Marimbaroque I
J.S. Bach BWV 846-851, 1007, 1010
Woensdag 19:30 , 23 september 2009 @Kleine Zaal, de Singel, Antwerpen
Promotor:
Philippe Verbeek - Philsophy
Artistic Co-Promotor
Ludwig Albert - Marimba
Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen Begeleider:
Philippe Verbeek
Alain Craens
Stephan Weytjens
Een concert van Lin Chin Cheng ter gelegenheid van zijn doctoraatsstudie aan de Universiteit Antwerpen, in associatie met de Artesis Hogeschool Antwerpen Koninklijk Conservatorium.This concert is related with the research and the doctoral thesis “A study of movements in marimba playing.”
Program:
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier BWV 846
Prelude, Fuga
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier BWV 847
Prelude, Fuga
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier BWV 848
Prelude, Fuga
Cello Suite No.1 in G major, BWV 1007
Prelude. Allemande. Courante. Sarabande, Minuet I, II, Gigue
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier BWV 849
Prelude, Fuga
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier BWV850
Prelude, Fuga
Das Wohltemperierte Klavier BWV851
Prelude, Fuga
Cello Suite No.4 in Es major, BWV 1010
Prelude. Allemande. Courante. Sarabande, Bourree I, II. Gigue
For further performances and information please check:
www.marimbaclassic.blogspot.com or e-mail marimbaclassic@gmail.com
Program Notes:
My doctoral research includes the construction of a body movement in order to avoid injuries by marimba playing, to expend the marimba repertory by arranging existing music, by commissioning new music and by composing own works . Therefore, I have chosen to arrange for marimba solo prestigious works in the western musical history- 24 preludes and fugues from “Das Wohltemperierte Klavier” (The Well-Tempered Clavier). The idea of the arrangements is trying to keep as much as possible the original scores. There are slightly changes in tempo, ornaments, and the harmony is changed in different positions in order to adapt this music for the marimba and its musical technical developed possibilities as a solo concert instrument
The program of the cello suites is in contrast with Das Wohltemperierte Klavier. The cello suites are monophony and the other are polyphony. Both give aside the percussive aspects also a lyrical approach and value to the marimba. The demanding polyphonic structure can be helpful for marimba players to develop a polyphonic thinking way such as phrasing, voicing and polyphonic technique or coordination of both hands. Those arrangements can be used for further research in pedagogic field. Some students may be injured while they practice different kind of demanding techniques such as single strokes in a fast velocity. Therefore, it is very important to realize and to know in which way the body can not be harmed and the technique can be improved at the same time.
Musically, the structural regularities of Das Wohltemperierte Klavier encompass an extraordinarily wide range of styles, more than most pieces in the literature. The Preludes are formally free, although many individual numbers exhibit typical Baroque melodic forms often coupled to an extended free coda. Each fugue is marked with the number of voices, from two to five. Most are three- and four-voiced fugues. The fugues employ a full range of contrapuntal devices (fugal exposition, thematic inversion, stretto, etc), but are generally more compact than Bach's fugues for organ.
The best-known piece is the first prelude of Book I- a simple progression of arpeggiated chords. The technical simplicity made this C Major prelude as one of the most commonly studied piano pieces for students completing their introductory training. This prelude also served as the basis for the Ave Maria of Charles Gounod.
Historically, there was a seven-equal temperament or hepta-equal temperament practice in ancient Chinese tradition. The first person known to have attempted a numerical specification for 12 tone equal temperament is probably Zhu Zaiyu (朱載堉) a prince of the Ming court, who published a theory of the temperament in 1584. It is possible that this idea was spread to Europe by way of trade, which intensified just at the moment when Zhu Zaiyu published his calculations. J. S. Bach wrote Das Wohltemperierte Klavier to demonstrate the musical possibilities of well temperament, where in some keys the consonances are even more degraded than in equal temperament. It is reasonable to believe that when composers and theoreticians of earlier times wrote the moods and "colors" of the keys, they each described the subtly different dissonances made available within a particular tuning method.
Die sechs Suiten für Violoncello solo (The Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello) by Johann Sebastian Bach are acclaimed as some of the greatest works ever written for solo cello. They were most likely composed during the period 1717–1723, when Bach served as a Kapellmeister in Cöthen. The suites contain a great variety of technical devices, a wide range of emotional contents, and some of Bach's most compelling voice interactions and conversations. It is their intimacy, however, that has made the suites amongst Bach's most popular works today, resulting in their different recorded interpretations being fiercely defended by their respective advocates.
The Prelude of Suite No. 1, mainly consisting of arpeggiated chords, is probably the best known movement from the entire set of suites and is regularly heard on television and in films. The second Minuet is one of only four movements in all six suites that does not contain any chords. Most students begin with this suite as it is assumed to be easier to play than the others in terms of the required techniques. Suite No. 4 is one of the most technically demanding since E-flat is an uncomfortable key to intonate on the cello and requires many extended left hand positions. This Prelude primarily consists of a difficult flowing quaver movement that leaves room for a cadenza before returning to its original theme. The very peaceful Sarabande is quite obscure by the stressed second beat, which is the basic characteristic of the 3/4 dance. In this particular Sarabande, almost every first beat contains a chord, whereas the second beat most often doesn't.
The musical approach is based on the audios from Yo Yo Ma, Mstislav Rostropovich, Andras Schiff, Rosalyn Tureck and Glenn Gould.
