(All Edendale concerts information before 2021 is archived at http://edendaleupclose.blogspot.com )
On Thursday, May 26th at 6:00 p.m. PST on Zoom
Edendale Up Close presented a zoom concert by harpsichordist Arthur Omura.
We are very excited to be able to continue our Edendale Up Close series (which we used to present live at the library) online. Thanks so much to Fulcrum Arts Emerge / Kewa Civic Concerts for making this and future performances possible.
The next program in the series is scheduled for Monday, JULY 18, 2022 at 6:00 pm PT:
CALICO WINDS (woodwind quintet) http://calicowinds.comArthur Omura's performances are archived here:
Louis Marchand
https://youtu.be/JTpdprm2fPc
J.S. Bach
PROGRAM NOTES: A “Musical Duel” between J. S. Bach and Louis Marchand (Le Grand)
In 1717 Louis Marchand was on the skids. He was one of the King’s organists, an organiste du Roi, and a prodigious talent on the harpsichord. But he had a temper, and a mouth to match. He had a messy divorce from his wife more than ten years earlier, and had possibly insulted King Louis – not usually something you bounced back from. As a result of all this, he was on a three-year sabbatical in the German states, perhaps looking for a new job far away from Versailles. As it happened the Elector of Saxony, Augustus the Strong, was looking for a new court organist. The only catch was that he had to win a competition with a local keyboardist also interested in the job: Johann Sebastian Bach. This duel never happened, though. Marchand escaped Dresden the night before, perhaps realizing the strong headwinds he would face. Neither he nor Bach ever worked for the Elector; Marchand would return to France and continue being a hot-head, and Bach would become the Kapellmeister of Leipzig. Later Bach biographers reported that he was familiar with Marchand’s keyboard music, and would play it “in his own manner; that is, very lightly and with much art”.
Arthur Omura is a specialist in historical keyboard instruments based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He studied with Charles Rus in San Francisco, and with Dr. Ladd Thomas and Dr. Lucinda Carver at USC. He has performed at the Boston and Berkeley Early Music festivals and given numerous performances in Los Angeles and the Bay Area. Omura keeps an active performance schedule as an organist and harpsichord player. He has worked with MicroFest, wildUp, iPalpiti, Les Surprises Baroques, Musica Angelica, and the American Bach Soloists. Omura has collaborated on several recordings, most recently on "Kontrapunktus", a collection of new music by composer Mark Moya written in a Baroque idiom. His interest in instrument making and organology led him to work with harpsichord builder Curtis Berak, whom he has assisted in restoring several instruments, and with organ builder Manuel Rosales. Omura is the director of music at Grace Episcopal Church in Martinez, CA. Artist website: https://www.arthuromura.com
Instrument: Harpsichord by Ron Haas, 1989.
Pièces de Clavecin, Premier Livre - Louis Marchand
Prelude
Allemande
Courante II
Sarabande
Gigue
Chaconne
Suite III, BWV 808 - J. S. Bach
Prélude
Allemande
Courante
Sarabande
Gavotte I & II
Gigue
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