tag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:/blogs/blog?p=2Blog2022-11-04T15:05:26+01:00James Hewittfalsetag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/63550062020-06-16T14:17:14+02:002022-05-19T10:01:18+02:00Music improvisation in the Baroque Era (review)<p>Music written in the 17th and 18th centuries offers, and indeed demands, a lot of freedom from the performers. But freedom demands responsibility; how do we know how far to go, what is good taste regarding such additions, and how do we learn to be creative within a stylistic context? To what extent is a score intended to be played as written, how do we choose between different versions of the same music, or do we make our own, and how do we use written music as a springboard for our own improvisations and compositions? Is there a difference between the activities of improvisation and composition in baroque practice? How are these questions related to methods of learning how to perform, improvise and compose music in the baroque period, and what might the benefits and possibilities be for recreating historical learning methods? </p>
<p>The book, <em>Music improvisation in the Baroque Era </em>(edited by Fulvia Morabito) does not answer these questions, but explores them with references to many sources and models for improvisation. It is a compilation of articles by different authors, on subjects ranging from practical applications of improvisation in ornamentation, cadenzas, and accompaniment, through ideas about musical education in the baroque period, partimento (improvising on bass patterns) and how to be creatively inspired by musical models, to more philosophical questions of style and freedom within music. Its diversity means it will be of interest to many musicians, performing and non-performing alike, but that also means that it can be hard to find a line of argument throughout the whole book. There are, however, a few themes which recur. </p>
<p>One theme is the relation of the score with the composer and performer. In <em>On the Borderlines of Improvisation</em>, Anthony Pryer discusses how the score can be a ‘strategy’ for the performer to make creative decisions, or an ‘archive’ recording fixed elements of the music. It can record either what was played, or what should be played. We have an idea today that the latest version of the composer reflects the ‘correct’ version. But, as new versions were often prepared for a particular performance, one can often see revision as an ‘improvisatory’ process, changing the music to suit the situation, rather than an improvement leading to a definitive version, and in the chapter <em>Written outlines of Improvisation Procedures in Music Publications of the Early 17th Century,</em> Marina Toffetti suggests that all versions should be taken into account by performers. David Chung discusses ways in which composers made variations (doubles) from existing pieces, but also, subtly different versions of pieces in some 18th Century editions. Different ways of notating the same basic idea demonstrate the improvisational freedom possible in interpretation, even when playing seemingly ‘as written’. Music was still primarily an aural practice; writing was a tool, but not the goal. </p>
<p>A second theme is how the cello, gamba, or other melodic instrument might be used as a continuo instrument. Sometimes, cellists add chords to amplify the harmony, but Giovanna Barbati suggests a more extreme practice, for cellists to realise the continuo in a way idiomatic to the instrument, amplifying the bass line with figuration, arpeggiation, or perhaps a second voice, especially if there are two bass players or if the line allows for double stops. He refers to examples where the bass line is sometimes active, and sometimes left plain, or where there are occasional suggestions for the entry of another voice, and also to the practice of the cello being used to accompany recitatives in operas until the 19th century. He also sheds some light on teaching methods which exist for cellists to be able to do this, which can equally be applied to other melody instruments. In <em>On the origin of Partimento</em>, Giorgio Sanguinetti discusses some examples of realising a bass line for string instruments. </p>
<p> A third theme relates to musical pedagogy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, we tend to be obsessed with rules, or, descriptions of what we what should or should not do. On the other hand, many methods of the 18th Century were simply small pieces or examples to be played and learnt. Some, such as the cello methods discussed by Giovanna Barbati – contain melodic figurations, which can then be applied to different contexts, a practical way of doing this is described in Re-creating Historical Improvisatory solo practices on the Cello by John Lutterman. A more complex example relates to improvising counterpoint: Massimiliano discusses Pasquini ‘s counterpoint treatise as an example of ‘sounding theory’, whereby the ‘theory’, or the method of improvising on the cantus firmus, is implicit in the examples themselves, without explanation in words. Rather like learning a language, by memorising these examples, the student will learn to create his own similar realisations. Listening and learning, and not being afraid to imitate others, is a path to which is often overlooked in today’s quest for originality. </p>
