Yesterday afternoon the Main Branch of the San Francisco Public Library celebrated Make Music Day by inviting two members of the San Francisco Symphony to perform in the Atrium space. The performers were Assistant Principal Cello Amos Yang (holding the Urbanek Chair) and Charles Chandler on bass. Yang began the program with the prelude to Johann Sebastian Bach’s BWV 1012, the last of his six suites for solo cello composed in the key of D major. He was then joined by Chandler for duo performances during the remainder of the program.
Charles Chandler and Amos Yang playing Shinji Eshima’s “Bariolage” (from a San Francisco Symphony video stream presented by SFSymphony+ during the 2021 pandemic)
This included more Bach, the opening Sinfonia movement from the BWV 156 cantata, Ich steh mit einem Fuß im Grabe (I stand with one foot in the grave), a three-movement duo for cello and bass by Gioachino Rossini, and “Bariolage,” composed for the two musicians by Shinji Eshima. Some readers may recall that this latter piece was given a streamed performance by Yang and Chandler during the SFSymphony+ performances streamed during the pandemic. The program also included a three-movement work by Jean-Baptiste Barrière, who composed four books of sonatas for cello and bass continuo. Spoken introductions and comments were kept brief to allow most of the time for the music itself.
The Atrium is a busy place, and there was no shortage of activity during the performance. Nevertheless, both musicians were consistently focused on their performance practices. The same could be said for most of those that had either occupied the seats that had be set out or simply passed by and began to take notice. Mind you, the Library does have an auditorium space; but there was much to be said for this more “public” offering, allowing the performers to be “discovered” and encouraging all to “stop and listen” for as long as they chose.
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