The city of Denver proclaimed that the 7th through the 15th of November would be Denver Arts week, a celebration of creative culture in the Mile High City. Visual arts, music, performances and workshops abounded, from Littleton to Englewood and Aurora to Arvada. Many ensembles held performances and among them was the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado. On November 8th, 2014, the ensemble graced the Claver Recital Hall at Regis University. At Regis the recital hall regularly hosts professional performers and music educators with the goal of providing their students and community examples of all kinds of music. On this autumn evening an audience of young and old, students and enthusiasts were presented with a fine example of Baroque repertoire, featuring works written by three different Jeans.
Founded in 2005, the Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado (BCOC) strives “[t]o bring to Colorado audiences the musical riches and spirit and improvisation of the 17th and 18th centuries.” The Denver Post once named the group their Ensemble of the Year, and with great reason. This sixteen-member ensemble has been led from the start led by harpsichordist and artistic director Frank Nowell. For this evening’s performance, lead violinist and concertmaster Cynthia Miller Frievogel was the ensemble’s featured soloist, on both baroque and modern violin. From Yale to the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to the professional world of Baroque today, Frievogel has a long career behind and ahead of her. Some high-profile performances of hers include collaboration with the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra, Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra in San Francisco, and the Handel & Haydn Society in Boston. During her virtuoso performance, she was physically expressive and moved her body in conjunction with the contour of the melody. It was evident that this, her life’s dedication, was precisely what she had been born to do. Her fellow violinists in the BCOC included Martin Davids (principal second), Stacey Brady, Matthew Dane, Mary Harrison, Chloe Prendergast, Carla Sciaky, and Jennifer Diaz Spera. The violas were Emily Anne Bowman (principal) and Karl Reque; Laura Turner played the cello and David Crowe played the bass. The flutes were played by Tamara Meredith (principal) and Jennifer Pauley, with Patricia Fagan-Miller on the bassoon. A potentially unfamiliar instrument was present: the theorbo, a much larger precursor to the guitar, played by Daniel Zuluaga. To begin the program which, the ensemble played the dance Suite from Concerts Transcripts en Sextuor by Rameau (1638-1764) and the Concerto in A minor for Violin, Strings and Continuo by Jean-Marie Leclair. This performance featured, as well, a highly interpretive visual aspect, provided by the puppetry ensemble of Robin Walsh.
With 20 years of experience under her belt, Robin Walsh was inspired by the work of “master puppeteer” Albrecht Roser. Walsh has worked on everything from large scale projects to very simple ones; some the projects in which she was involved include Team America: World Police, Disney’s Bear in the Big Blue House, and Cartoon Network’s Chowder, all of which current Regis students would likely be familiar. As evidenced by her performance with the BCOC, “[her] greatest joy is experiencing that moment when bits of cloth, wood and string truly com to life for an audience.” The audience in Claver Recital Hall saw this explicitly. Walsh’s puppet choreography accompanied the final piece on the program, Jean-Féry Rebel’s Les Elémens (The Elements). The very last work composed by Baroque artist Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) was a ballet (seemingly, a stylized dance suite, but referred to by the composer as a ballet) which he called Les Elémens (1737). It consists of ten movements with, excluding the first, titles of stylized dance forms: Chaos, sounding precisely as the title suggests; Loure, a slow gigue; Chaconne; Ramage; Rossignol, french for nightingale; Tambourins I and II, in lively duple meter; Sicilienne; Rondeau, a slow minor-key piece in compound meter; and Caprice, short, sweet and free. Rebel’s design of this piece is based on the basic natural elements (fire, water, air and earth). His construction is a brilliant one; he turns the physical elements into musical ones, particularly in the opening movement, designating specific motifs and ideas as representative of those four. He writes,
The Bass represents the Earth by notes tied together, and which are played in jerks; the flutes, by lines which move up and down, imitate the murmur of running Water; Air is depicted with long held notes followed by trills on the small flutes; Finally the violins, by means of lively and brilliant music, represent the activity of Fire.
Walsh used this knowledge to design her performance. Just as Rebel’s own choreography may have done, her performance told a story of the elements as related through the music. She constructed, through the choreography, abstract characters from pieces of silk and thin metal rods. These became the focus of the performance once they had completely formed and been introduced, somewhere during the fourth or fifth movement. These four each represented an element. Fire was a brillant red puppy, lively just like Rebel’s violins. Air was a pair of birds, created by two flashlight beams which projected a bird shape onto two flowing white silks. Earth and Water were a humanoid pair; although genders were not implicit, through the pantomime the Earth seemed more feminine and the idea of “Mother Earth” seemed to reinforce the perception. Although the story developed through all ten movements, a particularly delightful segment was the Tambourins I and II, which seem to be one continuous piece and will be treated as such for analysis purposes.
