Fall Arts Celebration event presents the power of water through music

Musicians, including a renowned violin virtuoso, will give audience members an opportunity to feel the power and mystery of water during the next Fall Arts Celebration event.

"Water on the Mind: A Baroque Musical Journey" will feature pieces that reflect how deeply water inspired Baroque composers. The concert will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 23 at the Cook-DeWitt Center on the Allendale Campus.

"The 17th Century saw the relationship between ourselves and the world in which we live undergo intense change," said Danny Phipps, chair of the Department of Music, Theatre and Dance. "The discovery of the true nature of our solar system by Galileo Galilei, followed by Anton van Leeuwenhoek’s invention of the microscope and discovery of bacteria, are two examples of the new and profound influences that were shaping the creative minds of the Baroque composer. 

"Our performance will highlight this new attitude of awe and wonder towards the power of nature and water’s dominance over life by composers striving to create musically descriptive renderings of the often-emotional relationship with elements that were far beyond their control."

Performances will include works such as the "Storm Scene" from the opera "Alcyone," which evokes the terror and dread of an ocean tempest. In addition, the rise and fall of the ocean is musically depicted in the orchestral suite, "Hamburger Ebb and Fluth."

Handel's "Water Music," composed for a barge party given by George I on the River Thames, will help round out the performance. The conclusion comes with the violin concerto, "La Tempesta di mare (The Sea Storm)." Ingrid Matthews, a Baroque violin virtuoso and solo violinist with Toronto Tafelmusik Ensemble, will perform the composition.

All Fall Arts events are free and open to the public as a way to thank the community for its support of the university. For more information, visit gvsu.edu/fallarts.