Mystical Birds – November 24, 2019
Sunday, November 24, 2019, 2:00 PM
Church of the Redeemer,
Toronto.
Organ Concerto in F,
The Cuckoo and the Nightingale
George Frideric Handel
Paul Jenkins, organ
After the brief overture of this concerto comes an Allegro whose bird song motifs, in a conversation between the organ and the orchestra, have given the concerto its nickname, “The Cuckoo and the Nightingale”.
Read Paul Jenkins’ presentation of the Organ Concerto
Learn more about the Organ Concerto
Symphony No 6, Le Matin
Joseph Haydn
Barbara Croall, pipigwan
Haydn’s Symphony No 6 in D major “Le Matin” starts with the depiction of a sunrise and is pastoral throughout the four movements. Barbara Croall performs her new improvisation for pipigwan inspired by bird calls and integrated into Haydn’s work as an extended introduction and cadenzas between movements and at fermatas in the last movement.
Read Barbara Croall’s note about her performance
Piano Concerto No. 17 in G Major
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Asher Ian Armstrong, piano
Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 17 has a theme in the final movement inspired by his beloved pet starling. Musicologists are unsure whether he got the theme from his pet or taught it to him but he notated the starling’s song on a piece of manuscript which is almost identical to the concerto’s theme. This fascinating and personal history of Mozart’s concerto humanizes for today’s audience a composer who lived in the eighteenth century, who loved animals and whose compassion expressed musically remains a model of inspiration.
Read Asher Ian Armstrong’s note about the Concerto
Read extracts of Lyanda Lynn Haupt’s book, “Mozart’s starling”
The Mozart Project gratefully acknowledges
the financial support by the OAC for the production of “Mystical Birds”
