On Sunday, January 22, the Christ Church String Quartet will perform works by Johann Sebastian Bach and Ludwig van Beethoven at the 11:00 morning service. Organized in the fall of 2016, the group is comprised of four outstanding string players: Lorraine Combs and Kimberly McCollum on violin, Nevin Dawson playing viola, and cellist Carey Miller. The ensemble which plays monthly performs works from the established repertoire as well as new compositions. This Sunday’s appearance will focus on several well-known pieces by Bach and Beethoven.
During the prelude which begins at 10:50 a.m., the Christ Church String Quartet will render the second movement from Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in D minor, BWV 1043. The concerto, tied to Bach’s tenure as Director of the Collegium Musicum in Leipzig, may have been written as early as 1717 and is considered one of the finest examples of the late Baroque period. Also included in the prelude is the first movement of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto, BWV 1048. In total, Bach composed six instrumental works which he presented to Christian Ludwig Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt in 1721. The compositions are esteemed among the finest orchestral compositions of the Baroque. The opening movement of the BWV 1043 can also be found in Bach’s earlier sinfonia from the cantata Ich liebe den Höchsten von ganzem Gemüte, BWV 174, a practice quite prevalent among composers of the period.
At the communion, the quartet will perform the second movement from Beethoven’s Sonata number eight, familiarly referred to as Sonata Pathétique. Regular radio listeners may recognize this particular movement as the theme music for Adventures in Music, a nationally aired broadcast in many countries including the U. S. from 1970 through 2007. Karl Haas, the host of the program performed the frequently heard rendition. This familiar and beloved cantabile movement may possibly have been inspired by Mozart’s Piano Sonata No. 14 in C minor though it utilizes some unique melodic material making it unmistakably Beethoven’s own work.
The Christ Church String Quartet is a ministry of Christ Church and all are invited to attend. For information regarding any of the musical programs at Christ Church, visit www.christchurcheaston.org or call 410-822-2677.
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