went out to this last night
worth braving the weather for
most definitely
i kinda cried during the Gran Partita
just a bit
it was just sooooooo beautiful
Quote:Hark, the clarinet bent in the middle
JOHN TERAUDS
TORONTO STAR
Most of us think of strings ?- violins, violas, cellos and the big double bass ?- as the stars of the chamber orchestra, so it's high time the winds had some time in the spotlight.
This week, Toronto's own Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra is shedding its usual front-row players to showcase works for winds, namely horns and the double- and single-reed families.
Instead of going baroque, as usual, it is also presenting offerings from the "classical" period, namely the late 18th century, from the genteel musical world of the Austrian court.
And a fine outing it is, both in aural pleasure as well as in deepening our musical knowledge. Last night's program at Trinity-St. Paul's Church repeats tonight through Sunday, and is well worth a visit for both adults and musically curious children.
The second half of the program, devoted to Mozart's exquisite Serenade in B-flat Major, K. 361 (best known as the Gran Partita), is a study in musical perfection, with its diaphanous harmonic and contrapuntal textures and period dance rhythms augmented by the less-homogenized sound of period instruments.
A baker's dozen players ?- two oboes, two bassoons, two clarinets, two basset horns, four french horns and a double-bass ?- with its core drawn from within Tafelmusik's permanent ranks delivered a lively and sensitive interpretation of the Gran Partita, which is familiar to most classical music fans.
Because the period instruments do not produce their sound in the same way as their modern counterparts, the sound is different ?- at once more mellow and with more of an edge.
The modern french horn, for example, has valves to help the player deliver every note in the scale. But the 18th century horn has no valves, so the player has to exercise his or her lips that much more, and also stick a hand into the instrument's bell to help regulate the tone.
In the case of the basset horn, it's a single-reed that doesn't exist in the modern orchestra. It looks a bit like a clarinet that someone bent in the middle. The sound is lower and richer than a clarinet's.
To help explain the evolution of wind instruments from the 18th century to the present day, each set of players demonstrated their sounds and abilities in an interesting selection of short pieces during the first half of the program.
The funniest part was when the horn players inserted their instruments' mouthpieces into lengths of plastic tubing to demonstrate how the sound is produced. It was a great example of professional players making what they do that much more accessible to everyone in the room. And it was appreciated.
The academic part of the program was interesting. I love Tafelmusik!
