The BYU-Idaho Baroque Ensemble is going back in time to celebrate Christmas with its concert where students will perform Christmas concertos from 18th century Europe.
The 15-student ensemble performs with violins, cellos and lesser-known instruments like the harpsichord and the viola da gamba.
Director Dr. Robert Tueller assures listeners the instruments are authentic to the baroque style.
“The instruments that the Baroque Ensemble uses are exclusively patterned after instruments from that time period,” Tueller said. “Our violins differ from modern violins in several fittings. All the instruments, they're essentially meant to copy instruments from that time period, and as a result, they sound different as well.”
Tueller looks forward to performing Christmas carols from the Baroque Era.
“During the Baroque Era, it was very common for composers to write Christmas music,” Tueller said. “The thing that made them specifically Christmas is that they had a very specific kind of sound with one of the movements, which was meant to evoke what they felt were shepherds and things like that to kind of give people the feel of that night of the Annunciation of the shepherds watching their flock. Some of the pieces have melodies that are set by these composers that are definitely Christmas carols from that time period.”
The concert is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the Barrus Concert Hall in the Snow Building and will be live streamed.
Tueller will perform alongside his students and he’s proud of them for learning this difficult style of music.
“I have really fine students that are really motivated to prepare and to really do their best,” Tueller said. “Baroque Ensemble, because it's such a niche and such a narrow focus, it generally attracts students that really are motivated to find out something about it. They have to get used to playing these early style instruments, which are slightly different than their violins or cellos and then we just have to learn the style of music too, which is a little different than modern style in the way that they played.”
You can purchase tickets at tickets.byui.edu.