A Meeting of (Musical) Minds: The Grand Tour—Music by Handel, Vivaldi and Telemann for Flute and Violin

When: May 11, 2019
Where: Goff Hall, Rehoboth
More Information: Mike Shand, 401 625-1176

On May 11 & 12, two Early Music ensembles will combine forces for a concert of chamber music featuring the baroque flute and baroque violin. The Greybeards, an Early Music trio based in Rhode Island, will join the duo Musicke’s Cordes, for a musical Grand Tour with chamber works from England, France and Germany by Handel, Telemann, Vivaldi and Leclair. The concert will take place at Goff Hall, Rehoboth, Saturday, May 11, at 7:30 pm. with a repeat performance, Sunday, May 12 at 2 pm The Meeting House, 3850 Main Road, Tiverton, RI.

The program will feature the quintet performing a sonata for flute and violin by Georg Fredric Handel as well as three dances by Jean-Marie Leclair for flute and violin. Additionally, The Greybeards will offer a sonata by Georg Philipp Telemann and Musicke’s Cordes will play a solo violin sonata by Antonio Vivaldi.

The two ensembles specialize in the performance of music from the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, playing on reproductions of instruments used at those times. While the baroque flute and baroque violin resemble their modern versions, the earlier instruments feature different materials and techniques. The accompanying instruments of these ensembles include the six-string viola da gamba, a bowed bass similar to the cello but with a completely different sound. The harpsichord resembles its younger cousin, the piano, in shape and general technique, but its penetrating jangle derives from an entirely different design and construction. The third accompanying instrument, the theorbo, is a cross between a guitar, a harp and a Renaissance lute with a bowl body, plucked strings and a six-foot long neck.