As Autumn leaves start to fall, come lift your spirits with the hauntingly beautiful music of Bach, Corelli and Couperin’s concerto for TWO harpsichords!  Please join us for the Wheatland Concert Series Autumn 2024 recital and dinner on September 28^th! 

No instrument better defines the Baroque period than the harpsichord.  The plucked strings of the harpsichord have a rich and distinctive sound whose clarity uniquely informs the complex melodies characteristic of Baroque music. 

The Wheatland Concert Series is again teaming up with Professor Mark Janello and Professor Paula Maust, both of the Johns Hopkins University Peabody Conservatory, to present selected works of Johann Sebastian Bach, Francois Couperin, Arcangelo Corelli and Johann Ludwig Krebs composed for two harpsichords. 

A four-course dinner will be served during intermission by Chef Erik.  The menu consists of a delicious chicken- mushroom cassoulet, served with local cheeses and wines with a brandied cherry pot du crème for dessert.  A vegetarian dinner option is also available.

Probably invented in Italy in about 1400, the harpsichord was not only a remarkably innovative instrument, but it also marked the emergence of a revolutionary system of partially improvised accompaniment called basso continuo.  Basso continuo is an Italian term that means “continuous bass,” referring to a continuous bass line with harmonies that came to define Baroque music.  The rhythm section in jazz music can be thought of as a modern equivalent to basso continuo. 

We are extremely fortunate to have two scholars and concert harpsichordists together performing works that highlight the beauty and presence of dual harpsichords.   Our repertoire includes: (i) Corelli’s, Trio Sonatas (Op 3 No. 1, 3 and 4), (ii) Krebs’ Concerto for Two Harpsichords in A Minor, (iii) Couperin’s The Apotheosis of Corelli and (iv) Bach’s Concerto for Two Harpsichords in C Major. 

I hope you can join us for this very special performance of the Wheatland Concert Series!