previewThe match between Holland Baroque Society
and Eric Vloeimans has a little of both. One of
the marriage partners – leaving aside who is
the bride and who the groom – stands firmly in
the world of the Baroque but pricks up its ears
to the sounds of today. The other is a magician
on the trumpet, improvising, composing,
listening and ever ready to learn. A marriage
between two such different partners inevitably
blurs boundaries and makes time flow. The
trumpet, historical instruments and best man
March Constandse on the bandoneon merge to
create a colourful present for all listeners, like
the icing on a wedding cake.
Holland Baroque Society acts as host with five
top pieces from the world of early music. Firstly,
a lament by Johann Christoph Bach, a distant
cousin and predecessor of the great Johann
Sebastian Bach. The motet Ach, dass ich
Wassers gnug hätte evokes a world of sorrow
with a fragment from the Book of Jeremiah: ‘O
that my head were a spring of water, and my
eyes a fountain of tears, so that I might weep
day and night for the slain of my poor people’.
Of overwhelming beauty is Bach’s portrayal of
the sighs and sobs of the prophet – and here
the trumpet too. In a more hopeful mood is the
chorale Ertöt uns durch deine Güte, which is
really a homage to the passing of time and the
circle of life, with a final glimpse of salvation.
This version of Johann Sebastian Bach’s
creation, taken from the cantata Herr Christ,
der einige Gottessohn, begins with the most
fragile of sounds from the bandoneon. The mild
melody invites exploration, seeming to lead
even to a clash, after which Eric Vloeimans and
Marc Constandse rejoin the genious Bach.
Mille regretz was really the standard of the
Renaissance. The four-part chanson by Josquin
des Prez, a sad song of lovers’ farewell, was an
immediate hit and was quickly heard throughout
Europe in all sorts of versions. Sometimes
in the purest traditions of polyphony, as in
Nicolas Gombert’s six-part setting (with Vloeimans
as a real consort player in the middle of
the texture), sometimes as a stately dance as in
Tielman Susato, and sometimes as an invitation
to the player to demonstrate every bit of his
virtuosity. In these so-called diminutions, a
melody is spun out in gradually faster notes
according to refined rules. Here the trumpet
scrapes against the subtle sound of the cornetto,
a wind instrument that set the tone in
the Renaissance and early Baroque. The Pavan
by Andreas Hammerschmidt is another wonderful
example of polyphonic early music, but now
specially written for an instrumental ensemble.
The anthem If ye love me takes us to Renaissance
England, precisely between Henry VIII
and Queen Elizabeth I. Sung at countless
weddings in England and the United States, the
text expresses the love of God as a mirror of
the love and respect of partners. Magnificent in
all its simplicity, this little four-part piece provides
a rich melodic arsenal for Vloeimans’s
extensive improvised prelude.
