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Donation:
$20 to $30
(a free will offering - everyone
welcome)
•
18
and under FREE •
SSEMF presents outstanding early chamber music in the
Skagit Valley thanks to your support.
The Salish Sea Early Music Festival is a
501(c)3 organization and all donations
are fully tax deductible in accordance
with the law. Your donations are
welcomed at
https://www.salishseafestival.org/donate
.
✣
With special thanks
✣ to
Fir-Conway Lutheran Church
2025 Salish Sea Early Music Festival in the
Skagit Valley ~
Period Instrument chamber music from six centuries
in the Skagit Valley and around the Salish Sea ~
~ Presented in
collaboration with Fir-Conway Lutheran Church ~
Tuesday,
February 25 at
7:00 PM: — THE CHACONNE
with LES VOIX HUMAINES
· Susie Napper,
viola da gamba & treble viol
· Mélisande
Corriveau, viola da gamba
& pardessus de viol
· Elisabeth
Wright, harpsichord
· Jeffrey Cohan,
baroque and renaissance flutes
Les
Voix Humaines, the widely
celebrated prize-winning duo of viols
from Montreal joins us for a program
demonstrating the chaconne at it's
most poignant, transporting three
important works by Johann Sebastian
Bach to an entirely new level through
their own transcriptions, and
presenting other remarkable but rarely
heard repertoire for two viola da
gambas, pardessus de viol, flute and
harpsichord.
The
hypnotic French chaconne that
developed during the reign of Louis
XIV brings the listener from one
emotional realm to the next in a
regular procession of episodes that
transition gently in an emotional
direction or leap suddenly with
emotion and stark contrast, now
uplifting or sad, majestic or
introspective, hopeful or questioning.
The pulse may feel broader, then more
angular, then running with abandon or
pregnant with poise, always cleverly
evolving in the presentation of a
musical story.
Bach
and Telemann succeed in bringing this
chaconne to a whole new level, as
we'll experience with "Les Voix
Humaines" in their very own
transcription of Bach's Chaconne
in D Minor for 2 viola da
gambas, originally for solo violin,
and in the chaconne entitled Modéré
from Telemann's Paris Quartet No.
12 in E Minor for flute,
pardessus de viole, viola da gamba and
harpischord. Two outstanding quartets
for two viola da gambas, flute and
harpsichord celebrating this unusual
combination of instruments will be
heard alongside two additional
transcriptions: for flute, pardessus
de viol and harpsichord of Bach's Organ
Trio Sonata in D Minor, and for
solo harpsichord of the Allemande from
Bach's D Major Suite No. 6
for solo cello.
From
the standpoint of the Salish
Sea Early Music Festival
and as Tobias Hume asserted in
1605, "Now to use a modest
shortness, and a brief expression
of my self to all noble spirits":
Les Voix Humaines is simply
phenomenal!
In
1676, Thomas Mace accurately
expressed their sentiments: "I
have been more Sensibly,
Fervently, and Zealously
Captivated, and drawn into Divine
Raptures, and Contemplations, by
Those Unexpressible Rhetorical,
Uncontroulable Perswasions, and
Instructions of Musicks Divine
Language."
A perfect description of their
vision of music making, Sloane
wrote c.1794: "There must be an
Order and just Proportion,
Intricacy with Simplicity in the
Component parts, Variety in the
Mass, and Light and Shadow in the
whole, so as to produce the varied
sensations of gaiety and
melancholy, of wildness and even
surprise and wonder…"
And as Thomas Mace says in 1676:
"…When we come to be Masters… we
can command all manner of Time, at
our own Pleasures; we Then take
Liberty for Humour and good
Adornment-sake, to Break Time;
sometimes Faster, sometimes
Slower, as we perceive, the Nature
of the Thing Requires, which…adds
much Grace and Luster to the
Performance."
Tuesday,
March 11 at 7 PM:
— TRIO
SONATAS
· Anne
Röhrig,
violin
· Bernward
Lohr, harpsichord
· Susie Napper,
viola da gamba
· Jeffrey
Cohan, baroque flute
Trio sonata mastierpieces by Georg
Philipp Telemann, Louis-Gabriel
Guillemain and Jean Baptiste Quentin
le jeune with our Musica
Alta Ripa friends.
