Return of the Baroque
Mention Baroque music and many people may express a nodding familiarity with it, but probe further and they would be hard-pressed to define what exactly it is. Unlike Classical and Romantic music, Baroque music has had little exposure in China.
The English word Baroque is derived from the Italian barocco, meaning bizarre or "odd pearl".
The term was used to describe the highly decorative style of 17th and 18th century churches and public buildings in Europe and later became associated with a clearly definable type of music from around 1600 to 1750. Baroque music expresses order. It is always lively and tuneful and retains a strong impact on music to this day.
To introduce this important musical era and showcase its development, the 13th Beijing Music Festival (BMF), on till Oct 31, has adopted Baroque to Contemporary Music, as its theme.
When the Beijing Music Festival started in 1998, a time when domestic audiences had access to few high-quality concerts, the major purpose was to bring well-known orchestras and star soloists to China, Yu Long, BMF's artistic director says.
"With the boom in the classical music scene, sophisticated concert-goers are no longer satisfied listening to Lang Lang or the Berlin Philharmonic, but are more keen to know about the concert program. Hence, we now work more on giving the program a theme."
BMF settled on Baroque, because it is now in fashion, says Tu Song, its program director.
"Music has its fashions, like everything else," Tu explains. "These days we are witnessing a resurgence of interest in Baroque music, a genre that combines beauty with order."
He reveals how, while driving home recently, he happened to listen to American pop singer-songwriter Pink's song Sober and was pleasantly surprised to discover the last eight bars had a Baroque style, beautifully matched in rhythm and feeling.
But Baroque music has been neglected in China, he says. "We have no orchestra specializing in Baroque music, the Conservatory has no Baroque major and not many musicians can play Baroque instruments."
Tu admits that he, a clarinet player himself, did not realize the beauty of Baroque music until he listened to a concert by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in Canada in 2005. The ensemble has been invited to perform at the 2010 BMF.
Christopher Hogwood, one of the most influential conductors and harpsichordists of early music, dubbed "the von Karajan of early music", will conduct the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra to perform works by Bach and Handel, both of whom are important composers of the Baroque era. Their program also includes the Austrian composer Anton Webern's (1883-1945) Ricercar arranged from Bach's Musical Offering.
"Webern's Ricercar is a homage to Bach and also a modern exploration of early Baroque instrumental composition," Tu says.
Another strong Baroque statement will be Handel's brilliant opera Semele, produced by Brussels' Theatre Royal de la Monnaie and directed by conceptual Chinese artist Zhang Huan. Zhang sets the 1744 European opera in a 450-year-old Chinese wooden temple and makes it an interesting dialogue between the East and West. The production premiered at Theatre Royal de la Monnaie in September 2009 and all nine shows were sold out.
The festival also features many programs created by modern composers, with some paying homage to the Baroque tradition.
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