it's just a natural evolution. My experience with our band is that it was a dream, that it naturally developed in a place that is such an important baroque center. We thought people would like to hear it, but we were not prepared for the response. Standing room only; hysterical excitement. After the first concert, we developed a bunch of groupies who went to every concert, even though the music was the same. There's no question that it is easier to get an audience for a larger ensemble. Of course, it's also its newness: this was the first time an orchestra of this size, in case of Philharmonia, was ever heard in the West. Because when Concentus came, they came with one on a part, or maybe one or two more, because who can afford to travel with such a big band? So it’s a the new sound, and coupled with the fact that it's a sonority that hadn't been heard, coupled with the fact that this is an orchestra orchestra country, it’s true, I think that this this is a movement that is fully ready, and people are, in fact, dying to hear it.

DUFFIN: Can you tell me now about the formation of Philharmonia?

GOLDBERG: Well, it occurred to me when I was on sabbatical in 1980, when I went abroad and played in Europe, I realized that it was indeed true that the San Francisco Bay Area was, in fact, one of the great centers in terms of performers, builders and audience. In November of ’79, Frans Brüggen and I had lunch in San Francisco and he told me about the formation of his band, the Orchestra of the Eighteenth Century, with 15 treble strings, and some of those people are Bay Area people, and I thought it would be a very nice arrangement because they could go back and forth, and many of them would like to return home for part of the time. So, all together it seemed like my energy— I was ready— for that, and it seemed to me that the world was ready for it. And so I addressed myself to some of the people who are Baroque aficionados, who are serious amateurs devoted to the art, and said, Why don't we do this? And the response was: Fine, let's do it! So we had our opening after after a year's work. And the response was just incredible. And the music making was extraordinary.

[MUSIC: Philharmonia: Baroque Orchestra of the West, playing two movements from Jean Féry Rebel’s Suite, Les Eléments (the Elements)]

DUFFIN: We heard first the Loure, “La terre et l’eau” (the earth and water) followed by the Chaconne, “Le feu” (Fire).

Next, we hear a group which was formed in 1976, especially to make use of the collection of restored instruments at the Smithsonian Institution: The Smithsonian Chamber Players. They're now producing recordings which are available only through the Smithsonian, so in spite of their excellence, they are currently known only to a limited audience. From a recording of seven Concerti Grossi by Handel, we'll hear the first movement of Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major.

[MUSIC: The Smithsonian Chamber players performing George Frideric Handel’s Concerto Grosso, No. 1 in B-flat major. The featured soloists, by the way, were two valued residents of the Cleveland area, violinist Marilyn McDonald, and oboist James Caldwell]

The next group achieved perhaps its greatest prominence so far in 1981, when it performed for Monteverdi's opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea at the Boston Early Music Festival. I'm referring to Banchetto Musicale. Actually, Baroque opera is an area of great potential for these groups, as more and more early operas are rescued from library shelves and brought to the public as living, breathing works of art. Today we're going to listen to a selection from Banchetto Musicale’s Telemann recording, which includes two of Telemann's more than 100 suites for orchestra— more evidence of the wealth of literature awaiting exploration by baroque bands. We'll hear the first movement, the ouverture of Telemann's 1765 D-Major Suite.

[MUSIC: Banchetto Musicale, directed by Martin Pearlman, performing the first movement of Telemann's Ouverture in D major]

The next group we hear is Ars Musica from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Some of you may recall their Christmas 1980 performance of Handel's Messiah, which was broadcast over NPR. We hear them now performing the final movement of Brandenburg Concerto No. 4, by J. S. Bach.

[MUSIC: Ars Musica, directed by Lyndon Lawless, performing the final movement of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 4]

Ars Musica is remarkable in that it is rapidly becoming a full time undertaking for its members, whereas most of the other groups get together only for tours and recordings. It's possible, therefore, for a player to be in more than one of these baroque bands. And indeed, such is the case with the talented violinist Jeanne Lamon. You heard her in the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Banchetto Musicale. Next, you'll hear her in a group which she also directs: Tafelmusik, from Toronto, Ontario. We hear them first in the Hornpipe and Air from The Moor’s Revenge, by Henry Purcell.

MUSIC: Hornpipe and Air, from The Moor’s Revenge, by Henry Purcell, recorded live in concert by Tafelmusik]

The group takes its name, by the way, from a collection of music by Georg Philipp Telemann. From that very collection, appropriately, for both them and today's Micrologus, we hear the Conclusion from the Suite in B-flat.

[MUSIC: Conclusion from the Suite in B-flat by Georg Philipp Telemann, performed by Toronto's Tafelusik]

You've been listening to a program of music entitled “The Baroque Band.”