The overarching form of this movement was ABA, with smaller divisions within, like so: |: a :| |: a’ :| |: a :| |: b :| b’ |: b :| |: a :| |: a’ :| |: a :| As mentioned earlier, this piece is in a lively duple meter; the BCOC’s performance seemed to be in 4/4, with a quarter note pulse of 140 bpm, approximately. In the a section, the violins and violas take the regal melody, which climbs in 5th and descends in rapid, 16th note scales. The rest of the ensemble kept the processional beat with harmonically tonic and rhythmic attacks in unison on (||: 1 • 3 • | 1 2 3 • :||), a rhythmic pattern which pervades both large A sections. The a’ introduced the dominant chord to harmonize the melody, which begins with the violins and violas outlining a second inversion root chord (root, 3rd above, root, 5th below) followed by rapid scalar 4th-interval descents. During this first A section, the Fire Puppy character explores the stage space and notices the Air Birds, whom he begins to chase in a humorous fashion with moments of confused head-tilting.
The B section begins deceptively with the first two measures of a’, and slips into the parallel minor key. The new rhythm is compound, possibly 11/8 with accents creating a perception 3/4, 2/4, and 5/4. For b, the bassoon takes the lead with a melody of descending 3rds beginning at on the 5th of the root chord in root position - a some conjunct melodic material follows before a descending outline of the chord (from root above to root below) is played. The second part of b begins with the descending 3rds but ends with a descending scale from the 5th in mimicry of a. The repeat of b is quieter, with the violas harmonizing the bassoon a 3rd below. One measure of transitional material featuring the flutes gives way to b’. The relative minor root chord used in b becomes the v/iv pivot chord and iv is now i; in the new key the flutes and violins play the transposed beginning of b, followed by a passage of modulations guided by descending 5ths which seems to settle into 3/4. The melody during this modulatory passage is held high above the rest of the ensemble, which plays each chord on beats 1 and 2. The Birds have left; the dark mood of B seems to be prompted by Fire Puppy being joined onstage by Mother Earth. He is apprehensive and untrusting, but all the while curious of her. Mother Earth has a great interest in the pup, and gently, gradually approaches him. After pulling away multiple times, Fire Puppy allows her to pet his neck, to which he reacts with visible pleasure. He becomes accepting of her and leaps about with glee. The A section returns with zeal, resolving the tension and solidifying the relationship between Mother Earth and her new canine friend. The two dance together on stage as the birds return and the conclusion of the movement leaves a celebratory sensation lingering in the hall.
The Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado expressed their delight at having performed for Regis students and the community at large, and welcomed feedback via survey and sticky note. The applause was endless, as the orchestra and Robin Walsh’s company of black-clad performers took multiple bows and basked in the uproarious response to their hard work and creativity. Ms. Frievogel thanked the audience at the end of the recital, adding that their ensemble would be delighted to play in Claver Recital Hall again. With all luck, they will return with all the glory and extravagance of the Baroque greats.
Yoakam, Kelly. Les Elémens (The Elements). Detroit Symphony Orchestra online. PDF file. 1. <http://dso.org/upload_files/content_pdfs/res/backstage/history/0708_programnotes/LesElemensnotes.pdf>
With 20 years of experience under her belt, Robin Walsh was inspired by the work of “master puppeteer” Albrecht Roser. Walsh has worked on everything from large scale projects to very simple ones; some the projects in which she was involved include Team America: World Police, Disney’s Bear in the Big Blue House, and Cartoon Network’s Chowder, all of which current Regis students would likely be familiar. As evidenced by her performance with the BCOC, “[her] greatest joy is experiencing that moment when bits of cloth, wood and string truly com to life for an audience.” The audience in Claver Recital Hall saw this explicitly. Walsh’s puppet choreography accompanied the final piece on the program, Jean-Féry Rebel’s Les Elémens (The Elements). The very last work composed by Baroque artist Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) was a ballet (seemingly, a stylized dance suite, but referred to by the composer as a ballet) which he called Les Elémens (1737). It consists of ten movements with, excluding the first, titles of stylized dance forms: Chaos, sounding precisely as the title suggests; Loure, a slow gigue; Chaconne; Ramage; Rossignol, french for nightingale; Tambourins I and II, in lively duple meter; Sicilienne; Rondeau, a slow minor-key piece in compound meter; and Caprice, short, sweet and free. Rebel’s design of this piece is based on the basic natural elements (fire, water, air and earth). His construction is a brilliant one; he turns the physical elements into musical ones, particularly in the opening movement, designating specific motifs and ideas as representative of those four. He writes,
The Bass represents the Earth by notes tied together, and which are played in jerks; the flutes, by lines which move up and down, imitate the murmur of running Water; Air is depicted with long held notes followed by trills on the small flutes; Finally the violins, by means of lively and brilliant music, represent the activity of Fire.
