Thursdays at Noon | Laureates - Shalom Ben-Uri DMA Recital Competition Winner, Cristina Prats Costa, baroque violin

The Thursdays at Noon series is made possible in part by the Jay Telfer Forum Endowment Fund.

Livestream available on the Faculty of Music YouTube channel.

“Where Lament Becomes Dance”

Laureates: Shalom Ben-Uri DMA Recital Competition Winner, Cristina Prats Costa, violin
Christopher Bagan, harpsichord
Jonathan Stuchbery, theorbo & baroque guitar
Joseph Phillips, viola da gamba & bass

PROGRAM

Nasce la pena mia (arr. after Alessandro Striggio)
from ’t Uitnement kabinet (Amsterdam, 1649)

Johann Schop

Diferencias sobre la gayta
from Flores de música (1680)

Antonio Martín y Coll
(arr. Cristina Prats Costa)

Passacalle 18 & 19
from Flores de música (1680)

Antonio Martín y Coll
(arr. Cristina Prats Costa)

Corrente detta “La Cuella”
from Il primo libro di canzone (1650)

Andrea Falconieri

Brando detto “Il Melo”
from Il primo libro di canzone (1650)

Andrea Falconieri

Sonata Duodecima, Op. 16
Sonate a 1, 2, 3, e 4 istromenti (Bologna, 1693)

Isabella Leonarda (1620–1704)

Adagio “La Suave Melodia”
from Il primo libro di canzone (1650)

Andrea Falconieri

Ground in E Major
from Ayres for the Violin (1676)

Nicola Matteis

Adagio and Aria
from Sonata No. 1 in D minor

Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665–1729)

Fandango

Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739)
(arr. Cristina Prats Costa)

PROGRAM NOTES

This program traces a vibrant cross-European musical landscape of the seventeenth century, moving freely between Italy, Spain, France, England, and the Low Countries. At its heart lies the Baroque fascination with variation, dance, and expressive contrast—music shaped as much by the body as by the intellect.

The concert opens with Johann Schop’s arrangement of Nasce la pena mia, originally a madrigal by Alessandro Striggio. The text speaks of longing and separation: “My sorrow is born when I gaze upon your lovely face, and it grows within my heart when I must depart.” This paradox of presence and absence—love intensified both by closeness and by distance—lies at the emotional core of the work. Schop, a leading violinist and composer in Hamburg, translates this intensely expressive vocal rhetoric into an instrumental language, preserving the madrigal’s affect while allowing melody and harmony to speak without words.

Spanish keyboard tradition is represented by Antonio Martín y Coll, whose Diferencias sobre la gayta and Passacalle 18 come from the important anthology Flores de música (1680). Built on repeating bass patterns and harmonic frameworks, these works demonstrate the Iberian love for variation (diferencias), combining rhythmic vitality with improvisatory freedom. Though originally conceived for keyboard, such music readily adapts to other instruments, highlighting its structural clarity and dance origins.

A central pillar of the program is the music of Andrea Falconieri, whose Il primo libro di canzone (1650) reflects the cosmopolitan musical life of mid-seventeenth-century Italy and Spain. Pieces such as Corrente detta “La Cuella”, Brando detto “Il Melo”, and Adagio “La Suave Melodia” move effortlessly between courtly dance, popular gesture, and lyrical introspection. Falconieri’s writing favors clear melodic profiles and expressive harmony, allowing performers considerable interpretive freedom.

The Sonata Duodecima by Isabella Leonarda offers a striking contrast. One of the most prolific female composers of her time, Leonarda wrote instrumental music of remarkable sophistication and emotional depth. Her sonatas explore dramatic shifts in texture and affect, balancing contrapuntal rigor with vocal-like expressivity. This work reflects both the learned traditions of northern Italy and the emerging soloistic style of the late seventeenth century.

From England comes Nicola Matteis’s Ground in E Major, based on a repeating bass line—a ground—that serves as a foundation for increasingly ornate variations. Matteis, an Italian violinist active in London, profoundly influenced English violin playing through his highly expressive style, rich ornamentation, and bold harmonic language.

French elegance enters the program with the Adagio and Aria from the Sonata in D minor by Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre. A celebrated virtuoso and composer at the court of Louis XIV, Jacquet de la Guerre blends Italian sonata form with French refinement. Her music combines lyrical intensity with rhythmic poise, reflecting the synthesis of national styles that defined much late-seventeenth-century French instrumental music.

The concert concludes with Santiago de Murcia’s Fandango, here in an arrangement by Cristina Prats Costa. Built on a hypnotic harmonic progression, the fandango invites variation, improvisation, and rhythmic drive. Murcia’s setting captures both the sensuality and raw energy of the dance, bringing the program to a vibrant and exuberant close.