Details
St Mary's
Market Street
Lichfield
Staffordshire
WS13 6QG
England
Programme
Johann Sebastian Bach – Partita no.4 in D major for keyboard, BWV 828
~ Interval ~
Frédéric Chopin – Ballade no.3 in A flat major, Op.47
Gabriel Fauré – 3 Nocturnes, Op.33
Frédéric Chopin – Scherzo no.2 in B flat minor, Op.31
Performers
James Longford – piano
Programme Note
It is well-known that Chopin hugely admired the work of JS Bach and would play his Preludes & Fugues before his own performances, as well as encourage his pupils to exercise their minds and fingers with the great man’s music.
Firstly, a suite from the last set that Bach wrote – a rich, grand and cosmopolitan selection of seven stylised dances from Europe, designed to be played for entertainment in the home.
The second half features two of Chopin’s most loved works – the romantic third Ballade and the dazzling Scherzo no.2 – alongside a set of Nocturnes by Fauré, who was deeply inspired by Chopin’s soaring melodic lines, and took his harmonic freedom to new levels.