Sinfonia Humanitas: ‘WORK IN VAIN, WORK IN JOY’
Vivaldi - Concerto for Strings in D Major (RV 124)
Jamie Man - New commission
Vivaldi - Concerto for Strings in G Minor (RV 157)
Jamie Man - New commission
Vivaldi - Concerto for Strings in Bb Major (RV 164)
Vivaldi - ‘Nisi Dominus’ in G minor (RV 608)
Music Director: Gabriella Teychenné
Mezzo-Soprano: Helen Charlston
Violin 1: Conor Gricmanis
Violin 2: Magdalena Loth-Hill
Viola: Oscar Holch
Cello: Josh Salter
Bass: Evangeline Tang
Harpsichord: William Cole
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A Winter Wellbeing performance reflecting on the position and work of musicians through 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic. The beauty and brightness of Vivaldi’s music is the perfect display of how music as an art form has the power to transcend and bring joy. The text of the ‘Nisi Dominus’ is re-interpreted in a contemporary context as a meditation for this period of time - a time when although musicians felt that their work and profession was all in vain - concerts cancelled, careers halted, halls closed and ensembles and orchestras unable to meet - love of music persevered nonetheless and in spite of these severe setbacks. This performance is a testimony to the emotional journey though they year of 2020, and the perseverance of musicians through their faith in the power of music.
Due to covid restrictions, this performance will have no audience and be live-streamed only.
Vivaldi - Concerto for Strings in D Major (RV 124)
Jamie Man - New commission
Vivaldi - Concerto for Strings in G Minor (RV 157)
Jamie Man - New commission
Vivaldi - Concerto for Strings in Bb Major (RV 164)
Vivaldi - ‘Nisi Dominus’ in G minor (RV 608)
Music Director: Gabriella Teychenné
Mezzo-Soprano: Helen Charlston
Violin 1: Conor Gricmanis
Violin 2: Magdalena Loth-Hill
Viola: Oscar Holch
Cello: Josh Salter
Bass: Evangeline Tang
Harpsichord: William Cole
——————————————————————————-
A Winter Wellbeing performance reflecting on the position and work of musicians through 2020 during the covid-19 pandemic. The beauty and brightness of Vivaldi’s music is the perfect display of how music as an art form has the power to transcend and bring joy. The text of the ‘Nisi Dominus’ is re-interpreted in a contemporary context as a meditation for this period of time - a time when although musicians felt that their work and profession was all in vain - concerts cancelled, careers halted, halls closed and ensembles and orchestras unable to meet - love of music persevered nonetheless and in spite of these severe setbacks. This performance is a testimony to the emotional journey though they year of 2020, and the perseverance of musicians through their faith in the power of music.
Due to covid restrictions, this performance will have no audience and be live-streamed only.
Category
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Short filmTranscript
00:30Good evening, and welcome to tonight's performance.
00:59I'm Gabriela Teixeira, the music director of Sinfonia Humanitas,
01:03and I want to welcome you all to tonight's performance.
01:06I'm here speaking to you now live from Sands Film Studios in Rotherhithe, London.
01:11This is a very special performance because, firstly, as you can see,
01:16the stage behind me is empty. The chairs are empty, too.
01:21And I think that this is a very good reflection and metaphor
01:24for the current situation musicians find themselves in.
01:27It's also because, for several practical reasons,
01:30we are not performing here and now, but presenting a concert
01:33which we performed here just a few days ago.
01:36However, we recorded this performance as though we were recording for you live,
01:40from start to end in one sitting,
01:42just as we would perform a concert for you in regular times.
01:47The idea for this project came to me this past November,
01:51during the second lockdown in November, when all our work was, again,
01:55cancelled, halls were shut and musicians were unable to meet and perform live.
02:02And I decided to create a winter well-being concert,
02:06which would not only be appropriate for this season
02:09and this month of December, Christmas season,
02:12but would also reflect the emotional journey that musicians have had to go through
02:16and go along and endure over the course of this very, very strange year of 2020
02:22with the pandemic of coronavirus.
02:25So in the first half of this concert, we perform three pieces by Vivaldi,
02:30three of the Concerti for Strings, which are all fantastic pieces of music,
02:34and we're performing all on period instruments.
02:37The first piece we perform is the Concerto in D major.
