Our 15th-anniversary celebrations continue with a Camerata Goa concert. Read more to learn about the eclectic program!
- In an Exposition Year, you’ll hear a special rendition of San Francisku Xaviera, paying homage to the Patron Saint of Goa.
- Karl Jenkin’s ‘Palladio’ is a crowd-pleaser with its fast tempo and recognisable tune.
- The Disney medley will bring a smile to your face with tunes from Alladin, Hercules, Tarzan and others.
Programme
Intermezzo (from ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’) | Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945) |
Orchestral Suite no. 2 in B minor BWV 1067 Rondeau Menuet (Dr. Valerie Menezes, flute) | J.S.Bach (1685-1750) |
‘Chanson de Matin’ (Morning Song) ‘Chanson de Nuit’ (Song of the Night) | Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934) |
Gymnopédie no.1 (Joshua Dias, clarinet) | Erik Satie (1866 – 1925) |
Orchestral Suite no. 2 in B minor BWV 1067 Badinerie (Dr. Valerie Menezes, flute) | J.S.Bach (1685-1750) |
Sam Fransisku Xaviera | Arr. Dr. Luis Dias |
Palladio Allegretto | Karl Jenkins (1944-) |
Disney medley ‘Part of your World’, (‘The Little Mermaid’) ‘Under the Sea’, (‘The Little Mermaid’); ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’ (‘Tarzan’); ‘A Whole New World’ (‘Alladin’); ‘The Bells of Notre Dame’ (‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’); ‘Go the Distance’ (‘Hercules’). | |
Programme Notes – by Dr. Luis Dias
The Intermezzo (Interlude) from the one-act ‘verismo’ opera Cavalleria Rusticana (‘Rustic Chivalry’) by Pietro Mascagni is an orchestral favourite that regularly features in the Classic FM Hall of fame, an index of its popularity.
In the opera, Santuzza suspects her lover Turiddu of cheating on her with his former lover Lola, now married to Alfio. When Turiddu scoffs at Santuzza’s pleas to mend his ways, she reveals her suspicions to Alfio, who promises revenge. Santuzza remains alone in the village square as she feels unworthy to enter the church with the rest of the villagers for Easter mass. This is when the Intermezzo is played. Its first section is the melody of the hymn ‘Regina coeli’ (Queen of Heaven) that the congregation have sung earlier, a musical antiphon addressed to the Blessed Virgin Mary that is used in the liturgy of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church during the Easter season. The latter section expresses Santuzza’s inner struggle with her own feelings, of passionate love and also the pain of betrayal. Read more about the opera here.
Ophthalmologist Dr. Valerie Menezes has been teaching flute and recorder to our children at Child’s Play India Foundation for several years, and has also trained one of her students, Reshma Kerketta, to teach those instruments. We are delighted to have Dr. Menezes join us as soloist in three movements (Rondeau, Menuet and Badinerie) from J. S. Bach’s Orchestral Suite no. 2 in B minor BWV 1067.
This suite (with the instrumentation solo “traversière” [transverse flute], violin I/II, viola and basso continuo) is from a set of four (BWV 1066-1069) that Bach composed in the years 1724-1731.
The word ‘Badinerie’ (spelled ‘Battinerie’ in Bach’s autograph part) literally means “jesting” in French; in other works Bach used the Italian word with the same meaning, ‘scherzo’. This movement in particular has become a flute standard and is one of Bach’s many recognisable tunes.
‘Chanson de Matin’ (Morning Song) and ‘Chanson de Nuit’ (Song of the Night) are two charming miniature works by British composer Edward Elgar (1857 – 1934) from his Opus 15. An accomplished violinist himself, Elgar wrote these works initially for violin and piano around 1889 or 1890, but he later orchestrated them as well. This arrangement of both miniatures for string ensemble by Paul R. van der Reijden allows for lively conversation between the various ‘voices’ (first and second violins, violas, cellos and bass) in ‘Chanson de Matin’ and showcases the rich sonority of the strings in the warm ‘open-string’ key of G major in ‘Chanson de Nuit.’
‘Gymnopédie’ is the French form of Gymnopaedia, the annual festival celebrated exclusively in ancient Sparta, in which generations of Spartan men participated in war dancing and choral singing. The source of the title ‘Gymnopédie’ for the three piano compositions written by French composer and pianist Erik Satie (1866 – 1925) has been debated.
A poem (in which the term Gymnopédie’ appears) by J. P. Contamine de Latour, a Spanish poet who lived in Paris, was likely Satie’s inspiration. An excerpt from it was quoted when Satie’s first Gymnopédie’ was published in the magazine ‘La Musique des familles’ in 1888. But it isn’t certain if the poem was composed before the music. Satie may have just picked the word from a dictionary. Satie himself maintained that he chose the title after reading Gustave Flaubert’s historical novel ‘Salammbô’, set in Carthage.
All three Gymnopédies are short works in 3/4 time. The tempo marking for Gymnopédie’ no. 1 (featured in our concert programme) is ‘Lente et douloureux’ (Slowly and sorrowfully), with “mild dissonances in the melodic line against the harmony producing a piquant melancholy.” This Gymnopédie’ will also be familiar to most listeners as it features in the soundtracks of several popular movies.
In this arrangement of the work for clarinet and strings, one of our young teachers Joshua Dias (who offers lessons in violin, viola, clarinet and trumpet) makes his solo clarinet debut in public.
‘Palladio’ is a composition for string orchestra by contemporary Welsh composer Sir Karl Jenkins, completed in 1995, with the title referring to the Italian Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580), whose work, in Jenkins’ words, “embodies the Renaissance celebration of harmony and order. Two of Palladio’s hallmarks are mathematical harmony and architectural elements borrowed from classical antiquity, a philosophy which he feels reflects his own approach to composition.” Jenkins bases this composition on Palladio’s “harmonious mathematical principles”. Camerata Goa performs its pulsating first movement, Allegretto.
With the Exposition of the sacred remains of Goencho Saib St. Francis Xavier, and his novena and feast in such close proximity, and especially in the wake of the needless debate revolving around the saint to distract the Goan public from much more pressing issues, I have arranged in four-part harmony, the popular Konkani hymn in the minor key, ‘Sam Fransisku Xaviera’ as a humble offering. Goa faces an unparalleled existential threat today from corruption and greed, from which we need all the divine protection we can get.
Hymn Lyrics :
Sam Fransisku Xaviera
Tuji kuddu Goyam Xhara
Tum Jezuchea Soinika
Sodanch zoitivont kor maka
A string orchestra arrangement of a Disney medley was a hit when it was first performed at the end of a week-long Symphony of India Orchestra (SOI) music camp in collaboration with Child’s Play in Goa earlier this year. The SOI musicians coached the camp participants in a rousing performance. We have had many requests to give it another outing soon, so here it is.
The delightful work is brimming with familiar Disney tunes: ‘Part of your World’, ‘Under the Sea’, (from ‘The Little Mermaid’); ‘You’ll Be in My Heart’ (‘Tarzan’); ‘A Whole New World’ (‘Alladin’); ‘The Bells of Notre Dame’ (‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’); ‘Go the Distance’ (‘Hercules’).
(C) Dr. Luis Dias 2024