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18th November 2018 – Jacquin Trio – Programme notes by Chris Darwin

Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Märchenerzählungen Op 132. (‘Fairy-tale tellings’) for clarinet, viola & piano (1853)

Lebhaft, nicht zu schnell
Lebhaft und sehr markirt
Ruhiges Tempo, mit zartem Ausdruck
Lebhaft, sehr markirt

In September 1853, the 20-year old Johannes Brahms arrived unannounced at Robert and Clara Schumann’s house bearing an introduction from their mutual friend the violinist Joseph Joachim. Robert Schumann’s mental health was deteriorating, but Brahms’ arrival stimulated Schumann to new compositions: a happy collaboration between Schumann, Brahms and Schumann’s close friend Albert Dietrich produced the triple-authored F-A-E violin sonata dedicated to Joachim, and then in three days from 9 – 11 October 1853 Schumann wrote Märchenerzählungen which he dedicated to Dietrich. ‘Predominantly cheerful pieces, written with a light heart’ he told his publisher. The tautological title ‘Fairy-tale tellings’ stands in contrast to his Märchenbilder (‘Fairy-tale pictures’) for viola and piano written four years earlier. Continue reading 18th November 2018 – Jacquin Trio – Programme notes by Chris Darwin

Coffee Concert 21st October 2018 – Marmen Quartet – Review by Richard Amey, Worthing Herald

Enlightenment from inside a darkened room. It was given by Johannes Marmen to a large proportion of the Coffee Concerts audience, of whom 205 turned out early on Sunday to hear his young group make their debut in the series.

Such a high Continue reading Coffee Concert 21st October 2018 – Marmen Quartet – Review by Richard Amey, Worthing Herald

Coffee Concert 21st October 2018 – Marmen Quartet – Review by Andrew Polmear

What joy to be restarting another coffee concert series, on an unusually warm October morning with golden leaves falling in bright sunshine. The Marmen Quartet is new to us, having formed as recently as 2013 at the Royal College of Music. They gave an extraordinary Continue reading Coffee Concert 21st October 2018 – Marmen Quartet – Review by Andrew Polmear

21st October 2018 – Marmen Quartet – Programme notes by Chris Darwin

All three of today’s works have a special relationship with semitones.  For example, the Haydn opens with one that metamorphoses into its main theme;  the Janáček opens with a harsh F#-G clash which sets the tone of this emotionally-charged piece; the Beethoven, famously, is built around the opening two embedded pairs of semitones.  You can probably spot more examples.

Josef Haydn (1732-1809) String Quartet Op. 74 No.1 in C (1793)
Allegro
Andantino grazioso
Menuet & Trio
Finale: Vivace

Haydn’s six ‘Apponyi’ quartets (Op 71 and 74) were written in 1792 & 1793 between his two extended visits to London. Prince Nicholas Esterházy, Haydn’s patron to whom he was devoted, had Continue reading 21st October 2018 – Marmen Quartet – Programme notes by Chris Darwin