<p>A fourth theme is the relation between improvisation and composition. In <em>On the Borderlines of Improvisation</em>, Anthony Pryer defines composition as ‘prepared’ and Improvisation as ‘unprepared’. But, partimento was a way of learning in which composition, improvisation, and accompaniment were intertwined. Students would improvise at the keyboard, but also write out realisations as practice for composition. In this context, opposing ‘prepared’ and ‘unprepared’ is problematic. It is true, one may discuss ‘improvisational’ and ‘compositional’ qualities, but that is a matter of style, sounding more ‘free’ or more ‘strict’, and this distinction exists also in composed music. It is true that composer’s improvisations might sound very different from his compositions. Czerny claimed that one had not heard the ‘real’ Beethoven until have heard his improvisations. Yet, Beethoven also claimed that improvisations should pass for written compositions, and wrote sketches for his cadenzas. Is this turning an improvisation into a composition, as Anthony Pryer claims? But many aspects of an improvisation can be held in the memory of a performer, and if the performer is also the creator, then a distinction between what is prepared and what is spontaneous is hard, and perhaps unnecessary, to make. There will always be structures or prexisting ideas (whether written or unwritten) on which an improvisation is based, and the art of the improviser is to compose (with or without paper) such a context that the music can happen, seemingly by itself, but in fact the result of years of work and preparation. </p>
<p>The chapters relate to specific subjects and styles, and explore often neglected areas of improvisation or little known sources, such as Pisenel’s ornamentation annotations by Javier Lupianez, which makes the book a very valuable addition to the current literature on improvisation. The book offers a wealth of material available for those wishing to go deeper into historical improvisation, and shows the many directions in which historical improvisation can be taken. Although most chapters are in English, some of the chapters are in Spanish and Italian, which unfortunately limits the accessibility of the entire book for an international audience, and, in the English chapters, there are some minor spelling and grammatical mistakes. On the whole, most of the chapters are descriptive, and one might sometimes wish for more attention to be given to the writer’s own arguments, reflections or questions. Yet although the writing itself is not always of the highest quality, this is more than made up for in the subjects and examples presented.</p>James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108982018-12-09T01:00:00+01:002023-12-10T17:55:50+01:00Baroque Duos
<p> </p>
<p>Baroque Duos is a new programme with <a href="http://www.estehaagse.com" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Estehaagse Ensemble</a>.<br><br>The violin duo emerged in the 18th Century, as music moved away from the court and towards a more intimate and conversational style suitable for the salon. <br><br>The programme includes two contrasting duos for violas: W.F. Bach, with a contrapunatal approach which looks back stylistically to the music of his father, and Stamitz in Mannheim, with a lighter and more melodic approach which looks forward to a classical style. <br><br>The French composer Leclair and Swiss composer Gaspard Fritz both studied violin in Turin with Giovanni Battista Somis, a student of Corelli. Though Fritz was based in Geneva, and Leclair in Paris, both also performed at the Concert Spirituel series in Paris. However, the rivalry between French and Italian style was still strong in the mid 18th Century, and according to Japp Schroeder, the 'utterly Italian style' of Fritz's playing with 'vigorous gestures and profuse ornamentation' was not such a success with the more refined French taste. Later,the Italian Viotti would also perform the Concert Spirituel. and his lyrical and operatic style would lay the foundations for the 'french' violin school of the 19th Century.</p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-JwugdglKwg" width="560" allowfullscreen="" class="wrapped wrapped"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
