Baroque and Blue from GEM Pre-Concert Letter
Welcome to our first virtual concert, performed at the house that started it all for SCMR - the George Eastman Museum. We had such a wonderful time recording the concert in the Conservatory and we reminisced of when SCMR used to have concerts in this space 44 years ago! Notably, George Eastman lived through the pandemic of 1919 in the mansion and he and his staff all wore masks during that time, and we certainly kept this protocol, along with CDC recommended social distancing, during our sessions.
Our concert features Juliana and Nick Goluses who will take us on a musical journey from Bach to Missy Mazzoli’s re-imaging of Bach for our time, and ending with Piazzolla, who used Bach’s techniques, in his most enjoyable Histoire du Tango. Nick performs two movements of Bach’s Sonata III in C Major, BWV 1005, Adagio and Fugue. Although this was originally written for violin, Nick has masterfully adapted this challenging work for guitar, much in the spirit of Bach who frequently rearranged his compositions for other instruments.
According to Missy Mazzoli: “Dissolve, O my Heart begins with the first chord of Bach’s Chaconne, a now iconic D minor chord, and spins out from there into an off-kilter series of chords that doubles back on itself, collapses and ultimately dissolves in a torrent of fast passages. The only direct quote from the Partita is that first chord, which anchors the entire piece even as it threatens to spiral out of control.”
Histoire du Tango by Piazzolla takes us on a journey through the history of the Argentinian tango, combining Piazzolla’s nuevo tango style with the bossa nova craze of the 1960’s. The beguiling mixture of lively rhythms and poignant, soulful melodies will leave you smiling as you watch and hear Juliana and Nick weave their way through this mesmerizing work.
We hope you enjoy this concert and we look forward to bringing you our next virtual concert on November 27 and 29 as we perform ‘Beethoven and Montgomery from MAG’. Thank you for your generous financial support that allowed these concerts to be offered for free to the public.
Warmly,
Erik and Juliana