Access to Art Presents Interactive Lecture/Demonstration on Italian Renaissance

CAPE MAY – The pre-Civil War Southern Mansion, will host a concert/lecture on the Italian Renaissance at 3:30 p.m., Nov. 19 featuring Dr. Bert Greenspan, violin, violist. Access will present its second benefit event featuring the Italian Renaissance in music with Dr. Greenspan, professor emeritus from Rowan University. Proceeds will benefit the Cape May Renaissance Festival scheduled for Oct. 2012. Dr. Greenspan is serving as Concertmaster at Naples Opera Company in Florida this season.
Dr. Greenspan gave the first lecture on the Renaissance last year at the Southern Mansion, in company with Joseph Mayes on lute, and Bart Singer singing a secular song of the Renaissance. The Renaissance, according to Joseph Mayes, specialized in the sacred and secular. The secular, he said, featured the very sad and the very bawdy. Joe Mayes performed his solo concert this year, stressing English Galliards, performed on lute and archlute, Italian works from Simone Molinaro Genoa’s Capelmeister,and moved into Bach and more modern guitar works by Ron McFarlane , a grammy nominated composer.
Dr. Greenspan will host an interactive lecture demonstration with tapes of period music, and personal performance on violin or viola, involving the audience in listening to the music and identifying certain characteristics.
He will also use art works to evoke time and place and parallel the music. He will discuss contributions of the Italian Renaissance which flowered following developments from Flemish composers whose works were copied by Italians. “I am giving an interactive experience, not the standard lecture,” he said. “I’m not going to start out with a lengthy lecture, but I am going to play some recorded music and ask the audience what they think, and what they hear. Then I will play another piece of music, and get their opinion, and then I will show them how to understand the past. I will end up performing music from the l7th and l8th century to show the development from the music of the Renaissance, which is the very music we have today.” Greenspan said.
“It will be based on the Italian Renaissance. A lot of the development of the arts, particularly music, took place in the north. There was a tremendous development in the Flemish area, northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The style of music was developed by Adrian Willaert, a major composer from that area, who lived from l530-1560. He brought his style to Venice and Italy. The Italians adopted his style and copied it. If it were not for Willaert, there might not be a Palestrina. ” Greenspan said.
“Palestrina spent his life at the Vatican. The other composers of the time were quite itinerant. They went from Cardinal, to bishop, to court and back again. If I had to pick two of my favorites, two of the best, I’d pick Orlando DiLasso and Palestrina, whom I think were the best, although every person has their own qualities. Palestrina was the great master of Catholic church music. He wrote in secular forms but he used sacred content. He travelled hardly at all.” Greenspan said.
“Palestrina married a wealthy widow, whose former husband was involved in furs, and he ran the business for ten years and did not compose during that period. The mathematical qualities required for music are the same required for business. I’ve thought of writing a biography of him, he was an interesting man. He was connected to the Vatican all of his life. Orlando DiLasso, on the contrary, travelled everywhere. Much of his time was spent in Munich, Germany. He was extremely international. He wrote religious music in Latin, he wrote secular music in Italian, German, French. He wrote love songs and drinking songs. One of his famous chansons was “Bon Jour, Mon Coeur.” It’s an amorous tale; he wakes up after an evening of love making, and sees his lover, and he is delighted to see her and revel in her beauty.” Greenspan said.
The event will again take place at the Southern Mansion, 720 Washington St., Cape May, followed by a wine reception. It will take place in the formal parlor, and seating is limited, so first come, first served.
Last year the event sold out.
“Dr. Greenspan spent a long and fruitful career at Rowan, teaching students what he had learned both in history and music, both of which subjects he taught. He received his early training in Chicago initially, earned an undergraduate degree from Juilliard School of Music under the tutelage of Dorothy Delay and Ivan Galamian. He earned a Masters and Doctor of Music degree at Indiana University in Bloomington where his major teachers were Josef Gingold, Daniel Guilet and Janos Starker.
Tickets are $20. for adults, and $l8 for seniors. Call (609) 465-3963 for reservations. We would like advance reservations, to have an idea of how much wine to purchase.