In fact, the musician and music critic Juan Ángel Vela del Campo argued that baroque music, and early music in general, experienced a boom due to the vitality of its interpretative proposals, due to the fascination aroused by the impossible closure of authenticity and knowing how to define with total spontaneity a sector of the young and restless population. I’m not the only one who thought there was. The English director Jonathan Cohen defends his relationship with the style of the Beatles: pop, like baroque, begins with something written and is then fueled by improvisations.
Many artists, performers and critics have discussed Baroque music with 17th century pop. For what? Because it has a sound full of poetry and feeling, with a hypnotic touch, and above all because it is easily understandable. It is now accessible to all audiences, who will have a great opportunity to attend it next December at the Palau de la Música Catalana with three main works: The disorders by Händel (December 14 and June 11), Nadal’s Oratori by Bach (December 19) i The four stations by Vivaldi (December 20 and 22, Gen. 10 and 11).
The last days of the century are surely the greatest period for these fish because, according to the musician and musical popularizer Sergio Pagán, “the Baroc will be the period in which Nadal’s most important works will be composed.” In summer, the Oratori It is integrated into six cantatas, which are compound expressions that will be performed in Leipzig (Germany) in 1734 for six days: December 25, 26 and 27, the first three, the fourth on the day of any new year, the cinquena on the first day of any year, and the last and sisena was intended for the celebration of Epifania, King’s Day.
This work which revolves around the birth of Christ, circumcision and the history of kings can be seen at the Palau, as usual, a program in reduced format, which integrates the most significant aries, chorales or symphonic passages. Uns passatges amb tonalitat in D major, a brilliant and festive tonalitat, which culminates majestically in a final cantata full of energy and emotion.
“Disorders” by Händel can be considered as a unifying emblem, even in times of war, of a series of classes that had become a bastion of European culture
Albert Ferrer, historian
Works with a universal character
In this period, precisely, it is a moment when the constructed works consolidate into three contrasting movements. A diagram that Vivaldi will bring to the maximum seva expressed for The four seasons. A masterpiece that allows us to capture the mimesis of natural phenomena and human activities that develop, and which will give the opportunity to Vespres d’Arnadí, the orchestra that will perform it at the Palau, to recreate a series of virtuoso, picturesque and descriptive resources characteristic of the Baroque.
Beyond the fact that many works from this period are shared in a thematic area – religion -, the three works visible at the Palau have a universal character which makes them references that transcend borders, beliefs and cultures. The four stations They are a song for life, universal and timeless The disorders by Händel can be considered It is a “unifying emblem, even in times of war, of class conflict” which has become “a bastion of European culture”, according to historian Albert Ferrer.
The latter, Masses, It represents an important milestone in history since it was released in Dublin on April 13, 1742. At that time, it was going to be an absolute success, both with the public and critics; Further on, as the popularizer Pagán explains, the great masters will recreate it with Mozart, who will recover the score and perform a more effective interpretation, with a choir of 275 singers and an orchestra of 250 instrumentalists; Today, played anywhere in cities like London, it has become “the most frequently performed composition of all that has been created.” Ferrer, in the most significant sense, expresses the experience of witnessing the performance of the work in these terms: “to celebrate The disorders “it’s coming together for a meeting with the core protagonist in reflection with Humanitat.”
About The Author
