Boston Baroque rings in the New Year with Handel and Bach

Boston Baroque, in partnership with the City of Boston Mayor’s Office of Arts & Culture, will present a free community concert at the Strand Theatre (543 Columbia Rd, Boston, MA 02125) on Saturday, December 30 at 2pm. The Grammy-nominated ensemble, led by conductor Martin Pearlman, will perform Handel’s re-discovered Gloria sung by soprano Mary Wilson, Handel’s Water Music Suite in F and Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1.

Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance online at www.bostonbaroque.org, by calling 617-987-8600 x1, or by email at boxoffice@bostonbaroque.org. Tickets are also available at the Uphams Corner Branch of the Boston Public Library (500 Columbia Rd., Dorchester), at the Strand Theatre Box Office on the day of the concert, or at any Boston Public Library branch in Dorchester.

This free concert is made possible through generous support from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the City of Boston, Boston Cultural Council, Free For All Concert Fund, Boston Public Library, Fields Corner Main Street, Greater Ashmont Main Street, Uphams Corner Main Street, Shelter Music Boston, Hyde Square Task Force, the Paul and Edith Babson Foundation, and Music Performance Trust Fund.

Re-discovered in 2001, Handel’s Gloria sat unidentified for over a century in the library of London’s Royal Academy of Music. Bound in a volume with other Handel arias, music scholars agree that the piece seems to be from Handel’s early years in Rome when he was a young man of just 22 years-old. Soprano Mary Wilson, a thrilling interpreter of Baroque music, will join Boston Baroque to perform the Gloria.

The piece, scored for coloratura soprano and strings, is exceptionally florid, with seven movements to delight listeners. The Times (London) extolled the greatness of the piece, saying, “the way the tempo doubles at “cum sancto spirito” is incredibly exhilarating in a peculiarly Handelian way. Just as exhilarating is the gentle counterpoint in the brief duet passage for soprano and solo violin, the sort of effect that has Handelians clutching their sides with hedonistic, near-guilty pleasure.”

Handel’s Water Music was written for King George I of Great Britain and had its first performance in a splashy river cruise on the River Thames in 1717. It is a collection of three suites that are perfect examples of Baroque orchestration, and Boston Baroque will perform the Water Music Suite in F, known as "the horn suite.” Handel was one of the first composers to use horns in full orchestral parts, using them to create color and flamboyance. According to reports, the King loved the piece so much that he had the musicians play it three times before coming back to shore.

Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 is the first of six concertos written while Bach was working for the Prince of Anhalt-Cöthen, commissioned by the Margrave of Brandenburg, whom Bach met while in Berlin to purchase a harpsichord in 1719. The concerto combines elements of older baroque styles, including an overture followed by dance movements, with the then-newer style of alternating between soloist and orchestra – a style that Vivaldi popularized. This concerto also heavily highlights the horn, giving Boston Baroque an opportunity to showcase its outstanding musicians.