Baroque Period

Remembering Helmuth Rilling

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Helmuth Rilling, an acclaimed German choral conductor and influential interpreter of Bach, passed away last Wednesday, February 11. He was 92. Rilling founded numerous ensembles including the Gächinger Kantorei (1954), the Bach-Collegium Stuttgart (1965), the Oregon Bach Festival (1970), and the Internationale Bachakademie Stuttgart (1981). He served as professor of choral conducting at the Frankfurt Musikhochschule from 1965 to 1989 and led the Frankfurter Kantorei from 1969 to 1982. “Music has to …

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Rameau’s “Zaïs” Overture: Creation Develops out of Chaos

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Creation develops out of primordial chaos in the Overture to the 1748 opera, Zaïs, by French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683–1764). The shocking and innovative music predates Haydn’s similar depiction in the opening of his oratorio, The Creation, by half a century. The Zaïs Overture begins with muted drumbeats, followed by detached fanfare fragments. At first, rhythm falters and the harmony is directionless. Disparate musical building blocks, representing the four elements of Earth, …

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Handel’s Minuet in G, HWV 434/4: Alexander Malofeev

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Handel’s haunting and melancholy Minuet in G, HWV 434/4 is a frequent encore of Russian pianist Alexander Malofeev. Following a virtuosic tour de force such as Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto, the simple, sensuous melodic lines of the Minuet pull listeners into a magical space. This music originated as the fourth movement of Handel’s Keyboard Suite in B-flat major, HWV 434, published in 1733. It was revived by pianist Wilhelm Kempff. This performance, featuring …

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Rameau’s “Les Boréades” (Entrée de Polymnie): “The Arts and the Hours”

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Les Boréades was the final opera of French Baroque composer Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). The story of the five-act tragédie lyrique is based loosely on the Greek legend of the sage and healer, Abaris the Hyperborean. Although the work was rehearsed at the Paris Opera in 1763, it was never performed. Rameau died the following year at the age of 80. (The first fully staged performance, led by John Eliot Gardiner, took place in …

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Bach’s “Osanna in Excelsis”: Celebrating a Milestone at The Listeners’ Club

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We begin the year by celebrating a milestone at The Listeners’ Club. This is our 2,000th post. I have enjoyed exploring all of this music with you during these years, and I look forward to continuing the journey. For today, I have selected the brief and festive Osanna in excelsis (“Hosanna in the highest”) which opens the fourth section of Bach’s Mass in B minor, BWV 232. Set in 3/8 time, its lively forward …

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Vivaldi’s “Gloria”: A Celebratory Drama

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Antonio Vivaldi was 24 years old when, in September of 1703, he was first employed as maestro di violino at Venice’s Ospedale della Pietà. Located near the Piazza San Marco, the Ospedale della Pietà was a generously endowed orphanage for girls, the most talented of whom received an exceptional music education. Describing the calibre of the performances, French scholar Charles de Brosses wrote in 1739, “The girls sing like angels, and play …

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Bach’s Kyrie, Gott heiliger Geist BWV 671: Monumental Treatment of an Ancient Melody

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In 1525, Martin Luther wrote his Kyrie, adapting an ancient Gregorian chant melody set in the Phrygian mode. It consists of three parts, moving from God the Father, to God the Son, and concluding with the Holy Spirit. J.S. Bach composed three organ preludes (Clavier-Übung III) based on the sections of Luther’s Kyrie. Beginning in the treble register, each descends, as if to evoke the religious symbolism of Christ’s descent. In the final …

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