Arr. Henk Hogestein. The name of Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) is inextricably connected to the German city of Leipzig. This modest and very dutiful master composer worked like a diligent civil servant. From 1723 until his death in 1750, he was cantor of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig. Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Bach Festival takes place in this city every year. The hallmark of …

Handel's opera Lotario was first heard at the King's Theater in the Haymarket on 2 December 1729 and had a run of nine performances. Though never revived in the composer's lifetime, Handel reused many of its arias in his later operas, sometimes altering the words.The historical background of the plot is the conflict between Otto I (912-973) and Berengar of Ivrea for the Italian crown and Otto's ma…

Arr. Wil Van Der Beek. Jacques Offenbach sest inspiré de la mythologie grecque pour composer La Belle Héléne, dont le livret brosse lhistoire dHéléne de Troie. Mais parodiant lune des légendes grecques des plus illustres, cette opérette se veut être une satiresur lélite de lépoque. Innovant dans lécriture, Offenbach glissa dans lOuverture plusieurs arias et choeurs repris ensuite dans lun ou lautr…

Kantate Zum Ratswechsel In Leipzig. Par BACH JOHANN SEBASTIAN. Bach's first cantata for the election of the Leipzig town council, composed in August 1723, is one of his most splendidly scored work from his Leipzig period. The choice of opening, with the 'representative' form of a French overture, was suited to a festive orchestral scoring. Two choral movements frame a middle section which consists…

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Par PERGOLESI GIOVANNI BATTISTA. In 1732 Giovanni Battista Pergolesi composed a setting of the Vespers in honor of St. Emidius, Naples’s patron saint and protector against earthquakes. All that has survived are the introit Domine ad adjuvandum and three psalm settings: Dixit Dominus, Laudate and Confitebor. Malcolm Bruno’s reconstruction consists of Pergolesi’s Hymnus, Magnificat, several short in…

Passionskantate. Par HOMILIUS GOTTFRIED AUGUST. He was without argument our greatest church composer, wrote the lexicographer E. L. Gerber a few years after Homilius's death in 1785. As a result of the destruction of the Kreuzkirche during the Seven Years War, the longtime Kreuzkantor, a pupil of Bach, performed his professional musical duties primarily at the Frauenkirche in Dresden. The Passions…

Oper in 3 Akten. Par HASSE JOHANN ADOLF. Hasse's Cleofide of 1731 can be regarded as the zenith of his creative output – not least of all because he integrated several of his greatest arias from earlier works into this opera. The theme from antiquity 'Alexander's conquests in India' was perfectly suited to flatter August the Strong, a rather unsuccessful commander-in-chief, who at that moment was …

A Comic Opera. Par BICKERSTAFF ISAAC (Arr. TOMS EDWARD). 'Love in a Village' was first performed on 8 December 1762 at the Covent Garden Theatre (London). It was to become one of the most popular British musical stage works of the century, and by 1791 it had also gained international acclaim. The question of why this pastiche comic opera was able to develop this special attraction can be described…

Flute. Nowadays Look, Listen & Learn sets the bar for brass and woodwind teaching. These exciting method book/CD packs for beginners contain songs, music puzzles and games to increase the pupils’ understanding of music, information about their instrument, and lots of fun pieces to play. The three volumes of the method that form the basis of this series are enhanced by several books with supplement…