Late
March: —
HARPSICHORD
MYSTERY
(only
in Seattle,
Vancouver and Tacoma
- please see those
pages on our site)
· Elena
Zhukova,
harpsichord
The Ukrainian harpsichordist
deciphers mysterious and elusive
rarities as well as standards
for solo harpsichord by Byrd,
Couperin, Rameau and Scarlatti
alongside Ukrainian gems
including a harpsichord sonata
by Dmitry Bortnyansky. [only in
certain locations]
Tuesday,
April 8 at 7:00 PM: —
EUROPEAN
TOUR 1690-1790
· Elena Zhukova,
harpsichord
· Jeffrey Cohan,
baroque flute
An excursion through a century of
transformation and diversity by decade
and culture within the baroque and
classical periods, through the
perspective of composers for
harpsichord and flute from France,
Italy, Scotland, Germany and Ukraine.
Thursday, May 1 at
7:00 PM: — The
MUSIQUE DE LA CHAMBRE of LOUIS XIV
· Caroline
Nicolas, viola da gamba
· William Simms,
theorbo & baroque guitar
· Jeffrey Cohan,
baroque and renaissance flutes
The SUn King's court musical
establishment is to be represented by
Jean-Baptiste Lully, Élisabeth Jacquet
de La Guerre, Marin Marais, Jacques
Hotteterre, etc., including music
designated for the king's bedtime,
evening concerts and banquets, with
our special guests from New York and
Baltimore.
Friday, May 16 at 7
PM: — CONCERTI
from the COURT of FREDERICK THE
GREAT
· David Schrader,
harpsichord
· Jeffrey Cohan,
baroque flute
· Elizabeth
Phelps, baroque violin
· Courtney
Kuroda, baroque violin
· Lindsey
Strand-Polyak, baroque
viola
A completely new assortment of
concerti for harpsichord and flute
from the illustrious members of the
musical establishment of flutist
Frederick the Great, King of Prussia,
including Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach,
Johann Joachim Quantz, and Frederick
himself.
Wednesday, June 4 at
7:00 PM: — BEETHOVEN'S
FLUTE, VIOLA & GUITAR
· Elizabeth
Blumenstock, viola
· Oleg TImofeyev,
7-string guitar (Moscow, 1820)
· Jeffrey Cohan,
8-keyed flute (London, 1820)
Repertoire abounds for this popular
ensemble of guitar, viola and flute
during Beethoven's time. With
outstanding violinist and violist
Elizabeth Blumenstock.
Late
July: — THE
18TH-CENTURY HARPSICHORD IN SPAIN
(Seattle,
Vancouver and Tacoma only - please see
those pages on our site)
· Irene
Roldàn, harpsichord
Step into the heart of 18th-century
Iberia, where the vibrant court of
Madrid stood as a focal point for the
flourishing of the rich keyboard music
of Domenico Scarlatti, Sebastian de
Albero, Jose de Nebra, and the
Portuguese Carlos Seixas. [only in
certain locations]
Tuesday,
July 15 at 7:00 PM: — JOHANN SEBASTIAN
BACH
· Irene Roldàn,
harpsichord
· Jeffrey Cohan,
baroque flute
Spanish harpsichordist Irene Roldàn from
Basel and Jeffrey interpret Bach's
phenomenal music for flute and
harpsichord.
~
Earlier concerts this 2025 season
~
Tuesday,
January 21, 2025 at
7:00 PM: — THE CANZONA
· Vicki Boeckman,
renaissance recorders
· Tina Chancey,
tenor viol
· Jeffrey Cohan,
renaissance transverse flutes
· Anna Marsh,
dulcian (renaissance bassoon)
Featuring special
guest renaissance specialist and
innovative improviser Tina Chancey
from Hesperus in Washington, DC, this
in-depth exploration of the Italian
four-part canzona, which blossomed in
print from 1577 through the mid
1600’s, traces its development from
1533, when commercial music printing
was in its infancy in Europe, through
1636 at which point more “baroque”
stylistic forms such as the sonata and
the suite had begun to emerged.
Canzonas by Florentino Maschera
(1582), Floriano Canale (1600),
Giovanni Dominico Rognoni Taegio
(1605), Antonio Troilo (1606),
Giovanni Gabrieli (1608), Girolamo
Frescobaldi (1608), Giovanni Antonio
Cangiasi (1614), Giacomo Biumi (1624),
Nicolo Corradini (1624), Giovanni
Buonamente (1636) and others are to be
included in the program along with
examples of the earlier French and
Flemish songs of the early 1500's that
inspired them, including well known
chansons published specifically for
instrumentalists in 1533, 1577 and
1588, among them Clement Jannequin’s
“Song of the Birds”. Renaissance winds
of three distinct families along with
the fretted viols provide an exciting
blend and a distinct character to each
of the four intertwining musical
lines.
