What a glorious day of practicing yesterday was! I practiced a bit in the morning, Then my early music group meet at noon for a coaching session with my cello teacher. We are playing Corelli Sonata no. 1, Op. 4, for 2 violins, cello, and keyboard on two upcoming occasions. The first is this Sunday at a fundraising concert for a church, where keyboard will be played by an organist, and the second will be my cello recital, in which our second violin player will switch to harpsichord, and the second violin part will be played by a flutist. Thankfully, I am playing cello both times.
This piece has a interesting, fun-to-play, cello part, with just the right amount of challenge so that, if I practiced diligently, I could play it well. Unfortunately, I have not really had the time to solidify all the fingerings and bowings, and the intonation is shaky, in some parts more than others. So, I will play it on Sunday, in perhaps imperfect form, and "perfect" it for my recital.
The coached session was wonderful. My teacher gave us all lots of good advice and encouragement, and we are all sounding better. She was energetic and enthusiastic, and we were all receptive and responsive. We really should do this more often.
In the evening we met up again for our regular Thursday rehearsal, this time with the organist. I missed the vibrant coaching element, but we did well, and I am getting almost all the appropriate fingerings now. We are playing three instrumental pieces at Sunday's concert, and accompanying the choir on five or six hymns. (This is at 1 pm, after my fiddle group plays along the route of the Cape Cod Marathon from 9:30 to 11:30 am. Another music-filled day.)
After the evening rehearsal, my husband and I took our daughter out for dinner to celebrate her 19th birthday, even though she had already gone out to dinner with friends. She took home most of both meals, so should eat well for a day or two. A lovely day of music, friends, and family.
Showing posts with label early music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label early music. Show all posts
Friday, October 26, 2007
Friday, September 7, 2007
Duets
Fritz and Laura played a Handel violin sonata last weekend, in front of the folksy quilt background. They sounded great!
Also making beautiful music together are my inlaws, Ralph and Bernice, who celebrate their 61st wedding anniversary today. Happy Anniversary!
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Early Music Music for Labor Day
I play flute and cello with an early music group. It is not a strict period instruments group, just a group that enjoys playing Baroque music. We have a harpichord and recorders, but no viola da gambas. The cello works fine for me, as I am pretty flexible about instrumentation, and not interested in learning the gamba.
We have varying membership, and several of us play multiple instruments, so we have a variety of music suitable for harpsichord, violins, flutes, recorders, viola, and cellos. I personally like music for two treble instruments, a cello, and harpsichord, which seems to work well most of the time, even with some doubling on treble parts and/or cello parts.
We have selected some pieces for a performance on Labor Day weekend, when we expect to have two flutists, a violinist, a harpsichord player, and me on cello. The cello parts are not particularly difficult, though some will require some work. I want to concentrate on intonation, articulation, and playing well as an ensemble.
Pieces en Trio (1692), by Marin Marais, for two treble recorders, cello and harpsichord (Dolmetsch Recorder Series).
Trio Sonata for two flutes and basso continuo, by G. P. Telemann, 2 flutes, cello, harpsichord (Fentone Music). This comes with a playalong CD.
Trio Sonata for two flutes and basso continuo, by J. M. Hotteterre, 2 flutes, cello, harpsichord (Fenton Music). This comes with a playalong CD.
Sonata No. 9 in F Major (Golden Sonata), by Henry Purcell, for 2 violins, cello, harpsichord. (International Music). When I first started the cello, I bought a stack of beginning/intermediate cello music from a seller on eBay. This was in that stack, and I am glad to finally have a group interested in playing it.
Sonata No. 1 in F Major, by Benedetto Marcello, for 2 flutes, violin, cello, and, perhaps, harpsichord. (This was my favorite piece for the flute when I was in high school. I have arranged it for 2 flutes, violin, and cello.)
Sonata in E-Flat Major (1031), by J. S. Bach, transcribed for 2 flutes, cello, and harpsichord. This is Bach's flute sonata no. 2, arranged for 2 flutes. (Leaf Publications)
Sonata Op. 34 No. 2, by Joseph Bodin de Bosimortier, arranged for Flute, 2 oboes, and piano. (Falls House Press). We haven't played this yet either, but it was appealing to me because it has 3 treble parts. I can play the left-hand piano part on cello.
