Intimate Voices chamber music in an intimate setting
In the time of COVID-19
Intimate Voices free Zoom programming
winter 2022
A Performer's Exploration of Bach's Six Masterpieces for Solo Violin
with violinist Sheila Reinhold
Live on Zoom
Saturday evenings January 15, January 22, January 29, 2022
Zoom opens at 8 pm, program 8:15-10:00 pm EST
Free to All
BONUS session! Wednesday February 9, 8:00 pm EST
Follow-up roundtable with Renée Jolles, violin and James Wilson, cello
moderated by Sheila Reinhold
Registration required for all events
for registration information, please write to info@intimatevoices.org
For centuries, Johann Sebastian Bach's Six Sonatas and Partitas for solo violin have amazed and transfixed audiences and performers alike, as well as some of the world's greatest composers. Johannes Brahms called the Chaconne from Partita #2 "… one of the most wonderful, incomprehensible pieces of music. On a single staff, for a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and the most powerful feelings." The 20th century's most renowned virtuoso violinist, Jascha Heifetz, frequently declared to students in his master class that these awe-inspiring pieces were "our Bible."
Join Intimate Voices Music Director, violinist Sheila Reinhold, who first studied these works with Heifetz, for three evenings designed to deepen our experience of listening to these six masterpieces. She will delve into topics such as the structure of the pieces, the violinistic techniques they demand, and the evolution of how they have been interpreted and performed, always with the goal of illuminating how all these aspects, and many more, affect how audiences and performers experience those “deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings.”
Each evening will include live demonstrations, a live performance, Q&A, and conversation.
Free to all, but registration is required.
For registration information, please write to info@intimatevoices.org
Come to any or all, one registration covers all three evenings.
Program details
January 15: The exploration will begin with a look at Bach’s life, the state of violin playing at the time of their composition, and the factors that influenced the reception of these works in the first two centuries after their composition.
Demonstrations will include examples of the advanced violin techniques Bach utilized, and a brief guided tour through Partita #3 in E Major.
Performance: G. Pisendel, Sonata (1717); Bach, Partita #3 in E Major (1720)
January 22: The second evening will focus on how mid-19th and 20th century violinists perceived and solved the “problems” presented by the pieces, and how the works entered the repertoire to become "the violinist's Bible,” as well as inspiring later compositions designed to utilize new compositional and violinistic techniques.
Demonstrations will include a comparison of the Baroque bow and the modern bow, and a brief guided tour through Sonata #1 in G Minor.
Performance: Bach, Sonata #1 in G minor (1720); E. Ysayë, Sonata #3, “Ballade” (1923)
January 29: The exploration will conclude with a look at the evolution of “Historically Informed Practice” and its effect on today’s interpreters of the Sonatas and Partitas, and end with some examples of the enduring influence of these Bach works into the present day.
Demonstrations will include comparisons of different styles of interpretations, and a brief guided tour through the Chaconne from Partita #2 in D Minor.
Performance: Bach, Partita #2 in D Minor (1720); J. Montgomery, Rhapsody #1 (2015)
In the time of COVID-19
our free online programming
2020-2021
spring/summer 2020
A Little Day Music!
(and a little in the evening)
live on Zoom, April 2 - August 24, 2020
13 short sessions of live music for solo violin or viola, Q&A,
and chat, with Music Director and violinist Sheila Reinhold
winter 2021
3 Sundays at 8 pm EST
live on Zoom
Sheila Reinhold, Carsten Schmidt, James Wilson
January 17, February 7, March 7
spring/summer 2020 program details
Thursday, April 2 at 4:00pm EDT
from Sonata #3 in C Major for Solo Violin, BWV 1005
Largo, Allegro
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Monday, April 6 at 4:00 pm EDT
from Partita #3 in E Major for Solo Violin, BWV 1006
Preludio, Loure
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Monday, April 13 at 4:00 pm EDT
from Partita #3 in E Major for Solo Violin, BWV 1006
Gavotte en Rondeau, Minuets 1 & 2, Bourrée, Gigue
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Tuesday, April 21 at 4:00 pm EDT
in observance of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day
Hebrew Lullaby
Joseph Achron (1886 – 1943)
from Sonata for Solo Violin
Scherzo: Allegretto grazioso
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942)
from Sonata for Solo Violin in A Minor BWV 1003
Andante
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Tuesday, April 28 at 4:00 pm EDT
in observance of Yom HaZikaron, Israeli Memorial Day
Kaddisch
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
from Sonata for Solo Violin in A Minor BWV 1003
Andante, Allegro
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Tuesday, May 5 at 4:00 pm EDT
from Sonata for Solo Violin, Op.31 No.2
Leicht bewegte Viertel
Paul Hindemith (1895-1963)
Fantasia #1 for Solo Violin, TWV 40:14
Largo — Allegro — Grave — Si replica l'allegro
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Tuesday, May 12 at 4:00 pm EDT
Suite #1 in G Major for Solo Cello, BWV 1007 (transcribed for viola)
Prélude, Allemande, Courante, Saraband, Minuets I & II, Gigue
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Tuesday, May 19 at 4:00 pm EDT
Fantasia #11 for Solo Violin, TWV 40:24
Un poco vivace — Soave — Da capo un poco vivace—Allegro
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Recitativo and Scherzo-Caprice, Opus 6
Fritz Kreisler (1875–1962)
Tuesday, May 26 at 4:00 pm EDT
from Sonata in G Minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1001
Adagio, Siciliana, Presto
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Monday, August 3 at 8:00 pm EDT
Fantasia #2 in G Major, TWV 40:15
Largo — Allegro — Allegro
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Sonata for Solo Violin
Allegro con fuoco — Andante cantabile —
Scherzo: Allegretto gracioso — Finale: Allegro risoluto
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942)
Monday, August 10 at 8:00 pm EDT
Suite #3 in C Major for Solo Cello, BWV 1009 (transcribed for viola)
Prélude, Allemande, Courante, Saraband, Bourrees I & II, Gigue
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
Monday, August 17 at 8:00 pm EDT
Fantasia #7 in E-flat Major, TWV 40:20
Dolce — Allegro — Largo — Presto
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
from Suite Mestiza for Solo Violin (2017)
I. Haillí, 'Prayer' (Elegiaco)
II. Vendedora Cholita, 'Little Indian Seller Woman' (Teasing)
Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972)
Monday, August 24 at 8:00 pm EDT
Sonata in G Minor for Solo Violin, BWV 1001
Adagio — Fuga: Allegro — Siciliana — Presto
J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
winter 2021 program details
January 17
Sheila Reinhold, violin
James Wilson, Baroque cello, modern cello
works by J.S. Bach, Fritz Kreisler, V. Silvestrov and others
click below for downloadable program
February 7
Sheila Reinhold, violin
A varied program of music for solo violin featuring a masterwork of the repertoire – the Sonata in G Minor by J. S. Bach – and lyrical, passionate music by two wonderful contemporary American composers, Gabriela Frank and Jessie Montgomery.
click below for downloadable program
March 7
Sheila Reinhold, violin
James Wilson, cello
Carsten Schmidt, harpsichord, piano
works by A. Vivaldi, J. S. Bach, E. Ysayë, A. Pärt, R. Vaughn Williams
click below for downloadable program