If you have subscribed to Houston Early Music but not yet received your tickets in the mail, they will be waiting for you at the box office Will Call Desk at the concert Friday night.

We remind you of the change of venue for our first concert. Since some patrons still lack power or email service, please let your friends know that the concert will be held at Christ Church Cathedral.

Parking
The Cathedral Parking Garage on San Jacinto between Texas and Prairie provides free parking when you are attending events or meetings at the Cathedral. Please inform the parking attendant. Click here for a map.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008, 8:00PM
LA DONNA MUSICALE
The Pleasures Of Love And Libation:
Aires by Julie Pinel and other Parisian women
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue

click for more information

Boston-based La Donna Musicale is joined by tenor Aaron
Sheehan, an audience favorite, as they explore the contribution
of Parisian women composers to the French Baroque and
Rococo genres. Recreating the sounds of the Parisian salon,
this delightful group features works by Julie Pinel and other
Parisian women, including Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.
A sacred work by Antonia Bembo is also included.

The voices, with flute accompaniment, are supported by the
captivating tones of the harpsichord and viola de gamba.

“Kudos to La Donna Musicale as they champion the
unheard music of women composers.”
— Early Music America

Preconcert talk at 7:00pm
Laury Gutiérrez, Founding Director of La Donna Musicale
ladm.org

houstonearlymusic.org

             Houston Early Music is funded in part by
             grants from the City of Houston through
             the Houston Arts Alliance.

Fri., Sept. 26, 2008, 8:00PM
LA DONNA MUSICALE
THE PLEASURES OF LOVE AND LIBATION: Airs by Julie Pinel and other Parisian women.
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue

Parking
The Cathedral Parking Garage on San Jacinto between Texas and Prairie provides free parking when you are attending events or meetings at the Cathedral. Please inform the parking attendant. Click here for a map.

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2008, 8:00PM
LA DONNA MUSICALE
The Pleasures Of Love And Libation:
Aires by Julie Pinel and other Parisian women

NEW LOCATION
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue

click for more information

Boston-based La Donna Musicale is joined by tenor Aaron
Sheehan, an audience favorite, as they explore the contribution
of Parisian women composers to the French Baroque and
Rococo genres. Recreating the sounds of the Parisian salon,
this delightful group features works by Julie Pinel and other
Parisian women, including Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre.
A sacred work by Antonia Bembo is also included.

The voices, with flute accompaniment, are supported by the
captivating tones of the harpsichord and viola de gamba.

“Kudos to La Donna Musicale as they champion the
unheard music of women composers.”
— Early Music America

Preconcert talk at 7:00pm
Laury Gutiérrez, Founding Director of La Donna Musicale
ladm.org

houstonearlymusic.org

             Houston Early Music is funded in part by
             grants from the City of Houston through
             the Houston Arts Alliance.

=

La Donna Musicale is a unique ensemble dedicated to the historically-informed performance of music by women composers from the Renaissance, Baroque, and Classical periods and to the performance of contemporary music by women. Praised by Early Music America for its “excellent performers” and “outstanding music stylishly performed,” the Boston-based ensemble has given the modern world premieres of works by Antonia Bembo, Chiara Margarita Cozzolani, Maria Xaviera Peruchona and Julie Pinel, among others. La Donna Musicale’s performers are trained in the study of historical performance practice and the group frequently collaborates with noted musicologists Claire Fontijn, Robert Kendrick, David Lasocki, Thierry Favier, and Catherine Gordon-Seifert. In addition to concerts in the U.S. and in Europe, La Donna Musicale has been featured in educational programs such as Meet the Performer at Harvard University and Learning to Listen at Bryn Mawr College.

La Donna Musicale’s groundbreaking recordings, The Seven Psalms of David, Vols. I and II, feature Baroque composers Antonia Bembo and Elisabeth de la Guerre. These CDs constitute the largest recorded compilation of Bembo’s music to date. Both received outstanding reviews in Early Music America, International Record Review and Early Music (UK). La Donna Musicale’s newest recording, The Pleasures of Love and Libation: Airs by Julie Pinel and other Parisian Women, showcasing Baroque and Rococo music, as well as Vol. 1 of the Seven Psalms, have received the highest praise (5 stars) from the international early music journal Goldberg. These CDs were also hailed by reviewers for Early Music America and CD HotList.

