by Mike Telin
It is easy to assume that a violin concerto by Antonio Vivaldi was written during his tenure at the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice, however, that’s not always the case. In fact, the origins of a few of his concertos for the instrument have and continue to baffle musicologists. One example is the Violin Concerto in e, RV 278 which is not part of any collection published during the composer’s lifetime.
On Sunday October 22 at 4:00 pm at the New Promise Church in Kirtland, Andrew Sords will perform that concerto with the Snowbelt Symphony under the direction of Greg Hillis. The program, Brilliant Baroque, will also include music by J.S. Bach, Handel, and Boyce. Tickets are available online.
“Not a lot is known about the concerto,” Sords said during a telephone conversation. [Read more…]
Utter the phrase “brass quintet” to the average listener, and expect a reply that references particular kinds of music, from Renaissance church polyphony and Bach fugues to modernist movements and jazz arrangements. The instrumentation remains common enough to come with such associations, but rare enough that many audiences only get to experience its core repertoire.
Modernity — with its fresh inventions, sounds, and sensations — often inspires us to respond in kind. We are in constant dialogue with our environs. We listen. We talk back. We create reflections of our experience. This was certainly the case in last Sunday’s Cleveland Composers Guild concert (October 11), which filled Drinko Hall at Cleveland State University with an array of new resonances.