Returning to the roots

Musicians Laura Ollberg-Ekman and Sini Vahervuo met over 20 years ago at the Helsinki Early Music Society’s early music summer course and have played together and in many different ensembles ever since. Now the duo of friends is returning to their roots with a program that will feature music by two key German composers of the Baroque period, J.S. Bach and G.F. Handel.

J.S. Bach composed six sonatas for violin and cembalo probably between 1720 and 1723 and they are all in trio sonata form, i.e. composed for two treble voices and a bass line. In the concert we will hear two of these sonatas arranged for the fipple flute and cembalo. The role of the cembalo in the sonatas is not the basso continuo characteristic of the Baroque period, but one of the melodies is composed for the cembalist’s right hand while the left hand plays the bass line.

Bach’s works are framed by the music of G.F. Handel. We will hear an arrangement of his variation series “The Harmonious Blacksmith”, originally composed for the cembalo, which was composed in 1720, i.e. around the same time as the works by J.S. Bach that will be heard in the concert.

Sini Vahervuo, fipple flute
Laura Ollberg-Ekman, cembalo

TICKETS: €10 / €15 in advance from Tiketti and at the door half an hour before the concert.
ADDRESS: Galleria Forum Box, Ruoholahdenranta 3 A, Helsinki
ORGANIZER: The Café Barock concert series is organized by the Cultural Association Ensemble Nylandia ry with the support of the Music Promotion Foundation and the City of Helsinki.

PHOTO: Tuomas Tenkanen