ASO: Bach Brandenburg No. 1

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra will perform an inspiring program featuring music from Bach, Chevalier de St.George, and Mozart this Sunday, October 16th, at Temple Beth Shalom in Arnold Maryland.

This program is interesting from a musical and historical perspective, said José-Luis Novo, artistic director and conductor of the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra (ASO). The Baroque Ensemble features a reduced version of the full symphony. Just twenty-eight musicians are needed to perform the music. “This abridged version of the symphony means that the audience hears the players with even greater intensity and intimacy,’ said Maestro Novo. “Withfewer members playing, each musician has an even more important role in the ensemble.

Associate Concertmaster Nicholas Currie, Principal Oboe Fatma Daglar, Principal French Horn Alex Kovling, andAssociate Principal Horn Shane Iler will play particularly important parts in the music.

From a historical perspective, it’s worth noting that Johan Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, a series of six concertos he wrote between 1685 and 1750, are the first instrumental pieces for public concerts that are still being performed regularly, more than three hundred years later. The powerful music resonates with audiences as well today as it did during the Baroque era.

Maestro Novo chose Joseph Boulogne, Chevalier de Saint Georges Symphony No. 1 because he wanted to bring the music of this infinitely interesting composer and conductor to Annapolis audiences. Boulogne was a creole virtuoso violinist, conductor of the leading symphony orchestra, and a classical composer in Paris who was also a colonel in the Légion Saint - Georges, the first all-Black regiment in Europe.