~
Last Season
~
✣
✣
✣Tuesday,
JANUARY 23, 2024 at 7:00 PM in CONWAY ✣
✣
✣
THREE
CENTURIES:
GUITAR,
THEORBO & FLUTE
Michael
Freimuth
~
renaissance guitar & theorbo ~
Jeffrey Cohan
~
renaissance & baroque flutes ~
16th
Century
Diego
Ortiz • William Byrd
Giovanni
Bassano
Girolamo
Dalla Casa
17th
Century
Giovanni
Paulo Cima
Girolamo
Frescobaldi
Giovanni
Battista Fontana
Giovanni
Battista Buonamenti
Bartolomé
de Selma y Salaverde
18th
Century
Arcangelo
Corelli
• André Chéron
Robert
de Visée
Join
us for the opening 2024 Salish Sea Early
Music Festival and an unusual and
expansive journey through the music for
guitar, lute and flute of the 16th, 17th
and 18th centuries, including elaborate
jazzed-up versions of well known songs of
the time, published by the incredible wind
instrument virtuosi of the late 16th
century, along with canzonas, sonatas and
suites from Spain, Italy, England and
France. The instruments include the
renaissance guitar, which is considerably
smaller and more mellow-toned than its
modern descendant, theorbo (an extremely
long-necked lute), the one-piece
cylindrical renaissance flute along with
the bass renaissance flute, and the
one-keyed baroque flute.
✣
✣
✣Monday,
February 12, 2024 at 7:00 pm in
Conway ✣
✣
✣
SIMPHONIE
NOUVELLE:
LOUIS
XIV & J.S. BACH
Stephen
Stubbs
~ baroque
guitar ~
Susie
Napper
~
viola da gamba ~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque flute ~
guitarists
Diego
Francesco Corbetta (1615-1681) Robert
De Visée (c.1655-1733) viola
da gambists
Monsieur
de Sainte Colombe
(c.1640-c.1700) Marin
Marais (1656-1728) Jacques
Morel (c.1680-c.1740) flutist
Michel
de la Barre (c.1675-1745) composers
Élisabeth
Claude Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729)
François Couperin (1668-1733) Johann
Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Louis
XIV gathered the finest musicians of
France at his court in Versailles and this
program features many of the late 17th and
early 18th-century guitarists, viola da
gambists, flutists and other composers
associated with his illustrious musical
establishment, alongside the Sonata in E
Minor, BWV 1034 of Johann Sebastian Bach.
✣
✣
✣Thursday,
February 22, 2024 at 7:00
pm in Conway✣
✣
✣
GEORG
PHILIPP TELEMANN:
PARIS QUARTETS
David
Greenberg
~
baroque
violin ~
Elisabeth
Wright
~
harpsichord ~
Susie
Napper
~
viola da gamba ~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque flute ~
Quadri
a violino, flauto traversiere, viola
da gamba
o violoncello, e fondamento (1730):
Concerto
II in D Major
Sonata
II in G Minor
Nouveaux
quatuors en six suites (1738):
Premier
Quatuor in D Major 4e.
Quatuor in B Minor
Having been invited by several
of the most prominent French
musicians to visit Paris,
Telemann composed and published
the first set of his remarkable
"Paris Quartets" in 1730, and
left Hamburg for Paris seven
years later, where all 12 of the
quartets were performed, almost
surely with Teleman himself on
the harpsichord. The second set
of quartets was published in
Paris during this visit in 1738.
Two years later Telemann related
the following:
"The admirable performances of
these quartets by Messrs Blavet
(transverse flute), Guignon
(violin), the younger Forcroy
[i.e. Forqueray] (viola da
gamba) and Edouard (cello) would
be worth describing were it
possible for words to be found
to do them justice. In short,
they won the attention of the
ears of the court and the town,
and procured for me in a very
little time an almost universal
renown and increased esteem."
✣
✣
✣Tuesday,
March 19, 2024 at 7:00 PM in
Conway ✣
✣
✣
FRANZ
JOSEPH HAYDN
TRIOS
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
8-keyed flute
~
Lindsey
Strand-Polyak
~
baroque
violin ~
Martin
Bonham
~
baroque cello ~
Franz
Joseph Haydn
Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart
Franz
Anton Hoffmeister
François
Devienne
As
the most celebrated composer in all of
Europe for much of his career, Franz
Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was Mozart’s
mentor and friend as well as Beethoven’s
tutor. The program will include three
trios for flute, violin and cello by
Haydn, selections from a 1795 arrangement
for these instruments of Mozart’s opera
“The Magic Flute”, and a trio by Franz
Anton Hoffmeister, a friend of Haydn,
Mozart and Beethoven who published music
by all three.
