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Salish
Sea Early Music Festival When & Where Friday, January 24, 2025; 7.00pm | St. Mary's Kerrisdale, 2490 West 37th Avenue, Vancouver Performers: Vicki Boeckman Renaissance recordersTina Chancey tenor viol Jeffrey Cohan, renaissance transverse flutes Anna Marsh dulcian Reviewer Elizabeth Paterson |
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Salish Sea Early Music Festival opened its season with a rewarding evening, both intellectually and musically. The program covered a lot of ground, chronologically tracing the development of the Italian canzona from its inspiration in 16th century French chanson to the beginnings of the baroque sonata in the 17th. The charming first set, two pieces by Guillaume Le Heurteur and one by Claude Sermisy based on French songs, was lyrical and lyrically aware, the words and phrasing of the original revealed in the playing.. Moving from French song to bird song, Janequin’s Canzon delli Ucelli (Song of the Birds) delighted with descriptive writing. Twittering, crowing, cooing and chatting birds of various sorts were played, obviously, by flute and recorder, indispensable viol and, unexpectedly, dulcian whose deep tones boosted the humour in this attractive piece. Published music of this period might be marked for performance specifically for flutes and recorders (as in the first set) but more usually not at all. It was expected that one would use the forces at hand. In tonight’s “Choose-your-own adventure,” we heard the somewhat unusual combination of flute, recorders and viols with dulcian. Flute and recorder together glinted off each other with varied timbres and virtuoso displays while the dulcian’s rich and confident notes gleamed with surprise and wit. The canzonas which followed, by Merula, Guami, Maschera, Usper and Canale, presented increasingly complex rhythms and harmonies. I especially enjoyed Maschera’s character sketch "La Girella", and for their moments of sheer beauty, Usper’s Aria Francese I and Canzon da Sonare “La Porta” by Canale. The second half of the program was largely comprised of works by lesser-known composers, except for the great Giovanni Gabrielli. His “Canzon Quarta a Quattro" where the canonic motifs and instrumental conversations flowed back and forth amongst the players in intriguing patterns was a highlight. The canzons by Troilo, Lappi, Cangliasi and others les famous simply revealed the high standard of unexplored music available, a treasure-trove waiting to be discovered. © 2025 Elizabeth Paterson |
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