Picking up the pieces: A classical treat after a six-month sound of silence
Starved of any live entertainment after the onset of the COVID -19 pandemic, it was with considerable anticipation that I looked forward to the concert by the Chamber Music Society of Colombo (CMSC) at the Goethe Institute on September 19. I was not disappointed. The pieces, the ensemble under Lakshman Joseph de Saram picked up were gems and delighted the inevitable COVID-19 guidelines truncated audience.
After the initial introductory remarks by the concertmaster, which unfortunately tended to get lost in transmission, we were treated to three fugues, which were explained to the audience by de Saram, as contrapuntal compositions in which a short melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successively taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts.
The first was Bach’s Fugue 22 in B minor BWV 867(which is in fact a fugue from the Prelude and Fugue in B flat minor (from the Well Tempered Clavier) arranged for String Quintet by Beethoven and numbered as Hess 38.
This was followed by Allbrechtsberger Fugue in D minor Op.9 No.6. Johann Georg Albrechtsberger was an Austrian composer, organist and music theorist and one of the teachers of Ludwig van Beethoven. He was friendly with Haydn and Mozart. His work as an inspired teacher overshadowed his own musical accomplishments. This fugue was among many compositions that Beethoven arranged for string ensemble.
The third Fugue arranged for strings by Beethoven was by Bach, namely the Fugue from the Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542. This is from an organ prelude and fugue by Johann Sebastian Bach, and I recognised it as the popular favourite at organ recitals given by my friend and organist, the late Lucian G.B. Fernando (later Rev.) at the pipe organ at St. Michael’s and All Angels Polwatte, Colombo3; a pipe organ, incidentally still preserved, though in need of restoration. The theme or subject of the Fugue is a Dutch popular tune called ‘Ik ben gegroet van…’
We now left the realm of fugues and had the joy of listening to two pieces by the ensemble which co-opted a flautist to join in. The first was a Serenade for flute, violin and viola by Beethoven, and the other a Concerto Da Camera for flute and strings by Antonio Salieri.
The serenade for flute violin and viola was written by Beethoven around 1801, though there are preliminary sketches from 1797, when Beethoven finished his earlier serenade Op. 8. The work consisted of six movements, all quite delightful. I believe this is the first time I have heard the flautist, Sanuja Goonatilleke perform and I (who incidentally used to be an amateur
flautist in the Ceylon Symphony Orchestra in days gone by), enjoyed her playing immensely.
This was followed by the Concertino da camera for flute (or oboe) and strings G major (1777) by Antonio Salieri (August 18, 1750 – May 7, 1825). Born in Legnago, Italy, he was a composer and conductor as well as one of the most important and famous, (although made infamous in the musical “Amadeus”), musicians of his time. This concertino is in four movements: I. Allegro II. Andante III. Minuetto IV. Allegro.
A slight change in the order gave us George Frideric Handel’s Concerto Grosso Op.6 No.4 in A minor for strings as the next item. Handel’s Concerto No 4 in A minor, Op 6 (HWV 322) is from his Twelve Grand Concertos, (HWV 319330), first published by subscription in London by John Walsh in 1739 and became Opus 6 in the second edition of 1741. The exquisitely beautiful Larghetto affetuoso of Concerto No 4 reflects a galant style and is followed by an energetic fugue, marked Allegro. The third movement, the Largo e piano in F major is one of Handel’s most sublime and simple slow movements, a sarabande in the Italian trio sonata style. The final Allegro in A minor is a radical reworking of a soprano aria ‘È si vaga’ in preparation for his penultimate opera “Imeneo”.
The Concerto for Strings No. 1 in F minor by Francesco Durante followed. Francesco Durante is one of the least-known composers of the Italian baroque. His music isn’t that often played, in comparison to, for instance, that of Vivaldi. His music is difficult to grasp, as it is so different from what one would expect. In contrast to most of his contemporaries, and in particular those from Naples where Durante
worked most of his life, he did not compose a single opera. The largest part of his output is sacred, and in addition he wrote various secular cantatas, a considerable amount of keyboard music and some instrumental works, one of which was the Concerto for strings in F minor which was played by ensemble of the CMSC at this concert. The Baroque characteristic of sharply and quickly shifting contrasts looms large in the music. It is in 5 movements I. Un poco andante II. Allegro III. Andante IV. Amoroso and V. Allegro.
The Concert concluded with the Concerto Grosso in D major, Op. 6 No. 4 for strings by Arcangelo Corelli, published as the fourth concerto in his Twelve Concerti Grossi, Op. 6 in 1714. This concerto grosso is the second most notable of the twelve, after No. 8, the famous Christmas Concerto. It opened with a short curtain-raising Adagio, and then launched into a dazzling Allegro. The Adagio movement that followed was vintage Corelli, a gravely beautiful processional in B minor, its occasional flashes of dissonance adding a discreet touch of drama. A triple-metre Vivace partook of lively dance rhythms, sounding for all the world like a quickstep minuet or a Viennese waltz. The energetic Allegro finale had a surprise in store: after spending most of its time in whirling compound duple metre, it treated us to a virtuoso coda in sturdy common time. The concerto is mainly notable for its overall joyfully charged sound, making it a frequently used example when demonstrating Corelli’s renowned cantabiles, and thereby affording the pleased audience, a very happy ending to an altogether enjoyable concert.