Lydia Heather Knutson, Mezzo-soprano, has performed around the world, appearing on radio and at leading music festivals in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Latin America, and Australia, including the Bergen (Norway), Cervantino (Mexico), Adelaide (Australia), Tanglewood Music Festival; and the Boston, San Francisco, Vancouver, and Amherst Early Music Festivals. She is a member of the medieval ensemble Fortune’s Wheel, the Blue Heron Renaissance Choir, and La Donna Musicale. She has collaborated with many ensembles, including Sequentia, the Boston Camerata, and La Fontegara (Mexico). Her discography includes music from the 12th to the 18th centuries and can be heard on the Dorian, Erato, and BMG Classics/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi labels.

Aaron Sheehan, tenor, is in high demand as a versatile performer of music ranging from solo to chamber repertoire. His voice has been praised by Opera News, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and The Washington Post. He has appeared as soloist with Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Tragicomedia, Concerto Palatino, New York Collegium, the King’s Noyse, American Bach Soloists, Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Early Music Festival, Tempesta di Mare, Aston Magna Festival, Charlotte Symphony, North Carolina Symphony, Moscow Chamber Orchestra, Boston Cecilia, American Opera Theater, Intermezzo Chamber Opera, and the Lyra Concert Baroque Orchestra. His singing has taken him to many venues and festivals such as Lincoln Center, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Washington National Cathedral, Tanglewood, the Early Music Festivals of Boston, Regensburg, Washington DC, and Madison, as well as Monadnock Summer Music Festival. Aaron has recorded and toured the U.S. and Europe with Paul Hillier’s Theater of Voices, as well as Fortune’s Wheel, and appears on the 2007 Grammy nominated recording of Lully’s Theseé with the Boston Early Music Festival. He still performs regularly with Blue Heron Choir, Fortune’s Wheel, and La Donna Musicale. Aaron is on the faculties of Wellesley College, Case Western Reserve, and Brown University.

Na’ama Lion, baroque flute, has degrees from Boston University, Longy School of Music, Arnhem Conservatory (the Netherlands), and Tel Aviv University. She has studied baroque flute with Wilbert Hazelzet, Pieter van Howelingen, Christopher Krueger, and Barthold Kuijken, among others, as well as modern flute with Sergio Feidman and Uri Shoham. She has performed with the Handel and Haydn Society, Boston Baroque, and Sequentia. She serves on the faculties of Longy School of Music, Atlantic Union College, and the Amherst Early Music Summer Workshop, as well as being Director of Chamber Music at Mather House, Harvard University. Ms. Lion is a founding member of New Quartet and Kammerton. She has recorded for the BMG/Deutsche Harmonia Mundi, and Centaur labels, and with La Donna Musicale with whom she toured Europe in 2006. Laura Gulley, violin, holds a B.S. in music and mathematics from Brown University. Widely in demand in the Boston and New England area, Laura has performed on baroque violin with Boston Baroque, the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, the Newport Baroque Orchestra, Renaissonics, the women’s baroque orchestra Foundling, and La Donna Musicale. On modern violin she performs with the Rhode Island Philharmonic and numerous other groups in Providence and Boston. She researched, directed and performed Latin American music of the Baroque era for the score of a film about Simón Bolívar produced in 2001 by the John Carter Brown Library. She currently directs the Suzuki string program and teaches thirty young violinists at the Music School of the Rhode Island Philharmonic, where she has taught since 1990. She appears on two recordings of The Seven Psalms of David by Antonia Bembo released by La Donna Musicale, the Renaissonics CD Carols for Dancing released in 2006 by WGBH, and three Boston Baroque recordings released by Telarc. Ruth McKay, harpsichord, began studying harpsichord with Naydene Bowder and Robert Greenlee at Bowdoin College. After a five-year apprenticeship with Cambridge (MA) harpsichord builder Eric Herz, Ms. McKay undertook graduate harpsichord studies with Peter Sykes. She earned an MA from the Longy School of Music in 1995. She performs in and around Boston with many early music groups, including EtCetera, Hortulus Chelicus, Splendid Century, Musica Amicorum, and Boston Virtuosi. Currently Ms. McKay tunes and regulates harpsichords, teaches, and serves on the boards of the Society for Historically Informed Performance and the Cambridge Society for Early Music. She has recorded with La Donna Musicale and toured Europe with the group in 2006. Laury Gutiérrez, viola da gamba, is the founding director of La Donna Musicale. Praised as a “first-rate” instrumentalist by the Boston Globe, she is a specialist in early and contemporary music by women composers and also in music of the Spanish Renaissance. She holds degrees in solo performance and historical performance practice from Indiana University, Longy School of Music, and the College of Saint Scholastica. She also received fellowships and a scholarship from Boston University, where she did doctoral work in historical performance. Ms. Gutiérrez has performed with Thomas Binkley, Monica Huggett, John Holloway and Wendy Gillespie, among others. She has been a guest artist-lecturer at Northeastern University, Harvard University, and Brandeis University. She has recorded with La Donna Musicale for radio stations WGBH and WHRB and for the 2001 film Simon Bolivar. Ms. Gutiérrez is a recipient of a prestigious fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She has been chosen as one of 100 Greater Boston women to be honored for their leadership and achievements in a portrait exhibit at the College Club of Boston in September 2008.

