Strangers in Strange Lands, for solo violin
Violinists in the 17th century often led lives along borderlines— traveling across political and religious boundaries in search of work and recognition. They sought to distinguish themselves as artists, not merely common fiddlers. They began to find that recognition through displays of ingenuity, marvel and virtuosity. Their most inventive compositions were not exposed to the public through printed copies. They began life with intimate performances to royal or religious patrons at private court presentations. In this unusual and exhilarating program, baroque violinist Lindsey Strand-Polyak brings these emotionally complex tiny masterpieces to the public stage. These rarely performed pieces for solo violin—from Westhoff’s Suite from Mercure galant performed for King Louis XIV, to Colombi’s “Tromba” performed for Duke Francesco II of Modena—challenge our perception of early baroque music. Biber’s timeless Passacaglia, dedicated to Archbishop Khuenberg of Salzburg, concludes the program.Â
Interspersed throughout the music are short pieces of creative nonfiction written by Lindsey Strand-Polyak. These flash-fiction tales combine scholarly research, archival work and historical recreation, and complete the picture of these artist-composers as human beings navigating court politics, religious differences, social class, and foreign lands. Through these manuscript pieces, we can immerse ourselves in the lives of these virtuosi violinists and witness them expanding the instrument’s capabilities while discovering what it meant to be a musician in the seventeenth century.
