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National Youth Voices at Christmas with Zeb Soanes 9pm - 10pm
Jane Jones presents a youthful work from Mendelssohn, perfectly summery music from Bach, one of the finest clarinet concertos and a gorgeous violin sonata.
Tonight's concert opens with Johann Sebastian Bach's Orchestral Suite No.1 in C major. Bach's four orchestral suites were originally called ouvertures by the composer - a term used in his day for a suite of dance-pieces in the French Baroque style preceded by a special overture that has a majestic opening, followed by a fast fugue. This first Suite is comprised of such an Ouverture, followed by a Courante, two Gavottes, a Forlana, two Minuets, two Bourrées and two Passepieds.
Carl Maria von Weber wrote his Clarinet Concerto No. 1 in F minor in 1811 for the clarinettist Heinrich Bärmann. The piece continues to be a gem in the instrument's repertoire. The first movement was very innovative for its time, with some aspects characteristic of the work of Mendelssohn who came along some time later. It's played tonight by Maximiliano Martin with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conducted by Alexander Janiczek.
The Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano by César Franck is one of his best known compositions, and one of the finest sonatas for violin and piano ever written. It was written in 1886, when Franck was 63, as a wedding present for the violinist Eugène Ysaÿe. Franck presented the work on the morning of the wedding. After a hurried rehearsal, Ysaÿe and his pianist played the Sonata to the assembled guests. Ysaÿe kept the Violin Sonata in his repertoire for the next 40 years of his life, and his championing of the Sonata contributed to the public recognition of Franck as a major composer.
The concert ends with the Symphony No.1 in C minor, written by Felix Mendelssohn (pictured) when he was just 15 years old. The work was premièred at a private gathering on 14 November 1824 to celebrate his sister Fanny's 19th birthday. Its public première occurred on 1 February 1827 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra performing under the leadership of its then-Kapellmeister Johann Philipp Christian Schulz. The symphony was dedicated to the Royal Philharmonic Society, who performed the London première on 25 May 1829 with Mendelssohn conducting.
Johann Sebastian Bach: Orchestral Suite No.1 in C major BWV.1066
Freiburg Baroque Orchestra
Carl Maria Von Weber: Clarinet Concerto No.1 in F minor Opus 73
Clarinet: Maximiliano Martin
Alexander Janiczek conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Cesar Franck: Violin Sonata in A major
Violin: Joshua Bell
Piano: Jean-Yves Thibaudet
Felix Mendelssohn: Symphony No.1 in C minor Opus 11
Kurt Masur conducts the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra