Good Friday

It's Good Friday and thanks to a request from the venue, there is no applause after these Holy Week concerts.  Absolutely apt, although the music was delicious.  This was a larger order than the Lamentations: SATB vocals with 6 instruments, although we only heard 5 given absence due to sickness.  The composer was Christoph Graupner, prolific and a contemporary of JS Bach.  Apparently, his cantatas (1,400+) are well preserved and his reputation has grown through recent decades.  We heard "Where is Jesus going?" (GWV1119/39) on Christ's departure and faith and trust in divine guidance, and "We know that tribulation brings patience" (GWV1121/44) on suffering as a pathway to spiritual endurance, character and hope.  I quote from the program, of course, given the German was not obvious to my ears.  But lovely four part singing, occasional solos from all parts, enticing counterpoint and harmony and effective interplay of vocals and instrumental parts.  The instruments were two violins, viola, bass and harpsichord.  The missing instrument was cello, which certainly would have added  considerable embellishments in the mid-range, but the solo bass took on a clear, effective presence which also responded with and to vocals.  Fascinating to the ears of this bassist.  Then the quiet and pleasure after the two cantatas and perhaps some dissonance with the Easter story.  Thus is history and modernity.

Singers Greta Claringbould (soprano), Maartje Sevenster (alto), Will Millard (tenor) and Andrew Fysh (bass) performed two Graupner cantatas at Wesley with accompaniment from John Ma and Lauren Davis (violins), Brad Tham (viola), Isabella Brown (bass) and Marie Searles (harpsichord).

Common enough

I know of the eight double bass concerto played by the AWO (Witching hour / Elena Kats-Chernin) and I follow basses but even so I was a but surprised at the description as a "time honoured ensemble".  Shows you what I have to learn.  Nonetheless, this was a world premiere of a local contrabass quartet with the admirably slick name of C2Q (Canberra Contrabass Quartet) and it was very well attended and created a ton of interest and it comprises a capable crew, essentially the bass section of the CSO. So what's not to like?  It was a strange sound, even for me, a bassist: deep and rich and growling.  And it's strange to allocate roles.  Max had the 5-string and essentially took the bass/low role while Kyle was the key melodist and host, with Dave and Isabella various playing harmonies and responses and melodies and middle parts.  I checked IMSLP for double bass quartets and there were a few pieces and exercises and the like but none were played.  It's telling that every piece had an arranger so probably these are bassists rewriting from cello and other parts.  And I was also amused at the description of the concert as "some much-loved symphonic repertoire" given the first two composers weren't on the tip of my tongue.  But so what!  The works were by Fitzenhagen, Bortniansky, Dvorak and Schubert and were first up fairly subdued (Ave Maria, Sacred concerto no.24) then the well known and beautiful New world Symphony mvt.2 and the series of Schubert Viennese dances.  So a fabulous and unique take on symphonic music at the low end.  I loved it and it went down a treat.  And I think a little tour is in the offing.

The Canberra Contrabass Quartet (C2Q) played its premiere performance at Wesley.  C2Q comprises Max McBride, Isabella Brown, David Flynn and Kyle Ramsay-Daniel (basses).