Brecon Indie Review Consultant Team
Andante Vivace in strict music terminology means ‘At a slow walking pace and very fast’. Composers have used this technique to highlight instrumentalists and singers throughout the centuries. During the Renaissance Period, and even more during the Baroque Period, composers themselves were often the soloists – they had to be brilliant as they had limited opportunities of making a living.
Baroque Influences
If they were very lucky, they were employed by the church (e.g. J. S. Bach) or received royal patronage (e.g. Handel) and in opera houses. These appeared throughout Europe, particularly in Italy. In reality, the composer/instrumentalists/singers (especially those at the top end) had to be world class in their chosen field to achieve employment. Therefore, pieces of music were written to highlight these skills; hence, the instruction Andante Vivace.
Andante & Vivace
The Andante would be the accompaniment, orchestra and/or harpsichord during the Renaissance and Baroque Periods, with the piano appearing at the latter stages of the Baroque Period and the start of the Classical Period. Often the accompaniment would be slow, achieved by the harpsichord playing rapid arpeggio structures (sustain arrived later with the piano) or with block chords, as in hymn writing. The Vivace basically allows the soloist to play on top of the accompaniment, often as fast as they could and very often ignoring what the composer wrote by adding their own interpretation.
Jørg Klein has clearly looked at the Italian masters of the Baroque Period – Corelli, Scarlatti, Torelli, Vivaldi – for a lot of his inspiration, especially their violin works which have free-flowing rhythmic and melodic patterns. However, these patterns also appear in the stricter works of the Northern European composers – Buxtehude, Purcell and J.S. Bach. Their organ works show the same patterns used by Jorg Klein in his music, who has clearly embraced the different types of music throughout history. His stunning guitar work is worthy of any of these composers.
The Romantic Period: Influence of Spain and Germany
A further example of Klein’s embracement of musical history can be seen in his use of orchestral accompaniment, which he achieves electronically. This comes straight out of the Romantic Period, by which time composers were using the entire orchestra as the soloist, very often with large choirs, as in the works of Mahler and Wolf and in Beethoven’s Choral Symphony. Klein includes a deep choral feature which provides a dramatic backdrop to his soaring guitar and orchestral rhythms. These rhythms are associated with Spanish Romanticism or in works associated with Spain, such as Bizet’s opera, Carmen. All of this provides a magnificent prelude to the rest of an equally superb album.
Andante Vivace BreconIReview: Summing Up
If you like virtuosity that touches various music genres, then Jorg Klein paints a wonderful picture. This track provides it in abundance. It is a superb introduction to his music, and perhaps also to the music that so obviously influences him.
Written by Brecon Indie Review Consultant Team
Here are some more thoughts to the Album Jørg – Torn taken from the eezy2.co.uk Shop.
