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A newly formed 17-member Baroque chamber ensemble will
perform music from 17th century Austria Saturday, Nov. 23, at 7:30 p.m. in
the Barrus Concert Hall of the Snow Center for the Performing Arts.
The
group, formed this semester, will focus on the music of Salsburg and Vienna
courts. Robert Tueller of the BYU-Idaho music department will direct the
ensemble from his cello, as he is a member of the ensemble.
The
ensemble will perform Georg Muffat’s “Sonata II” from Armonico Tributo, Johann
Schmelzer’s The Fencing
School, Heinrich Ignaz and Franz Biber’s Battalia, Schmelzer’s
Sonata III from Concencius Musicus and Muffat’s Sonata V From
Armonico Tributo.
“The
music itself is very lush and sonorous,” Tueller says. “Instead of the
usual four-part strings we’re accustomed to, these composers wrote in five
and six and more parts with particular attention to rich harmony. The music
is very beautiful, very expressive, very emotional.”
The
ensemble comprises primarily stringed instruments but also includes oboes,
a harpsichord and an organ. While modern instruments are played, the
ensemble approaches the concert with early instruments in mind and aims to
focus on the unique performance considerations of the music of that era,
Tueller says.
“We
know from research and reading that back then they performed music somewhat
differently than we do today,” Tueller says, “It’s educational for the
students to consider what we call ‘performance practice,’ where we’re
trying to have the music sound as close as we can to how it did back then.”
The
free concert is the group’s sole performance this semester; they will
perform again in the winter semester and have plans to collaborate with the
University Choir.” # # #
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