Quartette No. 4 in G Major, by G. P. Telemann, for 2 flutes, 2 cellos, and harpsichord. (Barenreiter) This one appealed to me because of the two cello parts; however the second cello part is very simple. Our other cellist is not able to make the performance, but since the second cello does not add much, we could still play this. There are six quartets (quintets really) in this series, so maybe some of the others are better for 2 cellos.
Partia 2, by G. P. Telemann, for flute, cello, and harpsichord. There are six partias, each with numerous arias. I picked a pleasant one in G major, though we have not yet played through them all.
This is way too much music for our event, so we will probably drop half of it, or play it elsewhere. But, for now, we are enjoying working on it, and trying hard not to add any more to the mix.
We have varying membership, and several of us play multiple instruments, so we have a variety of music suitable for harpsichord, violins, flutes, recorders, viola, and cellos. I personally like music for two treble instruments, a cello, and harpsichord, which seems to work well most of the time, even with some doubling on treble parts and/or cello parts.
We have selected some pieces for a performance on Labor Day weekend, when we expect to have two flutists, a violinist, a harpsichord player, and me on cello. The cello parts are not particularly difficult, though some will require some work. I want to concentrate on intonation, articulation, and playing well as an ensemble.
Pieces en Trio (1692), by Marin Marais, for two treble recorders, cello and harpsichord (Dolmetsch Recorder Series).
Trio Sonata for two flutes and basso continuo, by G. P. Telemann, 2 flutes, cello, harpsichord (Fentone Music). This comes with a playalong CD.
Trio Sonata for two flutes and basso continuo, by J. M. Hotteterre, 2 flutes, cello, harpsichord (Fenton Music). This comes with a playalong CD.
Sonata No. 9 in F Major (Golden Sonata), by Henry Purcell, for 2 violins, cello, harpsichord. (International Music). When I first started the cello, I bought a stack of beginning/intermediate cello music from a seller on eBay. This was in that stack, and I am glad to finally have a group interested in playing it.
Sonata No. 1 in F Major, by Benedetto Marcello, for 2 flutes, violin, cello, and, perhaps, harpsichord. (This was my favorite piece for the flute when I was in high school. I have arranged it for 2 flutes, violin, and cello.)
Sonata in E-Flat Major (1031), by J. S. Bach, transcribed for 2 flutes, cello, and harpsichord. This is Bach's flute sonata no. 2, arranged for 2 flutes. (Leaf Publications)
Sonata Op. 34 No. 2, by Joseph Bodin de Bosimortier, arranged for Flute, 2 oboes, and piano. (Falls House Press). We haven't played this yet either, but it was appealing to me because it has 3 treble parts. I can play the left-hand piano part on cello.
Quartette No. 4 in G Major, by G. P. Telemann, for 2 flutes, 2 cellos, and harpsichord. (Barenreiter) This one appealed to me because of the two cello parts; however the second cello part is very simple. Our other cellist is not able to make the performance, but since the second cello does not add much, we could still play this. There are six quartets (quintets really) in this series, so maybe some of the others are better for 2 cellos.
Partia 2, by G. P. Telemann, for flute, cello, and harpsichord. There are six partias, each with numerous arias. I picked a pleasant one in G major, though we have not yet played through them all.
This is way too much music for our event, so we will probably drop half of it, or play it elsewhere. But, for now, we are enjoying working on it, and trying hard not to add any more to the mix.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Early Music cello trial night
I brought my trial cello to early music group tonight to get friends' opinions of it. They thought it had more sound, more resonance, and better dynamic range than my cello. It sounded particularly good with the harpsichord. This might be because, on most pieces we play, the cello part is the same as the left-hand harpsichord. So, when I know we are together, I play with more confidence.
The early music group plays mostly Baroque music (Bach, Handel, Corelli, Telemann, Vivaldi, Marais), but except for the harpsichord, we do not use period instruments. I enjoy the music, but I have no desire to play viola da gamba or recorder. Well, I'd like to try a gamba someday, but I don't want to stretch my musical inclinations any further than they already are.
Most of the people in the early music group play multiple instruments, which makes it more interesting. We can switch around and play different parts depending on the music and the attendance. Tonight we had flute, violin, cello, and harpsichord. The harpsichord player had been using an electronic keyboard, but tonight had moved his large harpsichord into the living room. What a wonderful improvement over the keyboard! And it sounded so good with the trial cello.
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