DeutschIncense of Music 32
A multisensory concert – Friday, 12 April 2019, 8 pm
Oscar Bohórquez: violin
Incense: Artemisia Vulgaris, Hawkweed
PANDA Theater in der Kulturbrauerei, Knaackstr. 97, 10435 Berlin
The sonatas and partitas for solo violin (BWV 1001–1006) are a set of six works composed by Johann Sebastian Bach — three sonatas da chiesa in four movements, and three partitas in dance-form movements. The set was completed by 1720 but was not published until 1802 by Nikolaus Simrock in Bonn, and even after publication remained largely ignored until the celebrated violinist Joseph Joachim began performing the works. Today, Bach's Sonatas and Partitas are an essential part of the violin repertoire. We are very proud to present Oscar Bohórquez, who will perform three of the sonatas from this set on his Giovanni Battista Guadagnini "Grande Dame" violin from 1770. We accompany his musical journey burning Artemisia vulgaris and hawkweed.
For guests who are particularly sensitive to smoke, this event is not recommended.
Artists
Oscar Bohórquez — violin
Oscar Bohórquez studied at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia with Professor Aaron Rosand from 1998 to 2002, and at the University of Music in Vienna with Professor Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartett from 2002 to 2008. Since then, concert tours have taken him to major venues throughout Germany such as the Hamburg Elbphilharmonie, the Bonn Beethovenhalle, the Frankfurt Alte Oper, the Stuttgart Liederhalle, the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and the Berlin Philharmonie. In recent years Oscar Bohórquez has appeared at the Frankfurt Alte Oper with chief conductor Sebastian Weigle of the Museumsorchester, at the Nuremberg Meistersingerhalle with the Nuremberg Symphony under Alexander Shelley, as well as on numerous Latin American concert tours of Peru, Uruguay, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Brazil, including Bartók's 2nd violin concerto and the concertos of Tchaikovsky, Brahms, and Mendelssohn. Solo and chamber music activities have also taken him throughout Europe, the US, and Latin America, including the New York "Strad for Lunch" concert series, the "Música em Trancoso" festival in Brazil, the Kronberg Festival, and the Winnenden Chamber Music Festival in Germany. Alongside his brother, cellist Claudio Bohórquez, and pianist Gustavo Beytelmann, Oscar has formed the Patagonia Express Trio, with whom he recorded the "Tribute to Piazzolla" album, featuring works by Piazzolla, Ellington, and Beytelmann. Oscar Bohórquez plays a Giovanni Battista Guadagnini "Grande Dame" violin from 1770, previously owned by Günter Pichler of the Alban Berg Quartet, and a Dominique Peccatte bow from 1845.
Incense
Artemisia vulgaris, commonly known as mugwort — also called felon herb, wild wormwood, sailor's tobacco, or St. John's plant — is a tall, herbaceous perennial with a woody root, growing 1 to 2 metres tall. It is native to temperate Europe, Asia, North Africa, and Alaska.
Mugwort takes its name from the Greek goddess Artemis and is deeply rooted in both Western and Eastern herbal tradition. It is said to enhance dreaming, both in natural sleep and in shamanic journeying, and has traditionally been used as a warding herb to banish negative energies. In many European folk traditions, particularly around St. John's Eve, mugwort garlands were worn or the plant was burned to drive away evil spirits; it was also carried as a protective companion for travelers, earning it the folk name "sailor's tobacco."
Burned as incense, mugwort releases an earthy, slightly bitter, sage-like herbaceous scent. It remains closely associated with