26 OCT | Thursday 9.30 pm
Church of São João Evangelista
Funchal
Around Johann Sebastian Bach
Jan Willem Jansen, organ
Madeira Classical Orchestra
Norberto Gomes, direction
The organ works in this evening’s programme bring together, in some way, Johann Sebastian Bach and two of his sons: Wilhem Friedemann (the eldest) and his brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach. You may say, “Friedemann? I don’t see that name in this programme...” And you will be right. But he is present, this evening, through the fact that his father very probably wrote the obbligato organ part of his cantata BWV 35 (and, therefore, the Sinfonia) for him, and it was Wilhelm Friedemann who gave the first performance of the work in 1726. He was sixteen years old...
Bach the father had begun to collect pieces in his Klavierbüchlein für Wilhelm Friedemann Bach from 1720, and his first son (like the others) certainly had a great teacher. Wilhelm Friedemann became a great organ virtuoso, and became better known than is father as a performer. However, perhaps too protected by his father, whose favourite he was, Wilhelm Friedemann never became truly independent. He did not achieve stability in his work, and ended his life in Berlin in misery.
His brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel, had more opportunities and, in addition, sought success. Though he initially studied law in Leipzig and Frankfurt an der Oder, he had no desire for a legal career. In 1738 he was sought out by Prince Frederick of Prussia (who played the flute) in order to accompany him on the harpsichord. Carl Philipp Emanuel became the friend of his sister, Princess Amália (whose house contained an important organ) and became her teacher. The sonatas composed between 1755 and 1758 in Berlin were, as he himself said, “composed for a princess who did not know how to used the pedalboard, or to play difficult pieces, though she had had built an organ with two keyboards and pedalboard and liked to play on this instrument”. We may this imagine the first performance of the Concerto in E flat major (whose autograph manuscript dates from 1759) by the princess in her castle. Carl Philipp Emanuel ended his fine career in Hamburg, as Director Musicus, and was able to give a vital push to the musical life of the city.
As for his father, Johann Sebastian, he was probably the greatest creator of music of all time. His Prelude in B minor may be defined as a battle between good and evil, and may make reference to the Passion of Christ. The work includes garlands of snake-like repeated notes; repeated notes in the bass (played on the pedals) like bell peals that remind us every second that time is moving on and direct us inevitably towards death; once more twisting garlands accompanied by regular notes, written with indications that they be short and percussive, in a way that is absolutely inhuman and stripped of feeling, like the whipping of the innocent Christ. This dramatic work was frequently linked to the St Mark Passion, a work by the composer that survived incomplete. The fugue is calmer and resigned in character.
I
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
¬ Prelude and Fugue in B minor, BWV 544
II
Johann Sebastian Bach
¬ Suite nº 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
› Ouverture
› Rondeau
› Sarabande
› Bourrée I e II
› Polonaise
› Menuett
› Badinerie
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
¬ Concerto in E-flat major, Wq. 35
› Allegro ma non troppo
› Adagio sostenuto
› Allegro assai
Johann Sebastian Bach
¬ Sinfonia
(Cantata «Geist und Seele wird verwirret», BWV 35)
Participants
|
Following his studies with Jan Warmick, Willem Mesdag and Wim van Beek, in 1977 he received his soloist’s diploma from the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, later continuing his studies in harpsichord with Ton Koopman in Amsterdam. He then studied further in France with Xavier Durasse, whose teaching colleague he would become at the Conservatoire of Toulouse, where he currently teaches organ and harpsichord. He is also co-founder of the Department of Early Music at the same establishment, and is responsible, with Michel Bouvard, for the new higher department of Organ and Keyboard. Co-founder in 1996, with Michael Bouvard, of the International “Toulouse les Orgues” festival, Jan Willem Jansen was for many years its artistic director. During the 1997 edition, he recorded for the Tempéraments collection the complete organ works of Nikolaus Bruhns, together with cantatas by the same composer, performed by Parlement de Musique under the direction of Martin Gester. In 1998, he recorded a CD dedicated to Joan Cabanilles, on the historic organ of the Church of San Pablo in Zaragoza. His activity as a performer has led him to play with the most important European baroque ensembles, such as La Chapelle Royale de Paris, Collegium Vocale de Gand, Hesperion XX, Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse and the Ensemble Baroque de Limoges. He is also the titular organist of the Ahrend organ of the Musée des Augustins as well as of the historic instrument at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Daurade in Toulouse. |
