The Dryden Ensemble presents “Musica Stravagante,” a program of Baroque music by German and Italian masters at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 6, at Trinity Episcopal Church, 6587 Upper York Road, Solebury, and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 7, at Miller Chapel, on the campus of Princeton Theological Seminary, 64 Mercer St., Princeton, N.J.
General admission tickets are $25 per concert, and student tickets are free with a valid ID. Tickets may be purchased at
drydenensemble.org or at the door.
The concert features Baroque music for oboe and strings. Opening the program is Vivaldi’s “Concerto for Strings in G Minor,” followed by Albinoni’s “Concerto in D Minor for oboe and strings.”
Two 17th-century works by Biago Marini and Andrea Falconieri follow, both for two violins with continuo. They are Marini’s “Sonata sopra la Monica” and Falconieri’s “Passacalle.”
Johann Rosenmüller functions as a bridge between the Italian and German halves of the program. His “Sonata Decima in F for five-part strings” features polychoral and fugal sections.
Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, a Bohemian-Austrian violin virtuoso, introduced many new techniques, including scordatura, or alternate tuning to produce particular affects. The concert includes his “Partia III in A Major.”
After a solo work for Baroque lute, the program closes with Bach’s “Concerto in A Major for oboe d’amore and strings.” Like many of Bach’s concertos, it survives in its later incarnation as a harpsichord concerto.
The Dryden Ensemble includes Jane McKinley, oboe and oboe d’amore; Vita Wallace and Rebecca Harris, violins; Andrea Andros, viola; Lisa Terry, viola da gamba and cello; Anne Trout, double bass; Daniel Swenberg, theorbo and Baroque guitar; and Webb Wiggins, harpsichord, all performing on period instruments.
