Baroque instrumental music doesn't narrate a story line, assert any political points, demand belief in any particular god.
All it asks of its audience is a quieting of the mind so as to hear truly hear -- the music.
What Baroque music asks of its performers, however, is rather more involved. The musicians at Tuesday's "Baroque by Candlelight" concert answered with grace, passion and skill.
For several years, the Chamber Music Society of Central Virginia has presented a themed winter concert series. This year, the Baroque theme brought out period instruments, both authentic and reproductions.
Most appealing was Mary Boodell's traverso flute. The greater effort it takes to play this wood instrument is paid off with a warm, convivial sound.
As always, Boodell, who is also principal flutist with the Richmond Symphony, showed extreme alertness to the ensemble and gave poised interpretations of the musical line.
The seven works on the program were a sampler of Baroque forms: unaccompanied solos, sonatas and a quartet. Most were from the latter end of the era, but Purcell's Fantazia No. 2 in Three Parts showed the simpler -- not quite stark -- sound of the mid-Baroque period, with Christina Day Martinson on violin, James Wilson on Baroque cello and Ulysses Kirksey on viola da gamba.
Martinson, principal violinist with the noted ensemble Boston Baroque, gave the most riveting performance of the evening with the Ciaconna from Bach's Partita in D minor. Martinson played the work like an inquiry into the soul, disciplined and honest without the superficial drama of excessive rubato.
For sheer beauty, however, the first and last pieces of the evening were winners. Handel's Trio Sonata in B minor, performed by Boodell, Martinson, Wilson and Carsten Schmidt on harpsichord, opened the program.
The flute and violin matched their phrasing perfectly, while Wilson's bow articulation followed the lead of the harpsichord, weaving the ensemble's sound like the warp and weft of a blanket.
Telemann's Quartet in D major, one of his "Paris" quartets, closed the evening with all five musicians playing with nimble vitality. (Kirksey played the continuo line on Baroque cello, often counted with the harpsichord in music of the time.)
The quartet's fifth movement, with its unison theme in flute and violin, was the most magical of the evening. For a few minutes, the darkened sanctuary, the flickering candles and the supple melody existed alone in the world, there to be heard for those who would listen.
The musicians will perform the quartet again at a concert at the Wilton House this evening on a full program of French Baroque music.
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