The Sacramento Recorder Society

Transcription

1 The Sacramento Recorder Society A place for early music of all kinds in Sacramento A chapter of the American Recorder Society An affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society February 2017 For more information about the Sacramento Recorder Society, visit our blog at February Meeting 6:45pm Tuesday, February 7, 2017 at the Friends Meeting House th Street between J St. and H St. A Letter from Our Co-President Dear Recorder Society members, Can you believe that we are already closing in on February? Our next meeting will be on February 7 th and Judy Linsenberg will be our conductor. Here s hoping you all can make it. I hope everyone is doing well. It has been quite the winter so far with all the wind, rain, snow and flooding we have had. It is good to get the rain to help us out of the drought, but we seem to be getting more and more. I hope everyone will be safe and warm. I would like to give kudos to everyone who came out for Soupe and Musick Night on January 7 th. Not only were we fed well with those wonderful soups and bread, but the music was also pretty amazing. All the performers and the musical variety (early music, jazz, an oldie-but- goodie song from the sixites, the harp duet!) made the evening so special. Thank you to David Dodds, our MC, and to Mark Schiffer for organizing the musical program. And of course to our wonderful Jerry Schwartz, who has led us at the last two meetings and who conducted the recorder orchestra at the Soupe Night. Decorations and dessert were provided by Patty Johnson and her family. This meeting is one of my favorites, and it is so fun to be a part of it. This was our 8 th annual Soupe and Musick Night! I hope everyone who attended feels the same way and will come again next year. The Oscars are coming up, and if you are a fan of movie musicals you should certainly check out the multi-nominated La La Land." The music, the acting, the scenery, and the costumes are pretty amazing. Turning a Los Angeles traffic into a Broadway musical song and dance extravaganza is a great way to start off a movie! Final note: Crystal Olson could not make the soup night due to a hip operation. We have heard from her and she is doing much better. We missed you Crystal! Sending you love and energy for your healing. Take care, everyone, and music on. Music helps keep us balanced and our minds active. It s all good. See you on the 7th! Gail Crawford Co-President

2 Our February Conductor Judy Linsenberg Called "the Jascha Heifetz of the recorder," Judith Linsenberg is one of the leading exponents of the recorder in the US, acclaimed for her "virtuosity," "expressivity," and "fearless playing." She has performed at the Hollywood Bowl and Lincoln Center; and has been featured with the SF Symphony, the SF and LA Operas, the LA Chamber Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque, American Bach Soloists, the Portland and Seattle Baroque Orchestras, and others. She is the Director of the Baroque ensemble, Musica Pacifica, whose performances and eight recordings have received international acclaim and several awards, causing the ensemble to be described by the press as "some of the finest baroque musicians in America" (American Record Guide) and among the best in the world" (Alte Musik Aktuell). Her newest CD, with soprano Dominique Labelle, has just been released on the Parma/Navona label to enthusiastic reviews, including being described as "a beautiful issue that is as heartwarming as it is stimulating." (DailyClassicalMusic.com, Malta). Judy has recorded for Virgin Classics, Dorian, Solimar, harmonia mundi usa, Koch International, Reference Recordings, Musical Heritage Society, Drag City Records (with Joanna Newsom), and Hännsler Classics. She holds a doctorate in early music from Stanford University and has been a visiting professor at the Vienna Conservatory and Indiana University s Early Music. Institute. She maintains a private teaching studio in Oakland, CA, and has taught at numerous workshops across North America. In her spare time, she enjoys reading novels for her 2 book groups, hiking with her wonder-dog, Jake, eating at fine restaurants (particularly when someone else takes her), and working out at the gym (well, not so much, really, but she does it anyway). Conductor s Notes for February The music for the October meeting will be a "smorgasbord" of music from various countries and time periods. We'll start with a 4-part piece by Heinrich Isaac, one of the great triumvirate of early 16th-century Netherlandish composers that also included Josquin and Obrecht. The piece is called "A la battaglia," and falls into the genre of pieces in the Renaissance and Baroque that imitated battle cries with triadic motives in distinctive rhythms. This piece saves the battle motifs for the last of the 3 parts, while the rest of the piece is typical Isaac: a mixture of polyphonic and homophonic sections, some big meter changes between sections, and some typical renaissance syncopated rhythms. Next, we'll play a short, lively piece by Anonymous, probably first half of the 16th century, on the bass pattern, La Gamba, which you may be familiar with from works by Ortiz or Ruffo. You'll enjoy the syncopations. Then we jump ahead to the 17th century in Italy (Venice, 1608) with a 5-part canzona by Frescobaldi. It opens with the typical canzona rhythm of "long, short, short" and continues with a full sound and some nice counterpoint and imitation, where all five parts share equally in the melodic material. Staying in the 17th century, we'll then travel to France, where the style couldn't be more different from Frescobaldi (well, (Continued on the next page)

