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Volume 9 Issue 5 - February 2004

  • Text
  • February
  • Toronto
  • Jazz
  • Theatre
  • Arts
  • Musical
  • Symphony
  • Choral
  • Composer
  • Quartet

EARL v Music, coNT1Nurn.

EARL v Music, coNT1Nurn. Baroque Music Beside the Grange presents a musical Valentine's Day celebration of the many faces of love, drawing on repertoire perform~d at the pleasure gardens, Vauxhall Gardens, of 18th-century London (February 14). This program features airs, cantatas, trio sonatas and other music for soprano voice, flute/recorder, trumpet and basso continua by Handel, Pepusch, Godfrey Finger, William Shield, John Stanley, the Ames, and others. An amiable and amusing entertainment for a winter evening! The performers are: Teri Dunn, soprano; Alison Melville, baroque flute & recorder; Norman Engel, baroque trumpet; Michael Jarvis, harpsichord; Mary-Katherine Finch, baroque 'cello. New developments in poetry and also the growing popularity of public theatre in the first quarter of the 17th century meant that, in order to keep up with the "competition," song composers were searching for new ways to jazz up their lydcs. The demands of the new "metaphysical" verse by poets like John Donne and others, as well as the need to move the action along, gave birth to the English Baroque. It is not surprising that Dowland, a songwriter and lutenist, felt threat-· ened by the "new men" - Alfonso Ferrabosco II, Nicholas Lanier, Robert Johnson, arid Henry Lawes, (most of whom collaborated with the likes of Ben Jonson, William Shakespeare and John Milton) - and also by the increas-. ing popularity of the viola da gamba. The Musicians in Ordinary (soprano Hallie Fishel and John Edwards, Renaissance lute,) are joined by gambist Joelle Morton on treble and bass viols (February 21).Visit their website at: · www .musiciansinordinary.ca Maresca: Mike Franklin and Jen Francisco As you know, there were very important cultural influences from the Muslim world in medieval Europe. European musicians borrowed or acquired musical instruments, poetic styles and forms, and melodic material from Moorish and Arab s0urces, particularly after The Crusades. Toronto's Maresca (Jen Francisco - voice, percussion and Mike Franklin - voice, shawm, bagpipe, hurdy- gurdy, flutes, percussion) joins George Sawa (voice, qanun, ney, percussion) to explore musical and cultural influences between East and West, North and South around the Mediterranean in CHORAL SCENE THE CHORAL FOCUS in Toronto is on seldom-heard repertoire this month. There are several concerts of significant pieces that somehow - due to th~ forces required, or their difficulty - are rarely performed. This city's choirs like a challenge, though, so the choral fan will have many chances to sample somewhat exotic fare in the coming weeks. The Elmer Iseler Singers are active in important musical events at the beginning and the end of the month. On February 1, Robert Aitken's New Music Concerts hosts a rare visit from the Argentinian-born composer Mauricio Kagel. Kagel will conduct instrumentalists and the Iselers in some of his works and participate in a "rap session" with Aitken in the lobby of the Glenn Gould Studio before the concert. · Though Robert Burns is well known for a few famous ditties, the Amadeus Choir gives a whole evening over to the Scottish Bard on February 7. Hosted by the legendary Scottisn-Canadian folk singer Enoch Kent, the evening promises to be fun; with a few moments the Middle Ages and the Renaissance (February 29). George.Sawa ee. that will no doubt bring a tear t' ye is a performer of classical Arabic music and researcher in medieval Arabic musical history. Maresca researches and performs a wide variety o(European early and traditional music. The website is at www .gardinermuseum.on.ca Frank T. Nakashima (jranknak@interlog.com) is the President of the Toronto Early Music Centre, a non-profit charitable organization which promotes the appreciation of histori- 0cally-in)ormed performances of early ml;lsic. PHILIP L. DA VIS Luthi er formerly with f.f. Schroder: Frankfurt, West Germany A Fine Selection of Small and Full Sized Instruments and Bows • Expert Repairs (416) 466-9619 67 Wolverleigh Blvd., Toronto, Ontario, M4J IR6 The Tafelmusik Chamber Choir takes centre-stage from February 12-15 with guest conductor RiChard Eggar leading them in a program of late 17th century English choral music. This is a fascinating era, post-Oliver Cromwell, when the theatres were opening u~ again in London and good music was once more being written for the Church. The most familiar - and probably best - composer of that time was Henry Purcell, but others, such as Christopher Gibbons, Pelham Humphrey and John Blow contributed to this important crea- by Larry Beckwith Iii Long & McQuade -- MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS• w w w. Ion g - m c quad a.com SALES - RENTALS - REPAIRS - IN STORE FINANCING TRADES - USED INSTRUMENTS BOUGHT & SOLD tive rebirth. Tafelmusik performs solos, verse anthems and other choral works by Purcell and his inventive contemporaries. Joseph Shabala/a ' · Joseph Shabalala should be a household name. For the past 40 years, he and his group Ladysmith Black Mambazo have been spreading the important message of "Peace, ldve and harmony" throughout his native South Africa and around the world. Combining choral singing and groovy movement, Mambazo uses music to bring people together and celebrate the gifts of life. For an ensemble born out of oppression and hardship, their joy knows no bounds. The group comes to Massey Hall on February 19, in the midst of a North American tour: not to be missed! The Bell' Arte Singers perfor.m two towering works of the choral canon on February 21. l'he Mo­ . zart Coronation Mass comes around every once in a while, but the Missa Solemnis of Franz Liszt is rarely performed. A fine line-up of soloists goes even further'in recommending this program. The same evening features a 10th anniversary celebration of the Oakville Children's Chorus-. Conductor Glenda Crawford has built the organization from the ground up and they now regularly tour, record and concertize. Oakville resident Norine Burgess guest stars. Toronto 925 Bloor St.W. (416)588-7886 North York 2777 Steeles Av.W. (416)663-8612 Visit the North York store's large print music department! Scarborough 1133 Markham Rd. (416)439-8001 Oshawa 380 Simcoe St.S. (905)434-1612 Brampton 370 Main St.N. (905)450-4334 Burlington 3180 Mainway Dr. (905)319-3330 , Where the Music Begins. FEB RUARY 1 - M ARCH 7 2004

