Stories We Share: Rarely Heard Chamber Music for Baroque Instruments

The doctrine of the affections was a theory that permeated much of the music of the baroque period. This widespread doctrine posited that music was capable of arousing a variety of specific emotions within the listener. René Descartes, more specifically, held the belief that there were six basic affects: Admiration, Love, Hatred, Desire, Joy and Sorrow, which could be combined together into numerous intermediate forms.

In this program, we want to share with you how each piece of music affects our emotions. In this day and age, when we feel overwhelmed by all that modern life throws at us, could we use baroque music as a cathartic release for all the different specific emotions we feel? Interspersed with stories from the composers’ and our lives, the program will be a way to embrace connection, community, and all that we have in common.

This concert is presented with support from Luminarts and Ars Musica Chicago.

Sun Chang is a pianist & harpsichordist from Seattle. She studied at Northwestern University and the Royal Academy of Music. She is a founding member of Judith Collective, a London-based baroque ensemble that focuses on music by underrepresented composers active before the end of the 18th century. Learn more about Sun by visiting sunchangmusic.com

Kiyoe Matsuura is Chicago-based violinist and violist specializing in Historical Performance. In addition to performing with local organizations including Third Coast Baroque, the Bach and Beethoven Experience, Callipygian Players, Bella Voce Sinfonia, Ars Musica Chicago, and the Landowska Harpsichord Society, Kiyoe was a founding member of the MENT Consort, a period instrument quartet selected to perform on the Pegasus Rising concert series in Rochester, NY. Kiyoe is on violin faculty at DePaul’s Community Music Division.

Program:

Isabella Leonarda (1620-1704)
Sonata Duodecima

Barbara Strozzi (1619-1677)
Lamento-Lagrime mie, a che vi trattenete

Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729)
Sonata no. 4 in G Major

G. F. Handel (1685-1759)
Selections from Lucrezia NWV 145

Francis Peacock (1723-1807)
Selections from 50 Scotch Airs

Antonio Bertali (1605-1669)
Ciaccona for Violin and Continuo in C major