02:41Then following that, we have the second one, which is in G minor,
02:46and then the third one, which is in B-flat major.
02:50Each of these pieces has a very different character and dramatic feel,
02:54and going through them, they follow a line which reflects the myriad of feelings
03:01and extremes everyone has encountered this year,
03:05but especially musicians have had to go through over the course of 2020.
03:14Interspersed between these three Concerti,
03:16we have two brand-new works by composer Jamie Mann,
03:20who composed these two works called Letters to Antonio I and II
03:25specifically for this project and with this dramaturgy in mind.
03:30They are also fascinating works and present themselves as a very intimate exchange
03:37across time between Vivaldi, who we're performing mostly today,
03:43and Jamie, who is obviously a composer living and writing in the present day in 2020.
03:51The pieces also take inspiration from the music of Vivaldi that we're performing,
03:56so do keep an eye out and listen for certain quotes and similarities,
04:01but they are written obviously in her own musical language,
04:06and at least to me, they aim to draw questions about what it means
04:10to perform Vivaldi in 2020,
04:13and also further questions about what it means to be a musician in this present day,
04:19in modern day, but also in the year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
04:25Then, in the second half of the Concert, we will be performing Vivaldi's Nisi Dominus,
04:31RV 608 in G minor, for which we have the brilliant mezzo-soprano Helen Charleston,
04:36who will be singing.
04:39The text of this work is actually where I got the title for this concert,
04:43the title being Work in Vain, Work in Joy.
04:47This piece, the Nisi Dominus, is a wonderful, stunning piece of music,
04:52which I'm sure you'll love, and it recounts the Psalm 127,
04:58which today we're interpreting as a meditation on pursuing life with a higher good in mind,
05:05which is a lesson I think is very important,
05:07or at least something very encouraging to think about in these current times.
05:13I think that the message of joy and love that we're trying to give in this performance today
05:19is central to life today, and one of the important reasons for why we are musicians
05:26and why we pursue music as a career and as a vocation.
05:31We pursue this art form in spite of these circumstances, which are very difficult,
05:35and in spite of coronavirus, and in spite of all our work being cancelled,
05:41for the love of music, for the love of the art form, and for the love of being musicians,
05:47and for the higher good of art and music, which we would also like to share with you this evening.
05:54And I think it's a very important and beautiful message for all of us these days,
06:00and at the end of this year.
06:02So we really enjoyed creating this concert and performing it,
06:06and we are very grateful to have had the opportunity to perform it here at Sands Film Studios.
06:12We hope that it brings you joy and comfort at home,
06:18and we're very excited to share it with you now.
06:21Do consider donating for this concert to support all of our work,
06:25but for now, just relax, enjoy, listen,
06:30and on behalf of all of us, we hope that you enjoy the concert,
06:35and we wish you a very Merry Christmas,
06:37and a happy and safe end to what has been a very strange and challenging year.
06:44Thank you very much.
43:37Thank you
43:39.
43:41.
43:43.
43:45.
43:47.
43:49.
43:51.
43:53.
43:55.
43:57.
43:59.
44:01.
44:33Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
44:43Mancan fondet or con la quietu'
44:50e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
44:57e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
45:19Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
45:26Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
45:33Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
45:40Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
45:46Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
45:53Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
46:00Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
46:07Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
46:13Or con la quietu' e di vici' sui si'ncorda.
46:27Gloria, patria, patria in filio Gloria, patria, patria, patria in filio
46:52Gloria, patria in filio
47:01In filio di Santa
47:31del Spirito Santo
48:01Gloria, patria, in filio
48:17In filio del Spirito Santo
48:47Santo
48:58del Spirito Santo
49:10del Spirito Santo
49:27Gloria, patria, in filio
49:52Gloria, patria, in filio
50:22Gloria, patria, in filio
50:40Gloria, patria, in filio
50:54In filio del Spirito Santo
51:24In filio del Spirito Santo
51:42In filio del Spirito Santo
52:02Ave, ave
52:17Et in secula, secula
52:21Ave, ave
52:34Et in secula, secula
52:41Secula, ave
52:52Ave, ave
53:08Ave, ave
53:16Ave, ave
53:46Ave, ave
53:56Ave, ave
54:06Ave, ave
54:16Ave, ave
54:26Ave, ave
54:36Ave, ave
54:46Ave, ave
54:56Ave, ave