Another Concert

Photos: March 27, 2016

Every day is a good day to listen to (or play) Bach. His music is so uplifting, so complex, so spiritual, so inspiring... There are so many adjectives I could add to describe his many works. Salle Bourgie is featuring all his cantatas, by many different groups over eight years. Read more here. These strings were ready for two cantatas written for Easter.



This performance was given by Ensemble Caprice, one of Montreal's many wonderful early music ensembles. I have followed this group since they first started performing in Montreal and have known many of the musicians both through their time at CAMMAC and through their Montreal musical offerings, both on the teaching side and performing. One of the artistic directors, Sophie Larivière is also the director of Flutissimo (the recorder orchestra I play in).  I loved her solo yesterday on baroque flute. Yesterday's performance was glorious. How can you go wrong with Bach?

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Bonus



A surprise on my way home. While this may look like a lovely pond for ducks - it is actually a drainage area - a catchment to help avoid flooding in a very urban surrounding area. These ducks seem to think it is a great place to stop. I hope they don't decide that it is a great place for a nest.

Cello Duets

Cello Duets, a photo by susanvg on Flickr.

This year Arion has hosted a series of lunch time concerts which feature both long time members of Arion as well as young musicians. Jaap ter Linden, a frequent guest conductor, played a concert of cello duets with Kate Haynes who is now often heard with various early music ensembles in Montreal. This is the third concert in the series that I have attended. Each one has been a delight, especially in the great acoustics of Tudor Hall.

Both cellists have a warm tone. I love to watch them play. Jaap ter Linden's face is as expressive as his playing. Kate Haynes plays with grace almost like a dancer. A treat of a concert! This series shows there will be no shortage of amazing musicians in the future.

Music is a Beautiful Thing

Music is a Beautiful Thing, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Sunday
Notes on a page don't mean a lot until you let them come alive through voice or instruments. Today I played this sonata by Handel with a friend playing the continuo line on her cello (with one of her cats playing the audience).

                

What a treat to find the music in the notes, the sense of elegance and joy. The instruments carry on a conversation, sometimes supporting each other, sometimes answering each other. It is a challenge to find what the composer wanted to say and at the same time to add something of yourself in the playing.

Daily Shoot: Celebrate the pretty things in life. Make a photograph of the most beautiful thing you see today.

Feb 20/10: Scroll

Feb 20/10: Scroll, originally uploaded by susanvg.

Music is my recurring theme - a theme and variations. As I work through La Follia with my friend, a cellist, we find new meanings in the piece as we discuss our situations dealing with very elderly women both born in 1908. Music can tell stories and tell our stories as it touches parts of our emotions.

I think listening to music has layers - the first are the notes on the page and what the composer tried to say, the second the performer and his/her interpretation and the third the listener and what s/he brings to the music.

In playing La Follia I find myself conversing as the melody transfers from one instrument to the other. We cross cultures (music written by an Italian based on a theme from Spain, played on instruments from Quebec and China ) and yet find the universal in music that speaks to anyone. So much to work on - to play all the notes, to make them tell the story of joy, of sorrow, of intensity and to match our styles so that there is continuity. Music is a life long pursuit.

Day 246: Cello

Day 246: Cello, originally uploaded by susanvg.

This cello belongs to a friend of mine, a professional cellist. It was made in China. She has told me that the Chinese are making wonderful instruments now, that they will become the predominant instrument makers.

She, like me, has someone in her family who is over 100; in her case it is her mother. When her mother was still living at home, H. and I used to play together to entertain her. What a privilege to have a professional accompany me while I played sonatas. Now that her mother is in a nursing home, we have decided to prepare a little concert to entertain the residents, so instead of just sight-reading through music, we are working on a few pieces. While I have to practise to get all the fingering fluid, she has been adapting her playing to baroque music, which is quite different stylistically from what she usually plays. So Vivaldi, Barsanti, Handel - your music will bring pleasure, yet again.