FOUR NATIONS ENSEMBLE TO PERFORM ‘GAINSBOROUGH’S MUSIC’ AT CLARK ART INSTITUTE

October 23, 2017

Williamstown, Massachusetts—The Four Nations Ensemble, led by Artistic Director Andrew Appel, presents a lively selection of music based on the paintings of Thomas Gainsborough at the Clark Art Institute on Sunday, November 12 at 3 pm. The concert will be held in the Michael Conforti Pavilion. Tickets are $35 ($25 members). Following the concert, there will be an English tea, featuring gourmet teas and assorted elegant sweets. Tickets to the tea are $20 ($18 members). To purchase tickets, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 0524.

Four Nations performers include Pascale Beaudin, soprano; Kathie Stewart, flute; Olivier Brault and Adriane Post, violin; Kyle Miller, viola; Jaap TerLinden, viol; Loretta O’Sullivan, cello; and Andrew Appel, harpsichord.

The Clark’s collection includes one of Thomas Gainsborough’s most exquisite and touching portraits, Elizabeth and Thomas Linley (c. 1768). Thomas Linley, a friend of Mozart, drowned in a swimming accident in his early twenties after having written violin concertos, choral works, and songs for Shakespeare productions by David Garrick. Elizabeth Linley married playwright Richard Brinsley Sheridan, but the marriage was a strained one. Unfazed by her voice—said to be the best in England—Sheridan refused his wife access to the stage once they were married.

Four Nations, inspired by these two stars of the eighteenth century and the artist’s passion for music, has woven a program around the composers who passed through Gainsborough’s studio, the finest in eighteenth-century London. The ensemble adds to the works of Thomas Linley, songs written specifically for Elizabeth Linley, and works by J. C. Bach, Johann Abel, Thomas Chilcott, and Franz Joseph Haydn.

Program:
Concerto in D for harpsichord and strings
J. C. Bach arr. Mozart
Allegro di molto
Andante di molto
Minuetto

Sonata for viol
Carl Friedrich Abel
(Allegro)—Adagio—Minuet—Allegro (1723–1787)

Songs
Chilcott, Linley, Jackson
Symphony #94 in G, Surprise
Haydn arr. Solomon
Adagio—Vivace assai
Andante
Menuetto: Allegro molto
Allegro molto

ABOUT THE FOUR NATIONS ENSEMBLE
Founded in 1986, The Four Nations Ensemble brings together soloists and frontrunners from several generations who are leading exponents of period instrument and vocal performance. With a core ensemble of soprano, harpsichord or fortepiano, two violins, flute, and cello, Four Nations’ repertory runs from the Renaissance through Viennese Classical masterpieces of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.
For four decades, Four Nations has developed a leading presence in the early music scene in New York and across the country. Four Nations has performed at major houses and on prestigious series throughout the United States including The Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center. The Ensemble has participated in festivals including The Boston Early Music Festival, New York's Mostly Mozart, Amherst Festival, New Haven's International Festival of Arts & Ideas, Maverick Concerts in New York, Chautauqua, The Indiana Early Music Festival, and Brasilseguridade in Rio de Janeiro.

ABOUT THE CLARK
The Clark Art Institute, located in the Berkshires of western Massachusetts, is one of a small number of institutions globally that is both an art museum and a center for research, critical discussion, and higher education in the visual arts. Opened in 1955, the Clark houses exceptional European and American paintings and sculpture, extensive collections of master prints and drawings, English silver, and early photography. Acting as convener through its Research and Academic Program, the Clark gathers an international community of scholars to participate in a lively program of conferences, colloquia, and workshops on topics of vital importance to the visual arts. The Clark library, consisting of more than 270,000 volumes, is one of the nation’s premier art history libraries. The Clark also houses and co-sponsors the Williams College Graduate Program in the History of Art.

The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. Admission is $20; free year-round for Clark members, children 18 and younger, and students with valid ID. For more information, visit clarkart.edu or call 413 458 2303.

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