<p>Duo in g minor Andante/Allegro, from "Trois Duos Concertants" op.9, Geovanni Battista Viotti (1755- 1824) <br>Recorded September 2018 at the English Church of St. John and St. Philips, Den Haag. <br><br><a href="http://www.estehaagse.com" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Estehaagse Ensemble</a> James Hewitt and Xiangji Zeng, violins.</p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108972016-01-29T01:00:00+01:002016-01-29T11:06:32+01:00Framing the Ephemeral
<p>Improvisation is fleeting and ephemeral; but what stays in our mind after an improvisation, and how can we return to an idea, in a subsequent improvisation, to build on our discoveries in music and performance? <br> <br> Improvisation is not the opposite of composition. There will always be decisions and conditions which affect the music before it happens; and even decisions made in the moment form as it were a score for what happens subsequently. By developing a keen awareness and control over these, we can open up a richer palate for improvisation. With the DaMu Collective, in our residency in Cloud Danslab, The Hague, we explored this idea, through practicing with the idea of a ‘frame’. The metaphor of ‘frame’ is from photography; focus or zoom in on a few parameters. The metaphor is also from construction, whereby we make a ‘framework’ or structure of important perameters for the improvisation. It also has a psychological aspect: how do you work with perception while improvising- what is the ‘frame’ of one’s attention, which affects how one perceives the piece? While using frames, we explored four broader aspects of improvisation: silence, form and musical material, space and perception, and interaction and reaction.</p>
<p><strong>Silence</strong></p>
<p>Music starts with silence, dance with stillness.<br> Silence and stillness enables good timing, playing at the ‘right’ moment, so that the starts are intentional, and the ends are meaningful.</p>
<p>But, silence can also be powerful its own right. What quality does the silence have? Is it listening to the echo of what has just been played? Simply being present in the moment with no anticipation? Being present as an active listener on stage? The silence of expectation that something will happen? Silence where there is internal music happening but not sounding externally? Silence which is simply a breath or articulation within a phrase?</p>
<p>Silence or stillness does not mean being totally fixed or rigid. We found it useful to think in terms of background and foreground. Where movement is involved, for example, walking and stopping, or very slight movement related to listening, could still be considered stillness, background , relative to the sound or action in the foreground.</p>
<p>Frame: Play each a defined number of phrases, eg. 4 (in movement music, or both), the rest of the time be silent, and explore the quality of the silence.</p>
<p><strong>Material and Form</strong></p>
<p>Three challenges of improvising are; knowing what one’s own material is, so that you are able to repeat it or use it; Being aware of everyone else’s contribution, and not repeating or imitating it (unless, it is a definite choice). Being aware of the resultant rhythm of the whole ensemble so that,<br> as a group, you know what are the musical and physical characteristics which make it what it is, are able to ontrast together, and, at a later stage, to come back to it.</p>
<p>Frames:</p>
<p>secret code- Keep one’s own material. Use only that material, combined with silence.<br> <br> Islands- use the stage as a score. Each performer determines individually what music is associated with particular places, and plays with the same musical ideas each time one returns to a specific place. </p>
<p>Rondo- creating a form together, for example, ABABA.</p>
<p><strong>Space and Focus</strong></p>
<p>Although sound is always present throughout the room, small physical changes affect both the quality of sound, and the type of music that it suggests for the improvisation. Where is the sound or attention directed in space? Is it directed to the floor, to the wall, to the ceiling? We experimented with imagining focal points in space, and exploring where in relation to this focal point we are, and how we connect to it. We explored four qualities of connection:</p>
<p>String-imagining a string connecting us to the point, how is it physically connected, which part of the body is connected. There is a lot of difference, if the finger, or the entire instrument, for example is connected. Imagine a string pulling the body, or pulling the string with the body. Such an image enables us to define space and allows the body to follow, without ‘doing’ anything or pushing.</p>
<p>Eye- the attention is visual, where are we looking in relation to the point, as it were wanting to gain the attention of the focal point.<br> <br> Webcam- avoiding the point, turning away from the point or going behind the point.<br> <br> Fiords- Imagine a line towards the focal point, where on the line are we towards the point? What is the difference if we are close or far from the point, away from the line or on this line? This quality of connection enables us to play with creating the illusion of perspective.</p>
