31 May - 7 June 2017
Eastern Europe Express
Introducing your guide, Polish-born Bartosz Woroch – a gifted violinist specialising in chamber and solo violin, taking us across Eastern Europe on a musical journey of discovery!
To Poland! Where Grazyna Bacewicz, one of the country’s first female composers, wrote her much-lauded 1948 concerto, which fuses tradition and modernity with vivacious gusto, energy and inventive flair.
To France! Where Chopin wrote Opus 37, No.2 and Opus 55, No.1, performed now in this exquisite string orchestra arrangement (and SE commission) by David Matthews, who translates the delicate piano melodies into beautifully meandering lines for solo violin.
To Czech Republic! …to end the evening with one of Dvorák’s most well-known quintets, scored with double bass to create a deep, romantic richness.
- Gòrecki
Three pieces in old style - Chopin
Two Nocturnes [arr. David Matthews] - Bacewicz
Concerto for String Orchestra - Czyz
Canzona di Barocco for String Orchestra - Dvořák
String Quintet in G major, Op. 77 [arr. string orchestra]
To be Polish and arrive at the end of the war unscathed was a triumph for Bacewicz and I can feel her nationalism and optimism for the future pouring out of the music. As she weaves her favourite Polish folk songs into a style not dissimilar to Bach’s Brandenburg concertos, she writes with such an inherent understanding of string playing that I find it is always a joy to play.
