2005
21st May – Concert at Tilford
JS
Bach was not only a great composer, but he had an important influence on the
development of musical composition by almost every composer who followed him.
His six sonatas for violin and obbligato harpsichord are seminal compositions.
They
represented a milestone – the harpsichord was, until then, an
accompanying instrument with the music only scored as “continuo”.
This meant the harpsichordist was given a bass line and left to improvise the
right hand with chords that would complement the principal instrument such as a
violin or flute.
But in these
pieces, Bach scored complete music for both left and right hand on the keyboard
and suddenly there were at least two more musical voices, which could develop
themes and counterpoint with the other instrument. Bach didn’t dabble
with the opportunities this presented, but composed highly complex music which
places great demands on the players and also demands much of the listener.
The intricacy
of this music is extraordinary and members of the Tilford
Bach Society were captivated to hear two of the country’s leading baroque
musicians perform all of the sonatas at the opening concert in
Laurence
Cummings is a virtuoso harpsichordist who is the Director of Music of the TBS.
Equally popular and well known to Farnham music
lovers is Adrian Butterfield who is an outstanding violinist with local roots.
The performance was a musical delight that left the audience breathless and yearning
to hear it all over again. Fortunately, this will be possible before long as
the musicians are preparing to make a CD of the pieces which will be launched
in the near future.
Ian Sargeant