BACK BEFORE BACH
MUSICAL JOURNEYS
PIFFARO
OVERVIEW
BACK BEFORE BACH, the latest Navona Records release from the Philadelphia-based ‘Renaissance band’ Piffaro, is an exceptional compendium of sixteenth and early seventeenth century German and Franco-Flemish music. As the album’s title suggests, the group of composers Piffaro features can be seen as the precedent for the luminaries of the German baroque era, specifically Johann Sebastian Bach. With BACK BEFORE BACH simultaneously drawing from a wide variety of genres, yet also focusing on a geographically and temporally limited group of composers, Piffaro succeeds wildly in presenting the musical foundation from which Bach and his contemporaries emerged.
Piffaro specializes in historical performance, and they bring a multidimensional approach to the works on this album. First, Piffaro showcases at least a half dozen different types of Renaissance-era instruments on BACK BEFORE BACH, from shawms and dulcians (early oboes and bassoons), to sackbuts (ancestors of the modern trombone), as well as recorders, krumhorns and bagpipes. Second, each set of pieces is arranged differently, sometimes homogenously but more often heterogeneously, featuring a mixture of the instruments described above. This flexible instrumentation is representative of consort-style performance, which defined instrumental music in the sixteenth century.
This is one way BACK BEFORE BACH is a persuasive time capsule; the other lies in the album’s programming, which illustrates many of the important trends in the era’s sacred and secular music. Consider the album’s dance pieces, for instance, especially Michael Praetorius’ “Volta.” Piffaro’s performance transports us to a noble court and through its driving rhythms and percussion accompaniment beckons us to dance. It is also particularly noteworthy that Piffaro includes a set of German popular songs on the album. Vernacular music from this period was rarely written down and, as a result, tends, unfairly, to be lost to history. The inclusion of these popular tunes is a rare and special treat for those who listen to BACK BEFORE BACH and adds valuable detail to Piffaro’s depiction of the musical world of sixteenth century Germany.
The works that most clearly demonstrate the lineage of German music leading up to Bach are the settings of Christ ist erstanden by seven different composers, including Bach himself. Curated brilliantly, these pieces clearly exemplify the evolution of European composers’ approach to harmony during the transition from the Renaissance era to the Baroque. Along these lines, the earliest of these works feature harmony as an important, yet incidental consequence of thick, contrapuntal webs, while – once we get to Praetorious and Bach – the central thematic material is treated with less rhythmic independence, resulting in a generally clearer, more vertically organized musical construction.
HIGHLIGHTS
This album is a time capsule meant to show the musical precedents that set the stage for German Baroque music, namely the works of J.S. Bach.
Piffaro approaches this album in the manner of a Renaissance consort, meaning they treat instrumentation flexibly and even perform vocal compositions with a solely instrumental ensemble.
Piffaro has received many awards for its contributions to early music, including the Laurette Goldberg ‘Lifetime Achievement Award in Early Music Outreach’ in 2011 and the American Recorder Society ‘Distinguished Achievement Award’ in 2015.
