Twelfth Night Ensemble: Elemental

Program Notes

“The water understands
Civilization well…
Well used, it decketh joy,
Adorneth, doubleth joy:
Ill used, it will destroy”

“Water” by Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 -1882)

It is with great joy we welcome you to Town Hall for this special evening. In the spirit of Baroque opera, Elemental presents on one hand music from several countries and composers to explore just a few of the myriad references in our complex art to the natural world and humankind. In doing so, we are reminded of the profound influence of nature to push us toward self-reflection and inspire us toward community.

The relationship between the natural world and humankind has been explored and celebrated in the arts for centuries. However, its reference today denotes a sense of urgency and fragility. The environment has become, for many reasons, the most pressing concern of our times. It dominates political discourse, influences global behavioral shifts, and if not addressed, will precipitate our end. We are dependent on the natural world both physically and spiritually, inextricably joined. In ways that often appear willful, nature seems to mirror our intentions, good and bad; it can comfort and, just as easily, punish.

The first half of Elemental draws on both physical and spiritual connections to the natural world. A work of enduring power, not least because of its striking simplicity, Xerxes’ touching pastoral reflection “Ombra mai fu” betrays a softer side of the historic King of Persia. Telemann’s gift to the city of Hamburg, his Water Music, was a joyous token of appreciation of Elbe river. His gigue, titled “Ebb and Flow, ” is a bubbling, frothing example of the composer’s ability to paint with sound. Plucked from Handel’s oratorio epic Susanna, “Crystal streams” undulates in gentle imitation of the very water in which our biblical heroine bathed. Her words throughout are at once evocative, tender, and full of a resplendent awe for the divine potential of water as a calming force.

The wicked King Egeo wrenches us toward the brutal side of human nature, as he demands wanton death and destruction throughout “Voglio stragi, ” which whips and lashes in leaps and flurries of notes. At this moment, reacting to man’s hubris, a storm brews and begins to rage. The music chosen for the moment is from Marin Marais’ Alcyone. Our first half closes with a radiant chaconne fittingly named Earth by André Cardinal Destouches and a rustic, countryside romp by Jean-Philippe Rameau.

With the first part behind us, Antonio Vivaldi’s Four Seasons shine under a new light, allowing us a fresh perspective on a timeless classic. Let’s imagine Venice, a port city exposed to and wholly at the mercy of the elements. Vivaldi’s home for most of his life, the city known as “the most serene” (La serenissima) witnessed the gamut of seasonal change.

Paintings of its famous canals frozen over and decked with ice-skaters might explain the horrific teeth that chatter throughout Winter. Vivaldi’s vivid depiction of rain pattering on the window offers some much needed calm in the second movement. Spring, on the other hand, is a celebration of the end of the harsh cold, the hope of joy for what’s to come. The viola section barks and howls in the second movement, encouraged by Vivaldi to imitate a ferocious guard-dog. Autumn brings bounty, harvest, and with it an often unhealthy amount of drinking. The drunkard depicted in the first movement, tripping and falling over himself, falls asleep in the second movement, a true masterclass in harmony. Finally, the oppressive heat of Summer is palpable in the lethargic strings that punctuate aural depictions of birds. Vivaldi closes with what might be the most violent storm depicted in sound.

“I glanced aloft and halted, pleasure-caught
To see the contrast there:
The ray-lit clouds gleamed glory; and I thought,
“There’s solace everywhere!”

“A Meeting with Despair” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 – 1834)