Turlough O'Carolan

Bard of the Emerald Isle

Join us for an unforgettable concert by Heartland Baroque celebrating the life and timeless music of Turlough O'Carolan (1670-1738), one of Ireland's most beloved and renowned composers. Honored in Dublin’s St. Patrick’s Cathedral as "The last of the Irish bards," O’Carolan was a musician who epitomized a centuries-old Gaelic tradition of the travelling poet troubadour. His enchanting melodies have endured for centuries, weaving together traditional Irish sounds with the elegance of baroque composition.

This concert will feature a stunning array of his iconic works, including his famous "Carolan’s Concerto,” as well as works by significant Italian baroque composers who influenced O’Carolan-Francesco Geminiani, Arcangelo Corelli and Antonio Vivaldi. Presented by the musicians of Heartland Baroque on Irish wire harp and baroque bassoon, baroque violins, baroque cello, this performance will transport you to the heart of Ireland, where the landscape’s beauty and rich cultural heritage come alive through music.

Whether you are a lifelong fan of baroque or celtic music or are new to O'Carolan’s enchanting tunes, this concert will captivate and inspire, and will transport you through Heartland Baroque’s lively storytelling.

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Wheel of the Innocents

17th-Century Composers in the Venetian Ospedale

Established as charitable communities for the needy in the fourteenth-century, the Venetian Ospedale Grandi served as convents, orphanages, and hospitals for the sick. By the seventeenth and eighteenth-centuries, these institutions also became famous for their highly gifted all-female musical ensembles, attracting audiences from all over Europe. The Ospedale della Pietà achieved particular notoriety because of its resident violinist, composer, and teacher, Antonio Vivaldi. Heartland Baroque presents an imaginative journey heralding the composers and teachers of the Ospedale that came before Vivaldi, and who gave inspiration and influence to him and his colleagues. Music for baroque violins, dulcian, baroque cello, theorbo and baroque guitar by Giovanni Legrenzi (1626-1690) and Johann Rosenmuller (1619-1684) will be featured, along with their Venetian contemporaries. Readings from historical texts about the Foundling Hospitals, and poetry inspired by them will also paint vivid portraits of the lives of these composers and the women who studied under their tutelage.

Alpine Flowers

Celebrating 17th-Century Composers from Germany and Italy

While many of baroque music’s most well-known personalities hail from Italy (think of Vivaldi and Corelli for example, in the 18th-Century), baroque music overflows with a broad and encompassing array of styles, and with rich repertoire that comes from a wide geographic region, full of international flair. This program features virtuosic music for two violins by composers from both Italy and Germany, and also particularly some composers associated with Dresden. These musicians and composers traveled all over the continent and heard each other’s styles. The conventions they encountered in each other’s work made strong artistic impressions on German composers such as Johann Wilhelm Furchheim, Dietrich Becker, and Johann Vierdanck as well as on Italian composers, Tarquinio Merula, Marco Uccellini, Carlo Farina, and Giovanni Paolo Cima. Alpine Flowers features these 17th-Century composers from both sides of the Alps, demonstrating their breathtaking use of the most electrifying dramatic elements, timbres, colors, and technical brilliance that characterize 17th-Century baroque music. Heartland Baroque often enjoys bringing other literary/spoken elements into their concerts. For this concert the group will also incorporate writings about flowers from 17th-Century sources to enhance the adventure of the music.

The Winged Lion and The Unremembered Sea

A walking tour of Venice through the music of its 17th-Century masters,
and in the words of Mark Twain

Heartland Baroque presents The Winged Lion and the Unremembered Sea, a program telling the story of Venice with the sounds of its most renowned 17th-Century musical masters, and in the words of famed humorist Mark Twain. Selections from The Innocents Abroad, published in 1869, chronicle Twain’s time in Venice as he journeyed through Europe with a group of Americans. Juxtaposed against this is the baroque period, when Venice is the veritable musical capital of Italy and is often considered one of the most alive and artistically innovative cities in the entirety of Europe. Venice’s baroque musicians paint the landscape of the city with vivid and sacred colors. Twain’s inventive (and often wry) descriptions of her gondoliers, churches, ancient bridges, art and piazzas give tender testimony to Venice’s cultural significance. Take an imaginative and compelling walking tour of Venice with Mark Twain as our 19th-Century guide, hand-in-hand with the most-revered Venetian composers of the 17th-Century: Claudio Monteverdi, Giovanni Battista Fontana, Alessandro Grandi, Dario Castello, and Biagio Marini. Texts of Mark Twain honoring La Serenissima will be featured.

