T he Bach family has for a long time been the focus of genealogical research. No other musical family of German origin has spanned so many generations and produced such highly talented performers, as well as composers of the highest order.”T he Florilegium concert at Wigmore Hall on Wednesday 3 November was both illuminating in the musicological sense and satisfying musically.
— Florilegium program notes.
- Ashley Solomon - flute 1
- Marta Gonçalves - flute 2
- Bojan Čičić - violin 1
- Jean Paterson - violin 2
- Malgorzata Ziemkiewicz - viola
- Jennifer Morsches - cello
- Tim Amherst - bass
- Terence Charlston - harpsichord
- Johann Bernhard Bach - Overture; Marche; Passepied; Air-Lentement; La Joye; Caprice
- Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach - Sonata in C major
- Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach - Sonata in C minor, Wq 161 No. 4
- Wilhelm Friedmann Bach - Adagio and Fugue in D minor, Falck 65
- Johann Christian Bach - Quintet in D major
- Johann Sebastian Bach - Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, BWV 1067
I f large-scale form really generates the working-out of inventions located right on the musical surface, then one needs plausible evidence of this [in the score]. In the absence of such evidence, the reverse position—following Occam’s Razor—is more compelling: that Bach first worked out his inventions—his themes which he ordered in permutational arrangements—and then ‘disposed’ them in a conventional scheme...”T hey brought us fresh illustrations of these Bach family members’ working methods, and how they differed from each other. We also learned about the Bachs’ savvy and opportunistic appropriations of French and Italian styles—and about their co-optation of various genres for expressive or programmatic purposes different from their conventional/traditional ones.
— Laurence Dreyfus, p. 169.
T he ensemble played beautifully throughout, and the program was expertly devised to optimize variations in tempi and texture—to maximize dramatic tension, climax, and resolution for the audience—in addition to accomplishing the nominal aim of shedding light on parallels and differences among these Bachs.
T he flutes and viola, for example, in the Johann Bernhard ‘Passepied’ were a lush and serene contrast to the preceding ‘Marche’ and majestic ‘Overture’.
T he flute-violin-harpsichord ‘call-and-answer’ patterns in the Johann Christoph Friedrich Sonata were, for another example, a striking contrast to counterpoint and tutti sectional passages in the surrounding works.
F lorilegium will next perform at the Nicholas Young Society in Lewes, Sussex, on 26 November. The program then promises to be an innovative exposition of Baroque-era trans-national diffusion of musical ideas and is entitled ‘Les Nations’ and includes works by Couperin, Handel, Bach, Purcell, Vivaldi, Marais, Telemann, and Rebel. We look forward as well to future repeats of their fascinating ‘Six Members of the Bach Family’ program.
I n thinking about the various initiatives that Florilegium have taken recently, a unifying concept seems to be ‘innovation’, broadly conceived. Instead of packaging familiar, excellent repertoire in conventional, “safe” concert offerings, they instead differentiate themselves from other first-rate Baroque ensembles by devising novel thematic programs of less-familiar or totally unfamiliar works. Music as ‘international relations’? ‘Nature vs. Nurture’ among Bachs? How was it for Telemann in Paris? Bolivian Baroque? Yes! More, please!
T he program notes and promotional materials for concerts like these are fabulous. They are razor-sharp and provide fresh, engaging copy for print and broadcast and online media, which in turn makes the promotion more effective for these programs compared to more conventional programs, which in turn gets more people buying tickets and into the seats.
A dditionally, the Friends of Florilegium [patrons association] is vibrant and well-managed. The quarterly newsletter (edited by Dame Emma Kirkby OBE [president] and Sir David Lumsden and David Hill [honorary vice presidents]) is a hoot to read, filled with droll humor and exciting news and other bits.
F lorilegium members, led by Director Ashley Solomon, author some of the contributions to the Friends newsletter, and they are informative and engaging. Thank you for the wonderful ‘Bach Family’ concert at Wigmore, and thank you for the Friends’ excellent example of how to foster sustainable financial growth in support of these fine programs and scholarship!
Č ičić [Florilegium principal violinis], coming from a musical family, was sent as a child to play the violin and promptly sobbed, ‘I want the piano!’ He also then began tennis lessons; Croatia is well-known for producing some fine champions. Bojan sadly wasn’t to become one of them… Finally, managing to produce a sound [on violin] that would melt icebergs and later woo women, he gave up on tennis. ‘The fees are getting ridiculously expensive,’ was the explanation given by his parents. Et voilá, yet another child plunges headlong towards the uncertain future of a musician… In order to find out more about his repertoire, he left his job as a modern musician in Zagreb, packed his things, and moved to Paris to study early music, speaking no French. Ahh, Paris, the world’s capital of kindness to foreigners, where one is always welcomed with open arms. Bojan had only one option to escape this everyday problem: immerse himself fully into the music he studied, which was mostly French Baroque. Today, he admits this isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but, together with a bath and some Prosecco, it’s a jolly good way to relax...”
— Profile, Friends of Florilegium Newsletter, Summer 2010.
- Florilegium website
- Dreyfus L. Bach and the Patterns of Invention. 2e. Harvard Univ, 2004.
- Wolff C. Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician. Norton, 2001.
- Yearsley D. Bach and the Meanings of Counterpoint. Cambridge Univ, 2008.
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