chamber music festival

Folktales & Myths

Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 8.00pm

Sunday, October 24 at 3.00pm

Ryan Turner, conductor

Emmanuel Church

Program Booklet Watch livestream recording

Saturday, October 23, 2021

Sunday, October 24, 2021

"Sarabande" from Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007
J. S. Bach
Four Folk Songs for piano trio
‍Gabriela Lena Frank
"Vendedora Cholita," mvt 2 from Suite Mestiza for solo violin
‍Gabriela Lena Frank
Salt for 4 voices (SATB) and piano trio*
‍Julian Grant

Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, Hercules auf dem Scheidewege (Hercules at the Crossroads)
J. S. Bach
Crossroads
John Harbison

Our yearly Chamber Music Festival takes on the enchanting theme of Folk Tales & Myths, exploring storytelling through classical music. Featuring compositions by living composers Gabriela Lena Frank, Julian Grant, and John Harbison along with pieces by Bach, this two day chamber festival continues the long tradition of using music as a tool for passing down myths and folk tales throughout time.

Saturday, October 23, 2021 at 8.00pm

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Echoes of the Bach Sarabande from the Cello Suite No. 1 in G are heard in Gabriel Lena Frank's Peruvian folk melodies and motifs in the Four Folksongs for Piano Trio. In the Suite Mestiza, a solo violinist gives playful and poignant voice to an Indian seller-woman at a mountain market.

The world’s most prized seasoning takes center stage in Salt, UK composer Julian Grant’s madcap, modernized version of a Russian folktale. Commissioned by the Harvard Musical Association for Emmanuel Music’s 50th Anniversary, this highly entertaining cantata for four singers and piano trio receives its first public performance. Siblings argue, a princess is (willingly) abducted, too much alcohol is consumed, dangerous seas are plied, and—of course—a giant presides.

"Sarabande" from Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major, BWV 1007, J. S. Bach
Four Folk Songs for piano trio, Gabriela Lena Frank
"Vendedora Cholita," mvt 2 from Suite Mestiza for solo violin, Gabriela Lena Frank
Salt for 4 voices (SATB) and piano trio*, Julian Grant

Heidi Braun-Hill, violin
Joshua Gordon, cello
Leslie Amper, piano
Sarah Moyer, soprano
Krista River, mezzo-soprano
Charles Blandy, tenor
Will Prapestis, baritone
Ryan Turner, conductor

*commissioned by the Harvard Musical Association in honor of Emmanuel Music's 50th Anniversary

Sunday, October 24, 2021 at 3.00pm

Tickets

Our 2021-2022 Ticket Policy

Emmanuel at the Crossroads
in honor of Pat Krol's "Herculean" tenure as Executive Director

Crossroads are a crucial decision point in our lives—a time of change where we must make choices, and not always in the time or manner that we would prefer. In Bach’s Hercules at the Crossroads, this mythical hero must choose between his integrity and desires. Hercules converses with Lust and Virtue in this secular cantata.

John Harbison brings us back to the dilemma of the Crossroads of our time, our dashed hopes, unresolved dreams, and revisited memories. The tension between stillness and resonance is ever-present in our restless quest for happiness, and in this contemporary composition. Set to the poem by Louise Glück, a tender farewell to one’s body before death, this musical interpretation of isolation resonates with us even more in the time of a global pandemic.

Laßt uns sorgen, laßt uns wachen, BWV 213, J. S. Bach
Hercules auf dem Scheidewege (Hercules at the Crossroads)

Susan Consoli, soprano
Carrie Cheron, alto
Jonas Budris, tenor
Dana Whiteside, baritone

Heidi Braun-Hill, violin & viola
Rose Drucker, violin
Joan Ellersick, viola
Sarah Freiberg, cello
Randall Zigler, bass
Ian Watson, harpsichord
Peggy Pearson, oboe & oboe d'amore
Jennifer Slowik, oboe
Whitacre Hill, horn
Michael Bellofatto, horn

Ryan Turner, conductor
‍
Crossroads, John Harbison

Kendra Colton, soprano
Peggy Pearson, oboe