3 I guess it could, but this is still pretty different), with a lovely chaconne by the consummate French composer, who was born in Italy--Jean-Baptiste Lully. The chaconne comes from his opera Phaeton. Interestingly, it has some things in common with the La Gamba piece, in that they're both built over ground bass/harmonic patterns, but the Lully chaconne is clearly in the high Baroque style, with Baroque ornaments and the typical inégal rhythmic alteration. Finally, we'll end the evening with a piece by Bach: an arrangement of the beautiful slow movement from Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. This works well for as a 4-part recorder piece, where the bass recorders play the bass line of constant arpeggiated eighth notes, and a soprano and two tenor recorder lines take over the melody lines of the solo recorder, violin and oboe of the original. If you've always wished you could play some of the great music in the Brandenburg Concertos, here's your chance! Conductors for 2017 February 7, 2017: Judy Linsenberg Recorders Out and About Wednesday, February 22: Westminster Presbyterian Church, as part of their Music at Noon series of concerts, is featuring the ensemble Baroque & Beyond with SRS members Kathryn Canan and Mark Schiffer on baroque flute and recorders, plus Isabelle Henry on recorder, Alexandra Roedder on cello, and Nancy Lee Harper on harpsichord. The program features favorites by Venetian composers such as Gabrieli, Vivaldi, Ciconia, Marcello, Uccellini, and Scarlatti. Admission is free (but donations will be cheerfully accepted). 12:00 1:00 p.m. Refreshments at Monthly Meetings We had impromptu refreshments in January. Thanks to those who brought something! Have you signed up to share a treat? There ll be a sign up sheet on the table in the foyer at the February meeting. It need not be fancy; bags of Oreos are welcome (January was proof!). March 7, 2017: Greta Haug-Hryciw April 4, 2017: Louise Carslake May 2, 2017: Shira Kammen SRS Non-Member Meeting Policy Please be aware... We love having new members and a non-member is welcome to attend two SRS meetings for free. After that there will be a $5 fee per meeting for the nonmember. Nevada County Recorder Society Our regular meetings are the first Sunday of each month, 4:30-7, at the Madelyn Helling Library, 980 Helling Way, Nevada City. For more information about meetings, contact Miriam Morris, miriamemorris@gmail.com or Kathryn Canan, kacanan@yahoo.com

