Program Notes

Every musician has the experience of understanding a piece better after they have performed it. A few have careers which welcome (sometimes to a fault) chances to re-perform, hopefully with greater insight, a piece they wish to carry with them and continue to share with colleagues and listeners. We have performed two complete Bach Musical Offerings at Token Creek. Why are we going back to its Trio Sonata? Because it has become necessary, for the fullness of our encounter, to present what is a revision, a reconsideration, a reinforcement of vows, regarding a masterpiece whose carrot remains forever on the stick.

Such could be said about other elements on this program. One of the subtexts is about the fascinating issue of continuo realization, the strange language in which harmonic structure is described to the player in cipher. In Bach’s pieces this language is strained to the breaking point in pieces like The Musical Offering and the E minor continuo sonata, it is in fact about to disappear, replaced by the explicit writing out, in pitches, all the musical information. Living in the world before and after this decision was taken is one of the preoccupations of this concert.

In a concert dominated by Bach, the requirement of the other pieces is really sufficient originality and integrity not to be dwarfed or rendered ephemeral by his authority, a high bar, considered carefully by the management.