Red Priest Baroque Music Ensemble
Renegades of Classical Music Performance
Red Priest, founded by recorder player Pier Adams in 1997, puts a new spin on old favorites, from Vivaldi's Four Seasons to the Baroque gems included on the group's latest album Pirates of the Baroque. Their playful interpretations raise eyebrows or cause smiles. But who is this group that specializes in early music performance?
Fun and Games with Baroque Music
The group's name is itself a tribute to the Baroque composer Antonio Vivaldi. Famous for his crimson hair, the Italian violinist and composer was nicknamed "Il Prete Rosso," or The Red Priest. The British ensemble consists of Pier Adams, recorder player, Howard Beach on harpsichord, Angela East on cello and Julia Bishop on violin. Each have exceptional solo careers in addition to their roles in Red Priest. Pier Adams has performed as a soloist with the English Sinfonia, the Academy of Ancient Music and the BBC Symphony.
Red Priest is not above adding whatever sound effects are necessary to recreate the story told in the music. In Vivaldi's "La Tempesta di Mare (The Sea Storm)", the group adds sea-worthy yells to wind and wave-like recorder runs. The tempo changes chaotically to reflect the sudden and many moods of the sea.
Red Priest: Renegades or Traditionalists?
Not every critic is pleased with these whimsical touches. The modernizations can suggest a self-indulgent disrespect to historical research. Is Red Priest selling out by catering to a modern audience that lacks the attention span for more careful, true-to-the-letter performances?
In response to these criticisms, Pier Adams notes that Red Priest's performance style actually does reflect Baroque attitudes and methods. Seventeenth-century composers re-arranged, borrowed and added to each other's music as a general rule of practice. Copyright and "respect for the composer's original intent" were not an issue. Incorporating snatches of popular tunes into a piece was also rather common: the Quodlibet which closes Bach's Goldberg Variations quotes two popular ditties, including one about cabbages.
Red Priest might be cheered (or booed) for innovation and "modernization" of the chamber group (a critic quoted on the group's website described them as a rock-chamber concert), but in fact they are decidedly traditional. Like Steve Reich (whose expansive and sometimes stagnant harmonic progressions were greatly influenced by 13th-century organum), the group achieves "novelty" by returning to and reviving the past.
Sources
"Artist Vs. Critic." November 19-25, 2005. Enjoy the Music.
"Red Priest: Defying Baroque Boundaries." March 1, 2008. NPR Music.
