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String Symphony

classics by Havant Chamber Orchestra strings

Add to my Calendar 10-03-2018 19:30 10-03-2018 21:30 36 String Symphony In this concert, HCO present a wide range of music for strings spanning more than 300 years.  The oldest piece will be the Concerto for Two Violins by Bach in which two of our section leaders, Brian Howells and Cathy Mathews, will take the solo parts. Opening the concert will be a 20th century work by the British composer Benjamin Britten.  His ‘Simple Symphony’ (which the players will tell you is anything but simple!) includes two baroque dances, a Bourrée and a Sarabande, alongside ‘Playful Pizzicato’ and ‘Frolicsome Finale’ and is a gorgeously lighthearted piece using tunes that Britten wrote when he was just a teenager. A short ‘Romance’ by 19th Century Finnish composer, Sibelius, will be followed by the ‘Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten’ by Arvo Pärt.  Pärt felt a close connection to Britten but could not fully access his music until he was able to leave Estonia in 1980 – four years after Britten’s death.  The ‘Cantus’ was written to honour Britten and is written for strings and a bell. The second half of the concert will consist of the intense ‘Chamber Symphony’ by Shostakovich – a transcription of his String Quartet no. 8 which was written in 1960 and dedicated to ‘the victims of fascism and the war’.   Our Musical Director, Robin Browning, will give an introduction to this before we play it. Emsworth Baptist Church, Emsworth DD/MM/YYYY

Details

Emsworth Baptist Church
North Street
Emsworth
Hampshire
PO10 7BY
England

Programme

Benjamin Britten – Simple Symphony, Op.4
Dmitry Shostakovich – Chamber Symphony, Op.110a
Johann Sebastian Bach – Concerto for 2 Violins in D minor, BWV 1043
Arvo Pärt – Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
Jean Sibelius – Romance, Op.42

Performers

Brian Howells – Violin
 Cathy Mathews – Violin
 Robin Browning – Conductor

Havant Chamber Orchestra

Programme Note

In this concert, HCO present a wide range of music for strings spanning more than 300 years.  The oldest piece will be the Concerto for Two Violins by Bach in which two of our section leaders, Brian Howells and Cathy Mathews, will take the solo parts.

Opening the concert will be a 20th century work by the British composer Benjamin Britten.  His ‘Simple Symphony’ (which the players will tell you is anything but simple!) includes two baroque dances, a Bourrée and a Sarabande, alongside ‘Playful Pizzicato’ and ‘Frolicsome Finale’ and is a gorgeously lighthearted piece using tunes that Britten wrote when he was just a teenager.

A short ‘Romance’ by 19th Century Finnish composer, Sibelius, will be followed by the ‘Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten’ by Arvo Pärt.  Pärt felt a close connection to Britten but could not fully access his music until he was able to leave Estonia in 1980 – four years after Britten’s death.  The ‘Cantus’ was written to honour Britten and is written for strings and a bell.

The second half of the concert will consist of the intense ‘Chamber Symphony’ by Shostakovich – a transcription of his String Quartet no. 8 which was written in 1960 and dedicated to ‘the victims of fascism and the war’.   Our Musical Director, Robin Browning, will give an introduction to this before we play it.

Brian Howells

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