Four Seasons Family Concert: Saturday 23 May 2009, Strovolos Municipal Theatre, Nicosia, 17:00 G.F.Handel: The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba A. Vivaldi: “Spring” and “Summer” (from the Four Seasons) J. Pachelbel: Canon in D Major J.S.Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050 Entrance Free

Concerts Leader: Wolfgang Schroeder

Soloists:
Wolfgang Schroeder (violin), Svetlana Ristic (flute), Gerd Amelung (harpsichord)

In collaboration with Mrs Maro Skordi

G. F. Handel (1685 – 1759): ‘The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba’
(from the oratorio ‘Solomon’, HWV 67)
During his residency in England, Handel worked under the reign of King George II. On 5 May 1748, five days after the quarrels concerning the Austrian succession ended, with the signing of a peace treaty in Aachen, Handel began to compose a new oratorio, ‘Solomon’. He completed the oratorio in little more than five weeks, to a text by an unknown librettist. Handel was aware that the English appreciated biblical stories narrated in musical form, and that he could also invest on the audience’s wide-spread knowledge of the Bible. Through this work, Handel intended a parallel between the glory of King Solomon’s court and the peace and prosperity of the court of King George II. The oratorio was first performed on 17 March 1749 at Covent Garden.

A. Vivaldi (1678 – 1741): Spring and Summer (from “The Four Seasons”)
In 1722 Antonio Vivaldi settled in Rome, where he remained for the next three years, producing his operas and performing for the new Pope, Benedict XIII. It was probably during this period that Vivaldi composed his famous work “The Four Seasons”: a set of four violin concerti, published as his Opus 8 in Amsterdam in 1725. In a sense, “The Four Seasons” were in fact one of the very first pieces of programmatic music. Spring begins with a vigorous ritornello, announcing the arrival of the spring goddess. The first violin solo appearance imitates birds, while the subsequent episodes resemble a thunderstorm and murmuring brooks. In the Largo, the orchestra enacts a gently shifting foliage, while the solo violin performs a wonderfully lyrical melody. The final Allegro is of a pastoral nature, with held notes in the lower strings accompanying a peasant dance, interrupted by expressive violin solos. The second concerto, Summer, begins with a slow ritornello interchanging with passages in a considerably faster tempo, and impressive passagework by the solo violin. By the end of the first movement, the violin takes up the role of the weeping peasant as he sees the potentially destructive weather. The ensuing slow movement is characterized by a lamenting violin above a background of strings, while in the final Presto the storm eventually breaks out, with flashes of lightning and booming thunders throughout.

J. Pachelbel ( 1653 – 1706): ‘Canon in D major’
Pachelbel’s ‘Canon in D major’, presently one of his most celebrated works, was composed in 1680, while the composer was serving as organist at Predigerkirche in Erfurt. The canon was paired with a lively gigue in the same key, under the general title ‘Canon and Gigue in D major for three violins and basso continuo’, following a 17th-century tradition of music employing three high-pitched instruments or voices over a ground bass. It is nowadays performed in a variety of transcriptions, employing different combinations of instruments. The work is structured as a strict three-part melodic canon, evolving over a ground bass that reappears 28 times.

J. S. Bach (1856 – 1750): Brandenburg Concerto No. 5 in D major, BWV 1050
In 1719, having taken up residency in Cöthen, Bach was commissioned by Christian Ludwig, the Margrave of Brandenburg, to write music for the orchestra. It took Bach two years to fulfill the commission, producing six concerti, now known as the Brandenburg Concerti. All six works are written in the form of ‘concerto grosso’, featuring a group of instruments as soloists working against of the orchestra. The fifth concerto’s soloist group is made up of harpsichord, violin and flute.