4 Winter and Spring Concerts Artek Bridge of Sighs Friday, February 17: First Presbyterian Church, Palo Alto, 8:00pm Saturday, February 18: St. John s Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, 7:30pm Sunday, February 19: St. Mark s Lutheran Church, San Francisco, 4:00pm Information: Venice Baroque Orchestra Vivaldi s Four Seasons and other Baroque Masterworks Saturday, February 25: Jackson Hall, Mondavi Center, Davis, 8:00pm Information: Barbary Coast Recorder Orchestra For All Things Green and Peaceful Sunday, March 5: Arlington Community Church Parish Hall, 52 Arlington Ave., Arlington, 4:00pm Information: franfeldon@gmail.com Akademie fur Alte Musik Berlin Foreign Affairs: Characters of the Baroque Saturday, March 11: First Congregational Church, Berkeley, 8:00pm Information: UC Davis Early Music Ensemble Miserere Friday, March 17: Ann E. Pitzer Center, UC Davis, Davis, 7:00pm Information: mondaviarts.org Voices of Music Pergolesi s Stabat Mater Friday, March 17: All Saints Episcopal Church, Palo Alto, 8:00pm Saturday, March 18: St. Mark s Lutheran Church, San Francisco, 8:00pm Sunday, Marcy 19: St. Mary Magdalen Church, Berkeley, 7:30pm Information: Sacramento Baroque Soloists A London Adventure Saturday, March 18: Harris Center, Folsom, 7:30pm Sunday, March 19: Harris Center, Folsom, 2:00pm Friday, March 24: St. Paul s Episcopal Church, 7:30pm Information: The Tallis Scholars Metamorphosis Friday, April 7: First Congregational Church, Berkeley, 8:00pm Information:

5 Upcoming workshops... Game of Thrones: Music for Queens & Kings Saturday February 11, :00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Directed by Louise Carslake and Hanneke van Proosdij Christ Church Lutheran, San Francisco Please join us for a day of glorious music in the heart of San Francisco s Sunset District, where directors Louise Carslake and Hanneke van Proosdij will present music for royalty composed by a group of composers including Busnois, Charpentier, Dowland, Charpentier, Lassus, Marais, de Monte, du Mont, van Ghizeghem, and Schütz. Information: fkress@aol.com Note: If you ve never been to a workshop, before this one is very newbie-friendly! 2017 SFEMS Baroque Collegium Make a Joyful Noise Concerted Vocal Works from Italy and Germany Linda Pearse, Director Saturday, February 25, :00AM 4:00PM Eden United Church of Christ Birch Street Hayward, CA This program explores the stylistic changes and compositional developments that occurred in concerted vocal music during the 17 th and early 18 th centuries by way of the music of Giovanni Gabrieli, Claudio Monteverdi, Heinrich Schütz, and J. S. Bach. All pieces will include parts for voices and instruments. Information: Link to registration: Collegium-Flyer.pdf

6 And a few more workshops (coming up in February and March)! Next Level Recorder Retreat: Intensive Workshop on Technique and Ensemble Skills Friday February 24-Tuesday February 28, 2017 Faculty: Tish Berlin and Frances Blaker (third teacher TBA depending on enrollment) Hidden Valley Music Seminars, Carmel Valley, CA Tuition: $365 Room and board double $310/single $390 Contact Tish Berlin at tishberlin@sbcglobal.net for more information. Download application at Columbia Gorge Early Music Retreat This fabulous workshop runs from March 17-20, 2017 at the Menucha Retreat and Conference Center, Corbett, Oregon, 97019, about 20 miles east of Portland. Terrific faculty: Alison Melville, Miyo Aoki, Vicki Boeckman, Gayle and Phil Neuman, Laura Kuhlman Information: Thinking about summer? It s not too early. Registration for the Port Townsend Early Music Workshop July 9-15, 2017 IS NOW OPEN! Visit to learn more and to register.

