Jeffrey S. Sposato
Moores School of Music
University of Houston
Following the extensive coverage of the 200-year anniversary of the Voelkerschlacht/Battle of the Nations, Houston-Leipzig cordially invites you to a presentation in words and music by Jeffrey S. Sposato from the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, on Thursday, November 14, 2013, at 6:15 p.m. at Christ the King Lutheran Church (more details below). Joining us on their last night in Houston for a farewell gathering will be the members of the Buergerreise from Leipzig.
J.S. Bach laid the groundwork for Leipzig’s rich musical legacy during his tenure as Thomaskantor. This musical tradition was supported and sustained by the Große Concerte (Grand Concerts) held in the 1740s in the homes of Leipzig society, and played by an orchestra of sixteen musicians that became the forerunner of the Gewandhaus Orchester. By 1781, the orchestra, now grown to 32 musicians, found its home in the Gewandhaus, and began offering the first regular series of public subscription concerts in continental Europe.
Dr. Sposato looks at the New Year’s Day concerts at the Gewandhaus, a tradition begun in 1782 and continued to this day. They immediately combined a sacred repertoire with a political subtext. This tradition of mixing the sacred and the political escalated after Napoleon invaded Leipzig in 1806. At first, the music in the New Year’s concerts praised political leaders, as Saxony’s prestige and power increased under Napoleon. As Napoleon’s wars dragged on, however, the mood of the concerts became more negative. This trend culminated in the music performed in the years surrounding the 1813 Battle of Nations, fought just outside of Leipzig, and whose bicentennial is being marked this year.
Dr. Sposato is Associate Professor of Musicology at the Moores School of Music. He received a PhD in musicology from Brandeis University, an MM and BM in vocal performance from New England Conservatory, and a BA in German studies from Tufts University. His teaching and research interests include music of the classical and romantic periods, sacred music, choral music, and opera.
He has written a number of articles and reviews. His most recent book, The Price of Assimilation: Felix Mendelssohn and the Nineteenth-Century Anti-Semitic Tradition (Oxford University Press, 2006), was named a Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Title for 2006 and a Royal Philharmonic Society Music Award finalist. He is currently working on a new book entitled Leipzig After Bach: Church and Concert Life in a German City, 1750–1850.
Registration begins at 6:00; at 6:15 p.m. we will have our customary food and beverage reception, and the meeting and presentation start at 7:15 p.m. Meeting fees are $10 for members, $5 for students, and $15 for nonmembers. Ample parking is available on the Rice University parking lot off Greenbriar for $1, credit card only.
Please respond here or to angelika@houstonleipzig.org as soon as possible, so that we can plan properly for the reception.