Ravinia 2022, Issue 6

ANJA SCHÜTZ (WIANCKO) MARTIN THEATRE 7:30 PM MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 2022 ORPHEUS CHAMBER ORCHESTRA VADIM GLUZMAN, violin GEMINIANI La Follia Variations for String Orchestra * (arr. Wiancko) after Concerto Grosso in D minor HAILSTORK Sonata da Chiesa * ( performed without pause ) Exultate O Magnum Mysterium Adoro Jubilate Agnus Dei Dona Nobis Pacem Exultate –Intermission– VIVALDI The Four Seasons Violin Concerto in E major (“Spring”) Allegro Largo Danza pastorale: Allegro Violin Concerto in G minor (“Summer”) Allegro non molto Adagio e piano—Presto e forte Presto Violin Concerto in F major (“Autumn”) Allegro Adagio molto Allegro Violin Concerto in F minor (“Winter”) Allegro non molto Largo Allegro Vadim Gluzman * First performance at Ravinia Tonight’s concert is performed in memory of Thomas F. Pick . FRANCESCO GEMINIANI (1687–1762) La Follia Variations for String Orchestra after Concerto Grosso in D minor, H. 143 (Arranged by Michi Wiancko) “La folia,” a repeated bass/harmonic pattern that forms the basis of a continuous series of melodic variations, emerged in late-15th-cen- tury Portuguese folk music and dance tradi- tions before spreading to the rest of Medi- terranean Europe. Two major factors explain its consequent foothold in Italian lands. The Kingdom of Naples, which included Milan and Sicily, was ruled by Spanish viceroys fol- lowing the Treaty of Lyon, which concluded the Italian Wars in 1504. This political situ- ation increased the cultural interaction be- tween Italian and Spanish populations, with an identifiable effect on musical activity and innovation. Some years later, Rome similarly experienced an influx of Spanish church mu- sicians, not only at the Vatican but in church- es throughout the city. Italian violinist/composer Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) published a landmark set of 23 variations on “La folia” as the final work in his collection of Twelve Violin Sonatas, op. 5, in 1700. This composition, more than any other, is responsible for fueling the 18th-century “La folia” craze. Corelli likely encountered this popular tune after moving from Bologna to Rome in 1675, where he hoped to build a ca- reer as a violinist. “Arcangelo bolognese” quickly ascended within the ranks of Roman string musicians, eventually working under the patronage of a cardinal, a count, and a queen. Corelli published six influential col- lections of trio sonatas, solo sonatas, and con- certi grossi between 1681 and 1714 that in- spired musicians and audiences as far away as Amsterdam and London. Corelli exerted an equally strong and lasting influence as a teacher. Violinists traveled to Rome from across Europe to study under his tutelage. His multinational protégés included Jean-Jacques-Baptiste Anet, Francesco Gas- parini, José Herrando, and Johann Georg Francesco Geminiani by James Latham (c.1725) Christian Störl. One Italian student, the son of a violinist serving in the Cappella Palatina in Lucca, was Francesco Geminiani. Lucca remained the center of Geminiani’s profes- sional activity, with occasional runouts to Naples, until 1704, when he traveled to Rome for studies with Corelli and Alessandro Scar- latti. By his own account, Geminiani admired Corelli’s “La folia” and discussed the work with its composer, who “acknowledge[d] the Satisfaction he took in composing it, and the Value he set upon it.” In 1714, Geminiani left Italy to seek his for- tune as a violinist and composer in England. The designation “Corelli’s student” became his calling card, a point reinforced in the preface to his first publication, the Twelve Vi- olin Sonatas, op. 1 (1716), issued in London by Thomas Cross. Ten years later, Geminiani compiled one of his most influential collec- tions: 12 concerti grossi based on Corelli’s op. 5 violin sonatas. These orchestral arrangements culminated, as in Corelli’s set, with the “La folia” variations. Contemporary violinist, composer, singer, and songwriter Michi Wiancko (b. 1976) has re-envisioned this music of her Baroque fore- bear for the 21st century. Commissioned by and created for the East Coast Chamber Or- chestra (ECCO), in which Wiancko per- forms, her La Follia Variations exist in several versions: the original for string orchestra, a version for youth orchestra (created for La Fundación Nacional Batuta in Columbia—a youth music education program modelled on Venezuela’s El Sistema), and a duo for violin/ piano and violin/guitar commissioned by Anne Akiko Meyers. Nineteen variations retain original material, though colorized in Wiancko’s modern in- strumentation. Four newly composed varia- tions, reflecting her individual compositional personality, substitute for originals. Taking her cue from the interior counterpoint of var. 1, Wiancko introduces new countermelo- dies with var. 2, adding density and variety to Michi Wiancko RAVINIA MAGAZINE • AUGUST 29 – SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 24