Dark Horse Consort to Perform Concerts in California, 2/20-22

The San Francisco Early Music Society is proud to present Dark Horse Consort, a 4-year-old ensemble comprised of sackbut players Greg Ingles, Erik Schmalz and Mack Ramsey, together with cornettist Kiri Tollaksen, Nathaniel Cox on cornett and theorbo, and Peter Sykes on harpsichord and organ. Inspired by the bronze horse statues in Venice's St. Mark's Basilica, the ensemble recreates the glorious sounds of an early 17th-century brass ensemble. Guest vocalists Jolle Greenleaf and Molly Quinn join Dark Horse in their Bay Area debut. Dark Horse Consort will perform a program including pieces by German baroque masters Schütz, Schein and Scheidt as well as several composers they influenced.

With the title "(Un)Broken Consort: The Marriage of Voice and Brass in 17th-c. Germany," Dark Horse's program plays upon the early modern idea of the "broken consort," defined as an ensemble of instruments of different kinds, including instruments and voices together. It was a commonplace of the period, however, that cornetts and sackbuts (an early trombone) could blend with the human voice in such a way as to give the effect of an "unbroken" sound. With their ability to match vocal timbres and articulation, brass instruments were often used to support choral ensembles in the 16th and 17th centuries to create a richer, more vibrant effect.

Opening with a stately intrada by Alessandro Orologio, the only Italian in the concert, Dark Horse's program moves chronologically from the 1590s through the 1650s, starting with works from two of Heinrich Schütz's great collections, the Kleine Geistliche Konzerte and Symphoniae Sacrae, before moving on to Johann Hermann Schein's Opella Nova and Samuel Scheidt's Cantiones Sacrae.

The program's second half explores later developments undertaken by the next generation of composers. These individuals, while less familiar to contemporary audiences, provide a crucial link between the early giants at the dawn of the baroque era and its final flowering in the works of Bach and Handel. They include Dietrich Buxtehude, Andreas Hammerschmidt, Johann Rosenmüller, Thomas Selle, Johann Vierdanck and Matthaius Weckmann.

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