January 2021 newsletter.pdf
Dear Early Music Friends,
I hope this finds you all well! I am doing fine myself (fingers crossed!). In reference to yesterday’s events, I saw a post that said, “This seven day free trial of 2021 is not working out for me. I want to cancel my subscription!” Fortunately, the elector count is now done. On to more cheerful musical things! I have included quite a few online musical resources in this newsletter. And I just received the following description from Vicki Boeckman for next Wednesday’s music and thought I’d share it here.
“I am honored to be on the impressive lineup of guest conductors, and excited to lead your January 13th session. My intent is to share joyful music that uplifts and enlivens. We will start with a simple yet lovely Danish hymn to ring in the new year: “Vær Velkommen Herrens År”, roughly translated as “We Welcome you, Year of the Lord”. If there are any Danes out there, I encourage you to sing along at the top of your voices! Of course anyone may sing, but the text flows best in Danish.
We will then play one of my absolute all-time favorite pieces for the new year; the gorgeous Andante Festivo by Jean Sibelius, tastefully transcribed by Charles Coldwell. Originally written for string quartet in 1922, Sibelius re-scored it in 1938 for orchestra and timpani (for a grandiose flourish on the final 4 measures), and conducted the premier in a direct radio broadcast on New Year’s Day 1939.
After all that gorgeousness we’ll need to pep things up a bit, so I have chosen a delightful arrangement of a medieval Saltarello by Seattle Recorder Society’s director emeritus Peter Seibert. I’m sure you all will recognize the familiar tune, and I guarantee Peter’s clever harmonies will bring a smile to even the weariest of souls.
For skiers and snow lovers out there we will end with the zippy “Down the Piste” from Benjamin Britten’s picturesque Alpine Suite, enabling players oodles of opportunities to practice double tonguing diddles or duhguhs.
Pitch for the evening will be 440 or thereabouts (!) Please choose any size recorder that you like. I will be sharing sound files so you will have the experience of playing in a virtual ensemble, but due to the varying degrees of latency there is no way that scrolling or page turning will ever be ‘just right’ for everyone, so I find it most successful if folks print and read from their own parts. (or download to a separate device).”
Sounds great, right? I’m looking forward to seeing you (in your square!) next Wednesday,
Patty Johnson, SRS newsletter editor
