Solo Violin Recital - St Peter's Church Wherwell

Solo Violin Recital - St Peter’s Church Wherwell

7:30pm, 3rd July 2024

Join me for a musical journey through some of the most technically challenging and artistically profound works ever written. Taking place in the wonderful venue that is St Peter’s Church Wherwell, this 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:

H.I.F Biber Rosary Sonata No16 - Passacaglia

John Corigliano - Red Violin Caprices

Nicolo Paganini Caprices for Solo Violin Op1:

5 - Agitato

11 - Andante - Presto

Interval

J.S Bach D Minor Partita BWV 1004:

Allemande

Corrente

Sarabande

Gigue

Chaconne

The recital will be starting with H.I.F Biber's 16th Rosary Sonata, titled Pasacaglia. Biber's music has recently started to enjoy somewhat of a revival after centuries of near obscurity. His music however has refused to be enitrely lost to time though due to select enthusiasts admiration for his unusual style, groundbreaking compositional proccesses, and powerful emotional output. It is these same qualities though which still speak to modern audiences and have rightly rekindled interest in this music. As a Passacaglia, this piece by its very natured is founded on repetition and stable forms, however it is Biber's ability to create so much contrast within that which makes this piece such an extraordinary work to both listen to and play.

The second piece will be John Corigliano's Red Violin Caprices, written for the 1998 film of the same name. In the film, a fictional Italian violin maker (based loosely of legends told of Guarneri Del Gesu) attempts to keep the memory of his dead wife alive by infusing her blood into the varnish of the instrument. This instrument then passes through the hands of a huge variety of players, each of whom is struck down by a terrible fate due to the cursed nature of that violin. The music for this film potrays the story that this legendary violin goes on through a series of captivating caprices, all based around one musical theme, which of course represents the unchanging constant in the story, the violin. This results in a piece which is stylistically about as varied as is possible, taking us gradually from the refined sounds of the baroque, through the extraordinary sound world of traditional folk and Romanian Gyspy players, alongside the fury of the great romatic virtuosos and prodigies, and final culminating in the present day.

The final item in this first half will be two Caprices by Nicolo Paganini, works which have become infamous for their extreme technical demands. These pieces are far from clinical exercises in speed and dexterity however as they are imbued with a wealth of references, imitations, and stories. Being an Italian Romantic, Paganini wrote them in the highly operatic style that became enduringly popular during the period for its distinctive emotional colour and charm. This often overlooked factor has significance that cannot be overstated and is a link which we will explore further in this concert.

The second half of the recital will be dominated by one all encompasing work, J.S Bach’s D Minor Partita for Solo Violin. This piece acts as the gripping climax to the Bach Solo cycle and expands upon elements found in all the other works by Bach that have been played in this concert series so far. Like the previous Partita in B Minor, this entire piece pulls heavily from the world of the baroque dancer, incorporating forms from all classes of society. The result is music that goes from resembling an earthy peasantry romp to being abruptly thrown into the elegant steps found about the courts of the highest nobility. However, this work also combines this rhythmicality with a unique sense of lyricism and line, all whilst maintaining complete structual continuity. This Partita is then drawn to a close with the legendary Chaconne, a piece so mindblowing, Johannes Brahms described it memorably in this quote: "The Chaconne is, in my opinion, one of the most wonderful and most incomprehensible pieces of music. Using the technique adapted to a small instrument, the man writes a whole world of the deepest thoughts and most powerful feelings. If I could picture myself writing, or even conceiving, such a piece, I am certain that the extreme excitement and emotional tension would have driven me mad."

The concert begins at 7:30pm and will last approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes. We request you please book tickets in advance so we can anticipate numbers. Adult tickets are £17 each, whilst under 18’s have free entry. These can be booked on Ticketsource via the link below (Under 18's will not require tickets). Refreshments in the form of both wine and soft drinks will be available for purchase in the interval.

For queries, do please get in contact by sending an email to either zackstephens@live.co.uk , or ac.whiteside@googlemail.com. Tickets can be found at this link: TicketSource - Violin Recital Wherwell or bought on the door.