Kleine Kammermusik

Today is the last day to watch Sans Souci! For access, visit https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci. Enjoy!

Available through Friday! Thank you so much to everyone who has attended Sans Souci. We are so grateful to have the opportunity to share this program with you. If you haven't yet had a chance to watch, there's still time! Visit https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci to view anytime through THIS FRIDAY, April 2. In the meantime, enjoy this taste of Corrette's Les Délices de la Solitude (from the first Aria of Sonata II). ... Sans Souci: French for without a care, a phrase that conjures up images of idylls away from the madding crowd and the strictures of city life. It is also the name of Frederick the Great’s Baroque palace, where he could escape the business of running a kingdom. While none of the works we have chosen originated from the Prussian court, each touches on the nonchalant mood of mid-eighteenth-century aristocratic diversion that so inspired the music-loving King Frederick. Telemann’s suite actually uses Sans Souci as the title of one of its movements; Corrette’s Les Délices de la solitude evokes, through the sombre tones of bass instruments, the consoling effect of being alone with nature; while Weiss’s oboe sonata mingles the formality of courtly dances with an inner contemplative spirit. Join us for an evening of music that will transport you from the cares of our modern world, much like the respite from the burdens of an earlier time. Audio recording: David Walters Videography: David Walters and Austin Greene Produced and edited by David Walters LLC

Thank you so much to everyone who joined us last night for the premiere of Sans Souci. And don't worryif you weren't able to be there, it's not too late! You can still access the performance online through April 2. Just visit https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci to view at your convenience. Enjoy! Sans Souci: French for without a care, a phrase that conjures up images of idylls away from the madding crowd and the strictures of city life. It is also the nam...e of Frederick the Great’s Baroque palace, where he could escape the business of running a kingdom. While none of the works we have chosen originated from the Prussian court, each touches on the nonchalant mood of mid-eighteenth-century aristocratic diversion that so inspired the music-loving King Frederick. Telemann’s suite actually uses Sans Souci as the title of one of its movements; Corrette’s Les Délices de la solitude evokes, through the sombre tones of bass instruments, the consoling effect of being alone with nature; while Weiss’s oboe sonata mingles the formality of courtly dances with an inner contemplative spirit. Join us for an evening of music that will transport you from the cares of our modern world, much like the respite from the burdens of an earlier time. See more

Tonight’s the night! Take a break from your busy day, forget your worries, and join us for the online premiere of Sans Souci. This concert, featuring intimate chamber music by Telemann, Corrette, and Weiss, promises to be a welcome respite from the chaos of daily life. The live premiere, which includes live chat with some of the musicians, happens TONIGHT, March 19 at 7:30 pm. Purchase tickets ($15/household) at https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci. And ...don’t worry: if you aren’t able to attend tonight, you will be able to view the concert on demand through April 2. We can’t wait to see you there! Sans Souci: French for without a care, a phrase that conjures up images of idylls away from the madding crowd and the strictures of city life. It is also the name of Frederick the Great’s Baroque palace, where he could escape the business of running a kingdom. While none of the works we have chosen originated from the Prussian court, each touches on the nonchalant mood of mid-eighteenth-century aristocratic diversion that so inspired the music-loving King Frederick. Telemann’s suite actually uses Sans Souci as the title of one of its movements; Corrette’s Les Délices de la solitude evokes, through the sombre tones of bass instruments, the consoling effect of being alone with nature; while Weiss’s oboe sonata mingles the formality of courtly dances with an inner contemplative spirit. Join us for an evening of music that will transport you from the cares of our modern world, echoing the respite from the burdens of an earlier time.

Much like Telemann, Michel Corrette valued the distribution of his music into people’s homes. The wonderfully evocative title of his 1739 collection Les Délices de la solitude (The Delights of Solitude) communicates the intimate nature of the pieces it contains. This collection of six sonatas is written for the flexible instrumentation of cello, viola da gamba, or bassoon with basso continuo, lending itself to a range of possibilities for a richly textured fabric of sound. ...In our performance of the second sonata, the bassoon assumes the melodic voice and the listener revels in a world of bass instruments in music ranging from tender airs to a rollicking tambourin-like Allegro. In a year during which many of us have been searching for moments of delight in our own solitude, we invite you to join us for an evening of intimate chamber music among dear friends. Hear this piece, along with Telemann’s G minor Ouverture and Johann Sigismund Weiss’s Oboe Sonata, in our program Sans Souci, which will premiere online TOMORROW, Friday, March 19 at 7:30 pm. If you are unable to attend the premiere, the concert will be available on demand through April 2. Tickets are $15 per household and can be purchased at https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci. Image: Johannes Vermeer, A Woman with a Lute, ca. 166264, Metropolitan Museum of Art. See more

