While the pandemic kept us out of the concert hall during 2020–21, we didn’t stop wanting to make and share beautiful music with you.
A line-up of performances from the Sebastians archives—plus three special brand-new concert recordings—came together to make this free, donor-supported Virtual Season. We have so many wonderful memories of our past concerts — so many moments of the electric excitement that come from sharing emotional experiences with you, our beloved audience.
Nathaniel Chase
violone
Nicholas DiEugenio
violin
Jeffrey Grossman
harpsichord
Daniel Lee
violin
David Ross
traverso
Ezra Seltzer
cello
Jessica Troy
viola
David Ross, flute
Daniel Lee and Nicholas DiEugenio, violin
Jessica Troy, viola
Ezra Seltzer, cello
Nathaniel Chase, violone
Jeffrey Grossman, harpsichord
Four/Ten Media, music videography and editing
Dongsok Shin, producer, audio engineering and editing
Overtone Audio, audio editing and mastering
Antonio Vivaldi
(1678–1741)
Overture to Part 2 of La Senna festeggiante, RV 693 (Venice, 1726) for strings and continuo
Nicola Porpora
(1686–1768)
Sinfonia da camera, op. 2, no. 6 in B-flat major (London, 1736) for two violins and continuo
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach
(1714–88)
Quartet in A minor (Hamburg, 1788) for flute, viola, violoncello, and keyboard
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)
Brandenburg Concerto no. 5, BWV 1050 (before 1721) in D major for flute, violin, and harpsichord solo with ripieno strings
This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
The Sebastians 2020–21 concerts are made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.
The Sebastians activities are additionally supported by the Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Fund.
*This list up-to-date as of June 30, 2021. Please forgive any errors or omissions.
This is one of Telemann’s inventive concertos for four solo violins, and we just think they are so much fun! We’ve performed this twice on our concert series, once in 2014 and again in 2019, so we decided to share both with you.
Who needs a continuo section, anyway?
Performed live 13 December 2014
All Angels’ Church, New York City
Performed live 2019 May 7
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, New York City
Sammartini was known in his time for his “breadth of invention and sureness of purpose second only to the music of Handel” (from General History of the Science and Practice of Music, 1776). This concerto grosso is filled with fun interplay and drama, especially in the upper string parts, and concludes with a mostly pastorale, other than the rather shocking chromatic passages throughout!
Performed live 8 December 2019
Collinsville Congregational Church
The Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Fund’s Shepherd Music Series
Nicholas DiEugenio
violin
Jeffrey Grossman
harpsichord
Daniel Lee
violin
Daniel Lee, violin
Nicholas DiEugenio, violin
Jeffrey Grossman, harpsichord
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)
Prelude and Fugue in F major, BWV 856
from The Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1
Jean-Marie Leclair
(1697–1764)
Sonata in A major for two violins (1730), op. 3, no. 2
Jean Baptiste Senaillé
(1687–1730)
Sonata in G major for violin and continuo (1716), op. 3, no. 1
Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
(1665–1729)
Trio Sonata in D major for two violins and continuo
Georg Philipp Telemann
(1681–1767)
Suite for two violins, “Gulliver’s Travels,” TWV 40:108
Georg Muffat is most famous for his travels as a young man to Paris, where he observed and then studied with Lully. He is considered the first German composer to try to unify the styles of Germany, Italy, and France. All the sonatas in this collection are scored for two violins, two violas, and basso continuo, and Muffat exploits the five-voice texture for maximal richness. After the Italianate two-section opening movement, Muffat gives us three dances in the French style, alternating with short Grave “movements” reminiscent of Corelli.
Performed live 8 December 2019
Collinsville Congregational Church
The Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Fund’s Shepherd Music Series
We are thrilled to share our performance of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion from March 2019—an amazing collaboration with TENET Vocal Artists that The New York Times acclaimed as a “shattering” Critic’s Pick. The performance is now available!
