cascadia viols message from the presidentcascadiaviols.org/download/vdgsc newsletter january...
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606 Wilbur St. SE Volume III, No. 1 January 2017 [email protected]
Salem, OR 97302 www.cascadiaviols.org
Cascadia Viols is the quarterly newsletter of the Viola da Gamba Society ~ Cascadia, a chapter of the Viola da Gamba Society of America.
PresidentTim Scott
[email protected] President
Anthony [email protected]
SecretaryJanet Loy
Jeanne [email protected]
Board members at largeDirk Freymuth
[email protected] Bill Monical
[email protected] Newman
[email protected] Rouslin
[email protected] Bruce Van Buskirk
[email protected] Van Buskirk
Karen Bartlett, [email protected]
Michael Babcock, designer and [email protected]
Cascadia Viols is grateful to: Knuckleheads for website development and maintenance Trinity Cathedral for hosting our events this year Boulder Early Music Shop for the material in our lending library
Message from the PresidentTim Scott
Cascadia Viols has had an impressive and successful first two years, but to continue we need more members. The viol repertoire contains so much wonderful and idiomatic music, that I believe there are many people who would enjoy learning to play the viol and experience the music themselves. Dowland, Jenkins, Ward, Tomkins, Marais, Byrd, andmany others wrote music that should be preserved and heard on viols. Please help the board do outreach
by telling your friends to come to a workshop. If they pay for lunch they can come to a workshop for free, to observe; we will even lend them an instrument to try, and give a beginners class, with advance notice. Anyone who is interested may contact any board member. Any more ideas for outreach are very welcome.
We will also soon have some general information flyers to give out at concerts, classes, and share on social media. Remember our Facebook page, and please post on it, ask questions, and discuss viol matters.
January is a busy month for viols. We have Catherina Meints, one of our most prominent teachers and performers, coming on January 14 to give a workshop, and, on Sunday, private lessons. On January 21 I will be giving a Byrd workshop for Pacific NW viols in Seattle, and then on January 29 Phantasm will perform in Eugene. Seattle has a Gallery concert featuring our own Joanna Blendulf, with John Dornenberg and Elizabeth Reed, on Saturday, January 21.
This spring we will have board elections, and if any of you have a desire to serve on the very friendly board, please let us know. We are going to try to have some consort playing to make the meetings more fun.
Another way you can help is by donating airline miles so that we can pay the air fare for workshop presenters to come. We are currently limited to one far-away presenter a year. If you have someone in mind you might liketo sponsor to come out for a workshop, that would also be most welcome and helpful.
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January CV Workshop With Catharina Meints
We are fortunate and honored to welcome the presenter for our January workshop, Catharina Meints,a distinguished viola da gambist, a leader in the revival of the viola da gamba, and current associate professor of viola da gamba, Baroque
cello, and cello at Oberlin Conservatory.
Cathy will expand our horizons by showing how ten minutesa day of technical focus can make one a different and better player. She will go through a number of exercises for both the left hand (including clear passage work, intonation and shifting), and the right (clear string crossing, bow speed usage, contact point work), with the emphasis on creating a beautiful, expressive sound. During the morning session she will focus on the right hand before break and left hand after. The afternoon small ensemble sessions will be devoted to playing In Nomines. There will also be an opportunity in theafternoon to observe a master class, if you so choose. Please bring your favorite instrument tuned to a 415.
During her distinguished career as a performer, Catharina Meints has played and recorded on five instruments, including bass and treble viols, modern and Baroque cello, and pardessus de viole. After completing a cello performance degree at the Eastman School of Music, she became assistant principal with the Chamber Symphony of Philadelphia.
In Philadelphia, she met her future husband and collaborator, oboist and viol enthusiast James Caldwell. It was the beginning of a 40-year partnership during which both became leaders in a revival of the viol. They spent theirfirst summers in Europe studying the instrument together with August Wenzinger, the Swiss virtuoso and viola da gamba pioneer.
In 1971, they moved to northern Ohio, where Cathy joined the Cleveland Orchestra. That year, they also established theOberlin Baroque Performance Institute to help build a new generation of players. That program still thrives to this day.
Cathy’s career on early instruments has included playing bass viol in the Oberlin Baroque Ensemble and with the Cleveland Baroque Soloists. As their collection of antique viols grew, Cathy and her husband formed and recorded with the Oberlin Consort of Viols, in which Cathy plays treble viol exclusively.
