Baroque ensemble “New Holland”
Pavel Andreev, flute traverso
Yulia Lurye, baroque violin
Netanel Pollak, baroque viola
Anton Andreev, baroque cello
Natalie Rotenberg, harpsichord
The concert will feature arrangements for Baroque ensemble of well-known works originally written for harpsichord, as well as Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata for Harpsichord and Viola da Gamba.
Why did the New Holland Ensemble choose to arrange these works? The harpsichord’s distinctive, intimate sound can be compared to a black-and-white film. The musicians wanted to bring this “film” to life in colour — adding new shades, greater expressiveness and a richer variety of timbres, and revealing familiar music from a fresh perspective.
The Italian Concerto (1735) is a work for solo harpsichord, written specifically for an instrument with two manuals. Bach included it in a collection intended for study and practice, but at the same time it represents the culmination of his many years of work with the harpsichord concerto genre and his exploration of the Italian concerto tradition. Its vivid contrasts and uplifting character continue to delight listeners, while the ensemble arrangement reveals new colours within the music.
Capriccio on the Departure of a Beloved Brother (1704) was also originally written for solo harpsichord. This witty and highly imaginative programmatic work is based on a real event — the farewell to Bach’s brother, who was leaving to serve in the Swedish army. Persuasion, sadness, the postman’s signal, the sound of a post horn, and a fugue suggesting a carriage rolling away into the distance are all vividly portrayed in Bach’s music.
Sonata in D major for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord (c. 1717–1723) is rarely performed, yet it is one of Bach’s finest chamber sonatas. Bright and lively, transparent and profound like a river, it seems to draw the listener along with it.
It is generally believed that the Concerto for Three Harpsichords and Strings, BWV 1064 (c. 1735–1745) is an adaptation of a lost concerto for three violins. A modern reconstruction of the presumed original provides the basis for the ensemble version performed at this concert.
The defining feature of this music is the constant dialogue and interplay among all the performers, not only the three soloists. Virtuosic passages, rapid exchanges and the combination of the brilliance of the Italian concerto style with the depth of German polyphony make this work one of the great jewels of Bach’s oeuvre.
Program:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Concerto in the Italian Style, BWV 971
Capriccio in B-flat major, “On the Departure of his Most Beloved Brother”, BWV 992
Sonata, BWV 1028
Concerto for 3 Harpsichords, BWV 1064
Regular ticket: 100 NIS
Senior citizens / students: 70 NIS