R. Murray Schafer Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer celebrated his 70th birthday last year and in· honour of the occasion Soundstreams Canada is sponsoring a great gathering of some · of Canada's professional choirs to sing fer each other and the people of Toronto, led by the Estonian guru Tonu Kaljuste. Activities and concerts take place February 27 & 28 with a culminating mass concert on the evening of February 29 at the .CBC Broadcast Centre. That evening, Schafer's new work The Fall into Light will be unveiled. It ca:lls for six mixed choirs, a children's choir and percussion and its texts range from Biblical through Gnostic writers to Dante, Nietzsche, Rilke and Henc ry Vaughan. This is one of the . big choral events of the year! Schafer has many interests and obsessions that have worked their way into his body of work, including his Patria cycle of music theatre works, a profound .collection of string quartets and his writings on education and the environment. it is sometimes easy to forget that Schafer has written many evocative works for choir over the years. A M£NNONIT£ HYMN;..A-THON FUND-RAISING !·:VENT FOR PAX CHRISTI CHORALE TORONTO'S MENNONITE CH OIR Saturday, March 27, 2004 10:00 AM-4:00 PM Rouge Valley Mennonite Church 7452 Reesor Road, IV!arkham Come sing, have lunch, and support us! Call 416-484-9149. • ; FEBRUARY 1 - MARCH 7 2004 \ Combining a strong sense of mysticism and a fascination with the myriad types of sounds that the human voice is capable of producing, these works are moving and mesmerizing. One of the most intriguing aspects of Schafer's choral scores is the visual brilliance of the scores themselves . Conceived as a "jumping off point:" for the choir, his scores are often ·misconstrued as being inaccessible when in.fact they are exactly the oppo~ite: anything is possible when his works are approached with imagination and an open mind. Of · the choirs asse.mbling, the Vancouver Chamber Choir has-had .the most experience with Schafer's works. Let's hope the others come ready to play. If that's the case, it should be an ex- · traordinary weekend of music-making. r-------~-·---·-1 jazz & Pop Piano Paradise Volumes 1 & 2 Dozens. of hot melodies featuring Blues, Jazz-Funk, Latin Jazz, Ragtime, Jazz Swing. Jazz & Pop Ballad styl9s The transcriptions are fun to learn and teach and channi·ng 'to play. To o'rdec send a cheque or money order for . 95 plus .50 shipping to: F&N EnterpJise 162 Pinewood Drive Thornhill, Ontario L'1J 51'5 Canada Please spe~ify the vo lume ( 1

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