A musical residency, or simply residency, is defined as a series of activities that contribute more to the local communities than just a single concert. It may involve a particular group of individuals engaging in practical activities or aim to increase the general public's level of knowledge through educational activities.

 

This year, the Kretinga International Music Festival is introducing its first-ever residency, and for this inaugural edition, we have invited the ensemble Les Cornets Noirs, one of the most respected ensembles of their kind. The theme of the residency is the influence of the Italian music style in Europe. The first concert will be educational, featuring a presentation of instruments, composers, pieces, influences, as a preparation for the second concert scheduled for the following day.

 

Through this initial residency, our goal is to contribute to the knowledge of our audience and enhance their understanding and appreciation of performances on period instruments.

 

Rodrigo Calveyra

 

 

Gebhard David, Frithjof Smith (cornettos), Cosimo Stawiarski, Luca Giardini (violins), Detlef Reimers, Simen van Mechelen, Joost Swinkels (sackbuts), Johannes Strobl (organ)

 

     Thursday 24 August at 7 p.m. Kretinga Franciscan church

     Educational concert

 

     Friday 25 August at 7 p.m. Kretinga Franciscan church

     Closing concert

 

 

An Italian Voyage. The propagation of the Italian style in the times of Monteverdi

 

Italy was culturally influential in Europe at the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the 17th century. Therefore, it is not surprising that north of the Alps, it was part of the education of musicians and composers to spend a period of study in Italy or at least to study Italian works. Since books and sheet music were very expensive at the time and not available to everyone, Johann Andreas Herbst compiled a "reader's digest" in 1653 from a wide variety of Italian sources to make the "itztige italienische Manier" accessible to his readers.

 

The Venetian style thus spread through books and sheet music, musicians and composers from other countries, and not least through Italian musicians and composers who had found employment as kapellmeisters or court musicians in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, and other countries.

 

In instrumental music, the "stile moderno," the new style, was also characterized by the alternating presentation of different affects and virtuoso passages. Therefore, Dario Castello apologizes to his readers that the sonatas may seem difficult at first sight, and he encourages the musicians not to hesitate to play the sonatas more than just once, as this would soon make them seem easier: "Nothing is difficult for the one who takes pleasure in it."

 

Frithjof Smith

 

 

PROGRAM OF THE EDUCATIONAL CONCERT

24 August

 

Georg Piscator (1607–ca. 1660)

105. Sonata à 7. Ms.: D-W Cod.Guelf. 34.7 Aug 2°, Partiturbuch Ludwig, 1662

 

Biagio Marini (1594–1663)

Canzon prima. Per quattro Violini o Cornetti. Sonate, symphonie, canzoni … per ogni sorte d’instrumenti, Venezia, 1626

 

Biagio Marini (1594–1663)

Sonata La Foscarina. Affetti musicali, op. 1, Venezia, 1617

 

Dario Castello (XVII a. / 17th century)

Sonata DuoDecima Terza A 3. Sonate concertate in stil moderno, libro secondo, Venezia, 1629

Doi Soprani e Tombone. Overo Violeta. 

 

Antonio Bertali (1605–1669)

Sonata VI à 5. Ms.: Uppsala, Universitätsbibliothekt, imhs 1:6

 

Mauritio Cazzati (ca. 1620–1677)

Capriccio detto il Marescotti. Correnti, baletti, gagliarde à 3. 4., Venezia 1659

 

Daniel Speer (1636–1707)

Sonata I. Grund-richtiger, kurz, leicht und nöthiger Unterricht der musikalischen Kunst, Ulm 1687

 

Johann Christoph Pezel (1639–1694)

Suite à 5. Fünff-stimmigte blasende Musik, Frankfurt 1685

 

  

PROGRAM OF THE CLOSING CONCERT

25 August

 

 

Anonymus

Sonata â 7. Ms.: Kremsier A 545

 

Giovanni Legrenzi (1626–1690)

Sonata La Cremona à 5. Sonate, libro terzo, op. 8, Venezia 1663

 

Dario Castello. 17th century

Sonata Decima Terza A 4. Sonate concertate in stil moderno, libro secondo, Venezia 1629

Doi Soprani e doi Tomboni. Overo Violete.

 

Giovanni Valentini (1582/83–1649)

Sonata à 5. Ms.: Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Sammlung Bohn, Ms. mus. 204e

Doi Violini doi Cornetti e Trombone

 

Wolfgang Ebner (1612–1665)

Toccata in g. Ms.: Wien, Minoritenkonvent, Ms. XIV 721

 

Georg Piscator (1607 –ca. 1660)

105. Sonata à 7. Ms.: D-W Cod.Guelf. 34.7 Aug 2°, Partiturbuch Ludwig, 1662

 

Johann Jakob Froberger (1616–1667)

Canzon V. Ms.: Wien, Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Mus. Hs. 18706, Libro secondo, 1649

 

Anonymus

Sinfonia (Sonata) à 8. Ms.: Kremsier A 605

 

Adam Jarzebsky (ca. 1590–1649)

20. Königsberga, Concerto a 3. Bassi. Ms.: Concerti e canzoni, dated 1627

 

Paul Siefert (1586–1666)

Paduana. Ms.: Uppsala, Universitätsbibliothek, imhs. 408

 

Johann Vierdanck (1605–1646)

Sonata 31. Ander Theil, darinnen begriffen etliche Capricci, Canzoni und Sonaten, Rostock, 1641

über das Lied «Als ich einmal Lust bekam»

 

Biagio Marini (1594–1663)

Sonata La Foscarina. Affetti musicali, op. 1, Venezia 1617

 

Giovanni Gabrieli (1554/57–1612)

Canzon V à 7. Canzoni et sonate, Venezia 1615

 

 

LES CORNETS NOIRS

 

Founded in 1997 by Frithjof Smith and Gebhard David, the instrumental ensemble Les Cornets Noirs specialises in Italian and German early baroque music. The main interest lies in solo and ensemble music for the cornetto, which experienced its heyday from the middle of the 16th to the late 17th century North and South of the Alps.

 

The ensemble is performing at festivals across all Europe, both with their own programmes, and in collaboration with soloists: Nuria Rial, Miriam Feuersinger, Wolf Matthias Friedrich. In cooperation with vocal groups, Les Cornets Noirs performs large-scale early baroque works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Heinrich Schütz, Claudio Monteverdi, Georg Muffat, Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber, and their contemporaries.

 

Les Cornets Noirs issued numerous recordings: "Paradisi gloria" (Sacred music by Emperor Leopold I, Cappella Murensis & Les Cornets Noirs, audite 2016) and Georg Muffat's "Missa in labore requies" (Cappella Murensis & Les Cornets Noirs, audite 2016), "Treasures from Uppsala" (Music from the Düben collection, Wolf Matthias Friedrich & Les Cornets Noirs, Raumklang 2012) "Polychoral Splendour" (Heinrich Schütz and Giovanni Gabrieli, Cappella Murensis & Les Cornets Noirs, audite 2012; International Classical Music Award 2013), and others.