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AULOS ENSEMBLE with JULIANNE BAIRD, soprano

7:30 p.m., Tue., Dec. 11, 2007
Christ Church Cathedral  
1117 Texas Avenue

Please share this concert and reception announcement with friends who might enjoy our Christmas program.  You may forward our Christmas Concert email announcement

7:30 p.m., Tue., Dec. 11, 2007

This is a bit earlier than the majority of our evening  concerts.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741) lived in Venice and earned his living teaching at the Ospedale della Pieta, a foundling home for girls.  His duties, in addition to teaching the violin, consisted of organizing the spectacular concerts presented by the Ospedale.  For these concerts Vivaldi composed hundreds of concerti which ultimately gained him an international reputation as a composer, and which helped crystallize the concerto form throughout Europe.  Although smaller in number than his solo concerti, Vivaldi explored the idiom of the “chamber concerto”, where instead of a “ripieno” or “back-up band” the soloists themselves function as the orchestral “tutti” and then take turns playing the solos.  These works are in the traditional three movement mold (fast-slow-fast) with the middle movement typically allowing a certain freedom for improvisation.  In the concerto we present tonight, this movement will be familiar to many because of its resemblance to the slow movement of the “winter” concerto from the Four Seasons.

The Carols on tonight’s program all date from between 1500 and 1700 (thus some predate the theoretical beginning of the Baroque period and belong in that historical period known as the Renaissance).  These works come to us in a variety of sources, and we have chosen to “orchestrate” them, using our baroque instruments, according to our tastes, attempting to capture the “affect” of each piece in an appropriate manner.  Similar performing decisions have been made regarding texts and number of verses, since there are no definitive answers as to the authenticity of any particular version. A recurring characteristic of these carols is the harmonic feature of the drone commonly associated with the bagpipe or musette-instruments that evoke the images of shepherds that have come to be identified with Christmas.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) needs no introduction to any of us.  We all have our favorite Bach works and each of us has different reasons for regarding him as one of history’s greatest composers.  It is interesting to note, however, that this universal acclaim was not accorded Bach during his lifetime, and that he spent most of his career (and made perhaps his most significant contributions) as a church composer at Saint Thomas’ Church in Leipzig, where he composed a cantata for each Sunday of the year.  It is from this body of works that we choose the arias to close the first half of this evening’s concert.  These works were never intended as “concert” pieces, but rather as part of a religious observance (Bach saw himself as a true “servant” of God) and although only one of the three arias is specifically about Christmas, all share in the spirit of love and devotion that is associated with this holiday. “Bereitet die Wege” (from the Christmas Cantata 132) is an exuberant aria that features a solo part for oboe d’amore filled with 16th-note runs. The text states “Make ready the pathways And make ev’ry byway In faith and in living Now smooth for the Highest, Messiah shall come!”  “Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kommt” (from Cantata 151-written for Christmas) states “Sweet comfort, my Jesus comes, Jesus is now born.”  It is a gorgeous lullaby, sung “instrumentally” at first by the oboe d’amore, crowned with a flowing flute obbligato representing the holy spirit.” In “Mein Glaubiges Herze” (from Cantata 68), the text speaks of “My believing heart, be glad, sing, make merry, for thy Jesus is near.”  The aria begins with a virtuosic obbligato for solo cello and when the soprano is finished, the cello is joined by oboe and violin for a fully worked out “quartet” movement which brings the aria to its joyous conclusion.

Michel Corrette was a church organist for most of his long life, but that doesn’t begin to give an idea of his indefatigable and multifaceted activities on behalf of French music.  He was the author of countless treatises and tutors for just about every instrument played in his time, from the flute to the double bass.  He was a leader in furnishing simple music to bourgeois homes and in supplying brilliant concerti for the burgeoning public concert business.  In short, he was France’s leading “popularizer” of music.  Perhaps his best known works were his “Concerto Comiques”, in which the tunes all Paris hummed–many of them first heard at the Opera Comique (hence the name)–were paraphrased in vivaciously embellished instrumental settings.  In a similar vein is a group of six compositions entitled “Symphonies en Quartuor contenant les plus beaux Noëls François et Etranger avec des Variations”.  The work we perform tonight includes many of the most lovely and most recognized French carols of the period, along with their dazzling variations.

The French, with their attraction to all things pastoral and their predilection for dance music, made an especially colorful contribution to this literature. We close our program with several musette settings and rigaudons interspersed with French Christmas carols, or noëls. The musette was a type of French bagpipe that gave rise to an entire genre of pastorally evocative pieces that were very popular in the 18th century. The Rigaudon was a quick and lively dance, originally from Provençe, danced by “peasants and sailors,” according to Johann Mattheson. French noëls, some lively, some serious, were meant not only to tell the Christmas story, and to give insight into the events leading up to the birth of Jesus, but also to provide moral instruction. Thus, in “Grâce soit renduë,” the text informs us that Adam put us in danger of eternal damnation by eating the apple, but God sent us salvation in the form of His son. “Vous qui désirez sans fin” tells us that God will always listen to our songs of praise and is always ready to pardon our sins. “Chrétiens qui suivez l’église” shows the importance of being a practicing Christian. This grand closing group of interwoven vocal and instrumental pieces is designed to show a French 18^th -century Christmas in all its facets: dances, poignant melodies, pastoral elements, and an exquisite moral rendering of the Christmas story.

AULOS ENSEMBLE, with JULIANE BAIRD, SOPRANO

7:30 pm, Tues., Dec.. 11, 2007
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue

In Dulci Jubilo

Concerto in D major, RV 94                                Antonio Vivaldi
  Allegro-Largo-Allegro
    
Traditional Carols
  "In Dulci Jubilo"
  "Coventry Carol"
  "Shepherds Shake off your drousy Sleep"
 
Arias from the Cantatas                                    J. S. Bach
 "Bereitet die Wege, bereitet die Bahn!" (BWV 132)
  "Süsser Trost, mein Jesus kommt" (BWV 151)
  "Mein Glaubiges Herze"  (BWV 68)
 
INTERMISSION
 
Traditional Carols
  "Es ist ein Rose"
  "Greensleeves"
  "When Christ was born on Earth"
 
4ème Symphonie de Nöel                                     Michel Corrette
  Moderato-Adagio-Allegro    

"Vous qui désirez sans fin"                                Traditional
 
Musettes from Les Fêtes d'hébé                             Jean-Phillipe Rameau
 
"Chrétiens quie suivez l'église"                           Traditional
 
Rigaudons from Les Fêtes d'hébé                            Rameau
 
"Grâce soit renduë"                                        Traditional
 
Nöel Provencal                                             Corrette

NOTE EARLY START TIME!  

7:30 p.m., Tue., Dec. 11, 2007
Christ Church Cathedral  
1117 Texas Avenue

Join us for a special holiday reception in the Great Hall following the concert!

Tickets:  713-432-1744

Christopher Krueger, flauto traverso
Marc Schachman, baroque oboe
Linda Quan, baroque violin
Myron Lutzke, baroque cello
Arthur Haas, harpsichord
with
Julianne Baird, soprano

Houston Early Music’s holiday offering, In Dulci Jubilo, features a return visit by New York’s Aulos Ensemble with soprano Julianne Baird at 7:30 pm, Tuesday, December 11, 2007 at Christ Church Cathedral, 1117 Texas Avenue.  Ms. Baird and the ensemble (baroque violin, cello, harpsichord, baroque flute and oboe) will perform vocal and instrumental works from the 16th to 18th centuries. In addition to traditional carols, the program includes arias by J.S. Bach, French noëls and a concerto by Vivaldi.

Julianne Baird has been hailed as “one of the most endearing of early music singers” (Pittsburgh Tribune ). She maintains a busy concert schedule of solo recitals and performances of baroque opera and oratorio. With over 100 recordings to her credit on Decca, Deutsche Gramophone, Newport Classics and Dorian, Ms. Baird is considered one of America’s most recorded women.

Formed in 1973 by five Juilliard graduates, Aulos Ensemble was one of the first American “original instrument” ensembles. Its accomplishments over the past four decades have given it preeminence in the early music movement.  The New York Times has described the playing of the ensemble “authentic Baroque performance at its best.”

Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for seniors, $10 for students, under 15 free. Tickets may be purchased at the door or by calling 713-432-1744. 

Print the Christmas Concert reminder card

See Christmas Concert email announcement

• Julianne Baird’s Home Page
• Discography of Julianne Baird
• Sample Music (Online CD samples)
• CDs on Amazon.com

Exerpt from Biography

Julianne Baird, soprano, has been hailed as “one of the most extraordinary voices in the service of early music that this generation has produced. She possesses a natural musicianship which engenders singing of supreme expressive beauty.” She maintains a busy concert schedule of solo recitals and performances of baroque opera and
oratorio.

Ms. Baird has also appeared as soloist with many major symphony orchestras including the Cleveland Orchestra under Christoph von Dohnanyi, the Brooklyn Philharmonic under Lukas Foss, the New York Philharmonic under Zubin Mehta and, in the 2000-2001 season, the Philadelphia Orchestra. James R. Oestreich, in his comprehensive survey of New York’s seasonal performances of Handel’s Messiah for the N.Y. Times, recently concluded with special praise for Julianne Baird’s interpretative skills: “in that respect, Ms. Baird remains the model”.

Recent performances include appearances at the International Lufthansa Festival in London in solo cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach and at Tanglewood’s Ozawa Hall in the Mozart Requiem, Bach’s Magnificat in Bach’s own Thomaskirche in Leipzig, and at the International Wroclaw Festival of Song in Warsaw in September. In April, 2002 she is scheduled to appear in Symphony Hall, Chicago in Haydn’s Creation and in
May in the Kennedy Center.

With over 100 recordings to her credit on Decca, Deutsche Gramophone, Newport Classics and Dorian, Julianne Baird is considered one of America’s most recorded women. In addition to her major roles in the acclaimed series of Handel operatic and oratorio premieres, she has a new solo album titled “Glorious Handel.” The New York Philharmonic’s recent commemorative box set to it’s century of recordings includes her
recording of Reich’s “Tehillim”. Other new recordings include “Dance on a Moonbeam”, featuring Julianne Baird, Meryl Streep, and Frederica von Stade and “Passionate Pavanes.’ Deidamia–the last opera of George Frederic–with Julianne Baird in which she sings the title role.

Julianne Baird is an active teacher and scholar, with degrees from the Eastman School and a Diploma from the Salzburg Mozarteum in performance. She also earned a PhD in music history from Stanford University. Her publications include “Introduction to the Art of Singing”, from Cambridge University Press. Recognized internationally as one of the few who can both demonstrate the full range of the singer’s art and explain
it – Dr. Baird is regularly asked to provide master classes at universities and music schools throughout North America. She also reaches large audiences through regional and national broadcasts including a recent featured interview on Terry Gross’ internationally syndicated “Fresh Air”. She is a distinguished professor at Rutgers
University.