By Stephen Smoot
Early next month, some of the greatest music ever composed and played will grace the inside of Christ Episcopal Church on Sat Oct 5 and St. Peter the Fisherman Church in Fairmont the following day.
Ensemble Chaconne, formed from Peter Bloom, Carol Lewis, and Olav Chris Henrikson, focus on Baroque and Renaissance styles of classical music. Baroque music dominated European culture from the time of the death of English Queen Elizabeth I through the accession of British King George III.
The word translates roughly to “oddly shaped pearl” and was originally meant as a critique. Ever since, the aspects of creative ornamentation that define the music, architecture, and other art of the age have been seen more as features than flaws. It was also a time in which non western influences flowed from every corner of the world with the rise of European colonization and trade.
The style started to form with the innovations of Spanish composer Luis de Narvaez, but is more associated with Monteverdi, Corelli, Vivaldi, Bach, and Handel.
Dolores Yoke, with the Harrison County Cultural Foundation, has spent years promoting music, the arts, and other cultural events. She shared that since 1933 “till about 1985” the area has enjoyed consistently “a series of three, four, or more” important musical events, such as Ensemble Chaconne, per year. Yoke added that for the past 44 years, the Fairmont Chamber Music Association has brought four concerts per year.
Handel and Vivaldi, through the Ensemble Chaconne, will visit Clarksburg Saturday Oct 4 at 4 p.m. This show will celebrate the music of these greats and other Baroque era performers. Yoke shared that “generous donors have covered the fee” for the show. Additionally the event will also include receptions both before and after the show at the Clarksburg History Museum.
Sunday, the group will play an entirely different set, focusing on the sonatas and other masterworks of Johann Sebastian Bach.
“They will play two different shows,” explained Yoke, who went on to add that “they bring their own instruments which are historical instruments.” Over time, handcrafted instruments and their owners, from violins and pianos of classical artists to the electric guitars of hard rock and heavy metal masters, develop unique relationships that carry forth in the quality of the music.
Monday the group will play a special private show for local schoolchildren.
Christ Episcopal Church and St. Peter the Fisherman join a long list of notable venues that have hosted the group. These include London’s National Gallery; Atlanta’s famed Spivey Hall; the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Residency at Davidson College; the venerable Edison Theatre in St. Louis; The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa; The Bach Festival Society of Winter Park Florida; Boston’s legendary Jordan Hall; and The Yale Center for British Art.