Wild Giants

A musical celebration of the quests of benevolent monarchs and gentle knights, featuring readings from Miguel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote

We spend our days looking for stories. Whether choosing a vivid beach read, gathering around the campfire (looking for symbiosis around the water cooler!), or queuing up the next Netflix series we are going to binge-watch, humans have an insatiable and evolutionary appetite for the magic of wondrous stories. The best of these stories don’t even always have the flashiest titles or plotlines; they linger masterfully, and they astonish us by deepening our humanity. Heartland Baroque is thrilled to present “Wild Giants,” a program honoring the story of a hero’s journey through music and text. Miquel de Cervantes’ Don Quixote, one of the great novels in Western literature is a pivotal work, telling the classic tale of a knight, his squire, and their quests in the name of chivalry. This fable is curiously modern, giving voice to an array of brilliant characters and their divergent experiences with dignity and compassion, and offering a nuanced critique of the realities of 17th-Century Spain and Imperialism. Many composers throughout history have been inspired to tell the story of this literary masterpiece through music, and this concert features Georg Phillip Telemann’s sonic tribute, ‘Burlesque de Quixotte.’ The other composers in this concert represent the lexicon of the strongest artists under Austrian Habsburg rule in the early Baroque period. Heartland Baroque is thrilled to commemorate this dynasty of musicians with works that enhance the depiction of those who take up the sword to defend the helpless. Musicians such as Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, Antonio Bertali, Giovanni Valentini, and their contemporaries will be featured, with works for violins, viola, cello, theorbo and baroque guitar, dulcian, and percussion.

My Daughter the Singer
The Music and Life of Venetian-born Composer,Antonia Bembo

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Heartland Baroque blends music and narrative in a concert celebrating Venetian-born composer Antonia Bembo (c. 1640-c. 1720), My Daughter the Singer. Giving insight into the lives of women composers of the Baroque, as they often overcame excruciating circumstances, Heartland Baroque is eager to tell Bembo’s inspiring story through her music and readings of documents from her life. Bembo survived personal tragedy and creatively reinvented herself. A student of Cavalli, admired for her singing, Bembo had a tumultuous family life. She suffered abandonment and abuse from her unfaithful husband, and though she brought him to trial for his crimes, he was found not guilty. With the help of guitarist Francesco Corbetta, Bembo fled Venice for France. Once established in Paris, Bembo became revered by King Louis XIV for her exquisite compositions, and he later granted her a pension. Bembo’s ability to continue her career in spite of adversity shows her profound versatility. Music of Francesco Cavalli, Giovanni Legrenzi, Antonia Bembo, Francesco Corbetta, François Couperin and others will be featured.

Heartland Baroque is excited to present The Benevolent Monarch, a program honoring the music and musicians from the House of Habsburg in the 17th-Century. As Holy Roman Emperor from 1637 until his death, Ferdinand III was an outstanding patron of music, and was himself a composer. In this concert, Heartland Baroque celebrates not only the imperial throne, but commemorates the dynasty of musicians for whom Ferdinand himself also had much respect. Works of Venetian composers at the Hapsburg court by Antonio Bertali, Giovanni Battista Buonamente, Massimiliano Neri, and Giovanni Valenti will be featured, as well as works from their colleagues Johann Joseph Fux and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, including Schmelzer’s stunning Lamento sopra la morte di Ferdinando III. This program includes music from Heartland's debut recording of the same title, and explores the lives of these exquisite court artists.

The Benevolent Monarch

Music and musicians of the

17th-Century House of Habsburg

Baroque'n Hearted
A Love Letter to 17th-Century Italy

Heartland Baroque is thrilled to perform Baroquen-Hearted, a program which celebrates the passion and allure of Italy in the middle of the 17-Century with poetry and music. While some folks may associate love affairs with hearts, flowers, candy, and champagne, Heartland Baroque is excited to enchant you with a rich and varied musical “box of chocolates!” Heartland Baroque members Martie Perry and David Wilson, baroque violins, Keith Collins, dulcian, Barbara Krumdieck, baroque cello, and William Simms, theorbo, pay tribute to this forward-thinking musical world of 17th-Century Italy in a program of instrumental music full of deep delights from composers that include Marco Uccellini, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Isabella Leonarda, Dario Castello, Biagio Marini, and their contemporaries, with readings from poetry of the 17th-Century about love and romance. This would be the perfect program to consider as a Valentine's Day concert presentation!