AEM ONLINE Classes December 2 & 3

Quantz’s book “On Playing the flute” - an Overview and Exploration of Performance Practice Issues, with Na’ama Lion, flute

Quantz’s book “On Playing the flute”: a general overview and a hands-on exploration of some performance practice issues on the 250 anniversary of the author’s death

This workshop is divided in 2 parts: the first one is open to everyone, and will include an overview of Quantz’s book. Although written for flute players, it contains a wealth of performance practice information, from articulation to ornamentation, continuo playing, orchestral playing, tuning, dynamics and evaluating pieces of music. We will spend some time exploring Quantz’s teaching about appoggiaturas, comparing them to the instructions in his published flute duets, as well as his advice about articulation, where to take a breath, and how to come up with an interesting and expressive dynamic scheme for a given piece.

The second, shorter part, will include playing one or two slow movements from Quantz and Telemann’s duets and applying what we learned in part 1 of the workshop to make the music come to life.

Open to: flutes, recorders (note that we will be at 415 Hz!), and all instrumentalists interested in exploring Quantz’s performance practice related writings. intermediate and up. Pitch: A= 415 Hz

Building From The Bottom Up: How To Play Bass Lines On The Viola Da Gamba And Cello, with John Moran, viol & cello and Risa Browder, violin

While much has been made of the differences between the French and Italian styles in Baroque music, one thing they had in common was the importance of the bass line and the significant role played by bowed bass players in shaping the sound of the ensemble. 

This workshop will explore delightful movements from violin sonatas by Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre (1665-1729), acknowledged in her lifetime as one of the greatest living composers in France, and Francesco Antonio Bonporti (1672–1749), a highly inventive composer of the Roman school.

The class will focus on how to play bass lines supportively to make the treble players’ job as enjoyable as possible and to make the whole sound greater than the sum of the parts. We will explore articulation, phrasing, dynamics, discreet filling in of the harmonies, and ornamentation. This should be as informative to those who play upper parts as it will be to bass players. Students in the class will hear examples played on violin accompanied by viol in the French repertoire and cello in the Italian. Participants will have the opportunity to play along on the instrument(s) of their choice.

Pitch: A= 415 Hz Open to: viola da gambas, cellos, and treble instruments (especially violins), intermediate and up (please note this class will be at 415 Hz!)

The First Flowering of Franco-Flemish Polyphony with Miyo Aoki, recorder

During the early Renaissance, the Low Countries - the land that today comprises the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg - saw a flowering of art in many forms, bolstered by economic prosperity and urban growth. In music, this environment led to a rich repertoire of early polyphony that beautifully united elements of French, Flemish, Italian, and English compositional technique. In the introduction to his treatise Liber de arte contrapuncti (1477), Flemish theorist Johannes Tinctoris complains that up until the very recent past, there were no musical compositions worth hearing, but he approves heartily of current musical trends and heaps praise on several composers contemporary to him, even likening them to gods. We will play music by composers belonging to this early generation of the Franco-Flemish school, such as Guillaume Dufay and Gilles Binchois, and explore composers who influenced them, including Johannes Ciconia and John Dunstable. 

Open to: intermediate and up recorder players. (Other instrumentalists and singers are welcome to join in on lower parts - sound files are provided on recorders at 4-foot register.) Pitch: A = 440 Hz

Solving the Riddle of the Two Stroke Ornament Sign in the Music of William Byrd, with Peter Sykes, virginal and harpsichord

As we near the end of the 400th anniversary of the death of William Byrd, one of England’s greatest composers, join Peter in an exploration of Byrd’s harpsichord and virginal music. An emphasis on ornamentation in Byrd’s keyboard music will include solving the riddle of the two stroke ornament sign. Open to all.