<p>The idea of focal points can also be applied in purely musical terms- What is the main attention or focus of the music? Is it broad, a lot of elements, or narrow, just one idea? Then, other musical elements can be defined in relation to that. </p>
<p><strong>Reaction and Interaction</strong></p>
<p>The types of focus can applied physically to how we relate to other performers. You can choose a performer or idea join with, like the string. You can choose to get the attention of another performer, like the eye, so it becomes a conversation. You can choose to shadow them, imitating, but not literally, playing with being in their foreground or background, like the fiords. Or, avoid another performer, as in the webcam, like hide and seek.</p>
<p>Joining at the same time:<br> Start together when one person starts, and stop together. When playing together, notice if you are playing in counterpoint, or in unison. Then, start when the other person stops, and stop when the other person starts. Depending on the number of performers, it is possible to experiment with constantly changing groups, playing off each other. At each beginning and end of each phrase, if you are silent, there is a decision, to start, or remain silent for that group; and if you are playing, there is a decision or to stop, or continue playing in the next phrase.</p>
<p>Conversation:<br> Play alternate phrases. As in a real conversation, one might agree, comment on, disagree, make a contrasting argument. Think of phrasing- How it starts, and how this affects the expectation of how it will end, and if the end indeed meets this expectation, or is surprising. Think of pacing- short phrases and long phrases. How ‘polite’ is the conversation? Is there time for listening to the end of the other person’s phrase, or does it overlap or interrupt?</p>
<p>Shadow and reflection:<br> The most natural response, is to imitate. But imitation need not be repetition. A shadow, for example, changes its position to the original object, and is a different size, according to the light. It is also the opposite of the object, as there is no colour. A reflection too, changes its size and position, but also its colour, and its definition, according to the light. This effect can be created in music and dance, by imitating, but at a different time, expanding and contracting, or imitating only some things.</p>
<p>Stasis and Intrusion:<br> The term stasis comes from theatre, and refers to a stable and recognisable situation. If there is an intrusion, when someone enters your space, with something completely different, what is your response? The most natural response is to change immediately, or to try to ignore it. More interesting can be, to see what effect the intruder has on the music you are playing at the moment, this means keeping your material, while at the same time, acknowledging the intruder and changing your perspective, trying to avoid the intruder as in the webcam idea. This will in turn lead to a new stasis, a new stable situation.</p>
<p><strong>Conclusion</strong></p>
<p>There are so many elements involved in performance, that it is almost impossible to keep track of all at once, and we found the idea of frames are a very useful tool to bring together and focus attention on a few elements as one entity. Exploring different frames opens up new possibilities for performance. However, these frames are only a few ideas, and they can be many more, what is perhaps most valuable is the technique of creating and using frames itself, rather than using the few described here. Furthermore the frame is only a tool, not the only tool- there are many more tools to be discovered, and the frame is not necessarily a recipe for a successful performance, although it can contribute to one. The frame is not the same as a composition, instant or otherwise; a composition can consist of many frames, and what happens with the frames, or what comes because of the frame, is in the end most important, rather than the frame itself. </p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108962015-11-01T01:00:00+01:002015-11-02T01:01:32+01:00Review of Scroll Ensemble at York Early Music Competition
<p><strong>The Scroll Ensemble</strong></p>
