10/15/2023 7pm @Germantown Friends Meetinghouse
47 West Coulter Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19144
10/14/2023 Open Dress Rehearsal: 7pm @Cocoon Philly
6452 Greene St, Philadelphia, PA 19119
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Chimes: C
Singing Bowl: C#
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Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber: Passacaglia
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Greeting
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Johann Sebastian Bach: Partita for violin #2 in d minor
I. Allemanda
2. Corrente
3. Sarabanda
4. Giga
5. Ciaconna
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Our performance will commence with a chime followed by 3 minutes of silence. The striking of the bell will indicate 3 more minutes of silence. Feel free to sit in meditation, read program notes or whatever way best prepares you to absorb the present vibration and those to come. After presenting the Biber, we will have a short greeting followed by a 10 minute meditation (quick bathroom break as needed) before beginning the 40 minute Bach d minor Partita #2 which concludes with the 20 minute presentation of the Ciaconna
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Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber’s birth date seems to be less known than his baptism on 12 August 1644 which speaks to the religious nature of this composer’s background. The Bohemian-Austrian composer, composed the Rosary sonatas for violin but they were left unpublished in his lifetime so their completion date is unknown, though the manuscript shows the first dates to 1676. The Rosary Sonata also called The Mystery Sonatas are intended as a meditation on the Rosary from Catholicism. My own connection to Catholicism ended with my mother’s traumatic upbringing, but my once practice of using mala beads for mantra meditation reminds me of the universality of certain tools and the potential beauty of their gifts. The closing piece of the set of Rosary Sonatas is the Passacaglia, known to be one of the earliest compositions for solo violin. Passacaglia is a musical form that originated in 17th century Spain, generally serious in character and based on a Bass-ostinato, or persistently repeating motif (theme) in a bass voice. The Ostinato tends to have a meditative quality and lends itself to dance quite naturally. The Passacaglia is generally written in a triple meter, which makes it akin to traditional dance such as the waltz and sarabande, though Biber’s Passacaglia is subdivided in the manuscript creating a more explicit emphasis on feeling the 8th note. The Passacaglia uses the bass-ostinato as a cadential formula, a typical pattern of note relationships for concluding a piece, with variations played out within the chords. You’ll notice 4 notes (occasionally changing octaves) repeat in the bass throughout the entire Passacaglia. The style is a picturesque finale in structure and character. It evokes the closing of a chapter, the Amen of a prayer, the Om of a mantra and the final bow of a dance.
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I chose Biber’s Passacaglia as a bookend for this presentation because the finale was almost certainly inspired by Biber’s creation. Johann Sebastian Bach’s Partita for violin #2 in d minor was composed between 1717-1721 at the age of 32, about the same as Biber when he began composing his Rosary Sonatas. The Partita begins with an Allemanda, one of the most common instrumental dances at the time, serving as a prelude that would be easy for listeners to digest. It sounded like much of their “popular” music at the time. The 3/4 lively Corrente follows the 4/4 Allemanda as was often the style. After this Bach uses a more serious Sarabanda (a Spanish dance with strong Arabian influence), and pairs this with the Giga/jig, the most lively of the bunch. Bach’s Ciaconna (a term used almost interchangeably with Passacaglia) the length of all the previous movements combined - serves as a finale. Composed within 400 miles and about 40 years after the Passacaglia the Ciaconna (Spanish) or Chaconne (French as it is often written) is described on Wikipedia as “a continuous kaleidoscope of musical expression in both major and minor modes.” One of the great violinists - Yehudi Menuhin called the Chaconne "the greatest structure for solo violin that exists”. Composer Johannes Brahms in a letter to friend and fellow composer Clara Schumann described the piece, "On one stave, for a small instrument, the man [Bach] writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I imagined that I could have created, even conceived the piece, I am quite certain that the excess of excitement and earth-shattering experience would have driven me out of my mind”.
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I first heard the Ciaconna when I was 17, after Hilary Hahn (also 17 and decades more accomplished) recorded (and I feel perfected) a masterful presentation. I’ve not been the same since; the piece spoke to my soul and sang to the spiritual journey that I embarked on in the years to follow. Music has a great capacity to awaken. I am grateful for the ways this piece continues to wake me up and I consider its presentation a sort of sacrament. I am grateful to share this communion with you and consider us all family under the vibration which resonates and ripples through all existence.
The Ciaconna is told in 3 sections, the first and third are like a storm - with the second as a peaceful eye - a portal which one might move into if they wish to exit samsara’s (the Buddhist wheel of suffering) inevitable return. I imagine the center of the Ciaconna as a Bardo (a state between life and non-existence - such as those spoken of in the Tibetan Book of the Dead), it grows in excitement until a climax where the listener has been pulled back into the passions and the dark storm returns. We all share the pain of separation, we are all unified in our capacity for transcendence. I hope this piece and presentation as a whole might take you somewhere inspiring.