7 Find Us Online! Take lessons from a recorder expert! Sacramento area: Kathryn Canan is available for recorder lessons or ensemble coaching. Contact her at or kacanan@yahoo.com. She s now in Grass Valley, at 469 Pine Street (95945). She is willing to drive to Sacramento to give lessons or ensemble coaching. Of course, she s also happy to have people drive up here, take a lesson, and go hiking in the state park across the street! These teachers are in the Bay Area (or willing to come to Sacramento, if there s enough interest): Greta Haug-Hryciw, SRS member and conductor, would love to give lessons before chapter meetings. Contact Greta at (415) or at gr8asf@gmail.com Frances Feldon, conductor of the Barbary Coast Recorder orchestra and music director of the ensemble Flauti Diversi, is available for lessons. She can be contacted at franfeldon@gmail.com Judith Linsenberg, the director of the Baroque ensemble Musica Pacifica, holds a doctorate in early music from Stanford, and has extensive recorder teaching experience. She may be contacted by phone at More information about teachers is on our blog: Our official online location is now our blog at All the information that Kathy kept on the website is now here. She can easily authorize others to post as well, and anyone can add more information by commenting on the posts. You can check the blog for new information any time, or you can subscribe to it by entering your in the Follow field. Information that rarely changes is also on the blog. Click on the menu button to find what you re looking for. We are also on Facebook. Just search for Sacramento Recorder Society and be sure to like us!! Consider joining one of the larger organizations which make our own SRS possible: The San Francisco Early Music Society, with whom we are affiliated, offers excellent workshops and concerts in the Bay Area. Their website: American Recorder Society, of which we are a chapter, is the national organization which promotes recorders. Their website:

8 About the Sacramento Recorder Society The Sacramento Recorder Society, founded in 1982, is a non-profit, taxexempt organization. It is a chapter of the American Recorder Society and an affiliate of the San Francisco Early Music Society. We welcome recorder players of all ages and abilities as well as players of other early music instruments such as lutes, viols, sackbuts, shawms, curtals, krummhorns, and percussion. Beginners are urged to study privately and learn fingerings and become comfortable reading music before joining the recorder orchestra. We meet monthly from September through June, from 6:45pm to 9:30pm on the first Tuesday of each month, at the Friends Meeting House, th Street, between J St. and H St. Most of our meetings are conducted by a professional early music specialist who teaches recorder technique and relevant music history and theory while exploring music of many eras. Many of our members also play in smaller groups in members homes during the rest of the month. Sacramento Recorder Society Board Co-Presidents: Gail Crawford and Susan Titus Vice President: Mark Schiffer Secretary: Patricia Johnson Treasurer: Doris Loughner Member-at-Large: Robert Foster Education Chairperson: Crystal Olson For information on SRS, please contact the following board members by gail.crawford1@gmail.com or susanlee448@att.net or marschif@gmail.com Listening to Early Music Here are some possibilities: Sunday Baroque, which airs from 8am to 10am on 88.9 FM, KXPR. Harmonia provides podcasts at its website: indianapublicmedia.org/ harmonia The Chicago Early Music website provides access to many early music resources. Go to earlymusicchicago.org, then click on ensembles, then click on beyond Magnatune.com allows you to listen to music free and pay when you choose to download, or you can subscribe for $15/month for unlimited downloads Millennium of Music: "The sources and mainstreams of European music from the thousand years before the birth of Bach." recorder-radio.com streams a variety of recorder music 24 hours a day Also available online: Concertzender Oude Muziek (mostly early music, there s an announcer every so often who is speaking Dutch). You can find these stations using Tune In Radio. The Boston classical station, WCRB, has an early music stream. Go to classicalwcrb.org, click on the play button, and the early music stream is one of your choices. Click on it!

9 Soupe and Musick 2017 The Holly and the Ivy Take Four Mark Schiffer, Greta HaugHryciw, Jerry Schwartz, Gail Crawford Foxes Three Susan Titus, Carol Thompson, Doris Loughner

10 Ars Subtilior Greta Haug-Hryciw Mark Schiffer Trio a bec Mark Schiffer, Brian Thompson, Jerry Schwartz Brian and Susan Brian Thompson Susan Titus

11 Mellodika Harp Duo Alex Ives Elizabeth Bogdanovich David and Greta David Dodds Greta Haug-Hryciw Sine Nomine Patty Johnson Doris Loughner Robert Foster Carol Thompson Elsa Morrison Susan Titus