Great Barrington — Nothing you have ever heard at a Close Encounters With Music (CEWM) concert could prepare you for what the organization is bringing to the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center on March 17. Nothing—with the possible exception of the ACRONYM Baroque string band, which delighted an amazed crowd of early music fans at the Mahaiwe in May 2018, with an unforgettable performance of rare 17th-century gems unearthed by the group’s founder, Dr. Kivie Cahn-Lipman. Kivie is one of three musicians from ACRONYM who are also members of Makaris, the Celtic Baroque band appearing at the Mahaiwe on Sunday, March 17, at 4 p.m.
A reception on the Mahaiwe stage follows Sunday’s concert. You are invited to meet the members of Makaris and enjoy a light repast from Authentic Eats by Ukrainian chef Oleg.
Makaris specializes in Celtic music from the Age of the Enlightenment, in addition to newer repertoire informed by traditional music of the British Isles. Its members are early, contemporary, and Celtic folk music specialists from around the country: string, wind, and keyboard players; historical archeologists; composers; vocalists; percussionists; visual and multimedia artists; conductors; and more. You would probably have the basis of a pretty decent school of fine arts with members of this band, because all are educators, and several are Juilliard graduates or professors. Their diversity of skills, backgrounds, and predilections is extraordinarily broad, and on stage, this seems to translate directly into the richly nuanced and spiritually unified musical performances they are known for.
Based in and around New York City, Makaris’ lineup varies according to the needs of each project. Musicians appearing on the 17th are:
- Fiona Gillespie, soprano
- Kivie Cahn-Lipman, cello
- Caitlin Hedge, violin
- Doug Balliett, bass
- Ben Matus, Irish whistle, bassoon, and bagpipes
- Liv Castor, harp
- Elliot Figg, harpsichord and organ
- Paul Morton, theorbo and guitar
Sunday’s program, titled “A Bach Family Concert,” focuses on the music of Scotland and Ireland—traditional works that 17th- and 18th-century European composers, starting with the Bach family, liked to arrange for parlor performance. To fully appreciate what’s going on in Sunday’s concert, we need to look closely at the program, so I’m giving you the whole thing here, grouped by composer, just as I received it from Makaris. The delight is in the details, where we notice members of the Bach family, plus Haydn and Beethoven, making erudite arrangements of simple Celtic music. Of course, it’s no longer authentic Celtic music once a German composer gets hold of it, and yet there is a definite charm to its very inauthenticity—sometimes amounting to a kind of endearing awkwardness—that listeners well acclimated to Bach, Beethoven, and Haydn are likely to enjoy with little effort. But hearing the German masters fiddling around with traditional Celtic music is a bit like having your dad show up to a rave party. It sure is pretty, though!
Here is Sunday’s program:
Trad., arr. Johann Christian Bach (1735–1782)
The Broom of Cowdenknowes
Turlough O’Carolan (1670–1738)
Sheebeg & Sheemore—Planxty Lady Wrixon
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Bourrèe Anglaise (from Partita, BWV 1013)
Bourrèe Anglaise (from Suite, BWV 822)
Trad., arr. John Playford (1623–1666)
Parson’s Farewell—A Scotch Tune—Dainty Davy—Dublin Castle
Trad.
Ned o’ the Hill
Wilhelm Friedemann Bach (1710–1784)
Bourree
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732–1795)
Anglaise (from Musikalische Nebenstunden)
Fickle Jenny
O’Carolan
Mabel Kelly—Mary O’Neill
Carolan’s Cup
Trad., arr. Johann Philipp Bach (1752–1846)
Aria scotese [Lovely Nansy] con variazzione
INTERMISSION
William Dixon (fl. 1750–1790)—Robert Bremner (c.1713–1789)
Stool of Repentance—Lady Doll Sinclair’s Reel
Trad., arr. Franz Joseph Haydn (1732–1809)
My Boy Tammy, Hob.XXXIa:18
Jenny Dang the Weaver, Hob.XXXIa:240
Trad., arr. Alexander Munro (fl. 1730s)
Bony Christy
Trad., arr. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Dermot and Shelah (25 Irish Songs, WoO 152, no. 14)
Sunset (25 Scottish Songs, op. 108, no. 2)
Come Draw We Round the Cheerful Ring (25 Irish Songs, WoO 152, no. 8)
Trad., arr. Lorenzo Bocchi (d. 1725)
Plea Rarkeh na Rourkough; an Irish wedding improved after an Italian manner
Trad., arr. James Oswald (1710–1769) and Charles MacLean (c.1712–1770)
Corn Riggs from The Gentle Shepherd
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Hear Celtic Baroque Band Makaris at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, 14 Castle Street, Great Barrington, on Sunday, March 17, at 4 p.m. Tickets are available here or by calling (413) 528-0100.
