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One of the most versatile and inventive musicians of his time, Telemann was considered a leading cantata composer by his contemporaries. The three cantatas you will hear today are taken from his Fortsetzung des Harmonischen Gottes-Dienstes (1731-32), a sequel to his popular Harmonischer Gottes-Dienst set of 72 cantatas published some seven years earlier. As with many of his compositions, Telemann’s approach here is innovative. Firstly, cantatas were normally not published, but circulated among church musicians in manuscript form. Telemann, who at that point dominated the Hamburg sacred and secular music scene – he was the music director of five churches and a theater – decided to publish his cantatas himself. Secondly, in the preface he explains that they were not meant for use in church, but like much of his chamber music belonged at home and were meant for private devotion, although if one wished they could be used in places of worship too. Thirdly, the instrumentation is flexible – if you don’t have a violin, use a flute or an oboe; if the tessitura is uncomfortable for the singer, there are instructions on how to arrange them for different voice types.
Mein Glaube ringt in letzen Zügen was written for the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Erwaeg’, o Mensch for the 17th Sunday after Trinity and Du bist mir, schnödes Gut der Erden for 9th Sunday after Trinity. These cantatas are for high voice and all three have traverso flutes and continuo as the suggested instrumentation.
As instrumental interludes we will be playing two trio sonatas in Sonata da chiesa form (slow-fast-slow-fast), which were written and published in Amsterdam. Just like Telemann’s cantatas this type of sonata originated in the church, but was eventually performed outside of the church in chambers and as Hausmusik.
Our story
Our name, ‘Postscript’, comes from the idea that — for the most part — the music we perform was written down and published long before we had the chance to play and present it to you. We don’t want to forget how far we are from the context in which each piece was written, and from the composers who wrote them. We do, however, want to add something to these works. During our performances, the music needs to live again — it needs to communicate, to inspire, and to bridge the gap of time between the moment the composer’s pen touched paper and now, the final post script.
We approach each program and each project with dedication and passion — whether it is scouting for unknown repertoire, improvising, studying historical sources, or making music videos. We love the music we play, and we are excited to share it with you.
The ensemble
Aysha Wills, traverso
David Westcombe, traverso
Octavie Dostaler-Lalonde, cello
Artem Belogurov, harpsichord
Elisabeth Hetherington is an award-winning Canadian soprano based in Amsterdam who has established herself as an up-and-coming performer and interpreter of early, contemporary and modern repertoire throughout Europe. Elisabeth has been praised for her … fearless and powerful personality, as well as her flawless technology and breathtaking presentation. (NRC, 2020) Managing to effortlessly bridge the gap between early and contemporary music, Elisabeth has premiered and recorded numerous works throughout the Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, and Estonia.
Elisabeth is an especially passionate advocate for multidisciplinary performance. She has enjoyed creating and performing operatic roles with companies such as Holland Opera, Holland Baroque and Opera Zuid. With modern dance company Leineroebana, she has developed SOLAS, a fusion of music and poetry as well as song and dance in which she demonstrates how well movement and singing live together in her (Theaterkrant, 2019). She is also half of the ensemble Duo Serenissima alongside Dutch lutenist David Mackor, with whom she has had the opportunity to perform in many important festivals and venues around the world.
In addition to performing, Elisabeth has become a sought-after clinician on the subject of Original Pronunciation of the Elizabethan English, and gives masterclasses in conservatories in Canada as well as in the Netherlands, including the Conservatorium van Amsterdam, of which she is a cum laude graduate.