The Garden of Forking Paths | Long Beach

  • March 8, 2025 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM
  • First Congregational Church of Long Beach

    241 Cedar Avenue
    Long Beach, California 90802
Ticket Price $0.00-$85.16 Buy Tickets
Description

The Garden of Forking Paths (original in Spanish: "El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan") is a 1941 short story by Argentinian writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, which has been said to foreshadow the "many-worlds interpretation" of quantum mechanics and has inspired new media scholars, particularly in the field of hypertext fiction. Instrumental compositions of the seventeenth century often lend themselves well to a context of intersecting paths/mazes, as the structures of dance movements and contrasting character pieces provide a backdrop for musical interpretation and virtuosity.

 

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer was an Austrian violinist and composer who worked at the Habsburg court in Vienna and was close with Emperor Leopold I; his influence on German string technique and the development of sonata and suite forms in the region is significant. It is believed that Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber studied with Schmelzer, as many aspects of his compositional toolkit seem directly connected; Biber worked mostly in Salzburg, where he expanded violin technique on the fingerboard and explored alternative tuning (scordatura) strategies. Henry Purcell is primarily remembered as an opera composer, yet his specifically British approach to instrumental works boasts a wealth of rhythmic and harmonic surprises that serve as excellent foils to round out the program.

 

Program Details

 

Sonata I in B minor from (Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum) | Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644-1704)

Fantasia No. 8 in D minor | Henry Purcell (1659-1695)

Sonata IV in G minor (Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum) | Biber

Overture in G minor | Purcell

Sonata XI in C minor (Fidicinium Sacro-Profanum) | Biber

Chacony | Purcell

Fantasia upon one note

 

~ Intermission ~

 

4 Balletti from the opera Creso by Antonio Draghi | Johann Heinrich Schmelzer (c. 1620/3-1680)

I.   di spoglia di papagi: Intrada – Saltarello – Scaramuccia

II.  di giuochi di Giunone: Intrada – Aria – Retirada

III.  di capitani: Intrada – Aria – Gagliarda

IV. di 7 pianeti: Allemanda – Aria di Venere – Aria per la retirada

2 Balletti from the opera La lanterna di Diogene by Antonio Draghi

I.    Balletto di capitani: Aria – Aria – Courente

II.   Balletto di filosofi: Aria – Aria – Aria

Serenata con altre arie

-   Serenata

-   Erlicino

-   Ciaccona

-   Campanella

-   Lamento

 

Patrons will enjoy a hosted pre-reception in the FCCLB Courtyard.

 

*All programming is subject to change.

Date & Time

Sat, Mar 8, 2025 7:30 PM - 9:30 PM

Venue Details

First Congregational Church of Long Beach

241 Cedar Avenue
Long Beach, California 90802 First Congregational Church of Long Beach
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