Classical NOW! Festival Kindred Spirits: Bach as inspiration
Bach is a great inspiration for composers to this day. This concert presents works by Bach, Fagerlund, Brahms and Wantenaar, performed by Tim Brackman, Inga Våga Gaustad, Elisa Karen Tavenier, Pieter de Koe, Floor Le Coultre, Jelmer de Moed, Eva-Nina Kozmus, Bram van Sambeek, Rik Kuppen, Jordi Carrasco Hjelm, Georgia Burashko.
Nineteen festival musicians descend on the Palace Church for the Festival Kindred. Classical NOW! gave Jelmer de Moed carte blanche to put together his dream programme. He is a clarinettist and initiator of multidisciplinary music theatre with Studio de Moed. In Kindred spirits, he presents compositions in a wide range of line-ups, from solo to full-stage. A time travel through several centuries, from Vivaldi to brand new premiere pieces.
To this day, Bach is a great source of inspiration for composers. One of his most impressive pieces is ‘Das musikalische Opfer’. From it, the musicians play the Trio Sonata, in which Bach's daring experiments with motifs and themes take on an intuitive musical form. Interwoven motifs are also the roots of ‘Woodland Variations’ by Bach admirer Sebastian Fagerlund. A fascinating landscape with trees up to the horizon and vistas. You listen breathlessly. The Animato Quartet plays together with bassoonist Bram van Sambeek, to whom the piece is dedicated.
Bach was also a shining example for Johannes Brahms. In his ‘Vier ernste Gesänge’, he set biblical texts about transience to music. The music breathes the spirit of Bach's solo cantatas. In Jelmer de Moed's arrangement for string sextet, the almost baroque polyphony gains even more relief. Mathilde Wantenaar's ‘Lieder der Vergänglichkeit’ fit seamlessly with this theme and the world of Brahms. In her ‘Nocturnes’ for clarinet and piano, she makes a forest come alive in the moonlight.
Programme:
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Trio Sonata, BWV 1079
- Sebastian Fagerlund: Scherzic
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Inventions, BWV 797 and 798
- Sebastian Fagerlund: Woodland Variations
- Mathilde Wantenaar: Lieder der Vergänglichkeit
- Mathilde Wantenaar: Nocturnes
- Johannes Brahms: Vier ernste Gesänge, opus 121 (arranged for soprano and string sextet by Jelmer de Moed)
- Johannes Brahms: O kühler Wald, opus 72 no. 3
Musicians:
- Tim Brackman (violin)
- Inga Våga Gaustad (violin)
- Elisa Karen Tavenier (viola)
- Pieter de Koe (cello)
- Floor Le Coultre (violin/viola)
- Jelmer de Moed (clarinet)
- Eva-Nina Kozmus (flute)
- Bram van Sambeek (bassoon)
- Rik Kuppen (piano)
- Jordi Carrasco Hjelm (double bass)
- Georgia Burashko (mezzo-soprano)