Enjoy this sneak peek of our upcoming concert, Sans Souci . With its buoyant melody and catchy syncopations, this festive hornpipe from Telemann’s G minor Ouverture always brings a smile to our faces. Hear the rest of this piece, along with Johann Sigismund Weiss’s Oboe Sonata and Corrette’s Les Délices de la Solitude in our program Sans Souci, which premieres online this Friday, March 19 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $15 per household and can be reserved at https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci Audio recording: David Walters Videography: David Walters and Austin Greene Produced and edited by David Walters LLC

The Sans Souci palace in Potsdam, whose name means without worry, was built by Frederick the Great as a refuge from the hustle and bustle of the Berlin court. While very few of us can relate to the pressures of royalty, we can all easily become overwhelmed by the circumstances of daily life, especially considering the myriad of unexpected challenges we have faced throughout this past year. We invite you to take a moment to step back, take a deep breath, and enjoy some music with ussans souci. ONLINE PREMIERE: Friday, March 19 at 7:30pm (with live chat) Available through April 2 Tickets $15 per household at https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci

It’s in the can! Our second recording of the year, Grandeur et Tendresse: Airs from French Baroque Opera, will be available in a just a few weeks. Stay tunedwe can’t wait to share this program with you! In the meantime, please join us for the premiere of Sans Souci THIS FRIDAY, March 19 at 7:30pm. We hope to "see" you there! Tickets can be found at https://kleinekammermusik.ticketspice.com/sans-souci.

And that’s a wrap! We just finished recording our first concert of 2021, featuring some beautiful music by Telemann, Corrette, and Weiss. Stay tuned for details about the premiere!

Did you spot a special guest at our concert last summer? He was a bit overdressed, but we hope he enjoyed it nonetheless! [Original photo by Michele Corbman Photography, with a playful addition by Joseph DiPonio]

In October we were fortunate to be able to get together and make a few causal recordings. We hope you enjoy this short video featuring the first movement of the Sonata à 4 in C Major by Arcangelo Califano. Join the Kleine Kammermusik family by participating in our fall fundraiser. Your contributions strengthen our organization and our community, helping us to fulfill our mission of making meaningful connections through vibrant and immersive performances of Baroque music. Every single dollar counts. Visit www.kleinekammermusik.com/support to donate today. Thank you so much for your support and we wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and meaningful holiday season. https://youtu.be/tLEuj41gJps

As our fundraising campaign nears an end, we want to thank you, our beloved community, for being there for us. You are the real motivation behind what we do, and we find great joy in sharing music with you. This has been a challenging year for so many of us and, while life feels far from normal, we know you share our conviction that music has the capacity to comfort and heal, as well as to bring people together, even when we cannot occupy the same physical space. This spring ...we will be bringing lots of exciting events your way, including online concerts, an in-person (outdoor) soirée, and a performance in collaboration with the Renaissance band Piffaro. We will also be working on some larger projects, including a professional music video, a chamber version of Handel’s Messiah, and our second CD recording. All of these events require significant funding, especially now that high-quality video and audio recording have become essential in much of what we do. We are excited to connect with you through music, even though it will look a little different this season. Your contribution helps us to do that in this moment when we need it most. No amount is too small, and we appreciate every gift we receive. Visit www.kleinekammermusik.com/support to make a tax-deductible contribution today. Thank you so much for your support and we wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and meaningful holiday season.

As we approach the end of the year, we are reflecting on some of the things we have been able to accomplish. Despite the challenges surrounding the pandemic, we are so grateful to have had a few opportunities to safely come together during the past several months. In July, we participated in a week-long virtual Mastermind workshop led by the Akropolis Reed Quintet. This was a wonderfully intense week, which encouraged us to evaluate who we are as an ensemble and how we can ...continue to grow while keeping our mission and commitment to our community at the center of all that we do. In September we were thrilled to play a concert together in the beautiful garden of the historic Powel House in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, in true 2020 fashion, we had to compete with cacophonous helicopters hovering overhead for the entire duration of the concert, but it was still such a treat to make music together, and to share it with a live audience in a beautiful space. In October we spent a few days together planning for future events and experimenting with recording a few pieces. We are realizing the importance of creating good video content to share with you all and, while none of us are particularly savvy in this area, we are learning from each attempt (and acknowledging that we will often need to rely on professional audio and video recording for upcoming projects). Throughout the entire pandemic, we have been meeting online almost every week. We’ve been making plans, refining our goals, and discussing ways to stay connected with you. We have some exciting things planned for the spring, including online performances, an in-person (outdoor) soiree, and a professionally-recorded music video. We look forward to bringing more wonderful music to you, but we need your help. If you haven’t done so already, please consider making a contribution today so we can continue to share music with you and your loved ones during the coming months. Thank you so much for your support! Please visit www.kleinekammermusik.com/support to make a tax-deductible contribution today!