See program notes, updates and additional information on this concert.

Fri., Sept. 26, 2008, 8:00PM
LA DONNA MUSICALE
THE PLEASURES OF LOVE AND LIBATION: Airs by Julie Pinel and other Parisian women.
NEW LOCATION
Christ Church Cathedral
1117 Texas Avenue

7:00 p.m.
Preconcert talk, Laury Gutiérrez Director

Houston Early Music will open its new season on Friday, September 26, 2008 with a program of Baroque music by Parisian women composers. Boston-based La Donna Musicale (www.ladm.org) will be joined by tenor Aaron Sheehan in ensemble’s first Houston performance. The Pleasures of Love and Libation: Airs by Julie Pinel and other Parisian Women recreates the luxuriant environment of an intimate Parisian salon replete with the sounds of voices in solo and duo settings with flute, violin, harpsichord, and viola da gamba. The seventeenth-century salons served as unique gathering places where women artists and intellectuals met to perform and discuss sacred and secular music, as well as literature and fine arts.

In addition to works by Julie Pinel (fl. 1737), the program includes works by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Antonia Bembo. The performance will be at 8:00 p.m. at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1311 Holman (at Caroline). There will be a preconcert talk at 7:00 p.m. by Laury Gutiérrez, Founding Director of La Donna Musicale.

Praised by Early Music America for its “excellent performers…outstanding music stylishly performed,” La Donna Musicale is dedicated to historically-based performance of music by women composers of the Renaissance through contemporary periods. The ensemble has given the modern premieres of works by Chiara Cozzolani, Antonia Bembo, Julie Pinel, and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, among others, and these concerts have been chosen as Boston Globe “Classical Picks.”

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.

LA DONNA MUSICALE
Lydia Knutson, soprano
Aaron Sheehan, tenor
Na’ama Lion, baroque flute
Laura Gulley, violin
Ruth McKay, harpsichord
Laury Gutierrez, viola da gamba, director

PROGRAM NOTES

In the 17th and 18th centuries, the French air was considered a popular genre, intended for immediate consumption. Highly regarded composers such as Jean-Baptiste Lully and François Couperin, along with their amateur contemporaries, wrote airs exploring the full gamut of human emotions. Whether expressing unrequited love, coyness, lust, drunkenness, sorrow or despair, the air was employed as an emotive vehicle much like the pop tunes of today. French airs are of particular interest to the modern listener because they represent urban music that was separate from the sophisticated taste and etiquette associated with lofty court entertainment.

The publisher Ballard’s Recueil d’airs sérieux et à boire (Collection of serious and drinking songs) was the leading periodical publication of songs in France, eagerly awaited by Parisians of the time. It was first published quarterly, then monthly, and was renamed chansons choisies (selected songs) in 1724. Starting around 1690, some women composers found voice in this fashionable practice of publishing airs, including the noted composer Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, amateur composers from among the nobility, and women who disguised their identities by using asterisks in place of their names. The melodies of these airs are elegantly simple, easy to remember, and some are exquisite miniatures. We include in our program songs from two otherwise unknown women, Mlle Herault and Mlle ***, who paved the way for our featured composer, Julie Pinel.

Pinel published her own collection of songs, Nouveau recueil d’airs sérieux et à boire, in 1737, by which time women composers as well as performers were gaining far more acceptance in contemporary society than ever before. Female roles at court were finally granted to female singers (diminishing the necessity for Italian castrati!). Gradually, professional female instrumentalists earned recognition as well, arising first within musical families such as the Couperins. Women also started taking on direct and indirect familial roles as publishers (for instance, the Ballard family as well as Boivin’s widow, sisters, and daughters). The Parisian salons, a female parallel to the male academies of the 16th and early 17th centuries, served as unique gathering places where artists and intellectuals met to perform and discuss sacred and secular music, as well as literature and fine arts. Throughout the 17th century, women not only performed airs during salon gatherings but also wrote lyric poetry set to music by important composers such as Michel Lambert. It is not surprising, therefore, that Pinel wrote the texts for many of her own songs, identifying herself as poet in the score. Evidence of the success women composers enjoyed was the wide-spread fame of Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, whose music had already been published, and who was recognized by a contemporary as belonging among the “great musicians.” A child prodigy from a family of musicians, Jacquet de la Guerre wrote both vocal music and the largest body of instrumental music by a French Baroque woman composer. She was also the first woman in France to compose an opera.

All that we know with certainty about Julie Pinel stems from the dedication of her collection of songs to the Prince of Soubize, whom she described as Lieutenant Captain of the Royal Guard. It was common practice to seek the patronage of an influential individual, in order to ensure public acceptance and, to a certain extent, the success of the publication. The Prince in question must have been Charles de Rohan, whose family occupied important military and government positions. Charles moved to Paris in 1700 and was a devoted friend of Mme Pompadour. In her dedication, Pinel states that “it has been the good fortune of my family, for more than fifty-five years, to be associated with your illustrious household, in which I, so to speak, received enlightenment (an education), and that is what seems to permit me the liberty I am taking to offer you my first published work.”

Pinel must have come from a branch of the Pinel family of musicians. As Jean-Marc Warszawski informs us, Germain Pinel (1600–1661) was Louis XIV’s lute teacher, as well as court lutenist and theorbo player; in fact, one of the highest paid musicians in the service of the king. Germain’s younger brother François and his son Séraphin in turn succeeded him as court lutenists. Julie Pinel may well have been the composer of the air by “Pinet la fille” in the Recueil d’airs sérieux et à boire published in 1710, and another air by “Melle. P.” in the collection from 1720.

Julie Anne Sadie’s research on Julie Pinel’s music first appeared in 1986, and was included in an article in the book Women Making Music, ed. Judith Tick and Jane Bowers, so it is rather surprising that her music has not been recorded until now. Despite appearing ‘uncomplicated’ on paper, the quality of Pinel’s music should by no means be underestimated.

A note on our performance choices: in order to bring out Pinel’s mastery and show the variety of sound and texture that the music of this period can achieve, we aim to present the music in several different combinations of voices and accompaniment. Such flexibility in performing forces would have been a common and desirable practice during the period, as the choice of voice type(s) and instrument(s) would have depended upon availability for any given performance. For instance, Pinel’s Rossignols is scored with an obbligato part for flutes; the score provides an indication for more than one flute, but we have chosen to use a single flute. We have also replaced the soprano voice with that of a tenor. In Boccages the viola da gamba employs strumming and pizzicato technique in the popular style as part of the accompaniment. We have also transposed this piece down a tone. Pourquoy is transposed down a fourth, and the instrumental sections are intabulations of the song for the harpsichord. All instrumental introductions and additions have been added in accordance with the performance practice of the period. We have also employed the use of period ornamentation, especially on repeats.

The lives of Elizabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Antonia Bembo exhibit both parallels and contrasts. Both composers enjoyed the patronage of Louis XIV. Jacquet de la Guerre was a child prodigy who performed the harpsichord for him at a young age; Bembo came under his patronage as an adult. Jacquet de la Guerre was granted honors as a musician and placed on the same plane as the great Jean-Baptiste Lully; her music was handsomely and accurately engraved. Bembo, however, never received any such recognition, and we have only rather hard-to-read manuscripts of her music.

In Jacquet de la Guerre’s Trio Sonata in D, the speed of the harmonic rhythm and the major tonality of the first movement suggest an Italian andante rather than a slow French overture-like movement, followed by a presto rather than an allegro. The subsequent movement bears the only tempo indication in Brossard’s manuscript, allegro. The last full movement, a rondo, does resemble a French dance and at times briefly features the viola da gamba as soloist. Most striking are the slower sections before and in the middle of the allegro, which sound so much like recitatives that one wonders whether there was a story line behind the music. At the very least, these sections suggest that we should view the piece as a multi-sectional Italian sonata with a French influence—a delightful example of Les goûts réunis (mixed French and Italian styles). Our program also includes Jacquet de la Guerre’s playful violin sonata in D major.

In Les sept Pseaumes de David, the magnificent creativity of Bembo comes together with that of the writer, musician, and painter Elisabeth Chéron, who had the rare honor of being elected to the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture. According to accepted religious history, the psalms were written by the biblical King David. In the sixth century, the monk Cassiodorus labeled those psalms that acknowledge King David’s sins and his hope for God’s forgiveness “The Seven Penitential Psalms.” Chéron’s paraphrase of these psalms, which she titled Pseaumes de la penitence, served as Bembo’s text. Tonight we will perform Psalm XXXVII, in which the vocal and continuo parts are more reminiscent of opera than of a sacred piece. Throughout, Bembo reuses a phrase from the first ritournelle to great effect. It is initially presented by the violins and appears immediately thereafter in the vocal part, sung to the text “I suffer pain.” It appears again, in part, at the beginning of verse 8, and is fully developed in the last section, preparing the listener for the final sincere and moving plea for salvation.

We finish our performance with the charming air Aux plus heureux, in which the sweetness of life resides in the pleasure of love and drink, helping to bring our program to a celebratory close.

Please share this email with friends who may be interested in our programs.

Houston Early Music extends our sympathy and best wishes to those in our community who have suffered from Hurricane Ike. In the spirit of helping Houston get back to normal, we are planning to present our 26 September concert as scheduled. Please check our web site for the latest news.

Houston Early Music presenting the world’s finest period ensembles and soloists … bringing to life music from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance to the Baroque and Classical periods. Experience with us early music played on original instruments, by musicians reviving performances of the past.

In this newsletter: First concert of the season Season subscriptions now available New email delivery service

HOUSTON EARLY MUSIC OPENS SEASON WITH BAROQUE MUSIC BY WOMEN COMPOSERS See Next Concert for program notes, updates and additional information on this concert. Fri., Sept. 26, 2008, 8:00PM LA DONNA MUSICALE THE PLEASURES OF LOVE AND LIBATION: Airs by Julie Pinel and other Parisian women. First Evangelical Lutheran Church 1311 Holman (at Caroline) 7:00 p.m. Preconcert talk, Laury Gutiérrez Director Houston Early Music will open its new season on Friday, September 26, 2008 with a program of Baroque music by Parisian women composers. Boston-based La Donna Musicale (www.ladm.org) will be joined by tenor Aaron Sheehan in ensemble’s first Houston performance. The Pleasures of Love and Libation: Airs by Julie Pinel and other Parisian Women recreates the luxuriant environment of an intimate Parisian salon replete with the sounds of voices in solo and duo settings with flute, violin, harpsichord, and viola da gamba. The seventeenth-century salons served as unique gathering places where women artists and intellectuals met to perform and discuss sacred and secular music, as well as literature and fine arts. In addition to works by Julie Pinel (fl. 1737), the program includes works by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre and Antonia Bembo. The performance will be at 8:00 p.m. at First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1311 Holman (at Caroline). There will be a preconcert talk at 7:00 p.m. by Laury Gutiérrez, Founding Director of La Donna Musicale. Praised by Early Music America for its “excellent performers…outstanding music stylishly performed,” La Donna Musicale is dedicated to historically-based performance of music by women composers of the Renaissance through contemporary periods. The ensemble has given the modern premieres of works by Chiara Cozzolani, Antonia Bembo, Julie Pinel, and Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre, among others, and these concerts have been chosen as Boston Globe “Classical Picks.” 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. The full season schedule is at http://www.houstonearlymusic.org/front/season

Season Subscriptions We are now accepting subscriptions to our 2008/2009 season. Please see the season overview on our web site. You may subscribe by printing and mailing the subscription form. Season subscriptions will also be available at the next concert. Our mini-brochure is also available as a PDF FILE you can print for a handy one-page summary of our season. We look forward to seeing you at our concerts this season.

New Email Delivery Service This newsletter is coming from our new email delivery service. We will no longer use the former Yahoo Group service, except to inform subscribers of the change. You will continue receiving email at your current subscription address.   Please make sure that info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org is registered in your contacts list or with your spam filter to ensure that delivery will not be blocked. If you wish to modify or cancel your email subscription, please see the links at the bottom of this email. For new subscriptions visit http://www.houstonearlymusic.org/lists/

Contact Houston Early Music P.O. Box 271193 Houston TX 77277-1193 Phone 713-432-1744 email info@HoustonEarlyMusic.org Web http://www.HoustonEarlyMusic.org

Houston Early Music is funded in part by grants from the City of Houston through Houston Arts Alliance.

We are located at 1117 Texas Avenue in Downtown Houston.

MAP

Parking
The Cathedral Parking Garage on San Jacinto between Texas and Prairie provides free parking when you are attending events or meetings at the Cathedral. Please inform the parking attendant. Click here for a map. Free street parking is also available on Sundays.

713-222-2593 or  office@christchurchcathedral.org