✣
✣
✣Tuesday, April 9,
2024 at 7:00 PM in
Conway ✣
✣
✣ Myers">
SPRINGTIME
BAROQUE:
AIRS for SPRING
Arwen
Myers
~
soprano
~
Elisabeth
Wright
~
harpsichord
~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque
flute ~
Johann
Sebastin Bach
Seele,
deine Spätzereien
(from
the Easter Oratorio)
Louis-Nicolas
Clérambault
Orphée
(Cantata)
George
Frideric Handel
Singe,
Seele & Flammende Rose
(from
9 German Arias)
Toussaint
Bordet
Recueil
D'Airs Avec Accompagnement de
Flute
(selections)
Francois Couperin
Les
Fauvétes Plaintives & La
Linote-éfarouchée
(harpsichord
solo)
✣
✣
✣Tuesday,
May 7, 2024 at
7:00 PM in
Conway ✣
✣
✣
RENAISSANCE
PSALMS,
IRISH
BAROQUE & FOLK
Oleg
TImofeyev
renaissance
lute, English guitar
&
7-string guitar (1820)
Jeffrey Cohan
renaissance
& baroque flutes
&
8-keyed flute (1820)
17th
Century
Nicolas
Vallet
Jacob
Van Eyck
Girolamo
Dalla Casa
18th
Century
James
Oswald
Francesco
Barsanti
Turlough
O'Carolan
19th
Century
Mauro
Giuliani
Louis
Drouet
Charles
Nicholson
This
program, in
three parts,
opens with
settings of
Psalms and
variations on
folk melodies
by early
17th-century
flutist Jacob
Van Eyck,
lutenist
Nicolas Vallet
and others
performed on renaissance
descant, tenor
and bass
transverse
flutes
and lute.
Then, baroque
flute and the
rare
but once quite
popular
wire-strung
English Guitar
of the 18th
century is to
be heard
performing the
folk tunes of
Scotland and
Ireland as
interpreted
and varied by
the early
18th-century
composers
Francesco
Barsanti,
Turlough
O'Carolan,
James Oswald
and others.
Finally, an
Eastern
European
7-string
guitar made in
1820 in Russia
alongside an
eight-keyed
flute made in
London in the
same year
bring to life
variations on
popular tunes
by Mauro
Giuliani,
Louis Drouet,
Charles
Nicholson and
other virtuoso
flutists and
guitarists of
Beethoven’s
day.
✣
✣
✣Tuesday,
May 28, 2024 at
7 PM in
Conway ✣
✣
✣
BAROQUE
CONCERTI
Carrie
Krause
~
baroque
violin ~
Jonathan
Oddie
~
harpsichord ~
Jeffrey
Cohan
~
baroque flute ~ Elizabeth
Phelps & Courtney
Kuroda
~
baroque
violin
~
Victoria
Gunn
~
baroque
viola
~
Martin
Bonham
~
baroque cello
~
JACQUES
AUBERT
Concerto
in D Major, Opus
26 No. 3
ANTONIO
VIVALDI
Flute
Concerto "La
Notte", Opus
10 No. 2
CARL
PHILIPP EMANUEL
BACH
Flute
Concerti in D
Minor, Wq 22a
JOHANN
SEBASTIAN BACH Triple
Concerto in A
Minor for
Harpsichord,
Violin and
Flute, BWV 1044
✣
✣Tuesday,
July 2, 2024
at 7:00 PM in
Conway ✣
✣
Johann
Sebastian
BACH
Faythe
Vollrath
~
harpsichord ~
Jeffrey Cohan
~
baroque flute
~
Harpsichordist
Faythe
Vollrath from
Sacramento, CA
will join
baroque
flutist
Jeffrey Cohan
for this
mostly-Bach
extravaganza
in the eighth
and final 2024
Salish Sea
Early Music
Festival
performance
demonstrating
the
unparalleled
mystery and
emotional
intensity of
Bach’s
compositional
abilities,
featuring
transcriptions
of his works
originally for
viola da gamba
and another
for violin,
both with
obbligato (or
fully
written-out)
harpsichord in
addition to
sonatas
originally
written for
flute by Bach
both with
continuo (a
bass line with
numbers
denoting
harmonies from
which the
harpsichordist
improvises)
and with
obbligato
harpsichord.
Faythe
Vollrath will
play
variations for
solo
harpsichord by
Johann Adam
Reinken
(1643-1722) on
the popular
German folk
tune
“Schweiget mir
von
Weibernehmen”
(‘shush, no
more talk
about
womanizing”).
Reinken was
greatly
admired by
Bach, who made
arrangements
of several of
his works.
Fantasia
11 by Giovanni Bassano (1585)
January 11, 2021
~ updated
February 14, 2025
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~ thank you!
SSEMF
banner: detail from "The
Last Time it Reached Zero"
by James
C. Holl. SSEMF
presents outstanding early
chamber music
on period instruments thanks to
your support.
Myers">
