THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 18, 1995 TAG: 9509160051
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY CRAIG SHAPIRO, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 58 lines
ALLEN SHAFFER didn't have any problem finding the musicians who are joining him for tonight's recital. Putting together the program was a snap, too.
Now, about the logistics.
Moving four harpsichords to Old Dominion University's Chandler Recital Hall, where the Norfolk Chamber Consort begins its 27th season with concertos by Johann Sebastian Bach, wasn't just difficult. It was, Shaffer said, ``a tremendous task.''
And one worth the effort.
``It's a splendid clatter, just fabulous,'' he said. ``If you've never heard the harpsichord before, I can't think of a better introduction. Despite the apparent complexity of the music, it's very accessible. It's infectious.''
Shaffer, the consort's co-director, opens the program with the solo concerto in F minor. Thomas Marshall, harpsichordist for Colonial Williamsburg, and James S. Darling, organist at Bruton Parish Church, then perform the double concerto in C minor.
Giles Cooke, organist at St. Paul's Church in Norfolk, joins Marshall and Shaffer for the triple concerto in C major. The quadruple concerto in A minor, featuring all four harpsichordists, concludes the evening.
Accompanying them will be a string quintet featuring violins, viola, cello and violone - a forerunner of the double bass - re-creating to the note the pieces played by Bach and his sons in Leipzig, Germany, in the 1730s.
With the exception of the quadruple, which is Bach's arrangement of Vivaldi's concerto for four violins, Bach adapted his own music for solo harpsichord, Shaffer said.
``They were written for violin, two violins, violin and oboe,'' he said. ``But it wasn't a matter of arranging the concertos note by note for the harpsichord. Bach adjusted the music so it sounds right for the instrument. If the concerto (originally) was for three violins, what are you going to do? You can't sit there and play just the melody. You have to get the left hand involved.
``So he wrote all the left-hand parts. In a sense, they were really new pieces.''
The longest of tonight's works is only 15 minutes, so the program will be played straight through without intermission.
``There's some excitement,'' Shaffer said, ``in having one more harpsichordist come on stage for each piece.'' MEMO: JUST THE FACTS
What: Norfolk Chamber Consort
Program: Four harpsichord concertos by J.S. Bach
When: 8 tonight
Where: Chandler Recital Hall, Old Dominion University
How much: $5-$10
Information: 440-1803, 622-4542 by CNB