Gala Concert with Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis ****************************************************************************************** * Gala Concert with Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis ****************************************************************************************** It is a nice tradition of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics of CU to invite their emp and students to a series of gala concerts during each academic year.  By the occasion of t on the 21st of October the chamber ensemble Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis performed an outs within the main hall of the Carolinum. The majority of the Programme consisted of pieces c Baroque maestros including Telemann, Heinichen, Lotti, Pergolesi and Zelenka, with an addi 20th century composer Eugene Bozza. The resulting concert was a great success with the flo reverberating within the historical building of Carolinum. Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis are a renowned Czech chamber group, founded in 1987; their ma include winning the Instrumental Chamber Competition in Osaka, Japan in 1996. The instrume of the group can be deemed by some as odd. In general the title chamber ensemble produces strings: violins, violas, as well as lower strings, cellos and basses, with a scattering o a small scale, or instead a group of fairly similar instrument such as an wind quartet.  Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis consists of oboes, a cor anglais, bassoon, Harpsichord and a Despite the group of instruments being unorthodox it gives this chamber group a depth whic be achieved with a normal chamber ensemble; a diversity which allows more freedom of expre interpretation of the music. The chamber ensemble usually performs pieces by Baroque or ea composers, notably often performing pieces composed by neglected Czech composers of the 17 centuries. Such as Jan Dismas Zelenka, whose piece Trio sonata in C was the final piece pe evening of the 21st October.

The concert was a success with an encore performed by Instrumentalis Pragensis, much to the audiences delight.

The first half of the concert saw the performance of Telemann’s quartet in D major, the Tr composed by Johann David Heinichen followed by the “Echo” quartet in F by Antonio Lotti. T similarities between these performed pieces. The main being that all three of these compos during the Baroque era, the same time as the greats such as Händel, Bach and Vivaldi. Desp are differences, due to the influences impressed onto the individual composers, for exampl quartet, possess an distinctly Italian flare through Lotti’s use of the antiphonal texture response sequence between the two oboes. The two previous pieces composed by Telemann and more inclined to the Germanic Baroque style stick to the Baroque use of scales arpeggios a The second half of the concert opened with the Shepherds of Provence, by the 20th century Bozza. This truly was a remarkable piece. The sonorous notes from the cor anglais and the through the air of the Carolinum; creating a soundscape which truly reflects the pastoral piece. This was followed by Symphony in F by Pergolesi. Interestingly this piece becomes r to the present day audience in the final movement the Presto; the main theme was used by D Stravinsky for the ballet Pulcinella which premiered in 1920. Aptly the concert programme with a piece by the little known Czech composer Jan Dismas Zelenka. Despite being little k European audience he is hailed as the Czech equivalent to Bach. The concert was a success with an encore performed by Ars Instrumentalis Pragensis, much t delight. The music lifted the atmosphere in the Carolinum; the audience intently listening melody and harmonic decoration, from a group of instruments rarely heard together. This Co showed why Prague is renowned as a European centre for music. It has been a great pleasure the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics decided to invite this outstanding ensemble for the concert and we are looking forward to the next gala concerts the faculty shall organise du academic year.   Suzanna Knuckey is a joint honours student studying music and history with archaeology at Charles University as an Erasmus student. Her interests include history, art, culture and in Prague as well as meet others from different countries and backgrounds.