This year has presented a lot of challenges for musicians such as myself, but it has also allowed for quality time at home, which I actually really enjoy. I’ve been using the time to learn some new thingslike working on some new repertoire and taking courses in copy editingwhile also reconnecting with some of my favorite domestic activities. Just a few weeks before the pandemic set in, I started baking sourdough again after a five-year hiatus. This quickly became an engagi...ng project for me, and I’ve managed to stick with a fairly steady weekly routine. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be able to go back to store-bought bread again! Like Meg and Becca, I have found great satisfaction in crafting during this time. I finally finished knitting a sweater that had been neglected for many months, which has been welcome on some of the wintry days we’ve already experienced here in NYC. And, out of the obvious necessity, I’ve been sewing more face masks than I ever could have imagined. (Meg and I have made well over a hundred masks for Kleine Kammermusik, which are available for sale on our website.) The cocktail that I enjoy most, whether connecting with friends for a Zoom social hour or just curling up on the sofa with my husband and our silly cat Sammy, is a Manhattan. It’s a classic, made even better when using a fantastic vermouth. Rye Manhattan 2 oz. rye (Deadwood) 1 oz. sweet vermouth (Cocchi) Dash of bitters Fill a pint glass with ice and add rye, vermouth, and bitters. Stir and strain into a chilled glass. Garnish with a cherry. Stephanie Corwin, KKM bassoonist Join the Kleine Kammermusik family by participating in our fall fundraiser. Your contributions strengthen our organization and our community, helping us to fulfill our mission of making meaningful connections through vibrant and immersive performances of Baroque music. Every single dollar counts. Visit www.kleinekammermusik.com/support to donate online today. Thank you so much for your support and we wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and meaningful holiday season.

"Now that I have recovered from having two knee-replacement surgeries over the past several months, I have been keeping relatively busy. I’m not back to playing tennis yet, but I’ve done quite a bit of walking and even went on a hike! Like many other folks, I’ve started crafting again in earnest and I’m about to complete a needlepoint project that I’ve been working on for over a year. Interestingly, I’ve had two Messiah projects this season. While it has been so nice to see ...my colleagues, I have found the live stream and recording situations to be somewhat frustrating. I tend to bounce off of other musicians’ energy, which is difficult to do when we are spaced so far apart from one another. However, I have taken up the melodica, which I’ve been playing with my sister and my friend Barbara Weiss! We love reading three-part Renaissance music, but enjoy tangos even more. And, in case you were wondering, melodica playing is enhanced with a good prohibition-era cocktail, like the one below: Corpse Reviver #2 2 parts Cognac 1 part Sweet Vermouth 1 part Calvados or Apple Brandy Stir and serve in a coupe or martini glass with a lemon or orange twist" Rebecca Humphrey, KKM cellist and gambist Join the Kleine Kammermusik family by participating in our fall fundraiser. Your contributions strengthen our organization and our community, helping us to fulfill our mission of making meaningful connections through vibrant and immersive performances of Baroque music. Every single dollar counts. Visit www.kleinekammermusik.com/support to donate online today. Thank you so much for your support and we wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and meaningful holiday season.

"It’s certainly been the year of adjustment and at the Burgess/Schelhase residence we’ve managed to find our way back to filling our days with things that make us happy. Speaking for myself, having the chance to play and explore new repertoire has been so relaxing and productive. To balance that out, I’ve been learning how to wear the hats required to be a broadcaster, video editor, and sound engineer. Those particular hats are doffed to those masters in our industry. Then th...ere is the pleasure of family life, making music and cooking with my husband, Geoffrey, and cuddles with our cat Luc. To spice it all up, our cocktail experimentation has continued and for Halloween this year I tried making Milk Punch, an old fashioned festive classic. Follow the recipe below and enjoy! Milk Punch oz Bourbon oz Dark Rum oz cinnamon sugar syrup 1 oz ice cold milk Small splash of vanilla if desired Shake all ingredients well in a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a coup glass. Dust with cinnamon, nutmeg and a small pinch of clove." Leon Schelhase, KKM harpsichordist Join the Kleine Kammermusik family by participating in our fall fundraiser. Your contributions strengthen our organization and our community, helping us to fulfill our mission of making meaningful connections through vibrant and immersive performances of Baroque music. Every single dollar counts. Visit www.kleinekammermusik.com/support to donate online today. Thank you so much for your support and we wish you all the best for a happy, healthy, and meaningful holiday season.