<p>Harpsichordist Iason Marmaras’s colourful socks suggested that we might be about to hear something unusual before he and his fellow musicians had played a note. They also dispensed with stands and sheet music. Was this an experimental drama troupe? A circus skills workshop?No, this was something much better. Based in The Netherlands, The Scroll Ensemble specialise in historically-informed improvisation. Baroque jazz, for want of a better term. We tend to forget that improvisation wasn’t always the preserve of jazz musicians; Bach, Handel and Mozart were masters of the art. These players don’t attempt to replicate Bach’s style, but instead “try to show what Baroque musicians may have done had they been asked to improvise from the same starting point.” So we began with a four-part suite based on the <em>Aria</em>from Bach’s <em>Goldberg Variations</em>, the original’s iconic bass line offering plenty of scope for exploration. It was fun to watch; James Hewitt’s violin particularly expressive in its lower register, ably matched by Robert de Bree’s sublime oboe playing. Throughout, Marmaras gamely tried to keep the pair on track, and fun was to be had watching violin and oboe occasionally cooperate before going off in separate directions. Fragments of Bach’s original occasionally flared up. Though what we heard generally sounded plausibly Baroque.</p>
<p>Larger in scale was a three-part improvisation based on Bach’s arrangement of Vivaldi’s A minor Concerto for two violins. De Bree switched, comfortably, to an alto recorder, and the whole was a beguiling listening experience. The Bach/Vivaldi original occasionally snapped into sharp focus, though the improvisatory excursions were more wide-ranging this time – we felt a pleasing sense of relief as the last movement’s theme returned to close the movement. Enormously rewarding stuff, the balance between erudite scholarship and sheer fun impeccably maintained.</p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108952015-11-01T01:00:00+01:002021-04-12T09:39:17+02:00Kircher’s Music Machine
<p align="center"><strong>Kircher’s Music Machine</strong><strong><br> </strong><strong>Explorations in Improvisation by the Scroll Ensemble</strong></p>
<p>Athanasius Kircher, 17<sup>th</sup> Century traveller, writer, and polymath, describes in his <a href="http://imslp.org/wiki/Musurgia_Universalis_%28Kircher,_Athanasius%29" target="_blank" data-imported="1"><em>Musurgia Universalis</em></a> (1650) a machine, whereby any person, even a non-musician, can make music. This <em>Arca Musurgica</em> (musical arch) consists of a complex of musical choices and parameters, very much foreshadowing the logic of the modern computer, and it travelled widely, even as far as China, as it was very advantageous for kings and emperors to be able to underline their authority by presenting their own musical ‘composition’.</p>
<p>Such a device may seem to make a mockery of music. Yet, it says a lot about the way music was learnt in the 17<sup>th</sup> and 18<sup>th</sup> Centuries. Diminution treatises provide lists of melodic ornamentation formulas, and the system of <em>partamento</em> consists of learning melodic formulae related to figured bass patterns. Performers would learn music as a language, memorising stylistic formulae, in order eventually to be able to use them to make their own music, or at least, to play existing pieces in their own individual way. The ornaments in Correlli’s op. 5 publications were not intended as stipulations for performance, but as examples to be learnt, memorised, and digested, so that the performer may do something similar, but true to the moment and his own artistic identity.</p>
<p>The 20<sup>th</sup> Century philosopher John Searle posits the <em>Chinese Room Argument</em> to question if the logic of computer can ever be the same as true understanding. Suppose, one were in a room, and did not understand Chinese, but had a set of rules in English, by which it is possible to ‘translate’ an input of Chinese characters to an output of different characters. Does that person know Chinese? And can then the musician who can only translate the written score to sound, no matter how beautifully, truly understand music? Back to the <em>Arca Musurgica</em> : Kircher can only provide the dictionary, and the grammatical conventions. The art of choosing the words, the intention- knowing why we chose those words, and knowing how to speak the words and sentence, depending on the sense– is an art which no computer can replicate, and which is intrinsically related to the art of improvisation.</p>
<p>Musicians of the past were performers, composers, and improvisers, and the Scroll Ensemble has chosen this path, of researching how to make choices in the moment taking stylistic conventions and formulae as starting points, exploring musical parameters, and ways of interacting together when playing simultaneously- especially important with two upper voices. Improvisation also lends itself to interaction with the audience; and to give a playful insight into to process of improvisation, the Scroll Ensemble has developed a simplified version of Kircher’s Music Machine, in which the audience can influence an improvisation using cards, changing, for example, the instrumentation, rhythmic motif, or character. </p>
