Somewhat ironically, this morning provided me with my first opportunity to view a Sundays at Ten video compiled by Voices of Music (VoM) when it first appeared. These videos are released on YouTube every Sunday morning at 10 a.m. This particular episode consisted of four selections by four different composers; in “order of appearance” these were Henry Purcell, Maddalena Laura Sirmen, George Frideric Handel, and Johann Sebastian Bach. Sirmen was the “wild card” in this “hand,” providing my first encounter with her music, which was limited to the first movement of a violin concerto in B-flat major. Most familiar, on the other hand, was the Bach selection, BWV 1051, the sixth (and last) of the so-called “Brandenburg” concertos.
Kati Kyme, Elizabeth Blumenstock, and Tanya Tomkins performing Bach’s BWV 1051
As one of my undergraduate colleagues pointed out, BWV 1051 was the only concerto in the set whose number was also the number of solo performers. That said, most of the virtuoso solo work was performed by two violas (Kati Kyme and Elizabeth Blumenstock) and cello (Tanya Tomkins). The other soloists were Elisabeth Reed and William Skeen (viol da gamba) and Farley Pearce (violone), with Hanneke van Proosdij providing continuo on cembalo.
BWV 1051 was also the only multi-movement composition to be performed in its entirety. The Handel concerto, HWV 325 in B-flat major, was limited to the opening largo followed by an allegro fugue; and the Sirmen movement was also allegro. Purcell began the program with his Z. 750 pavan, composed in the key of B-flat major. Taken as a whole, the entire set lasted a little over half an hour, just the right amount of brevity for an engaging Sunday morning of music.
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