Jan Willem Jansen|
Originally founded as the Madeira Chamber Orchestra, in 1964 by Jorge Madeira Carneiro, the Classical Orchestra of Madeira (COM) is one of the oldest in the country still active. It is currently managed and organized by the Notas e Sinfonias Atlânticas Association (ANSA). During its existence, the COM has given concerts both in Portugal and abroad, notably in festivals in Madrid, Rome and Macau, the latter on the occasion of an Asian tour. In 1998, it recorded a CD with the violinist Zakhar Bron, and in 2005 a series of five CDs with Portuguese soloists, of works by Mozart, for EMI Classics. It has been directed by the titular conductors Zoltán Santa, Roberto Pérez and Rui Massena and guest conductors such as Gunther Arglebe, Silva Pereira, Fernando Eldoro, Merete Ellegaard, Paul Andreas Mahr, Manuel Ivo Cruz, Miguel Graça Moura, Álvaro Cassuto, Jaap Schröder, Luiz Isquierdo, Joana Carneiro, Cesário Costa, Paolo Olmi, Jean-Sébastian Béreau, Maurizio Dini Ciacci, Francesco La Vecchia and David Giménez. Having enjoyed 50 years of activity, the Classical Orchestra of Madeira is currently engaged on a daring artistic project providing a season rich in programmes from the classical, romantic and contemporary periods, in which various works will receive the world premières. During this season, the Orchestra will collaborate with conductors and soloists such as Jean-Marc Burfin, Evan Christ, Francisco Loreto, Nuno Coelho Silva, Amihai Grosz, Márcio Stefano and Roby Lakatos. |
Orquestra Clássica da Madeira|
The Madeiran violinist Norberto Gomes began his musical studies at the Madeira Music Conservatory, with his sister Zita Gomes, with a study grant from the Gulbenkian Foundation. He has been awarded a number of national prizes, notably the First Prize, Higher Level – Soloist in the RDP Musicians Competition and the “Artistic Merit” medal of the Regional Government of Madeira. In 1989 he began a long period of study in the former USSR, continuously supported by the Regional Government of Madeira, where he had the opportunity to study with various teachers of renown, notably the distinguished violinist, musical critic and teacher A.N. Gorochov. Norberto Gomes has been particularly active as a teacher, and his pupils have won various prizes in national competitions for young violinists. He is the First Violinist and Artistic Director of the Classical Orchestra of Madeira. Norberto Gomes, who holds a number of academic titles, is Professor at the Madeira Conservatory – Professional School of Arts, where he is also Artistic Advisor to the Board. |
Norberto GomesNotes about the organ
Church of São João Evangelista (Colégio), Funchal
This instrument, with 1586 sounding pipes, is situated in a religious space with certain particularities. As a church typical of those belonging to Jesuit colleges, with a broad nave and quite a gentle acoustic, the organ had to be specially conceived, especially with regard to the measurements of the pipes. Thus all the pipework of the instrument has been specifically tailored to produce a full sound, and each stop produces a timbre with an individual personality, forming part of a harmonic ensemble based more on the sound of fundamentals and less on harmonics. It was also felt to be essential to give the instrument a certain ‘latin’ sonority that would favour performance of ancient music of the Italian, Spanish and Portuguese schools of the 17th and 18th centuries.
Another aspect to be taken into consideration was the need to complement the current range of organs available locally: the new organ responds in an ideal fashion to the performance of works of periods and of technical and artistic requirements that none of the 24 historic instruments of Madeira cater adequately for. It also enhances the range of organs that constitute the island’s heritage by being present in this particular religious space, as well as by existing side by side with other historical instruments. In the decision to build it for this church, not only were the issues of acoustic, aesthetic and liturgical space taken into account, but also the presence there of an important historic instrument which is currently on the list of instruments undergoing restoration.
I Manual - Órgão Principal (C-g’’’)
Flautado aberto de 12 palmos (8’)
Flautado tapado de 12 palmos (8’)
Oitava real (4’)
Tapado de 6 palmos (4’)
Quinzena (2’)
Dezanovena e 22ª
Mistura III
Corneta IV
Trompa de batalha* (bass)
Clarim* (treble)
Fagote* (bass)
Clarineta* (treble)
II Manual - Órgão Positivo (C-g’’’)
Flautado aberto de 12 palmos (8’)
Tapado de 12 palmos (8’)
Flautado aberto de 6 palmos (4’)
Dozena (2 2/3’)
Quinzena (2’)
Dezassetena (1 3/5’)
Dezanovena (1 1/3)
Címbala III
Trompa real (8’)
Pedal (C-f’)
Tapado de 24 palmos (16’)
Bordão de 12 palmos (8’)
Flautado de 6 palmos (4’)
Contrafagote de 24 palmos (16’)
Trompa de 12 palmos (8’)
Couplers
II/I
I/Pedal
II/Pedal
* horizontal reeds