<p>For more information, see <a href="http://www.thescrollensemble.com/" data-imported="1">www.thescrollensemble.com</a></p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108932014-07-19T02:00:00+02:002022-07-19T20:38:51+02:00The DaMu Collective- Explorations in the Printing Press
<p>The interdisciplinary <strong><em>DaMu Collective</em></strong> blends music, dance, performance art, visual art, and film, and recently started a project with Victorine Van Alphen set in the printing press, De Raadraaier Amsterdam.</p>
<p>DaMu (short for Dance and Music) began with a workshop with Mary Oliver and Michael Schumacher on dance and music improvisation, but quickly developed its own individual approach, in which space and movement becomes part of the musical performance. The performers are just as likely to move, speak, sing, or play with objects as they are to play their instruments.<br>Interacting in the moment with each other and with the environment, they merge sound, gesture, colour, and light, into an unpredictable gesamtkunstwerk. <br><br>Printed information is seen from many perspectives, over a wide geographical area and a wide time spectrum. It becomes available in different types, different formats, and is translated. The art of the video is also that of perspective, of seeing an action from different angles, of putting interpretations on an action, so that musicians appear as actors in an unknown drama that was never intended to have a story. The interconnected spaces, unusual decor not normally associated with music, and objects specific to printing which could be used in musical improvisation, offer limitless possibilities of engaging in a dialogue with the place.<br><br>A short taster of what is to come:</p>
<p></p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/2LkM0T0-TKk?rel=0" width="560" class="wrapped wrapped"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
<p>Featuring Victorine van Alphen (video) Camille Verhaak (clarinet) Enric<br>Sans (bass clarinet) Pieter de Koe (cello) James Hewitt (violin) Krists<br>Auznieks (performance).<br>Location: <a href="http://www.raddraaier.nl" data-imported="1">De Raddraaier Amsterdam</a></p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108922014-01-20T01:00:00+01:002014-01-22T07:27:22+01:00Improvisation Courses
<p>In November, the Scroll Ensemble gave courses in historical improvisation at the conservatoires of Katowice and Bydgoszcz in Poland.<br><br>Improvisation is often seen as something specialised, or the result of sudden inspiration; but it can be learnt, just as a language, from a few simple tools. Starting with basic realisations of harmonic progressions, we experimented with rhythmic and melodic figures based historical models, and different ways of interacting, before finding a form together. In addition to improvisation on a ground bass, we also led sessions vocal counterpoint on a tenor, melodic improvisation (French prelude according to Hotteterre), canons, and toccata on a pedal point.</p>
<p>Improvisation was one of the most fundamental activities of musicians of the period known as ‘early music’, both in a musician’s education and in performance. Even so called ‘written’ music was intended more as a memory aid, and something that the performer would take an active creative part in, and so the study of improvisation is one of the most essential tools for a historically informed performance.</p>
<p>Improvisation is a holistic approach, combining theory and practice, technique and musicianship.<br>It improves ensemble skills, as one has to be aware of all voices simultaneously, how your part relates to other voices, and the harmony. It also increases awareness of structure and what ‘makes’ a composition, not merely on paper but through practical experience, which brings increased authority as a performer to all music. In addition, development of memory skills, learning music without a score at any stage of the process, brings the ability to play directly from the imagination;<br>and last but not least, experimenting with variation within clearly defined parameters increases the creative capacity.</p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108912014-01-12T01:00:00+01:002022-03-11T07:13:00+01:00Simkchat Hanefesh radio broadcast
<p>The ensemble <em><a href="http://www.simkhat-hanefesh.com/lilac_cms/de/5971,,/Home.html" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Simkchat Hanefesh</a> </em> ('Joy of the Soul') focusses on Jewish music of the Renaissance and Baroque, with particular focus on Yiddish song from 1500-1800.</p>
<p>With Diana Matut (voice, recorder, nyckelharp), Nora Thiele (percussion, bells, colascione), Erik Warkenthin (lute, theorbo, baroque guitar), Dietrich Haböck (Viola da Gamba)</p>
