Calendar: October 15–21, 2018

Friday, October 19

American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
“Off to the Hunt!” Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046; Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048; and Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 (“Hunting Cantata”). The opening concerts of the 30th All-Bach Season will feature the sonorous corno da caccia or “hunting horn” in two works that reveal Bach’s playful dispositions while employed in Weimar and Cöthen. The joyful “Hunting Cantata,” Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (“What pleases me is the lively hunt!”) is Bach’s earliest surviving secular cantata, composed for the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels whose wise governance and adept hunting skills are allegorically praised in song. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major brings the baroque horn to the foreground in some of Bach’s most robust instrumental music, and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major for three groups of string instruments matches violins, violas, and ‘cellos in a rally of friendly competition, a tour de force volley of virtuosity. With soloists Hélène Brunet, soprano (Pales; Julie Bosworth, soprano (Diana); Derek Chester, tenor (Endymion); Mischa Bouvier, baritone (Pan); and the American Bach Soloists & American Bach Choir.

8 PM
St. Stephen’s Church
3 Bay View Ave., Belvedere
Tickets online $35 to $89
800-595-4TIX (-4849), [email protected]
http://americanbach.org

Barefoot Chamber Concerts
“Joyful Mysteries”—Biber’s Scordatura Sonatas and More. David Wilson, violin; Barbara Blaker Krumdieck, cello; Katherine Heater, harpsichord, perform highlights of H.I.F. Biber’s extraordinary “Rosary Sonatas” (aka “Mystery Sonatas;”the title page is missing, so no-one knows what Biber meant to call them, but that hasn’t stopped a lot of musicologists spending a lot of time learnedly speculating about it). Biber was way ahead of Joni Mitchell in inventing radical new tunings, and although he didn’t invent as many as Ms. Mitchell, he did also invent radically new violin techniques, which apparently only he could play. Prepare to be amazed. There will be snax.

6 PM
St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Parish Hall
2300 Bancroft Way, Berkeley
Email: [email protected]
$15
Tickets online or 510-220-1195

California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Artistic Director
“J.S .Bach, Missa in A Major and Cantata 198” California Bach Society 48th season opens with Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 198 & Missa Brevis in A Major. Composed in 1738, the Missa Brevis in A Major, one of Bach’s so-called “Lutheran Masses,” is a lovely work, scored for soloists, flutes, strings, continuo, and chorus, in which the composer draws upon movements from the Leipzig cantatas he was most proud of.  Bach wrote the exquisite cantata Lass, Fürstin, lass noch einen Strahl, BWV 198, in 1727 for the funeral of the beloved Queen Christiane Eberhardine of Saxony and Poland. The royally lavish orchestration for flutes, oboes d’amore, strings, lutes, and violas da gamba recalls the music of the French courts.

8 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell, San Francisco
$35 with discounts for advance purchase, seniors, Under 30
650-485-1097 or https://www.calbach.org/tickets#individual

Saturday, October 20

American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
“Off to the Hunt!” Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046; Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048; and Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 (“Hunting Cantata”). The opening concerts of the 30th All-Bach Season will feature the sonorous corno da caccia or “hunting horn” in two works that reveal Bach’s playful dispositions while employed in Weimar and Cöthen. The joyful “Hunting Cantata,” Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (“What pleases me is the lively hunt!”) is Bach’s earliest surviving secular cantata, composed for the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels whose wise governance and adept hunting skills are allegorically praised in song. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major brings the Baroque horn to the foreground in some of Bach’s most robust instrumental music, and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major for three groups of string instruments matches violins, violas, and ‘cellos in a rally of friendly competition, a tour de force volley of virtuosity. With soloists Hélène Brunet, soprano (Pales; Julie Bosworth, soprano (Diana); Derek Chester, tenor (Endymion); Mischa Bouvier, baritone (Pan); and the American Bach Soloists & American Bach Choir.

8 PM
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley
Tickets online $35 to $89
800-595-4TIX (-4849), [email protected]
http://americanbach.org

California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Artistic Director
“J.S .Bach, Missa in A Major and Cantata 198” California Bach Society 48th season opens with Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 198 & Missa Brevis in A Major. Composed in 1738, the Missa Brevis in A Major, one of Bach’s so-called “Lutheran Masses,” is a lovely work, scored for soloists, flutes, strings, continuo, and chorus, in which the composer draws upon movements from the Leipzig cantatas he was most proud of. Bach wrote the exquisite cantata Lass, Fürstin, lass noch einen Strahl, BWV 198, in 1727 for the funeral of the beloved Queen Christiane Eberhardine of Saxony and Poland. The royally lavish orchestration for flutes, oboes d’amore, strings, lutes, and violas da gamba recalls the music of the French courts.

8 PM
All Saints Episcopal Church
555 Waverly, Palo Alto
$35 with discounts for advance purchase, seniors, Under 30
650-485-1097 or https://www.calbach.org/tickets#individual

Hallifax & Jeffrey
The eponymous Hallifax & Jeffrey (Peter Hallifax and Julie Jeffrey, viols), with the fabulous addition of our own Andy Canepa, harpsichord, bring you the fruits of the their latest foraging in the sun-kissed fields of French musical elegance of the time of Louis XIV. As well as Marin Marais and Antoine Forqueray, they have found some rare arrangements of Jean-François Rameau, and even some amazingly doleful François Couperin. In a year (2018-2019 season) when no other Bay Area early music organizations are presenting any French baroque music, this concert will be your home-grown island of overwhelming French elegance.

Sunday, October 21

American Bach Soloists, Jeffrey Thomas, Conductor
“Off to the Hunt!” Johann Sebastian Bach, Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major, BWV 1046; Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048; and Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd, BWV 208 (“Hunting Cantata”). The opening concerts of the 30th All-Bach Season will feature the sonorous corno da caccia or “hunting horn” in two works that reveal Bach’s playful dispositions while employed in Weimar and Cöthen. The joyful “Hunting Cantata,” Was mir behagt, ist nur die muntre Jagd! (“What pleases me is the lively hunt!”) is Bach’s earliest surviving secular cantata, composed for the 31st birthday of Duke Christian of Saxe-Weissenfels whose wise governance and adept hunting skills are allegorically praised in song. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major brings the Baroque horn to the foreground in some of Bach’s most robust instrumental music, and the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major for three groups of string instruments matches violins, violas, and ‘cellos in a rally of friendly competition, a tour de force volley of virtuosity. With soloists Hélène Brunet, soprano (Pales; Julie Bosworth, soprano (Diana); Derek Chester, tenor (Endymion); Mischa Bouvier, baritone (Pan); and the American Bach Soloists & American Bach Choir.

4 PM
St. Mark’s Lutheran Church
1111 O’Farrell St., San Francisco
Tickets online $35 to $89
800-595-4TIX (-4849), [email protected]
http://americanbach.org

California Bach Society, Paul Flight, Artistic Director
“J.S .Bach, Missa in A Major and Cantata 198” California Bach Society 48th season opens with Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantata 198 & Missa Brevis in A Major. Composed in 1738, the Missa Brevis in A Major, one of Bach’s so-called “Lutheran Masses,” is a lovely work, scored for soloists, flutes, strings, continuo, and chorus, in which the composer draws upon movements from the Leipzig cantatas he was most proud of. Bach wrote the exquisite cantata Lass, Fürstin, lass noch einen Strahl, BWV 198, in 1727 for the funeral of the beloved Queen Christiane Eberhardine of Saxony and Poland. The royally lavish orchestration for flutes, oboes d’amore, strings, lutes, and violas da gamba recalls the music of the French courts.

4 PM
First Congregational Church
2345 Channing Way, Berkeley
$35 with discounts for advance purchase, seniors, Under 30
650-485-1097 or https://www.calbach.org/tickets#individual

Hallifax & Jeffrey
The eponymous Hallifax & Jeffrey (Peter Hallifax and Julie Jeffrey, viols), with the fabulous addition of our own Andy Canepa, harpsichord, bring you the fruits of the their latest foraging in the sun-kissed fields of French musical elegance of the time of Louis XIV. As well as Marin Marais and Antoine Forqueray, they have found some rare arrangements of Jean-François Rameau, and even some amazingly doleful François Couperin. In a year (2018-2019 season) when no other Bay Area early music organizations are presenting any French baroque music, this concert will be your home-grown island of overwhelming French elegance.

Continue reading next week’s calendar . . .