Nashville, Tennessee celebrates with Bachanalia, a six-hour marathon of Bach's music, presented at Christ Church Cathedral, 901 Broadway, 37203. Admission is free, and the music begins at 5:00.
Ya'll come!
Showing posts with label Bachanalia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bachanalia. Show all posts
Thursday, March 22, 2012
See Bach City: Bachanalia 2012
It is always a happy occasion to celebrate the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach, who toiled in obscurity for most of his life in Leipzig, and utterly changed the face of western culture. It's to the point that the music of the West is divided into two broad periods: pre-1750/post 1750, marking the date of the master's passing.
Nashville, Tennessee celebrates with Bachanalia, a six-hour marathon of Bach's music, presented at Christ Church Cathedral, 901 Broadway, 37203. Admission is free, and the music begins at 5:00.
Ya'll come!
Nashville, Tennessee celebrates with Bachanalia, a six-hour marathon of Bach's music, presented at Christ Church Cathedral, 901 Broadway, 37203. Admission is free, and the music begins at 5:00.
Ya'll come!
Friday, March 25, 2011
BACHanalia, Nashville TN: A 6-Hour Celebration Of J.S. Bach
N.B. Those who attended (and a lot of people, of all ages, filled the pews!) were treated so some of the most glorious music-making ever seen in Nashville. Carol McClure, with her quartet of harpists, Murray Somerville and friends holding forth with a Brandenburg Concerto, the venerable Wilma Jensen performing the Toccata D minor, and Elisabeth Small's stunning performances of portions of the violin Chaconnes and Sonatas were highlights--but it was all wonderful. Thanks to Christ Church Cathedral and Susan Dupont, event chair.
*****
One of the joys of living in the regions of Nashville TN is the privilege of hearing so much wonderful music, produced locally and performed live. This week alone, OS enjoyed the saxophone artistry of Lou Marini, backed by a cracking good big band, a top-flite country songwriter performing his own material, and tonight--the music of J.S. Bach. Six hours of it, if he can sit still that long.
It's BACHanalia time in Nashville, at Christ Church Cathedral, corner of 9th and Broad downtown. It's a wonderful evening, free to the public. Whole families attend, from kids to seniors. Begins at 5:00 pm, ends as close to 11:00 as can be accomplished.
For OS's readership in this part of the world--a hearty invitation to join in.
Christ Church Cathedral is celebrating the genius and mastery of Johann Sebastian Bach in the fifth annual BACHanalia, a 6-hour marathon music festival. Music begins at 5 pm and continues non-stop until 11 pm on Friday, March 25, 2011. Admission is free.
Audience members may come any time and stay as long as they like. Food, beverages and t-shirts are available for a minimal cost, with music piped into the dining area so as not to miss a minute of the performances.
BACHanalia is a gift to the Nashville community from nearly 100 of Nashville’s finest musicians. They will perform a wide variety of Bach’s masterpieces in expected and unexpected ways – everything from harp to marimba, organ to voice, jazz ensembles to harpsichord, and sonatas to sarabandes will delight the ear. Studio musicians, Nashville Symphony musicians, area university faculty and students, and church musicians all contribute to this festive evening of Bach's music.
*****
One of the joys of living in the regions of Nashville TN is the privilege of hearing so much wonderful music, produced locally and performed live. This week alone, OS enjoyed the saxophone artistry of Lou Marini, backed by a cracking good big band, a top-flite country songwriter performing his own material, and tonight--the music of J.S. Bach. Six hours of it, if he can sit still that long.
It's BACHanalia time in Nashville, at Christ Church Cathedral, corner of 9th and Broad downtown. It's a wonderful evening, free to the public. Whole families attend, from kids to seniors. Begins at 5:00 pm, ends as close to 11:00 as can be accomplished.
For OS's readership in this part of the world--a hearty invitation to join in.
Christ Church Cathedral is celebrating the genius and mastery of Johann Sebastian Bach in the fifth annual BACHanalia, a 6-hour marathon music festival. Music begins at 5 pm and continues non-stop until 11 pm on Friday, March 25, 2011. Admission is free.
Audience members may come any time and stay as long as they like. Food, beverages and t-shirts are available for a minimal cost, with music piped into the dining area so as not to miss a minute of the performances.
BACHanalia is a gift to the Nashville community from nearly 100 of Nashville’s finest musicians. They will perform a wide variety of Bach’s masterpieces in expected and unexpected ways – everything from harp to marimba, organ to voice, jazz ensembles to harpsichord, and sonatas to sarabandes will delight the ear. Studio musicians, Nashville Symphony musicians, area university faculty and students, and church musicians all contribute to this festive evening of Bach's music.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
BACHanalia: Music for the soul of a city
Friday evening, March 27, 2009 was an extraordinarily good evening for Nashville, as Christ Church Cathedral hosted its annual six-hour marathon of the music of J.S. Bach.