<p><a href="http://www.wdr3.de/musik/musikkulturenbeiwdr3/konzert542_ga-1_pic-8.html" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Hear broadcast of the performance on 9th November 2013 in Gelsenkirchen on German Radio WDR 3 </a></p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108902013-11-12T01:00:00+01:002014-01-12T09:10:56+01:00Amsterdam Virtuosi
<p>Amsterdam Virtuosi is a programme with lutenist Irene Thomas.<br>Amsterdam was a centre of musical activity during the 18th century and, along with London, one of the major centres of music publishing.</p>
<p>Dutch composers such as Willem de Fesch and Pieter Hellendael lived in Amsterdam. But Amsterdam also attracted musicians such as the Italian violinist Locatelli, who lived at the Prinsengracht from 1729 for many years.<br>Although responsible for some of most progressive virtuoso music for the violin of his time, most of his performances at that time were semi public performances in private houses.</p>
<p>Mozart and Paganini did not live in Amsterdam, although Paganini was influenced a lot by Locatelli, especially by the virtuoso use of the violin in the Capricci. Mozart’s works were already popular at the end of the 18th century, and one can imagine that arrangements for violin and guitar, such as Carulli’s arrangement of Mozart’s quintet, were often played in domestic situations.</p>
<p> </p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108892013-02-04T01:00:00+01:002023-12-10T18:09:36+01:00The Story of Christ's Crucifixion - or -The Birth of a Passion
<p>As all good stories, this one begins at the beginning, when Robert de Bree said,naturally during Lent, "What we need is a new Passion!" Being of the adventurous type, he and his Scroll Ensemble colleague, James Hewitt, decided to leave the safety of their home territory, the Baroque, in pursuit of a more 'oriental' period. Perhaps thinking that it might be thematically preferable to look backwards in time, James turned to Rebecca Stewart for inspiration, to whom 'old' meant chant, of whatever kind.</p>
<p>Not wanting to loose all contact with their shared Western, Celtic/Anglo-Saxon roots, these two chose the first translation into (Old) English of the Passion according to the Apostle John by the great religious reformer John Wycliffe (ca 1328-1384). However, in an attempt to preserve the Jewish and Roman character of the Passion story it was decided to present the personae of Jesus, Pilate and the Jewish turba each in a different modality and with different vocal tessituras and mannerisms. To do honor to the beauty of Wycliffe's translation an attempt was also made to maintain the typical linguistic 'lilt' (think of the 'carol') and pronunciation of his Old English. For the explanatory and introductory role of the Evangelist the technique of recitation was chosen.</p>
<p>As it was obvious from the beginning that one violinist, one recorder player and one singer were in no position to transform ourselves into all of the characters of our Passion</p>
<p>without resulting in complete confusion amongst both ourselves and our audience, we soon accepted the most welcome addition of the countertenor Kaspar Kröner (Jesus) and Bram Verheijen (whose baptismal name, most appropriately, is Johannes).</p>
<p>After taking a year out for the necessary re-training in the basic principles of modal thinking, the five of us began in earnest to make a new Passion Play. That which you hear today is this new Play in <em>status nascendi.</em> As additional inspirational material, to be molded into various shapes depending upon the required character and situation, we have selected several Passion chants in different modes. However, the main melodic and symbolic thread of our Passion is the famous Easter sequence <em>Victimae paschali laudes. </em>Precisely because of its emphasis upon the miracle of the Resurrection, this forms the actual <em>raison d'être</em> for the words of Jesus in the Gospel. Finally, in the manner of all our 'later' Western Passions, instrumental and vocal commentaries have been interspersed throughout. With the help of our 'rustic recorder uit Tsjechië and our 'tenor rebab' (originally conceived for the Klingon opera "U"), both of which are capable of departing from the more stereotypical Western tonal techniques in order to create a more modal and medieval world, we hope we may be able to give Mr. Wycliffe's powerful translation of John's 'eye-witness' account of Christ's Crucifixion the new life it so richly deserves.</p>
<p>As a most beautiful and fitting liaison between the tragedy of Good Friday and the joy of Easter Sunday this present Passion Tale is being brought to a close through the five-part setting of <em>Victimae paschali laudes</em> by James Hewitt, also our resident composer. James has also written the <em>Agnus dei</em> which follows John 19,30: <em>And whanne his heed was bowed down, he yaf up the goost.</em></p>
<p>Dr. Rebecca Stewart</p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108882012-09-17T02:00:00+02:002012-11-29T02:47:01+01:00New work for Orgelpark
