Solo Violin Recital, St Peter's Church Wherwell

Solo Violin Recital - St Peter’s Church Wherwell

Join me for a musical journey through some of the most technically challenging and musically profound works ever written. Taking place in the wonderful venue that is St Peter’s Church Wherwell, the concert’s programme has been carefully designed to explore fascinating connections between the works presented and to illuminate them in a new light. The aim is to build real context around these pieces as the recital progresses, both through performance and readings. This will result in an experience which I hope to be both more accessible and more informative than a traditional classical music concert.

Programme:

Bach G Minor Solo Violin Sonata BWV 1001

Ysaye G Minor Solo Violin Sonata Op27

Interval

Paganini Caprices 4, 14, and 24

Milstein Paganiniana

The recital will be starting with Bach’s G Minor Solo Violin Sonata. This piece marks the beginning of an extraordinary cycle of 6 Sonatas and Partitas, a set which is considered to be one of the most extraordinary works of art ever produced. From it’s quasi improvisatory beginning, to a scurrying finale, there is so much power in this music.

Following on from this will be Ysaye’s G Minor Solo Violin Sonata, a work which pulls inspiration from a huge variety of sources. Its connection to the previously programmed sonata and the rest of the Bach cycle is extensive, however Ysaye imparts his own characteristic Franco-Belgian compositional flavours into the mix. The result being a harmonic language which is hyper expressive and capable of producing undeniably vivid colours. The icing on this rather vibrant cake is the incorporation of his own legendary violinistic prowess into the work, cumulating in a piece that is one of the great performing titans of the violin repertoire.

The second half will start with three Paganini Caprices, works which have become infamous for their extreme technical demands. These works are far from clinical exercises in speed and accuracy however as they are imbued with a wealth of references, imitations, and stories. In fact they are almost operatic in style, a link which we will explore throughout this second half. The programme will then close with the spectacular Paganiniana, a virtuosic showpiece written by arguably the ultimate virtuoso of the mid to late 20th century, Nathan Milstein. This work reinvents elements from both the previously programmed Caprices and other Paganini compositions to produce a unique montage of musical fireworks and bravura.

The concert begins at 7:30pm and will last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. Tickets can be booked by sending an email to either zackstephens@live.co.uk , or ac.whiteside@googlemail.com

In this email state: how many tickets you require, and whether any of them will be for under 18’s. Adult tickets are £17 each, whilst under 18’s have free entry. Refreshments in the form of both wine and soft drinks will be available for purchase in the interval.