Cathy retired from a 35-year career with the Cleveland Orchestra in 2006. She continues teaching as associate professor of viola da gamba, Baroque cello, and cello at Oberlin Conservatory, and now plays frequently with
Apollo’s Fire as well as in solo and chamber music concerts. In 2012, she authored a book, The Caldwell Collection of Viols: A Life Together in the Pursuit of Beauty, a catalog and memoir of the large and important collection of antique viols that she and Caldwell collected together.
Calendar of Events--2017Cascadia Viols Events January 14 Workshop: Catharina Meints 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m Trinity Episcopal Cathedral (please arrive to 147 NW 19th Ave., Portland set up by 9:30 a.m.)
January 15 Private Lesson Opportunity:Catharina Meints ( to arrange,
please contact Anthony Allen,[email protected])
February 11 CV Board Meeting 1 - 3 p.m. Trinity Episcopal Cathedral,
PortlandMembers are welcome to attend
March 4 Workshop: Joanna Blendulf, Eugene
May 20 Workshop: Joanna Blendulf "Hassler and other Germans"
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral,Portland
More Events of Interest to Our Members
January 22 ConcertGallery Concert, Seattle Joanna Blendulf John Dornenberg Elizabeth Reed
http://livemusicproject.org/performer/gallery-concerts/
January 25 J D. Hardt: Duetto (2 bass viols) 7 p.m. Anthony Allen
Cindy MahlauWillamette View Chamber Players Willamette View Auditorium,
12705 SE River Road, Portland
January 29 Phantasm Concert 3 - 5 p.m. Beall Concert Hall
University of Oregon http://oregonbachfestival.com/details/4943 Tickets will be discounted 25% for Cascadia Viol members. At the festival's website, use code VIOLS. At the door, mention that you are a CV member.
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Report: Pat O’Scannell’sNovember Workshop
Full Of Sound And Fury: Music Of Shakespeareʼs Plays
Janet Loy
Fifteen participants gathered in the choir room of Trinity Cathedral on Saturday, November 12th, to greet Pat OʼScannell and learn about music that possibly flowed from the stages where plays by Shakespeare were presented during his lifetime. Pointing out the challenges of projecting music from the stage to the audience, Pat took us through ways of executing strong bows. Some of the techniques Pat had us practice included using lots of bow for slow notes andusing much less bow for quicker ones; playing closer to the bridge for some sound effects; and creating wispy sounds farther from the bridge, while using lots of bow. Pat talked about using the fingers on the hair of the bow to help create a good core sound. Having control of the speed of the bow and being able to make gestures going both directions were also discussed as helpful tools for dealing with surprises one might have while supplying music for a play.
We then had the fun of applying some of this insight while playing “A la bataglia” by Heinrich Isaac. This piece also gave us good practice in playing proportions, where we moved smoothly (mostly) from a whole note to a dotted whole note and back again.
On the front of a packet Pat handed out was a timeline of composers whose music could have been used on a Shakes-
perian stage. She highlighted those composers most likely to be represented: Edwards, Holborne, Morley, Johnson, and Ravenscroft. Her packet included not only a list of theaters where Shakespeare’s plays were performed, but also colorful pictures of postage stamps illustrating Shakespearean theaters of the time. Among the theaters were The Rose, Swan, Globe, and Hope. Companies such as The King’s Men were also mentioned as playing in the Globe. A picture of a cross section of the Globe served well to see where the underlings stood (not a good angle tosee the many levels of action), where the Royal Box was, where the Musicians’ Gallery was (toward the top of the theater), where other levels were, the casement windows, and the trap. Pat also shared some interesting anecdotes based on her own experiences in Shakespearian theater, both as a musician and as a cast member.
To experience being a little theatrical ourselves, some participants took on the role of actors by reading lines from a play, while the rest of us responded to the spoken cues, playing excerpts from Matthew Locke’s The Tempest. This gave us a chance to imagine the space, the time, and what it might have been like on stage.
Following lunch and a chance to examine music brought by Boulder Early Music shop, we broke into small groups to apply further what we had learned about using our bows, and how to use the bow to express what we to say. Pat helped our group examine music by Orlando Gibbons, Thomas Weelkes, and Thomas Morley, working to create some lyrical lines and also some speech-like contrasts. Weended with Andrea Gabrielli’s “Alla battaglia, o forti cavalieri,” which gave us a chance to be energetic and brassy.
With the help of Tim Scott, my second session found us working on a Henry Purcell Fantasia. We encountered many very high and very low sounds, which gave us a chance to experiment with color. The piece also provided achance to play slow, sustained passages contrasted with faster active, rhythmic sections which had lots of leaps andchromatic flavor. Practicing getting out of the way of the more important lines and speaking up when we had the more important lines was also a valuable exercise.
Gathering at the end as a large group to play once more theIsaac piece from earlier in the day brought closure to a delightful workshop.
