On April 13, the Mayflower Chamber Orchestra under the direction of J. Fred Thornton will present a concert of music titled “Baroque Pops: Greatest Hits of 1725”. The performance is free to the public, although a donation of $10 to $20 to help pay for the orchestral musicians is suggested.
The Sunday afternoon concert will be held at the Meetinghouse Church (formerly the Central Baptist Church), 3 Nickerson Avenue (across from the Town Hall parking lot), in Middleboro, starting at 3:00. Both buildings are wheelchair accessible.
The orchestra consists of freelance musicians who play with other orchestras on the South Shore. In the past they accompanied the Mayflower Chorale from 1984 through its last “Messiah” in 2004, and the Chorale’s successor, the Mayflower Camerata, since 2016. Their performances included major works by Bach (the “Mass in B Minor”), Handel, (18 performances of “Messiah”), Haydn (“The Creation”, “The Seasons”, and the “Lord Nelson Mass”), Mozart (“Coronation Mass”, “Mass in C Minor” and the “Requiem”), Beethoven (the Ninth Symphony and “Choral Fantasy”), Mendelssohn (“Elijah”), and Requiems by Brahms, Faure, and Rutter. At these concerts they occasionally performed works for orchestra alone, including Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons”; Mozart’s Symphonies Nos. 29, 38, & 39, and Piano Concertos Nos. 9 and 23 (with Henry Santos as soloist); and Haydn’s Symphonies Nos. 49 and 70. In 2022 the Mayflower Chamber Orchestra performed a pair of all-Beethoven concerts including the “Coriolan” Overture and the 5th and 7th Symphonies, as well as a program with choral participation of Baroque Christmas music. At their last appearance, in the fall of 2023, they performed a pair of symphonies by Haydn (Nos. 44 and 90), Mozart’s Flute Concerto No. 2 with Elaine D’Angelo as soloist, and his Symphony No. 40 in G Minor.
This year’s program includes a variety of orchestral music from the first half of the 18th century: concerti, suites, individual pieces, and a couple of Handel choruses, all of which achieved considerable popularity in either their day or ours. Elaine D’Angelo will return as flute soloist in J. S. Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor”. Former concertmaster Kenneth Mok returns in that position and will be the violin soloist in Antonio Vivaldi’s “Spring” Concerto from “The Four Seasons” (a collection first published in 1725). Principal oboist Chris Robins will be the soloist in Alessandro Marcello’s “Oboe Concerto in D Minor”.
The concert will also include the “Don Quixote Suite” by George Philipp Telemann. This highly entertaining work includes descriptive pieces such as “His Attack on the Windmills”, “His Amorous Sighing for the Princess”, “The Bounding Sancho Panza”, and a pair of pieces contrasting the gallop of Quixote’s horse Rosinante with the ambling gait of Sancho Panza’s donkey!
The program also includes concerti grossi by two of the leading composers of the form, Archangelo Corelli (Op. 6, No. 1) and Pietro Locatelli (Op. 1, No. 11). And of course, there will be heard two of the most popular individual pieces from the Baroque: Johann Pachelbel’s “Canon and Gigue in D Major” and the “Entry of the Queen of Sheba” by George Frideric Handel from his oratorio “Solomon”.
The Mayflower Camerata will join the chamber orchestra for the concert finale: three selections from Handel’s oratorio “Judas Maccabaeus”: “See, the Conquering Hero Comes” (his most popular choral number during his lifetime), and the aria “Rejoice, O Judah” (with Larry J. Carlson, bass soloist) which leads directly to the final chorus, “Hallelujah, Amen”.
Those wishing to join in the singing of the Handel choral pieces should contact the director at [email protected] regarding a 45-minute rehearsal for the singers only on Monday evening April 7th (7:30 p.m., at Central Congregational Church, 2 Webster Street, corner with Route 105 in Middleboro). You may use your own copy of the music if you have one or borrow one of ours. If you can’t make that rehearsal, come to the orchestral rehearsal for about 15 minutes at the Meetinghouse Church on Thursday evening April 10th at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a brief run-through with the singers and the orchestra one-half hour prior to the start of the concert.
The Mayflower Chamber Orchestra receives support primarily by grants from the Local Cultural Councils of Berkley, Bridgewater, Carver, Freetown, Halifax, Lakeville, Middleboro, Plymouth, Plympton, Raynham, Rochester, and Wareham; local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.