Nuove Musiche & Works for Theorbo

Sjoerd Staal — Tue, 02 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

During the 1570’s in Florence, there were meetings in the house of count Bardi, where music and poetry were discussed. Bardi’s Camerata, as the group of participants came to be called, had great influence on the course of musical history. Drawing inspiration from the musical theories of the ancient world, the Camerata derived new insights about the composition and performance of vocal music: the most important points were clear declamation of the text and respect for the rhythm of the words. Thus the members of the group were inclined to look critically at the prevailing contrapuntal style of contemporary madrigals, in which different melodies were sounded simultaneously, and the rhythm of the text was considered of secondary importance. In 1578, Bardi summarized his ideas in a ‘Discorso…’, which he dedicated to his young protégé, Caccini.

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Sonata in B flat major & Moments Musicals

Sjoerd Staal — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 00:00:00 +0000

One of the hardest questions for a musician to answer is Who is your favorite composer? Personally, I have often been asked this question, but I was never able to limit myself to a single composer. I came very close to choosing one, however, during my preparations for this CD, in fact very close indeed. For all that this choice may appear to be forced, subjective, and of a temporary nature, it is not. Not when one thinks of how many extraordinary piano and chamber music works, songs and symphonies Franz Schubert created during his all-too-brief life. This way of thinking sheds a different light on the choice, and justifies it. Nevertheless, Schubert avoided two larger forms: the opera and the concerto. The reasons for this could have included his character, which was in part deeply introverted, as well as his distaste for virtuosity, which he saw as a kind of exhibitionism of the soloist in front of the orchestra which accompanied him; in the same way, the frequently banal or superficial libretti of operas may have put him off. In no way did this indicate a lack of dramatic ability, for his music is not only exciting, but goes far beyond, it penetrates deeply into the listener’s senses. He lived in an unusual time. He lived in the interval between the Viennese Classical Style and Romanticism, in a world which was stylistically completely new, different, and exceptional. His music is characterized by the clarity of its form and the complexity of its structures: often it is so subtly conceived that one can distinguish paper-thin layers of differing inspiration…..

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AVRO-cd-vd-week Archives - NativeDSD Music

Nuove Musiche & Works for Theorbo

Sonata in B flat major & Moments Musicals