Concert

We join forces with Bath Bach Choir to perform Beethoven’s mighty Choral Symphony.  Beethoven was the first composer to introduce voices into a symphony with a setting of Schiller’s Ode to Joy. Another innovator, Liszt was the first composer to use the term ‘symphonic poem’ to describe a work linked to some extra-musical idea.  Les Préludes draws on a poem by Lamartine on the theme of love and war. Bath Bach Choir will perform Ešenvalds’ setting of Longfellow’s poem A Shadow, which showcases his powerful use of rich and glorious melody. The 8-part choir, accompanied by the gentle chimes of [...]

Viv McLean makes a welcome return as soloist in Rachmaninov’s powerful and romantic Piano Concerto No. 2. Written as the composer emerged from a three year writer’s block, it has enjoyed enduring popularity ever since. It took Brahms a mere four months to compose his Symphony No. 2 during a summer holiday by an Austrian lake.  Its sunny and lyrical character has earned it the title ‘Pastoral’. Louise Farrenc was Professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatoire from the 1840s and is now regaining the notice she deserves.  Her dramatic and colourful concert Overture No. 2 is in operatic style. [...]