Juilliard415 at Holy Trinity: Lawes, Handel, Locke and Holborne

I had always wondered about the name Juilliard415, the appellation of the school's Baroque student ensemble.  Reading yesterday's program, I discovered that it is actually taken from the pitch (A = 415) most commonly used in the performance of Baroque music.  The group is extremely accomplished and has a long list of credits, including performances with such early music luminaries as Ton Koopman, Harry Bicket and Christopher Hogwood.  Its one-hour recital yesterday afternoon was devoted to English music from the very end of the sixteenth century to the early decades of the eighteenth century.

The first piece on the program was the Consort Sett a 5 No. 3 in C minor (c. 1635) by William Lawes who is best remembered today for his death in the service of Charles I at the Battle of Rowton Heath in 1645.  The suite consisted of four movements - a Fantazya, a Paven and two Aires.  The Paven quotes the somewhat maudlin song Flow My Tears by John Dowland.  The suite was arranged for organ, two violins and three violas da gamba.

Lawes' work was not the only piece of consort music to be performed.  As the program notes:

"Consort music was a popular genre in England since the 16th century.  With the rise of instrumental music during the Renaissance, instruments were often built in sets of instrumental families, consisting of four to seven instruments.  With such consorts, it was possible to achieve a homogeneous sound, ranging from soprano to bass."

The other piece of consort music was the Sonata no. 5 in E minor from The Little Consort of Three Parts (1656) by Matthew Locke written for two violins, cello and theorbo.  Like Lawes, Locke was a composer in the service of an English king, here Charles II, and also composed operas and music for masques, including Cupid and Death (1653) by James Shirley.  Like the other nine suites in The Little Consort, this sonata consisted of four movements - Pavan, Ayre, Corant and Saraband - that proceed from the slowest to the most lively.

The program contained two sonatas from Handel's Op. 2 (1732).  These were the Trio Sonata No. 5 in G minor and the Trio Sonata No. 4 in F.  The No. 5 was arranged for oboe, violin, bassoon and harpsichord and consisted of four movements (larghetto, allegro, adagio and allegro) while the No. 4 replaced the oboe with a flute and had only two movements (larghetto and allegro).  Late last month, I saw a performance of another Op. 2 work, the Trio Sonata No. 3 in B flat, by the Juilliard Baroque and it was interesting to compare that with those played yesterday by the 415 ensemble.  

The final piece on the program was A suite of dances (1599) by Antony Holborne, here arranged for two violins, two violas, cello and harpsichord.  What was most intriguing about this work were the evocative names the Elizabethan composer assigned to the various dances, such as Honiesuckle, Muy Linda and The Night Watch.