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I would like to thank the Society of Friends for allowing me to use the Germantown Friends Meetinghouse and special thank you to Lois Volta for her assistance and advocation in acquiring the space.
Thank you to Cocoon Philly and Jacob Patrick Ellis for inviting me into The Cocoon to offer an open dress rehearsal.
I teach Architectural Movement (Hatha Yoga and Calisthenics) at Cocoon Monday’s 8:30am
Thank You to Root and Branch Bodywork for continued support and a home to teach these past couple years. Classes at Root and Branch can be booked via my personal website, or visit this root and branch link to book a bodywork session with Kaeti Frady
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About The Presenter:
Noah Julian Sedgwick (July 19th, 1981- ) fell asleep in a crib above his parents blues band rehearsal studio. Noah began studying the violin at the age of 5 after a year of music classes at Temple Music Preparatory school and later Settlement Music School (schools he later taught at through his 20’s-30’s). After two decades of music schools, private teachers, orchestras, quartets, international youth-orchestral tours, musically inclined friends, and late nights experimenting in recording studios and all the theory that comes with a formal education - Noah graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a degree and more significant debt. A year later, while working closely with the masterful educator Lee Snyder, Noah’s body showed increasing signs of inflammation, resulting in massive pain and fatigue). In six months, his right hand unable to hold a fork or address the end destination of its unabsorbed contents, he stopped playing the violin and taught while seeking medical assistance. A 22 year old artist with no skills, no ability to walk or stand for more than moments at a time and no insurance, he remains grateful to his mother and step-father for providing a home, physical support and financial assistance through the ordeal. Pre-existing conditions being exclusionary to obtaining insurance in 2004, Noah was fortunate to happen upon a doctor with the understanding that breaking rules may be justified when the rules seem unjust. Given a clean bill of heath and the number of which Rheumatologist to contact $600 a month insurance was obtained to obtain pharmaceuticals that were priced at $3000 a month.
As one does when a trauma occurs, Noah began a new approach to his vocation subsequent to the illness. Yoga would be the main umbrella, though other parallel approaches have provided ample protection. From 2000-2008, Yoga therapists, acupuncturists, nutritionists would form a nucleus for a new community and new lens with how to approach the world. In 2008 Noah obtained his first Yoga teaching certificate (Dhyana Yoga - Philadelphia) with another in 2011 (Liquid Flow Yoga), and a school with current ties - Katonah Yoga 2015. While studying “Liquid Flow” from Simon Park and the community of movers that enjoyed the expressiveness of this style, Noah’s interests became particularly inspired by venturing into other movement disciplines. Gymnastics, hand-balancing and strength training would become the most focused practices much like the violin that taught a “way” to learn. 17th century master swordsman, poet, artist Miyamoto Musashi, known to be a(n) originator of the double blade style, wrote and taught on knowing any single discipline by deep practice in many diverse subjects: To know “the way” through all things.
I still carry Musashi’s advice with me daily, much as I do the lessons from Lee Snyder, Magdalena Richter, Nevine Michaan, Mom, David Osbon, Simon Park, R.A.W., and to many others to name that taught me how to learn. Still, I struggle to identify with the fellow in the last two paragraphs, it seemed easier to present my backstory as his own tale. From age 22-39 I played the violin, though I practiced infrequently. Friends would form bands and invite me to be a member, and for a time this served my spirit, but my relationship to performance had soured. My dad would invite me to join his creative pursuits and I would accompany, a favorite band invited me to play in the Kimmel Center and I would achieve a childhood dream, but for these exceptions I consider 2020 my return to the violin. The events surrounding that year left a hole and I knew it would be filled intentionally or by happenstance. I’ve been taught to choose the former rather than be a product of the later. In these past few years, I’ve returned to a daily violin practice that lives alongside other daily practices, such as breathing, meditation, movement, reading and writing. There is integrating happening, disparate practices from different times in life finding a balance. I still have little desire to perform, but I want to share something; recent time has felt difficult to connect but more important than ever. The ciaconna is a deeply meaningful piece to me personally and I hope the supporting music helps to frame the time it arose from. The Bach d minor Partita is a continuous thread through my many persons, and I expect will be with me for years to come - reminding me of something I thought I forgot, and teaching me something new with each return. The ciaconna speaks to something core to what I find beautiful in the world. A complex universe conveyed via a single instrument. There is sadness and there is hope; struggle and ease. ☯️
I currently spend most of my time between Germantown and Roxborough, wandering the Wissahickon, pondering the mysteries of the universe, strength training and practicing and teaching Yoga (movement/breathing/meditation) and the violin.
-Noah Julian 🙏
www.NoahMoves.com / noah@noahmoves.com