THE FLORIDA ORCHESTRA | 2018-2019 47
Program Notes
the Grillen-Symphonie, an 8-minute work written
sometime between 1730 and 1765 in the galant
style of the time. The German word grillen translates
loosely into “crickets,’’ hence the Cricket Symphony,
but the word also alludes to something whimsical or
trifling, which aptly describes this amusing score.
Cast in the key of G major, the piece usually includes
flute or piccolo, oboe, an early version of the clarinet
called a chalumeau (a modern clarinet will be played
tonight), violins, viola, and a pair of basses – hardly
the symphony as we know it today. The music
simmers with Italian, English, Scottish and Polish
styles, and unfolds in three transparent movements
marked rather lively, toying, and presto – the final
section being an energetic Polish folk dance that
Telemann handles with a master’s stroke.
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Orchestral Suite No. 1 in C Major
Duration: ca. 21 minutes
Bach was blessed with a natural gift that stands
alone in the history of music, whether he was writing
for solo cello or large choir, whether a secular or
sacred work. His mastery of counterpoint, endless
reservoir of melody and mathematical precision
formed an oeuvre that remain unsurpassed in their
craftsmanship and beauty. Listeners need only bend
an ear to the four Orchestral Suites to hear vivid
evidence of an aesthetic and analytical mind.
A bit of mystery surrounds the Suite No. 1, in part
because an autographed manuscript has never been
found. It was believed to be the composer’s first
secular work when he served as cantor of St. Thomas
in Leipzig, but the church paid Bach for sacred works
only. This led some scholars to believe the work was
partly composed earlier, when Bach lived in Cothen,
and completed later for some unknown event or
ceremony.
Like all the suites, it opens with a stately overture.
This expansive introduction begins and ends in a
measured French style that contrasts a percolating
middle section in the more energetic Italian style.
The journey continues with a varied series of dances
based on French overture and Italian concerto styles:
a Courante (running dance), Gavotte (French folk
dance), Forlane (fast Venetian dance), Minuet (shortstep
dance for two), Bouree (French folk dance), and
Passepied (dance step).
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
La Folia (Madness)
Duration: ca. 10 minutes
Vivaldi taught violin at the Pieta Convent for
orphaned girls, all the while composing for his
chosen instrument, the violin. By 1711, he compiled
a collection of 12 concertos for one or more violins,
and titled it L’Estro Armonico (Harmonic Inspiration).
After its publication outside of Italy, Vivaldi’s
reputation spread, and he was regarded as a pivotal
figure both in the development of the violin and in
the concerto grosso, where a small group of soloists
play against a larger ensemble.
Vivaldi was a contemporary of J.S. Bach, and, like
his German counterpart, evolved as a composer of
seemingly inexhaustible inspiration. Bach also found
plenty of inspiration in Vivaldi, judging from the
handful of compositions borrowed, almost note-fornote,
from the violinist from Venice.
As for Vivaldi’s sheer output, listeners can find
countless samplings in his 230 violin concertos alone,
and more than 250 works for other instruments. The
rap on Vivaldi, however, is that he composed one
concerto 500 times; some of his detractors go a step
further, saying he composed 500 concertos using the
same mold. But close listening to the variety of his
concertos, sacred works, and chamber pieces reveals
something else: a wellspring of dynamic shades,
nervous energy, colors and endless fountains of
melody.
Certainly, The Four Seasons remains his trademark,
a musical postcard of spring, summer, autumn and
winter. Less well known but a good introduction to
Vivaldi’s world is La Folia, which means “madness,’’
and originally composed as a trio sonata. Many
composers wrote their own versions of La Folia, but
Vivaldi’s is by far the most convincing treatment of an
old Spanish dance and a set of 19 complex variations
that depict a pagan rite of young girls running around
a fire. The music begins slowly, builds nervous
energy, and shifts back and forth between hushed
tensions, percussive string sounds, and virtuosity.
After Variation 6, the music slows as if to rest, tackles
acrobatic leaps in Variation 9, and follows with could
be hints of The Four Seasons. The cello takes center
stage in Variations 13 and 15, and Vivaldi’s uses the
final three sections reach a feverish climax.
Tonight’s performance of La Folia was arranged by
Jeannette Sorrell, director of Apollo’s Fire, from the
original for three instruments. “I arranged it as a
concerto grosso,’’ she wrote in her own notes for the
piece, “so that all of us could join in the fray.’’
Program notes by Kurt Loft, a freelance writer and
former music critic for The Tampa Tribune. © 2018