Walsh used this knowledge to design her performance. Just as Rebel’s own choreography may have done, her performance told a story of the elements as related through the music. She constructed, through the choreography, abstract characters from pieces of silk and thin metal rods. These became the focus of the performance once they had completely formed and been introduced, somewhere during the fourth or fifth movement. These four each represented an element. Fire was a brillant red puppy, lively just like Rebel’s violins. Air was a pair of birds, created by two flashlight beams which projected a bird shape onto two flowing white silks. Earth and Water were a humanoid pair; although genders were not implicit, through the pantomime the Earth seemed more feminine and the idea of “Mother Earth” seemed to reinforce the perception. Although the story developed through all ten movements, a particularly delightful segment was the Tambourins I and II, which seem to be one continuous piece and will be treated as such for analysis purposes.
The overarching form of this movement was ABA, with smaller divisions within, like so: |: a :| |: a’ :| |: a :| |: b :| b’ |: b :| |: a :| |: a’ :| |: a :| As mentioned earlier, this piece is in a lively duple meter; the BCOC’s performance seemed to be in 4/4, with a quarter note pulse of 140 bpm, approximately. In the a section, the violins and violas take the regal melody, which climbs in 5th and descends in rapid, 16th note scales. The rest of the ensemble kept the processional beat with harmonically tonic and rhythmic attacks in unison on (||: 1 • 3 • | 1 2 3 • :||), a rhythmic pattern which pervades both large A sections. The a’ introduced the dominant chord to harmonize the melody, which begins with the violins and violas outlining a second inversion root chord (root, 3rd above, root, 5th below) followed by rapid scalar 4th-interval descents. During this first A section, the Fire Puppy character explores the stage space and notices the Air Birds, whom he begins to chase in a humorous fashion with moments of confused head-tilting.
The B section begins deceptively with the first two measures of a’, and slips into the parallel minor key. The new rhythm is compound, possibly 11/8 with accents creating a perception 3/4, 2/4, and 5/4. For b, the bassoon takes the lead with a melody of descending 3rds beginning at on the 5th of the root chord in root position - a some conjunct melodic material follows before a descending outline of the chord (from root above to root below) is played. The second part of b begins with the descending 3rds but ends with a descending scale from the 5th in mimicry of a. The repeat of b is quieter, with the violas harmonizing the bassoon a 3rd below. One measure of transitional material featuring the flutes gives way to b’. The relative minor root chord used in b becomes the v/iv pivot chord and iv is now i; in the new key the flutes and violins play the transposed beginning of b, followed by a passage of modulations guided by descending 5ths which seems to settle into 3/4. The melody during this modulatory passage is held high above the rest of the ensemble, which plays each chord on beats 1 and 2. The Birds have left; the dark mood of B seems to be prompted by Fire Puppy being joined onstage by Mother Earth. He is apprehensive and untrusting, but all the while curious of her. Mother Earth has a great interest in the pup, and gently, gradually approaches him. After pulling away multiple times, Fire Puppy allows her to pet his neck, to which he reacts with visible pleasure. He becomes accepting of her and leaps about with glee. The A section returns with zeal, resolving the tension and solidifying the relationship between Mother Earth and her new canine friend. The two dance together on stage as the birds return and the conclusion of the movement leaves a celebratory sensation lingering in the hall.
The Baroque Chamber Orchestra of Colorado expressed their delight at having performed for Regis students and the community at large, and welcomed feedback via survey and sticky note. The applause was endless, as the orchestra and Robin Walsh’s company of black-clad performers took multiple bows and basked in the uproarious response to their hard work and creativity. Ms. Frievogel thanked the audience at the end of the recital, adding that their ensemble would be delighted to play in Claver Recital Hall again. With all luck, they will return with all the glory and extravagance of the Baroque greats.
Yoakam, Kelly. Les Elémens (The Elements). Detroit Symphony Orchestra online. PDF file. 1. <http://dso.org/upload_files/content_pdfs/res/backstage/history/0708_programnotes/LesElemensnotes.pdf>