<p>On 16th Feburary the Scroll Ensemble will present a new project in the Orgelpark Amsterdam, with Guus Janssen (organ) and Cora Schmeisser (voice): O Solitude, a programme based around Henry Purcell combining past and present, early music and improvisation. For this performance I am writing a new piece, <em><strong>Still Point of the Turning World.</strong></em> </p>
<p>The inspiration for the programme is a quotation by T. S. Eliot: “Time present and time past is perhaps present in time future, and time future in time past” (<em>Four Quartets</em>). We see the past through the window of the present. Yet although our viewpoint changes still there is somethig that does not change, the ‘still point of the turning world’. </p>
<p>In <strong><em>Still Point</em></strong> there is no text, but a reflection of four short quotations by TS. Eliot using only improvised sounds and syllables. An echo of something not articulated- ‘other echos inhabit the garden’. The echos are also literal, through spatial use of instruments (violin recorder, gamba, voice, organ) in which everything is constantly transformed as the sound passes around the hall. Perhaps, each instrument reflects a different era of time coexisting in memory. Melodically, each movement is a different reflection of the same mode. There are influences of Eastern and medieval music, but at a distance and within a texture incorporating contemporary improvisation. <br><br>TS. Eliot's summary "We will not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time".</p>
<p> </p>
James Hewitttag:jameshewittmusic.com,2005:Post/61108872012-08-25T02:00:00+02:002021-04-24T04:51:44+02:00Meeting of two worlds in Weimar
<p>Yiddish Summer Weimar 2012 included a dance ball with Yiddish and baroque dances, and an instrumental workshop including baroque music alongside klezmer. I was invited to direct the orchestra in Playford dances, and to teach baroque improvisation. </p>
<p>The theme was the “Bridges of Ashkenazi”: that is, the migration of the Western European Jews (Ashkenazi 1) to Eastern Europe (Ashkenazi 2), and possible influences of earlier music on the Jewish repertory.</p>
<p>When I learnt that the ‘baroque’ orchestra would consist of no fewer than 5 accordions and 5 clarinets, I was not quite sure how it would work, but after a few days of rehearsing together with the dancers we quickly learnt what rhythmic impulses the dancers needed. There was indeed a similarity between Yiddish and baroque dances; for example, it seems that Yiddish <em>Sher</em> derived from the <em>contredanse.</em> Yiddish dances retained steps of baroque dances, although in a simplified form and with a distinctive style.</p>
<p>Learning to dance Yiddish dance, I discovered the same rhythmic vitality, sense of lift, and phrasing as in baroque music, and asked, might Yiddish dance help in understanding baroque music? How would changes in the music affect the dance, and vice versa? So when I discovered that Deborah Strauss, a teacher in the dance workshop, was also one of the teachers in the advanced instrumental workshop, and a violinist, we decided to work together and combine Yiddish dance and baroque music.</p>
<p>I worked on the <em>Italian Rant</em>, using diminutions to create solos; on a musette on a drone with question and answer phrases and canons; and on <em>Greensleeves</em>, listening to how the text influences the way we play. Deborah worked separately on Yiddish repertoire, with another ensemble. Then we put both ensembles together, and created a form moving seamlessly between baroque and Yiddish music.</p>
<p>In the end, we did not concentrate specifically on the relationship between dance and improvisation. But, we did discover a largely shared musical language, even though we were coming from two apparently completely different backgrounds. We talked about vibrato as an ornament, a ‘speaking’ manner of playing, relationship between musical and physical gestures, rhythmic freedom and articulation. And although we used these tools in our own way, their function within the phrase was the same. We even played the <em>Italian Rant</em> and a Yiddish <em>Skotshne </em>simultaneously with the two ensembles, and discovered they fitted together perfectly.<br><br>During the instrumental workshop, everything was rehearsed without music. The participants all had such well-developed aural skills- a higher level of musicianship, in fact, than many conservatory students. This might be partly because many were experienced folk musicians, used to working in an aural tradition, and also because many had participated in previous courses of Yiddish Summer which always stress the importance of learning by ear and playing without music. Music is not about notes, or even the interpretation of notes. It is movement.<em></em></p>
James Hewitt