La Petite Bande - News
SIGISWALD KUIJKEN
News
September 06, 2021
Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
La Petite Bande recorded Mozart's Kleine Nachtmusik early 2021 for ACCENT , in combination with his 3 Divertimenti for strings (KV 136 137 and 138). This CD is without any doubt the first and only on the market, which presents these indeed well-known works in the so typical historical “diverimento” -string ensemble from Mozart's time: 2 violins, viola and double bass (instead of violoncello) ! This might have sounded the serenade orchestra under your bedroom window if you had lived in late 18th century Vienna…
March 26, 2021
Mozart - Requiem KV 626 - Kuijken String Quartet
Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853)

Transcriptions for string quartet by the composer or someone else was common practice in Mozarts time. In that light this string-version of Mozart's Requiem is nothing special. What makes it special, is the circumstance of the original Requiem itself. It is known that Mozart left the majority of the work incompleted, and that on request of Mozart's widow, his pupil Süssmayer did the finishing job. Where one's work ends and the other's starts, no-one knows. This 'skeleton-version' of the Requiem, however, fully preserves the eloquence of Mozart's music and therefore perhaps proves that the Requiem contains more of the masters own composing than we can objectively establish. But incomplete as the Requiem is, Mozart's universal genius radiates through the notes in any version. And if anyone can bring the radiation to the surface in this version, no one better than the Kuijken Kwartet.
  1. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Introitus: Requiem
  2. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Kyrie
  3. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Dies Irae
  4. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Tuba mirum
  5. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Rex tremendae
  6. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Recordare
  7. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Confutatis
  8. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Lacrimosa
  9. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Domine Jesu Christe
  10. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Hostias
  11. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Sanctus
  12. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Benedictus
  13. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Agnus Dei
  14. Requiem KV 626 - Version for string quartet by Peter Lichtenthal (1780-1853) Lux aeterna

https://www.challengerecords.com/products/161409370377.01
December 11, 2020
A new CD by La Petite Bande ! Bach Cantatas BWV 72 , 156 and 92
Dear friends and fans of La Petite Bande, 

We would like to make a positive note in these corona times. At the end of November 2020 a new CD of La Petite Bande was released by the German CD company ACCENT, on which 3 beautiful cantatas by J.S.Bach can be heard: BWV 72, 156 and 92.
Although in a strict sense it is not typical "Christmas music", this Bach recording will certainly contribute heartwarmingly and thoughtfully to a deeper experience of this corona-coloured end-of-year period of 2020 and of the months to come ...

This new CD from LPB is available on the market - but can be delivered quickly via LPB itself, at the price of 26 € (shipping costs are included).
You can order by paying into the account of Votre Petite Bande:
IBAN:  BE 30 4310 6868  0111   (not   .... .... 6888 etc , as initially indicated by mistake  on this page, sorry!) 
BIC: KREDBEBB
Please clearly state your postal address when ordering ! (If you would like an invoice, please also mention 'invoice').
This recording was made at the beginning of February 2020 in the somewhat futuristic theatre in Blaibach (Bavaria - you can see it via Google as soon as you enter "Blaibach"...) which was built in 2014 on the initiative of the German baryton Thomas Bauer. You can also listen to Thomas Bauer on this CD: he participated as a soloist and bass in the vocal quartet ! 

Finally, due to the corona crisis, this recording was the last activity of LPB this year 2020: all the other projects of 2020 were cancelled one by one from March onwards, or postponed to a later date, which often had to be cancelled again  ... 
The future of cultural life all over the world remains uncertain ... La Petite Bande has enough plans, the audience will be able to enjoy our performances again as soon as possible! 
February 13, 2020
'Abide with us, Bach” now in promotion
From February 2020, the book which Sigiswald Kuijken wrote in 2013   “Abide with us, Bach”  is in promotion : the number of exemplars is now limited! You can obtain it by offering a donation to the orchestra  (which is still suffering from the loss of all official subventions since several years) :
  • With a donation of 80 €, you receive the book + LPB’s CD-recording of cantata BWV 147 
  • With a donation of 60 € ,  you receive the book without the CD
How to proceed to donate?
  1. Please, send us by mail (info@lapetitebande.be) the necessary information concerning your donation: your name, home address, the language in which you want to receive the book (English, French , German or Dutch), the number of books, the way of payment you will use.
  2. For transmitting your donation, you can make a bank transfer to the bank-account of “Votre Petite Bande”
    IBAN: BE30 4310 6868 0111
    BIC: KREDBEBB
January 30, 2020
Interview: Mattheüs Passion in Amsterdam
Intimate like 300 years ago: The baroque music visionary Sigiswald Kuijken conducts the St. Matthew Passion with a small ensemble. In a small band, this seems as strong as in the great Amsterdam Concertgebouw...

Link to original article
June 18, 2019
New release: The Chamber Music - The Accent Recordings (1978 - 2007)
Winner of the Golden Tuning Fork (Diapasion d'Or) 2019
June 18, 2019
New release: The Concertos - The Accent Recordings 2006-2016
Vivaldi  - Bach - Telemann - Haydn - Mozart
March 17, 2019
New release: Auferstehungshistorie (SWV 50)
 
March 11, 2018
New release: Piano Concertos K. 413, 414 & 415
Sisters Marie and Veronica Kuijken have joined their father Sigiswald Kuijken in a new recording Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Piano Concertos K413, K414 & K415 (Challenge Classics CC72752) that offers a new twist on period performance.
Mozart wrote these three concertos for harpsichord or fortepiano, with full orchestra. He also wrote them in such a way that the wind parts might be omitted, and the traditional four string quartet instruments used to create a chamber version of the work. Clearly, this called for very careful string writing and attention to balance. Colour, too, will have been a consideration for Mozart as he wrote for winds to enrich the orchestral texture.
This recording uses fortepiano with the quartet version but makes one important change. Conductor and, in this instance, first violinist Sigiswald Kuijken has replaced the cello with a double bass. His argu¬ment for this is that Mozart would likely have assumed that most private buyers of his published score owned harpsichords and would have chosen the chamber version, where the harpsichord was better balanced with the four string instruments. In choosing to record with the more robust fortepiano, the louder, richer bass was an equally robust alternative to the cello. Additionally, switching to double bass moves that pitch an octave lower, creating a fuller, more orchestral effect for the small ensemble.
The choice is a calculated but clever and effective one. It places a larger scale work in an intimate setting for a very satisfying and engaging performance.
February 20, 2018
New release: Cantatas for the Complete Liturgical Year in 64 cantatas in 19 CD's
Dir. Sigiswald Kuijken
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