Nicholas DiEugenio
violin
Jeffrey Grossman
harpsichord
Daniel Lee
violin
Ezra Seltzer
cello
Mimi Solomon
fortepiano
(in order of appearance)
Ezra Seltzer, cello
Jeffrey Grossman, harpsichord
Daniel Lee, violin
Nicholas DiEugenio, violin
Mimi Solomon, fortepiano
Giuseppe Colombi
(1635–94)
Partite sopra il basso di Ciaccona for solo cello
Johann Sebastian Bach
(1685–1750)
Partita no. 4 in D major, BWV 828 (1728) for keyboard
Elisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre
(1665–1729)
Sonata no. 3 in F major (1707) for violin and basso continuo
Franz Schubert
(1797–1828)
Sonata no. 4 in A major, “Grand Duo,” op. posth. 162, D. 574 (1817) for violin and piano
Joseph Bologne, Le Chevalier de Saint-Georges
(1745–99)
Sonata no. 1 in Bb major, op. 1a (c. 1770) for violin and harpsichord
From the opening moments of this sonata, Bach evokes majesty with thick writing in the harpsichord (listen to the “tolling bell” in the left hand) combined with an incredible soaring violin melody. After a puckish second movement, the third movement, in the key of C-sharp minor, returns to the majestic mood of the opening. (This slow movement is one of Jeffrey’s favorites.) The explosion of joy in the last movement is a fitting end to a very special work.
Performed live 2018 November 12
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Yale University School of Music Faculty Recital Series
Bach uses the key of B minor for particularly special pieces—for example, the Mass in B minor and the B minor flute sonata are incredibly emotional works. The pathos-filled harpsichord introduction of this sonata immediately creates quite a special mood. Daniel and Jeffrey have loved this sonata for years. They chose it to record on their duo album, the Sebastians a 2: Virtuoso Music of the Holy Roman Empire.
Performed live 2018 November 12
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Yale University School of Music Faculty Recital Series
These sonatas for harpsichord and violin are famous for giving the harpsichord an equal role in the musical drama, but Bach breaks the mold in the two slow movements of the C minor sonata—the violin has a two beautiful tunes and the harpsichord merely accompanies. The opening movement’s melody is reminiscent of Bach’s alto aria Erbarme dich, from the St. Matthew Passion—famous for its gorgeous violin solo. By contrast, the fast movements allow the harpsichord to share the spotlight again. We enjoy this dark sonata for the twists and turns of the fast movements, especially against the simpler beauty of the slow ones!
Performed live 2018 November 12
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Yale University School of Music Faculty Recital Series
Bach’s six sonatas for violin and harpsichord are among the first of their kind—the violin and harpsichord, equal partners! The G major is the only one of the set to be in five movements as opposed to four. The fast movements are mostly cheery and bubbly, separated by shorter, more contemplative movements. Bach revised its structure a few times, and in this version (the final), the harpsichord has a solo movement in the center of the piece—another odd feature of this sonata!
Performed live 2018 November 12
Morse Recital Hall in Sprague Memorial Hall
Yale University School of Music Faculty Recital Series
I remember being captivated by the opening of this sonata the first time I heard it. Handel begins with a D major arpeggio, but instead of the octave D, the fourth note is an E—unexpected, almost like a trapeze artist overshooting the next ring! This piece is filled with Handel’s signature genius, from the beautiful melodic turns of the first movement through the virtuosic galloping second, to the proud Larghetto and jaunty closing movement.
Performed live 7 May 2019
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, New York City
The piece that everybody knows as the “Bach Double,” concerto for two violins, is actually just a concerto grosso by another name. The solo group of two violins trades and is reinforced by the larger forces of the tutti. In fact, Bach’s title on the manuscript is “Concerto à 6, 2 violini concertini, 2 violini e 1 viola da ripieni, violoncello e continuo.” From the infectious energy of the opening statement, to the glorious, lyrical second movement, to the furious counterpoint of the finale, it’s easy to understand why this piece has reached such a vaunted place in the classical music canon!
Performed live 7 May 2019
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, New York City
For this performance in 2014, we included readings of the sonnets Vivaldi included in the music by actor Cassandra Stokes-Wylie—just out of frame of the video. In the published scores, the sonnets are divided up and printed throughout the music.
Performed live 13 December 2014
All Angels’ Church, New York City
Vivaldi depicts an exuberant country autumn, from the dances of the first movement to the sleepy middle Adagio, and finally to the joys of the hunt!
Performed live 13 December 2014
All Angels’ Church, New York City
We love the meandering music of Fontana, and this cheery sonata is a great example. There’s only one surviving collection of his music—just eighteen sonatas, published after his death, including six sonatas for solo violin and continuo. This has the distinction of being possibly the shortest of those six solo sonatas!
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
Many composers of this era left little evidence of their lives, but none so much as Dario Castello. We have just a couple volumes of published music, and the record of his baptism and death, both in Venice. Castello is the exemplar of the Italian stylus fantasticus, the “most free and unrestrained method of composing,” according to contemporary Athanasius Kircher.
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
Judging from his music, Uccellini was a fantastic violinist. He seems to enjoy including high, virtuosic passagework for the violinist. Like his contemporaries, Uccellini’s sonatas are freely-structured, with short sections usually based on singular motivic ideas. This short sonata, mostly sunny sonata begins almost like a fantasia but Uccellini can’t resist a good, rhythmic sequence!
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
Daniel and Jeffrey “discovered” this short, sweet sonata on a retreat at the wonderful Avaloch Farm Music Institute in Boscawen, NH. The only music of Leoni that survives is this volume of violin sonatas, opus 3, filled with similar examples of the Italian stylus fantasticus.
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
Many of us know the solo madrigal Amarilli, mia bella from young voice students working on the “24” (Schirmer’s Twenty-Four Italian Songs and Arias). It was actually the most famous piece included in Giulio Caccini’s Le nuove musiche (1602) and was widely disseminated long before Schirmer published its own (terrible) arrangement. Peter Philips arranged it for keyboard, but his version is not even based on the original song; his source was likely a six-part arrangement published in Antwerp in 1601.
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
François Couperin is known for his attempts to unite the musical styles of France and Italy—to reconcile the orderly predictability of Italian instrumental music with the sensual harmonies and ornaments of the French style. In Les Nations, the opening movement of each suite—the Sonade, or instrumental sonata—evokes a particular country or region: in this case, the Piedmont region of northern Italy. It’s our favorite of the four Nations!
Performed live 7 May 2019
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, New York City
The magic of Corelli’s music is that it can make you feel simultaneously like all is well-ordered in the universe—a feeling we are all searching for these days!—and also like anything can happen. Take a trip to Rome with us and enjoy Corelli’s symmetrical phrases, delicate figurations, and elegant melodies.
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
Virtuoso violinist Giovanni Mossi certainly knew Corelli (though don’t believe the rumors that he was a student of Corelli!). It was a lot of fun to discover and put this exciting sonata together—from its improvisatory opening fantasia to its virtuosic fast movements.
Performed live 23 February 2019
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, New York City
This concerto grosso is one of our long-time favorites. It’s hard to go wrong with Corelli’s sparkling writing for the violin and dazzling interplay between the solo trio and the band—this concerto in particular has such a fun “mad dash” to the finish line, it never fails to make us smile.
Performed live 7 May 2019
Good Shepherd-Faith Presbyterian Church, New York City
Frescobaldi’s gigantic variation set—100 variations!—is considered one of the longest 17th-century solo Italian keyboard work. All the tempos are related to one another, in sometimes mysterious and rather crazy ways…
Performed live 17 September 2019
Alchemical Studios, Greenwich Village
Our first selection is Bach’s joyous Cantata 51, “Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen” (Shout for joy to God in all lands), featuring the radiant Katharine Dain and magnificent Steven Marquardt. In these troubled times we think “joy” is something we could all use.
Performed live 8 December 2019
Collinsville Congregational Church
The Maxwell Shepherd Memorial Arts Fund’s Shepherd Music Series