CREDITS
Piffaro, The Renaissance Band
Joan Kimball & Robert Wiemken, Artistic Co-Directors
Grant Herreid – lute, guitar, shawm, recorders, percussion
Priscilla Herreid – shawms, recorders, dulcian, krumhorn
Greg Ingles – sackbut, recorder, krumhorn
Joan Kimball – shawms, recorders, dulcian, bagpipes, krumhorn
Christa Patton – shawm, schalmei, harp, bagpipes, krumhorn
Robert Wiemken – dulcians, shawm, recorders, krumhorn, douçaine, percussion
Guest Artists
Adam Bregman – sackbuts, recorder
Daphna Mor – recorders
Mack Ramsey – sackbuts, recorders
Erik Schmalz – sackbut
Recorded January 16-17, 2017 at Christ Church Christiana Hundred
and January 17-19 & March 7 at Immanuel Highlands Episcopal
Church in Wilmington DE
Recording Sam Ward, Clark Conner
Producing Sam Ward, Joan Kimball, Robert Wiemken
Editing & Mastering Sam Ward
Photography Bill DiCecca & Church Street Studios
Cover art by Hans Burgkmair
Triumphs of Maximilian, early 16th century woodcuts
Executive Producer Bob Lord
Executive A&R Sam Renshaw
A&R Alex Bourne
Audio Director Jeff LeRoy
Engineering Manager Lucas Paquette
Art & Production Director Brett Picknell
Design Ryan Harrison
ALSO ON RAVELLO RECORDS
(NV5875)
Waytes (NV5823)
Piffaro (NV5809)
Release Date: July 14, 2017
Catalog #: NV6106
TRACK TITLES
Christ ist erstanden
1 Setting à 3
Anonymous, Glogauer Liederbuch (ca. 1480)
2 Setting à 4
Heinrich Isaac (1450-1515)
3 Setting à 5
Heinrich Finck (ca.1445 – 1527)
4 Setting à 5
Stephen Mahu (ca.1490 – ca.1591)
5 Setting à 3 “auf Bergreihenweis”
Johann Walther (1527-1578)
6 Setting à 4 “ad aequales”
Johann Walther
7 Chorale à 4
Michael Praetorius (1571 – 1621)
8 Chorale to BWV 276
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750)
Innsbruck, ich muess dich lassen
9 Instrumental fantasy
Arr. Joan Kimball
10 Canon in tenor
Arr. Robert Wiemken
11 Insprugk ick muss dich lassen
Heinrich Isaac
12 Bruder Conrads Tantzmass & Nachtanz
pub. Paul & Bartholomeus Hessen
A solis ortus/Christum will
sollen loben schon
13 Latin Hymn: A solis ortus cardine
Coelius Sedulius (d. 450)
14 A solis ortus cardine
Anonymous (late 15th c.)
15 Motet: Christum wir sollen loben schon
Johann Walther
16 Hymnus: Christum wir sollen loben schon
Johann Walther
17 Chorale: A solis ortus
Michael Praetorius
18 Motet: A solis ortus
Michael Praetorius
19 Canzona: A solis ortus
Samuel Scheidt (1587 – 1684)
20 Chorale: Christum wir sollen loben schon
Johann Sebastian Bach
A Suite of German dances
21 Intrada
Johann Ghro (1575 – 1627)
22 Passameze
Michael Praetorius
23 Allemande
Samuel Scheidt
24 La Volta
Michael Praetorius
The World of Chromaticism
25 Musica, Dei donum optimi
Orlande de Lassus (ca.1532 – 1594)
26 Carmina chromatico: Prologue
Orlande de Lassus
27 Mirabile mysterium
Jakob Handl (1550 – 1591)
28 Sybilla Samia
Orlande de Lassus
29 Da pacem, Domine
Melchior Franck (ca. 1579 – 1639)
A Song from Andernach
along the Rhine
30 Melody
Arr. Joan Kimball
31 Tanndernac
Antoine Brumel (ca. 1460 – 1512 or 1513)
32 Tandernaken op den Rijn
Pierre Alamire (ca. 1470 – 1536)
33 T’ander naken
Jakob Obrecht (1450 – 1505)
34 Tandernack
Ludwig Senfl (ca.1486 – ca.1543)
Suite of German Dances
35 Ballet des Aveugles
Arr. Joan Kimball, after Michael Praetorius
36 Padouana
Johann Hermann Schein (1586 – 1630)
37 La Rosette
Michael Praetorius
38 Bransle Simple
Michael Praetorius
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Navona Records is the contemporary classical label imprint of audio production house PARMA Recordings. Dedicated to highlighting forward thinking composers and musicians from around the world, the New England-based label's eclectic catalog offers listeners a cross-section of today's up-and-coming innovators in orchestral, chamber, and experimental music.
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