October 21, Monday, 9.30 pm
Igreja de São João Evangelista, Funchal
Charles Balayer, organ
The title “Bach, swingin’ Bach” brings together two historically distant musical styles, namely that of the Baroque era of the great John Sebastian Bach, and swing, a rhythmic element inseparably linked to jazz. In addition to the confrontation of these two styles, this concert highlights the musical features common to these two eras, through the practice of variation in an almost undisturbed harmonic cycle, accompanying the presentation of the generating theme. In fact, highly developed in Renaissance and Baroque music, this musical characteristic structures with the same rigour the writing of the Goldberg Variations – performed by Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a student of Bach, to appease Count Von Keyserling’s insomnia – and the art of improvisation inherent to jazz music.
Several of my own jazz compositions and improvisations illustrate the “swingin’ Bach” part of this program:
– The first is based on the Concerto for two harpsichords in C minor (BWV 1060) by Johann Sebastian Bach, of which the theme of the first movement, reharmonised and rhythmed in swing, encourages improvisation;
– Turning Bach is a composition of which the theme is the famous counterpoint of the central chorale of Bach’s cantata Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme (BWV 140);
– J.Q.M.J.D. is a swing version in 5/4 of the famous chorale "Jesus bleibet meine Freude" (in French “Jésus qui ma joie demeure”), which ends Bach’s cantata Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben (BWV 147);
– Groovy Gavotte is a composition that combines two rhythmic styles – Latin American and swing – and its theme is the Gavotte from Bach’s Suite Nr. 3 for orchestra (BWV 1068).
– Une jeune fillette is a French song composed and published in 1576 by Jehan Chardavoine. Its melody was used in the Lutheran liturgy under the title Von Gott will ich nicht laßen. Several composers have written choral variations of this psalm, namely Dieterich Buxtehude, Johann Ludwig Krebs and, of course, Johann Sebastian Bach.
– Bach? Chiche!, is based on a jazzy theme constructed from three musical cells taken from Bach’s very famous Toccata and Fugue in d minor.
As is tradition in jazz, all these compositions will, naturally, be pretexts for improvisation on the chorus.
Happy listening to everyone!
— CHARLES BALAYER —
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
¬ Goldberg Variations, BWV 988
› Aria
› Variatio 1
› Variatio 2
› Variatio 3
› Variatio 4
› Variatio 6
› Variatio 7
› Variatio 9
› Variatio 15
› Variatio 16
Charles Balayer (1957)
¬ Jazz improvisations and compositions on Baroque and Renaissance themes
› Tema do Concerto 1060 (J. S. Bach)
› Turning Bach (C. Balayer)
› JQMJD (C. Balayer)
› Groovy Gavotte (C. Balayer)
› Une jeune fillette (J. Chardavoine)