Sunday afternoon chamber music concert in Arcata




CHAMBER MUSIC Left, Mark Creaghe, violoncello; Gwen Post, violin; Holly MacDonell and Julie Fulkerson, violins. Right, Brian Post, piano; Fred Tempas, tuba; Heather Benson, baritone sax; Danny Gaon, bass; Jared Coyle, alto sax; Chris Cox, trumpet; Ben Aldag, drums; Dan Aldag, trombone; Ronite Gluck, horn. Submitted photos

CHAMBER MUSIC Left, Mark Creaghe, violoncello; Gwen Post, violin; Holly MacDonell and Julie Fulkerson, violins. Right, Brian Post, piano; Fred Tempas, tuba; Heather Benson, baritone sax; Danny Gaon, bass; Jared Coyle, alto sax; Chris Cox, trumpet; Ben Aldag, drums; Dan Aldag, trombone; Ronite Gluck, horn. Submitted photos

ARCATA – A free concert of chamber music will be offered in Arcata on Sunday, Jan 29 at the Lutheran Church of Arcata. Starting at 2 p.m, the concert will feature talented local musicians playing on strings and wind instruments.

The program will feature the music of Mozart, Émile Bernard and various jazz composers. The Lutheran Church of Arcata at 151 E. 16th St., Arcata will host the performance. A donation is suggested for the non-profit group.

Mozart is first up on the program featuring his last written string quartet, his oft celebrated String Quartet #23 in F Major, K. 590. Significant for several reasons; not only was it his last quartet, the composer died within a year of its completion. Even with time running out, Mozart wrote over 30 works between this work and the year of his death at age 35. The year was 1791.

The quartet #23 was written for and dedicated to the King of Prussia, Friedrich Wilhelm II, an amateur cellist. It is one of three “Prussian quartets” written in the style of Joseph Haydn, a favorite of the King. The work is in four movements featuring contrasting sections of fast and slow, a spirited minuet and trio with an electric final movement. Musicians include Gwen Post and Julie Fulkerson, violins; Holly MacDonell, viola; and Mark Creaghe, violoncello.

 

 

Sandwiched in between classical and romantic era composers, the chamber players insert a portion of jazz-inspired pieces to disrupt things just a bit. With more emphasis on the upbeat, some of the pieces they’ll be playing include arrangements of Godchild (1949) by George Wallington, Birth of the Cool in an arrangement by Gerry Mulligan, Moon Dreams (1942) by Chummy McGregor, Israel (1949) by John Carisi, and Move (1949) by Denzil Best.

Musicians include Jared Coyle, alto sax; Heather Benson, baritone sax; Chris Cox, trumpet; Dan Aldag, trombone; Ronite Gluck, horn; Fred Tempas, tuba; Brian Post, piano; Danny Gaon, bass; and Ben Aldag, drums.

Returning to civility, we take in Émile Bernard’s less raucous Divertissement. With this work, size of the woodwind quintet is doubled to include two of every instrument. The large multi-movement work was written for the Société des Instruments à Vent in 1888, the same group that three years earlier asked Charles Gounod to compose his famous Petite Symphonie for 9 winds. Bernard’s piece simply adds a tenth player to the genre that calls for two woodwinds quintets playing side by side.

The extended 23-minute work is both lush, melodic, upbeat, and makes a lot of demands on performers. Barely a dull moment, the mostly chirpy, happy piece takes a somber turn in the third movement but concludes on a positive note. Not a prolific composer, Émile Bernard spent most of his time at the organ playing for the Notre Dame des Champs from 1885 to 1895.

His best known work is a violin concerto dedicated to Sarasate. Featured musicians are Gary Lewis and Rebekka Lopez, flutes; Virginia Ryder and Susan Sisk, oboes; Gwen Gastineau Ayoob and Kenneth Ayoob, clarinets; Danny Gaon and Michael Kibbe, bassoons; Donald Bicknell and Anwyn Halliday, horns.

These concerts start at 2 p.m. sharp and include an intermission. At the conclusion of the concert, attendees may meet and greet the players.