January 26, 2025
St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church
Marietta, Georgia – USA
Peter H. Bloom, baroque flute; Olav Chris Henriksen, baroque lute; Carol Lewis, viola da gamba.
Jacques HOTTETERRE: L’Art de préluder sur la flûte traversière
François COUPERIN: Quatorzième Concert Royaux in D minor
Sylvius Leopold WEISS: Two Pièces from Sonata No. 20 in A Minor (SWL 13)
Georg Frideric HANDEL: Sonata in G major, Op. 1 No 5
Georg Philipp TELEMANN: Fantasia 10 in E minor, TWV 40:35
Antonio VIVALDI: Concerto in Re maggiore (per liuto)
Johann Sebastian BACH: Sonata in e minor, BWV 1034
Mark Gresham | 6 FEB 2025
The Boston-based baroque trio Ensemble Chaconne, featuring Peter H. Bloom on the baroque flute, Olav Chris Henriksen on the baroque lute, and Carol Lewis on viola da gamba, performed in concert on January 26 at St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church in Marietta, Georgia. Titled The Glorious Ones: Music by the Great Baroque Masters, the concert explored Baroque treasures by composers Hotteterre, Couperin, Weiss, Handel, Telemann, Vivaldi, and Bach, highlighting the period’s expressive and stylistic range. While most selections were written or arranged for a trio, each performer had a solo moment within the program.
The concert opened with one of these solos, with Bloom performing Jacques-Martin Hotteterre’s Prélude sur la Flûte Traversière, a brief but expressive, unmeasured piece evoking the improvisatory spirit of the French Baroque, introducing the audience to the nuanced sounds of the flauto traverso, a gentler, more mellow sound than the modern orchestral flute.
Next, the whole trio played François Couperin’s Quatorzième Concert Royal in D minor, drawn from his Les Goûts réunis. This piece reflected Couperin’s attempt to merge French elegance with Italian virtuosity. The performance of this concert was rich in its variety of dance rhythms and ornamented melodic lines, blending the refined ornamentation of the French style with the more expressive, virtuosic moments inspired by Italian composers.
The evening then shifted to the world of the solo lute, with Olav Chris Henriksen playing two Pièces in A minor by Sylvius Leopold Weiss, drawn from his Sonata No. 20 (SWL 13) for solo lute. Delicate use of the lute’s expressive range was highlighted in the “Prelude,” setting the stage for the “Musette,” which emulated the characteristic drone and dance-like rhythms a French bagpipe, offering a particularly engaging moment of contrast.
The program turned again to trio music with Georg Frideric Handel’s Sonata in G major, Op. 1 No. 5, displaying Handel’s Italian influences in flowing melodies and structured counterpoint. The interplay between the solo flute and continuo was elegantly balanced, with the sonata’s accessibility making it a staple of Handel’s chamber works.
Ms. Lewis had her turn at solo playing with Georg Philipp Telemann’s Fantasia No. 10 in E minor, TWV 40:35, part of his collection of 12 Fantasias for unaccompanied viola da gamba, composed in 1735. These works were long thought lost until the 2015 discovery of a complete print in the Lower Saxony State Archive. The performance vividly displayed Telemann’s inventive treatment of the viola da gamba, allowing the instrument’s full expressive range to shine. The “Siciliana,” in particular, captured the listener’s attention with its lyrical, ornamented phrasing.
Antonio Vivaldi’s Concerto in D major, RV 93, one of the composer’s most beloved works for the lute, was presented in an arrangement for flute, lute, and viola da gamba that still provided a masterful showcase for the lute’s technical prowess and lyrical beauty.
The evening concluded with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Sonata in E minor, BWV 1034, composed around 1720. This flute sonata offered a balanced blend of technical virtuosity and emotional depth. The opening “Adagio” was filled with lyrical ornamentation, followed by the lively “Allegro” movement, which displayed Bach’s contrapuntal mastery as the flute and continuo exchanged thematic material. The contemplative “Andante” allowed the performers to delve into the piece’s emotional subtleties before the joyful conclusion of the final “Allegro.”
The program was rich in variety yet cohesive in exploring the Baroque idiom. Each of Ensemble Chaconne’s performers brought their unique flair to these Baroque masterpieces, drawing out the distinctive character of each work while maintaining the spirit of the era. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Ensemble Chaconne: americasmusicworks.com/ensemble-chaconne.html
- St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church: stcats.church
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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