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Concert Report
Fretwork~Tim Scott
[ed. note: Fretwork gave performances in 2016 on October 22 and 23 at Christ Church Cathedral and on October 24 atAlix Goolden Hall, all in Victoria, B.C.]
In October, my wife, Annie, and I visited Victoria, B.C. to hear Fretwork perform three concerts. The current members of the ensemble are Emily Ashton, Asako Morikawa, Richard Boothby, Reiko Ichise, and Sam Staden. The playing was of a very high level, as one would expect. They were well in tune, at both 415 and 440, and shared the quality of a light, airy, but never "surfacy" sound. It was ringing but never forced. Although for some repertoire they use split frets, for these concerts they did not use any.
The first concert consisted entirely of In Nomines; composers were Taverner, Tye, Parsons, Byrd, Picforth, Gibbons, Lawes, and Purcell. There were also two In Nomines by two contemporary composers, Nico Muhly and Gavin Bryars. The Muhly was not appealing to me, but the Gavin Bryars’ piece was quite attractive. They had also planned on playing Byrd’s “Browning,” but forgot that it needed two tenors, so could not perform it. It was not boringto hear a whole evening of mostly In Nomines.
The second performance was a choral evensong at Christ Church Cathedral, and featured choral music and six-part fantasies by Gibbons. They were joined by a tenor player from Vancouver, whose name I cannot recall. The verse anthems for choir and viols are an important part of English Church music, and worth hearing. Fretwork is involved withrecording all of them, and has an edition that makes them practical to perform. The six-part fantasies sounded very rich and sonorous in the large cathedral space.
The third concert was at Alix Goolden Performance Hall, and featured the Victoria Children’s Choir and the St. Christopher Singers. It included four cries: “The Cryer’s Song of Cheape-Side,” by Ravenscroft; “The Cries of London,” by Gibbons; and Richard Deering’s “Country Cries and City Cries.” The cries are not my favorite pieces, but the children’s choir was very well prepared and did an excellent job. My favorite piece was yet another In Nomine by Robert White. The two songs for children’s choir and viols by Gavin Bryars were very interesting and had lovely words. In the Dowland “Earl of Essex” galliard, the first treble did some great divisions on the repeats. When I askedher about it she said she took them from the lute version, which seemed like an obvious idea once you knew about it.
If anyone wants to donate a whole lot of money, Fretwork would love to come to Portland!
Cascadia Viols Music Library~ Tim Scott
Sometimes it seems like a well kept secret, but Cascadia Viols has a music library. Most of the music was donated by Charlie Ogle and Boulder Early Music, for which we offer great thanks. The library is currently housed in my music studio, and is brought to all our workshops. You cancheck out the music there, or send me a request and I will mail it to you. The library is a benefit of membership and is only available to members. If you have some extra music you do not need, it would be great to add it to the collection. We currently have about 80 pieces ranging from solo to ten-part, including Jenkins, Byrd, Ward and other standards, as well as contemporary pieces and music for voice and viols.
Please go to http://cascadiaviols.org/music-library.html on our website to view a list of all the pieces in the collection,and the policies of the library.
Special Thank You to Boulder Early Music!Charlie will be offering all attendees of the workshop a copy of Thomas Tallis' “In Nomine No. 1,” which is beingnewly published by Northwood Music. Yet another member perk! Thank you, Charlie!
Boulder Early Music will have copies for sale of Cathy’s beautiful book, “The Caldwell Collectionof Viols: A Life Together in the Pursuit of Beauty.” Cathy will be available to sign copies purchased.
Classified Ads Do you have an instrument, music, or music-related item to sell (or give away), or are you looking for something? We will be happy to include your ad in the classified section of the newsletter. Please send your ad to the editor.
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Practice Pointers More Notes from Josh Lee's Workshop Karen Bartlett
Remember Josh Lee’s workshop from January 2016? The April 2016 CV Newsletter contained a partial list of tips gleaned from his workshop; here are the rest, more or less in Josh’s own words:
VIBRATO
♦ Re the common misconception that vibrato was not used in early music: this is an artifact of English thinking from the 1950s and 60s. Vibratois mentioned as early as 1542 by Ganassi in his two-volume treatise on the viola da gamba, Regola Rubertino; French composers such as Marais even had symbols for it. If you listen to recordings by Margriet Tindemans of very early music, you will occasionally hear some judicioususe of vibrato. Some singers vibrate naturally, so why not us? Of course, if you are playing with singers who do not use vibrato, then you shouldn’t use it either.
