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Sunday, July 14 2024
— a “hybrid” event —
Stephanie Vial
Baroque Cello
William Simms
Theorbo
The Dawn of the Cello
A wonderful development took place in Bologna, Italy around 1680. String makers there discovered a new technique of wrapping gut strings in metal, making possible an instrument with the lower octave range and power of a bass violin, but without the long thick strings which inhibit virtuoso playing.
Thus the violoncello as a solo voice was born!
Today’s program features some of the earliest works written for the cello, from Bologna and its environs, as well as important musical centers in Naples, Rome, and Venice. The performers will speak about each work on the program and if you haven’t seen or heard a theorbo before, you are in for a treat. Billy Simms will introduce his extraordinary giraffe-like instrument and demonstrate both its accompanimental and solo capabilities.
Program
Sonata à Violoncello solo in G Major
Angelo Maria Fioré (1660-1723)
Grave – Allegro – Adagio – Allegro – Adagio – Presto
Intavolatura di liuto et di chitarrone (1623)
Alessandro Piccinini (1566-1638)
Toccata VI
Partite variate sopra quest’ Aria francese detta l’Alemana
Ricercar no. 5 for Cello Solo (c.1689)
Domenico Gabrielli (1659-1690)
Chiacona
G.B. Vitali (1693-1692)
from partita sopra diverse sonata per il violoncello
Sinfonia per Camera (c. 1700-14)
Antonio Maria Bononcini (1677-1726)
Cantabile
Spiritoso
Minuet
Passacaglia in A minor
Girolamo Kapsperger (C. 1580-1651)
Sonata à Violoncello solo in C Major
Francesco Alborea (1691-1731)
Presto – Adagio – Presto – Adagio
Allegro
Adagio
Vivace
Sonata à Violoncello solo in Bb Major, RV47 (1720s)
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Largo
Allegro
Largo
Allegro
BIOGRAPHY
Cellist Stephanie Vial enjoys a multi-faceted career as a performer, educator, and writer on music. She has traveled widely, giving solo and chamber music concerts, lectures, and master classes at numerous universities and institutions: The Shrine to Music Museum in South Dakota, The University of Virginia, Boston Conservatory, McGill University, and The Curtis Institute of Music. She is the Artistic Director of the early music series Baroque & Beyond (www.baroqueandbeyond.org) in Chapel Hill, NC, and Co-director of The Vivaldi Project (www.thevivaldiproject.org) and its educational arm, the Institute for Early Music on Modern Instruments (EMMI). Her recent work developing their CD series, Discovering the Classical String Trio (MSR Classics) has received critical acclaim, hailed as “captivating” and “highly recommended” by Gramophone. Her book, The Art of Musical Phrasing in the Eighteenth Century: Punctuating the Classical “Period,” published by the University of Rochester Press is described by Malcolm Bilson as “inspired scholarship” and “essential reading.” In addition to MSR, she can be heard on the Dorian Label, Naxos, Hungaroton, and Centaur Records. Vial lives in Durham, North Carolina, and currently teaches at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.
William Simms is an active performer of early music. Equally adept on lute, theorbo and baroque guitar, he appears regularly with Apollo’s Fire, The Washington Bach Consort, The Arcadia Players, IndyBaroque, The Thirteen and Three Notch’d Road. He has performed numerous operas, cantatas, and oratorios with such ensembles as The Washington National Opera, The Cleveland Opera, Opera Lafayette, and American Opera Theatre. Venues include The National Cathedral, The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, The Library of Congress, Tanglewood, The Kennedy Center and The Barns at Wolftrap. He has toured and recorded with The Baltimore Consort as well as with Apollo’s Fire. He performed on the Grammy winning Songs of Orpheus with Apollo’s Fire and Karim Sulayman. His recording with Ronn McFarlane, Two Lutes, was the CD pick of the week on WETA in Washington DC in 2012. Mr. Simms received a Bachelor of Music from The College of Wooster and a Master of Music from Peabody Conservatory. He serves on the faculties of Mount St. Mary’s University and Hood College, and is the founder and director of the Hood College Early Music Ensemble. He has recorded for the Dorian, Centaur, Naxos and Eclectra labels.
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