Description
April 7, 2023 – Concerto Antico
Concerto Antico is described by Jaap as so: “Last year, the Orchestre Classique de Montréal and Ensemble Caprice asked me to contribute a new work for a program featuring music by Handel. It of course caused me to contemplate the music of times past. What makes a work a distinct reflection of its own time? In the early 18th century, music made much use of dance forms, and was often created to be entertainment for ‘the privileged’ in society. So how are we different from people in the eighteenth century?
In a non-musical conception of the Renaissance era, Nostradamus stared into a smoke covered mirror to look at the future. In a metaphorical sense, I tried to do the opposite: stare into the mirror of our times to look at the past. If anything, the socio-economic developments of the past two hundred years have significantly widened not just the circle of listeners to music but, as the pandemic has shown, the mass participation of the entire society in the dominant conversations of the day.
Concerto Antico is written in five short movements that start in the here and now, then return to the style of the 18th century, and gradually work their way back to the future. The music ends where it started, but is transformed. History may repeat itself, but we as an audience, affected by our shared experiences, have changed.”