Two hundred performers(many of them professionals), a very conservative official estimate of 600 in the audience (I counted a lot more), and some fifty volunteers all converged downtown for an evening of extraordinary music-making.
Only Bach's music speaks in every setting, be it performed on harps, or a trombone choir from the balcony, or a double-reed ensemble, or solo English Horn, along with the more traditional performances by organ, harpsichord, choir, and continuo. A twelve year-old boy held the house spell-bound with his treble rendition of Schlummert ein from the cantata BWV 82. Complete presentations of the 'Coffee Cantata' and the motet 'Jesu Meine Freude' were heard for the first time in recent memory. The evening ended with brilliant jazz renditions for soprano saxophone and piano, performed for the brave souls who stayed to the end, and for the volunteers.
The first notes, played at 5:00 on the harp, were heard by about 200 in the pews. As the evening progressed, the pews filled, and soon the house became SRO, with the little café in the Parish Hall abuzz with audience taking a quick supper break before heading back for more music. There were teenagers, young families with children, buttoned-down banker/lawyer types, bohemian artist types, taking it all in. Musicians came early to hear their colleagues, and stayed late after performing. You could hear a pin drop during the performances, and the applause was warm and long.
Professional musicians can be a prickly, territorial, and self-absorbed lot. Susan Dupont, the event's organizer, has the gift of inviting all these people to donate significant hours of practice, drive miles, and lend instruments; all for the privilege of participating gratis in a Bach marathon, together. Corporate sponsors and private donors stepped up generously in the throes of deep recession. This would not happen for for a Haydn or Mendelssohn marathon; as great as they were, their music wouldn't survive performance by a saxophone quartet. There is a universality, a (Dare it be said these days?) spiritual transcendence to Bach's music not found anywhere else in Western culture; and the more we look toward the source of his inspiration, and his lifelong response to it, the sooner we may regain our own cultural soul.
Thankfully, there was a photographer present, and he posted a few shots here:
The solo image on page 4 summarizes the evening brilliantly.
If you're in the area next Spring, set the evening aside, and join in.
Plan to arrive early; I suspect the crowd will grow dramatically.
And, if you live elsewhere, perhaps this is worth pursuing in your own part of the world.
Just a thought…
Two hundred performers(many of them professionals), a very conservative official estimate of 600 in the audience (I counted a lot more), and some fifty volunteers all converged downtown for an evening of extraordinary music-making.
Only Bach's music speaks in every setting, be it performed on harps, or a trombone choir from the balcony, or a double-reed ensemble, or solo English Horn, along with the more traditional performances by organ, harpsichord, choir, and continuo. A twelve year-old boy held the house spell-bound with his treble rendition of Schlummert ein from the cantata BWV 82. Complete presentations of the 'Coffee Cantata' and the motet 'Jesu Meine Freude' were heard for the first time in recent memory. The evening ended with brilliant jazz renditions for soprano saxophone and piano, performed for the brave souls who stayed to the end, and for the volunteers.
The first notes, played at 5:00 on the harp, were heard by about 200 in the pews. As the evening progressed, the pews filled, and soon the house became SRO, with the little café in the Parish Hall abuzz with audience taking a quick supper break before heading back for more music. There were teenagers, young families with children, buttoned-down banker/lawyer types, bohemian artist types, taking it all in. Musicians came early to hear their colleagues, and stayed late after performing. You could hear a pin drop during the performances, and the applause was warm and long.
Professional musicians can be a prickly, territorial, and self-absorbed lot. Susan Dupont, the event's organizer, has the gift of inviting all these people to donate significant hours of practice, drive miles, and lend instruments; all for the privilege of participating gratis in a Bach marathon, together. Corporate sponsors and private donors stepped up generously in the throes of deep recession. This would not happen for for a Haydn or Mendelssohn marathon; as great as they were, their music wouldn't survive performance by a saxophone quartet. There is a universality, a (Dare it be said these days?) spiritual transcendence to Bach's music not found anywhere else in Western culture; and the more we look toward the source of his inspiration, and his lifelong response to it, the sooner we may regain our own cultural soul.
Thankfully, there was a photographer present, and he posted a few shots here:
The solo image on page 4 summarizes the evening brilliantly.
If you're in the area next Spring, set the evening aside, and join in.
Plan to arrive early; I suspect the crowd will grow dramatically.
And, if you live elsewhere, perhaps this is worth pursuing in your own part of the world.
Just a thought…
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