Remember that exciting day in elementary school when the music teacher handed out an actual, real instrument to play with? A black plastic recorder emerged from a small bag and made its way through Hot Cross Buns with a loud squeak. The history of the recorder goes back a long way: the instrument, typically made of wood, is an integral part of Baroque and Renaissance music that dates back to the 15th century.
Recorder virtuoso Tabea Debus, who will perform in several programs of the Spoleto Festival USA chamber music series this year, was 6 years old when she was introduced to the medieval instrument.
“I started playing it almost by accident because I had a friend who was starting classes and he was a bit afraid to go alone,” Debus said. “He quit after a couple of years but I enjoyed it so I had classes to myself.”
Debus, who grew up in Germany and has lived in London for eight years, was due to attend the festival in 2020 but is now looking forward to her first trip to Charleston this year.
The Bank of America Chamber Music Series presents 33 performances each year at the 450-seat Dock Street Theater. Around two dozen musicians create a total of 11 programs three times each, alternating between classical chamber music and contemporary pieces.
“Spoleto is a broad festival,” said Debus. “The sonic world of these contemporary pieces is probably really unlike anything else that’s happening. These chamber music concerts are such a colorful mixture of pieces. You know, the more the merrier.”
Geoff Nuttall, music director and host of the chamber music program, said he takes the grueling schedule of 33 performances into account when inviting guest artists. The repertoire is largely chosen by the musicians, creating a well-rounded schedule.
“Tabea is incredible,” he said. “She is malleable and interested in many things and all kinds of styles. Everyone has had a recorder in their home at some point, and it is amazing to see it translated into this weapon of incredible expressiveness.”
Debus, who was linked to Spoleto through the Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT), will demonstrate her versatility as part of Program III on 30th and 31st May. This program includes Moritz Eggert’s “Out of Breath”, in which an interpreter has to play three recorders – sometimes simultaneously.
“You can see her play a Vivaldi concerto, which is amazing,” Nuttall said, “and then the next day play this crazy solo piece where she kind of manages to play two or three recorders at the same time. It’s not just a party trick. It’s mind blowing and the track sounds so cool.”
Commissioned by the City Music Foundation of London in 2017, Dani Howard’s ‘Two and a Half Minutes to Midnight’ is a fast-paced piece with unconventional techniques and much quicker articulation by Debus. She will perform it on June 2nd and 3rd in the same program as one of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos and her solo rendition of the ubiquitous medieval tune “La Monica”.
The tradition of classical music, of passing an instrument from musician to musician, is not possible with the recorder because moisture penetrates the wood when it is blown into it. As a result, all of Debus’ instruments are much younger.
“Recorder players tend to play copies of old instruments rather than the old instruments themselves,” she said.
Debus looks forward to getting to know the city during the festival. The busy schedule for the chamber music series requires collaboration and perseverance for a group of musicians, many of whom have never worked together before.
“It’s going to be exciting because I haven’t met any of the other musicians,” said Debus. “It’s very nice to come to a festival where you’re in the same place for a week. When you’re on tour you have a lot of stops and you never really get a feel for a place. I ended up having a better idea of what Charleston is like.”
Bank of America Chamber Music Series runs from May 27th to June 12th at the Dock Street Theater. Tickets start at $49.50. The concerts are recorded by South Carolina Public Radio and broadcasts of each program are aired during “Sonatas and Soundscapes” weekdays at 11:00 am. To order tickets or for more information, visit spoletousa.org.
Nat Bono is a graduate student in the Goldring Arts Journalism and Communications Program at Syracuse University.
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