Your events at Classical Events
Details
All Saints Church
Ringinglow Road
Ecclesall
Sheffield
S11 7PP
England
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach – Passacaglia in C Minor (arr. Robin McEwan)
Arcangelo Corelli – Concerto Grosso in G minor 'Christmas concerto', Op.6 no.8
Johannes Brahms – Hungarian Dance no.5 in G Minor
~ Interval ~
Johannes Brahms – Symphony no.4 in E minor, Op.98
Performers
Robin McEwan – Conductor
Sheffield Chamber Orchestra
Programme Note
We open with J S Bach’s Passacaglia (a musical form which originated in Spain). Originally an organ piece it has been arranged by our tireless conductor, Robin McEwan for our wind section. It is a series of variations of the phrase that we hear at the start in the horns -- variations that Robert Schumann described as “intertwined so ingeniously that one can never cease to be amazed.”
Next our string section will play the Christmas Concerto by Arcangelo Corelli which is scored for a ‘concertino’ (i.e. solo violins and cello) with Ripieno strings, beloved of this era. Enjoy the dynamic contrast this creates in the 6 alternating fast and slow movements. It is perhaps the best known of his 12 extant concerti grossi and was composed to be played on ‘the night of Christmas’ — a lovely way for us all to look forward to the festive season ahead.
Brahms’ Hungarian dances are amongst his most popular works and were his most profitable. The first half of the concert concludes with possibly the best known of them all — No. 5 in G minor.
After the interval we conclude with Brahms’ 4th and final symphony which links us to our first piece as the 4th and final movement here is also a Passacaglia — very rare in symphonies. The Symphony has been described as being “like a dark well; the longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back”
