Italian composer Francesco Maria Veracini (1690–1768) was born in Florence to a family of violinists and his career took him all over Italy, Germany, and England. Interestingly, his father, the only one who did not play the violin, was a pharmacist and undertaker. Veracini was a superb violinist, his playing allegedly stunning Giuseppe Tartini into a silent reflective retreat for days. He also had a reputation for being something of what we would now call a ‘drama queen’. In 1722, during his time as kapellmeister (court composer) at the Dresden court of Duke Augustus II of Saxony (who was also King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania), a quarrel between highly gifted (and highly paid) musicians led to Veracini leaping out of an upper-storey window to make a point. Veracini survived but fracturing his hip, as well as his foot in two places, resulted in a lifelong limp.
This Largo comes from his Sonata in A major, No. 6 from his Sonate accademiche, Op. 2. (Edward C. Yong)
Chloe Chua, violin
Isaac Lee, organ
About the organist:
Singaporean organist Isaac Lee is a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow at The Juilliard School. He recently graduated from Yale University with a Master of Musical Arts degree. While at Yale, he received the 2002 Robert Baker Prize for performance excellence and the 2023 Director’s Prize for research excellence. He is one of the 2024 winners of the American Guild of Organists Commissioning project where he will work with Singaporean composer Cheng Jin Koh to premiere a new piece. He served as the Wilson Family Sacred Music Intern at The Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City for two years and was organist for Marquand Chapel at Yale University.
He earned his Bachelor of Music degree with high distinction from the Eastman School of Music studying with Hans Davidsson. Thereafter, he obtained multiple graduate degrees from the Royal Danish Academy of Music under the tutelage of Bine Bryndorf and Hans Davidsson. Whilst in Denmark, he completed a successful fellowship at Roskilde Cathedral, a UNESCO heritage site that boasts the 1555 Raphaelis organ.
Recorded live at the Victoria Concert Hall, Singapore, on 6 Jan 2024.
Cover photo: Clive Choo
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