The Two Sibyllas: Charivari Agréable

The Two Sibyllas is the intriguing name of one of the concerts in the Early Music By Candlelight series being performed at Exeter College throughout July and August.

Distinguished performer and musicologist Kah-Ming Ng has researched two of the major keyboard composers of the early Baroque era, Froberger and Pachelbel, and discovered that both of these musicians found patronage in the little south German state of Württemberg. By an odd coincidence, both of their patrons were duchesses of Württemberg named Sibylla.

Johan Jacob Froberger taught the harpsichord to Sibylla (1620-1707), daughter of the 7th Duke of Württemberg-Stuttgart, before her marriage in 1647 to her cousin Leopold, Duke of Württemberg-Mömpelgard. In the 1660s Froberger retired to her court at Héricourt where she was one of the few people allowed to play his music or copy his MSS. The solemn Méditation Faict Sur Ma Mort Futur, played in this recital, was preserved by her in a MS entitled Memento Mori.

She lived to the age of 87, but no portrait of her seems to survive. The one reproduced here is of the other Sibylla, her nephew's wife.

Sibylla Magdalena (1652-1712), wife of the 9th Duke of Württemberg-Stuttgart, became a regent of the state after the early death of her husband. She was a devout lady who composed devotional hymns and possibly other pieces now lost. She invited Pachelbel to the court in the 1690s to be her resident composer and teacher, a post he was happy to accept as it gave him the best possible environment for creativity.

   Kah-Ming has done an admirable piece of research here, showing how these two cultured women contributed to the growth of Baroque music and the careers of these two much respected forerunners of Bach.

   Pachelbel's wonderful Chaconne in F minor was one of the pieces in this programme, as was his Aria with variations. Also pieces by Louis Couperin, Purcell, Balbastre, and Duphly.

You can still hear this recital, as it is being repeated on Friday 16th August. 

Tickets £15  (£14 seniors, £10 students <25)

Tickets in June from The Oxford Playhouse, Beaumont Street OX1 2LW, Tel: 01865-305305,

or at the door (cash only).

https://www.charivari.co.uk/