New York Baroque Incorporated (NYBI) will present two luminaries of period instrument performance, harpsichordist Richard Egarr and viola da gambist Sarah Cunningham, in a recital on November 3, 2016 at The House of the Redeemer on New York City’s Upper East Side. With NYBI Artistic Director and gamba player Wen Yang, the musicians will offer a recital of exemplary French and German baroque works, with an added modern American twist.
Richard Egarr first collaborated with NYBI on their season opening concert, A Roman Legacy. He performs frequently with Sarah Cunningham who was a mentor to Wen Yang at The Juilliard School. Egarr and Cunningham will partner in two contrasting yet complimentary Sonatas for Viola da Gamba by J. S. Bach – the dramatic and virtuosic G minor, BWV 1029 and the sunny and melodic G major, BWV 1027. In addition they will perform the technically demanding and inspiring Suite No. 5 from the collection of Parisian composer Jean-Baptiste Forqueray’s Pièces de viole.
Egarr will solo in the rewarding C major Suite for harpsichord by the cosmopolitan composer Johann Jakob Froberger who was born in Stuttgart, travelled widely throughout Europe and helped pioneer the dance suite for keyboard. Cunningham and Yang will duet in works by Johannes Schenck and François Couperin, putting French and German styles into context.
Fulfilling NYBI’s mission of making baroque instruments modern and organic, the three musicians will come together for John Cage’s iconic 4’33”. Cunningham elaborates, “The viol needs to be a living instrument. I'm fascinated by how quickly a piece can go from being radical and shocking to accepted and revered. Cage’s message of practicing how we listen remains so relevant today.” This performance of 4’33” may be the first on period instruments.
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For further information about New York Baroque Incorporated and A Recital with Sarah Cunningham and Richard Egarr, please visit http://www.nybaroque.org/calendar/2016/11/3/a-recital-with-sarah-cunningham-and-richard-egarr
For further information, image or interview requests please contact Melanne Mueller, MusicCo International, +1 917 907 2785, melanne@musiccointernational.com
PROGRAM INFORMATION
J. S. Bach (1685 – 1750) Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord in G Major, BWV 1027
John Cage (1912 – 1992) 4’ 33”
Johann Jakob Froberger (1616 – 1667) Suite XII for Harpsichord in C Major
Johannes Schenck (1660 – 1712) Chaconne in D Minor for two bass viols
Bach Sonata for Viola da Gamba and Harpsichord in G Minor, BWV 1029
François Couperin (1668 – 1733) Concerto No. 12 for Two Viols in A Major
Jean-Baptiste Forqueray (1699 – 1782) Suite No. 5 in C Minor from Pièces de viole
Thursday, November 3, 2016 – 7:30pm
Sarah Cunningham and Wen Yang violas da gamba
Richard Egarr harpsichord
The House of the Redeemer
7 East 95th Street
New York, NY 10128