Ravinia 2025 Issue 5

ASUMMERROMP ‘Fencing’ withBach, Vivaldi, andFriends I. “En garde!” In the 18th century, the art of fencing began to transition from a self-defense skill to a more re- fined, gentlemanly recreation. Thrusting tech- niques, as taught in the aristocratic fencing schools of France, emphasized grace, posture, and elegance. In fact, young women began to practice this skill as well as men. The etiquette of the fencing schools fostered a culture of courtesy and friendship. S wearing, drinking, smoking, and mocking other students was strictly prohibited. Gloves were required. Before engaging in a drill with another student, or before an assault, the students performed a reverence/salute to each other and anyone who may have been watching. This obligatory salute was intended to show respect to the adversary. It is striking (no pun intended) how much this stylized etiquette resembles the musical genre of 18th-century double-concertos. As devel- oped by J.S. Bach, Telemann, and Vivaldi, these concertos showcase two soloists engaged in dramatic and rhetorical dialogues (often in the first movement of a concerto), gentle conver- sations (in slow movements), and fiery, spirit- ed arguments (fast movements). The spirit of friendly competition reigns as the two soloists challenge each other to fierce feats of virtuosi- ty in one moment, and then in the next, offer a graceful hand in courtesy. One can easily imag- ine a soloist shouting “en garde!” before launch- ing into the third movement. II. Two Friends and an Admired Colleague Bach and Telemann were close friends, despite the inevitable competition between them. They also shared an admiration for their renowned colleague to the south, Antonio Vivaldi. Our program brings these three mutual admirers to- gether in an evening that highlights their thrill- ing contributions to the double-concerto genre. Bach and Telemann seem to have met when both were in their 20s. In 1714, Telemann be- came godfather to Bach’s son Carl Phillip Em- manuel. Bach paid tribute to Telemann by transcribing and performing his music. Though Telemann was four years the elder, he was defi- nitely the more trendy and forward-looking of the two composers. His sense of musical humor, lightness, and use of folk elements greatly en- deared him to the public. In fact, Telemann re- ceived four times as much space in 18th-century German music encyclopedias as Bach did. The composer whose music Bach most often studied and transcribed was Antonio Vivaldi. There is no surviving record of any meeting between Bach and Vivaldi, but Bach’s admira- tion for Vivaldi must have been very great. He arranged at least seven of Vivaldi’s violin con- certos into keyboard pieces. Vivaldi was considerably more famous than Bach during the first half of his career. As music master at the prestigious Ospedale della Pietà in Venice (a special school for orphaned girls and illegitimate daughters of the nobility, with an ex- traordinary emphasis onmusic), Vivaldi attained great honor throughout Europe. Tourists from as far as England flocked to Venice to attend the concerts of the “redhead priest” and his girls. By 1725, Vivaldi was celebrated throughout Europe. Vivaldi served as music master to the top-level orchestra of the orphanage—the showcase en- semble. In this role, he composed about 500 con- certos for his young female protégées. In writing these concertos for the Pietà orchestra, Vivaldi was the great developer of ritornello form—the form that became the model for concerto-writ- ing by all European composers of the century, including Bach. The Italian word “ritornello” means something that returns . The same word is used to mean the refrain in pop music—and indeed, Vivaldi’s ritornellos convey the bold and driving sense of rhythm that is more commonly associated with pop music. Like pop composers today, Vivaldi was writing for teenagers. III. The Music The Allegro from Vivaldi’s Concerto for Two Violins and Two Cellos in D major sets the stage for our musical fencing evening, as Viv- aldi provides fiery solo/duo writing interwoven with a spirited ritornello. We then move to Telemann’s Concerto for Recorder and Flute in E minor . The opening Largo is, in my view, a free and expressive pre- lude, where the two soloists get acquainted in a gentle conversation. This bursts into a fiery, fugal Allegro , with virtuoso episodes for the two soloists alternating with bold orchestral statements. The folk-inspired Presto finale re- flects Telemann’s three-year stint at the court of a Polish count, where summers were spent in the Polish countryside. There, Telemann be- came acquainted with the folk music of Polish peasants and developed a love for its “barbaric beauty.” The drone bass in this rustic move- ment suggests outdoor musettes or bagpipes, bringing this concerto to a raucous conclusion. As with most of Bach’s concertos, the ever-pop- ular Concerto for Two Violins had most likely been written for Köthen, but Bach revived it for the Leipzig Collegium. The dramatic dialogue of the first movement and the red-hot finale show the influence of Vivaldi in their fiery ri- tornellos. The serene Adagio in F major is a gentle conversation between the two soloists, like two old friends. Jean-Philippe Rameau’s dances from his operas Les Fêtes d’Hébe and Dardanus are delightful gems of the French Baroque stage repertoire. Rameau was France’s leading opera-ballet com- poser, and up until Tchaikovsky, was generally considered the greatest ballet composer of all time. He is admired for his synthesis of folk dance with classical 18th-century ballet, giving vibrancy to the Baroque stage. The tambourin is a rustic Provençal folk dance that is accom- panied by a drum (“tambour”). It became wildly popular in Baroque operas, including in London. The chaconne is an elegant dance in triple meter, which often served as the finale in French Baroque operas. In the chaconne from Dardanus, one can often “hear” the various characters of the opera flitting across the stage as the musical character changes. Our fencing match takes a new turn when the two gamba players enter the spotlight with René Schiffer’s “Tango” Concerto for Two Violas da Gamba . The tango is an Argentine dance that became popular among the European immi- grants in Buenos Aires during the 1890s. Some tango-like dances also appeared in 18th-centu- ry Spain. The music is in 4/4 time, with strong RAVINIA.ORG  • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 73