♦ Vibrato on gamba is a whole arm movement; it is crucial not to squeeze the thumb. Especially when practicing shifts, remove the thumb from the back of the fingerboard in order to prevent squeezing.
STYLE/ENSEMBLE
♦ Cadences during this period were weak, so don’tsmack them. In the middle of a piece, get out of the way on weak cadences if someone else is entering.
♦ In ensemble work, practice starting and ending apiece together by everyone carefully listening and communicating with one’s breathing. Think of being like a singer. At the start of a piece, try breathing all together for 3 or 4 beats before playing the first note. Concentrating on breathing and looking at each other is especially helpful if you are nervous, since anxiety tends tocause us to hold our breath.
♦ Try breathing together on rests, also, especially when everyone has the same rest. When you have a long rest, don’t just sit there and stare at the music!
Still Needed: Your Help! Can you help with any of these needs? If so, please let any board member know. ♦ Contribute to future newsletters, please contact the editor, Karen Bartlett♦ Facebook expertise♦ Publicity help♦ Photographs of rehearsals, playing with friends, concerts, your instruments♦ Workshop reviews♦ CD and music reviews♦ Artistic skills♦ Grant writing (we are of course a nonproft organization)♦ Venue for house concerts♦ Good workshop locations (for when we cannot get Trinity Cathedral)♦ Scholarship money♦ Sponsorship of a guest presenter or performer♦ Ideas to attract new members♦ Help at workshops: putting up signs, copying music beforehand, moving chairs ♦ Serve on our BOARD (election this spring)♦ Donate airline miles (for our workshop presenters)
...here, for example, are a couple of our Heavy Hitters in the "Support CV" department (see reports of their handiwork elsewhere in this newsletter):
Charlie Ogle and Bill Monical at Conclave
Just for Laughs Karen Bartlett
More quotes from grade school essays on classical music:
“Agnus Dei was a woman composer famous for her church music.”
“I know what a sextet is but I”d rather not say.
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The Viol Curmudgeon What's Inside Your Viol?Part 1: The Blocks & LiningsBill Monical
These largely hidden assets in your instrument play a huge role in both structural stability and sound quality. They are usually of the same material, and fashioned of spruce, willow, or poplar…woods that are both light in weight andresistant to shrinkage and splitting during changes of temperature and humidity, all while under constant string tension.
The Top Block: The neck is permanently attached and glued to the top block. It is the largest and thickest blockinside a viol that supports and distributes string tension to the table and throughout the instrument. The methods of fastening the neck have evolved over time, each improvement strengthening and increasing the physical reliability, pitch, and stability of the instrument.
Early viols, like lutes, were built with the neck simply glued to the top block with a simple locating pin and without other
reinforcement. If the neck became loose, it usually fractured the supporting button of the back, making repairs extremely difficult and costly.17th century English instruments added a tenon extension ofthe neck foot set into the block and secured with a nail for
strength and stability. The tenon also made setting the neck easier by locating its position more accurately before gluing.
Modern instruments typically have a dovetail extension of the neck foot attachment to the top block; this type of
extension is easy to fit to the block with great accuracy, and makes the whole construction immensely strong, thus reducing the likelihood of shifting under string tension or coming loose over time.
The Corner Blocks: These four small, light weight blocks, also of spruce, willow, or poplar, reinforce and strengthen the corner rib joints and miters and give increased body rigidity. This stability provides increased volume, concentration of sound, and resonance by support-ing the movement and vibrating flexibility of the table.
The Bottom Block: An unsung hero, the strong and solidbottom block is almost totally responsible for an instru- ment remaining in stable tuning. It also helps support the rib structure and importantly withstands tension of the strings pulling the tailpiece toward the bridge, from either a fitted endpin and tailgut or a solid and stiff inlayed tail- piece pin, commonly of stained maple, rosewood, or ebony.
The Linings: Early viols, like lutes, had most gluing surfaces reinforced with strips of linen saturated with hide glue to strengthen the joined surfaces between the thin (1.0– 1.5mm) ribs necessary for instrument resonance, and the thicker outer edges of the instrument’s back. Usually smallreinforcing “studs” or cleats were glued to the joints of ribs and table edges. Later in the 17th century and beyond, with the adoption of spruce, willow, poplar, or walnut wooden linings to replace linen, linings could now be usedon glued surfaces of both back and table, simplifying the construction process. In addition, instrument maintenance and repair were now much simplified, and wooden linings became virtually universally employed by makers of viols as well as instruments of the violin family.
Next time, in Part 2, we will explore musical elements of sound and the “amazing” bass bar, soundpost, and soundpost bar inside your viol.
The Viol CurmudgeonBill MonicalJanuary, 2017
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