Mozart for Organ and Orchestra 

Sunday July 11, 2010
4:00 PM
St. John's  Anglican Church
Ticket price: $39
Mozart originally composed these charming little gems for the Salzburg Cathedral. Save the airfare and hear them in the intimate acoustics of St. John's.

Michael Bloss, organ
The Talisker Players
Stephen Marvin, violin
Andrew Bensler, violin
Rebecca Morton, cello
Calum MacLeod, bass
 Jurgen Petrenko - conductor

Epistle Sonatas - Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 – 1791)

No. 1 in E-flat major, K.67
No. 2 in B-flat major, K.68
No. 3 in D major, K.69
No. 4 in D major, K.144
No. 5 in F major, K.145
No. 6 in B-flat major, K.212
No. 7 in F major, K.224
No. 8 in A major, K.225
No. 9 in F major, K.244
No. 10 in D major, K.245
No. 11 in G major, K.274
No. 13 in C major, K.328
No. 15 in C major, K.336

We do not often associate Mozart with organ music, and his life-long association with the instrument is often overlooked. Indeed it is Mozart who first referred to the organ as “the king of instruments”, and was well-known for his organ improvisations. Very little of this music was ever written down, and consequently is lost to us today.

This afternoon’s music comes from 1772 to 1780, Mozart’s last years in Salzburg. His responsibilities at the cathedral in Salzburg included playing the organ. These little gems were played after the reading of the Epistle; they were essentially liturgical travelling music to cover the preparations for the reading of the Gospel. The splendid baroque cathedral in Salzburg had five organs: a large instrument in the back gallery to support the choir and the orchestra, and a small instrument in the tiny galleries that adorned each of the four massive pillars that held up the dome. These galleries were just large enough to accommodate a handful of string players, and it is from here that these sonatas would have been played.

The sonatas begin as charming miniature movements, to accommodate the extreme restrictions placed on music by the new Prince-Archbishop Colloredo, a source of extreme frustration for young Mozart. As the years progress, Mozart gets bolder, and the sonatas get longer, to the extent that the last one is in fact a miniature concerto. That same year, tensions between Mozart and Colloredo came to a head, and Wolfgang was sent packing, literally with a kick in the behind, (administered not by the Prince-Archbishop, but by a footman especially employed for such occasions), and the era of the Epistle Sonata came to an end.

Jurgen Petrenko

Since April 2007, Michael Bloss has served as Director of Music Ministry at Dublin Street United Church in Guelph. Here he continues a distinguished tradition of pastoral music ministry which, over 30 years, has included tenures at the Cathedral Church of St. James' in Toronto. First (Park) Congregational Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Timothy Eaton Memorial Church in Toronto. An international prize-winner, Michael's career has included solo venues in Europe, Japan, and throughout Canada. In addition, Michael has been featured on CBC Radio and Television, National Public Radio, and Swiss Radio. Michael also indulges in his other passion, aviation, through his work as a flight instructor and pilot at Toronto Airways Buttonville Municipal Airport in Toronto. 

Talisker Players is unique in Ontario as an independent professional ensemble of instrumentalists dedicated to working with singers. Since its founding in 1995, the ensemble has gained an enviable reputation for sensitive and polished choral accompanying in a wide variety of styles.
The members of Talisker Players combine a passion for the vocal/instrumental tradition with expertise in the latest developments in early-music performance and twentieth-century techniques. They are professional musicians with a wide variety of experience and they play with many other ensembles, such as the Canadian Opera Company and National Ballet of Canada orchestras, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, the Hamilton Philharmonic, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony, and the Toronto Symphony. Most are also active chamber musicians. Many of them perform on both modern and period instruments.
The ensemble performs regularly with a wide variety of choirs throughout southern Ontario. Its repertoire includes the works of all the major composers from early Baroque to 21st century, including many premiere performances.
The Players also present their own vocal chamber music series at Trinity St. Paul’s Center in Toronto, a venture which takes their special skills into the more intimate realm of chamber music. More information is available on their website, www.taliskerplayers.ca.
 

Born in Toronto, Jurgen Petrenko has Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Toronto, studying organ with Douglas Bodle and John Tuttle, and conducting with Victor Feldbrill. For almost 18 years he worked for CBC Radio Music, as producer of programs including Choral Concert, Saturday Afternoon at the Opera, the Opera Quiz, Critic’s Choice, Take Five, and most recently as executive producer of Music and Company. He has also presented over 400 weekly "Organ Thursday" features.
Jurgen is the co-founder and artistic director of the 100-voice Toronto Classical Singers, and has conducted dozens of major choral/orchestral works. He teaches a seminar on oratorio performance for graduate voice majors at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He is also in demand as an organ accompanist, and has recorded a number of CDs with choirs conducted by Noel Edison. Jurgen can be heard weekly as the titular organist of St. John’s Anglican Church in Elora, Ontario, and served as accompanist for that choir’s 2005 residences in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, and Canterbury Cathedral. Since September 2008, Jurgen has been the General Manager of the prestigious Elora Festival.
Jurgen is an accomplished sailor, and is proud to have earned his black belt in karate. He enjoys cooking, fine wines, computer games, Victorian novels, and working on his farm near Elora, where he lives with his wife Emily, their dog, and three horses.