The Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra, under the direction of John Yankee, will present “Baroque and Before,” a spring concert, on Sunday, April 22, at 3 PM at St. Barnabas Church, 91 West Main Street, Falmouth.
Members and friends of the orchestra will present a variety of chamber music works from the Baroque and prior periods by Bach, Fuchs, Quantz, Telemann, and others.
The Woods Hole Recorder Consort, led by Jan Elliott, will perform a number of short pieces including Sonatina from Cantata No. 106 and Contrapunctus No. 1 by J.S. Bach; several early music pieces: Prelude and Fugue by William Boyce, Canzona: La Nuvolina by Floriano Canali, and “Fairie Round” by Anthony Holborne; and “The Haircut Fugue,” a contemporary fugue by James Howard Young.
The group was founded in the 1980s by Patricia C. Brown, who led several Falmouth-based early music groups, taught in the public schools, and served as music director and organist for St. Barnabas Church. “It was Brown who inspired me to take up the recorder as a solo and ensemble instrument,” said Elliott.
Other members include Donna Albert, Barbara Blair, Karen Hunter, Dorene Sykes, and Gisela Tillier.
Elliott will also play recorder in Telemann’s Quartet in G Major TWV 43 G2 with David Gable, violin; Melanie Hayn, oboe; Liz Irvin, cello; and Stephanie Weaver, harpsichord. The ensemble chose this piece among several by Telemann because “this one stood out as particularly joyous and lighthearted,” said Hayn. It was published in 1733 as part of Telemann’s Tafelmusick (table music) collection. Table music was intended to be played at feasts or banquets.
“Telemann wrote that he lovingly chose a part ‘suited for each instrument,’ so that every musician can find pleasure in the performance,” said Hayn. “This certainly rings true for this quartet; it’s a lot of fun to play.”
Melanie Hayn
Hayn will play oboe d’amore in a performances of Bach’s Concerto in A Major for Oboe d’Amore, BWV 1055r with Laura and Fritz Sonnichsen, both on violin, Robin Kruse on viola, Brian Kruse on cello, and Stephanie Weaver on harpsichord. The oboe d’amore was a common instrument in the Baroque era, pitched in A, a third lower than the modern oboe, with a more mellow sound.
“This oboe d’amore was owned by Peter Kivy, a highly esteemed and influential professor of aesthetics and the philosophy of music,” said Hayn. “He spent his summers in Falmouth, and we had the pleasure of playing with him on numerous occasions. I’ll be performing the piece on Peter’s oboe d’amore, and dedicating it in his memory.”
Flutist Betsey Edwards and harpsichordist Fritz Sonnichsen will perform Johann Jachim Quantz’s Flute Sonata in E Minor. Quantz, a prolific composer of flute music, was flute teacher and court composer to Frederick the Great. This four-movement work was written as a trio sonata for violin, flute, and harpsichord, but is often played as a flute and harpsichord duo.
Cellist Brian Kruse and harpsichordist Sonnichsen, who performed the first and second movements of J.S. Bach’s D Major Gamba Sonata at FCPO’s Spring Musicale last year, return with the third and fourth movements of the sonata this year. The viola da gamba is a xix-stringed fretted instrument used throughout the Renaissance period until around 1750, when it was generally replaced by the cello.
Kruse, a capacity planner at IBM, studied music in college and graduate school and played cello with the Alabama Symphony, but put the cello aside for 25 years. He began playing again nine years ago and now performs with three orchestras and several chamber groups.
Flutist Dick Payne and clarinetist Cathy DiPasqua-Egan will perform George P. Fuchs’ Duet, Opus 19, No. 3. Fuchs (1752-1821) was born in Germany, but spent most of his life in Paris. He was an accomplished clarinetist, oboist, and bassoonist, as well as a composer and director of an orchestra in Paris.
Both Payne and DiPasqua-Egan have been making music most of their lives. Payne is a retired scientist, and DiPasqua-Egan, a retired music teacher, teaches clarinet.
Admission is by donation and the suggested donation is $15 for adults and $5 for students.
For more information about the concert and other activities of the Falmouth Chamber Players Orchestra, visit famouthchamberplayers.org, email FCPO@falmouthchamberplayers.org, or call Fritz Sonnichsen at 508-274-2632.
Notes on The Arts 