Apr 7, 2019
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm

Vivaldi’s Gloria on period instruments

Vocal and orchestral music by Bach, Handel, Hertel, Purcell and Vivaldi

Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 3:30 PM – Freewill Offering

First Parish in Lexington

7 Harrington Rd., Lexington, MA

 

First Parish in Lexington will present a concert of Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria and other vocal and orchestral music on Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 3:30 PM. The concert will feature the First Parish sanctuary choir, soloists, guest singers, and a baroque orchestra playing on period instruments directed by harpsichordist Rip Jackson with Christina Day Martinson as concert master. Vivaldi’s Concerto for 4 Violins and Concerto for 2 Violins, Johann Hertel’s Concerto for Oboe and Trumpet and arias by Handel, Purcell and Bach will also be presented at the concert.

Hearing baroque music with period instruments is a very special experience. The members of the orchestra will perform on original instruments of the eighteenth century or on reproductions of them. The stringed instruments use predominantly gut strings and are fitted with sound posts and bridges which are thinner than those on their modern counterparts. These aspects, along with the lighter Baroque bows, produce a more articulate sound. Baroque woodwinds are equipped with a minimal number of keys whereby chromatics are achieved with different combinations of fingerings. The baroque trumpet (natural trumpet) is valveless and has a sweet, pure tone. The low pitch (A-415 Hz.) enhances the dark sound of these instruments, which blend in a manner quite different than that heard in a modern symphony orchestra. The harpsichord and positive organ are built in the style of 18th century instruments and tuned in an 18th century unequal temperament. The orchestra and vocalists will also perform a Concerto Grosso by Corelli, arias by Handel and a double violin concerto by Vivaldi. A free-will offering will be taken to benefit the music program at First Parish.