Programme of events

Concert 1

Fanny Mendelssohn's music is finally receiving the attention and respect it deserves. Her piano trio, which opens our 2024 Festival, is a fine example of her inspirational work. As a contemporary critic claimed, it is full of “broad, sweeping foundations that build themselves up through stormy waves into a marvelous edifice.” American composer Bernard Herrmann is best known for his film collaborations with Hitchcock, his scores for Vertigo, North by Northwest and, most famously, Psycho, being integral to their success. But he enjoyed writing for the concert hall too, and his clarinet quintet  Souvenir de Voyage, his last concert piece, betrays the influence of the music of his by now adopted home, England. Dvorak, himself a nostalgic voyager in his later life, brings the concert to a sunny, melody-filled conclusion.

• Fanny Mendelssohn Piano Trio in D minor, Op.11 (25’)
• Bernard Herrmann Souvenirs de Voyage (28’)
• Dvořák String Quintet in G major, Op.77 (37’)

Friends and Patrons of the Corbridge Chamber Music Festival Reception

Directly after the end of concert 1

Concert 2

Shostakovich's Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok are powerful outpourings from late in the composer's life, and offer Corbridge audiences their first glimpse of Claire Booth's dramatic soprano voice. Glazunov's Novelettes open the concert, charming works revealing the awakenings of the Russian Nationalist movement in music, whilst trailblazing French pianist-composer Louise Farrenc brings her own unique take on a combination of instruments made famous by Schubert in his 'Trout' Quintet.

• Glazunov Five Novelettes for string quartet, Op.15 (selection) (20’)
• Shostakovich Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok (29’)
• Farrenc Piano Quintet No.2 in E, Op.31 (30’)

Concert 3

‘Nuevo Tango', with JP Jofre (bandoneon/composer) and the Corbridge Festival Musicians (65’)

Argentinian bandoneon sensation JP Jofre entertains as composer and performer with his unique style of modern-day Tango.

JP Jofre: Primavera, Tango Movements, Manifiesto, Como el Agua, Double Concerto for Clarinet and bandoneon movement 3, La Scaloneta, After the Rain, To Fred, Universe

Friends’ and Patrons’ Event and Patrons’ Lunch

‘Bandoneon Revealed’, with JP Jofre

An opportunity for Friends and Patrons of the Festival to learn about the mysteries of the Argentinian bandoneon, the ubiquitous button-concertina of Latin Tango. Followed by a light lunch for Festival Patrons with the Festival Musicians.

Pierrot Unmasked (40’)

Musicologist James Lea leads an exploration of Schoenberg’s masterpiece, Pierrot Lunaire, in the composer’s 150th anniversary year, with live musical examples from the Corbridge Festival Musicians. Delve in the characters of Pierrot, Harlequin and Columbina and the secrets of Schoenberg’s unique Sprechstimme style, before hearing the whole work live in our 6pm concert, Pierrot’s Moon.

Concert 4

In 1912 Schoenberg shook the musical establishment with the premiere of his 'melodrama' Pierrot Lunaire. It introduced a unique style of vocal performance, Sprechstimme, which hovers halfway between singing and speaking. A masterpiece of the 20th century, Pierrot Lunaire is rarely performed and surely an experience not to be missed, especially in the hands of Claire Booth, one of the work's leading exponents in this 150th anniversary of Schoenberg's birth. The Commedia dell'Arte characters of Pierrot, Columbina and Harlequin have inspired countless composers, and this 'Pierrot's Moon' concert embraces works as wide ranging as Schumann, Korngold and Debussy.

• Pierrot’s Moon
  
  
  
  
• Debussy Pierrot
• Kowalski Sonnen Ende
• Marx Pierrot Dandy
• Schumann Carnival Op.9 No.2 Pierrot
• Korngold Tanzlied des Pierrot
• Rebecca Clarke Midsummer Moon
• Debussy Cello Sonata
• Schoenberg Pierrot Lunaire

Concert 5

‘Noche Americana’ (60’)

An evening of evocative music from, and inspired by, the Americas, including works by Villa Lobos, JP Joffre, Dvořák, Rebecca Clarke, Piazzolla and more.

A laid-back concert, with cafe-style seating and complimentary Argentinian refreshments.

Come and Play Festival Orchestra, conducted by Richard Lester

Calling all local amateur instrumentalists! Come and join the Festival Pros for a rehearsal and public performance of Haydn’s Symphony No.99 and star-Argentinian composer/bandoneon player JP Jofre’s The Fifth Season for bandoneon and orchestra, with JP himself as soloist. All conducted by Corbridge Festival director and Gould Trio cellist, Richard Lester. Places available for strings, woodwind, horns, trumpets and timpani, from approximately Grade 6+ standard.

Please check availability and reserve your place in the Corbridge Community Orchestra by emailing info@corbridgefestival.co.uk, stating your instrument, before buying your ticket online

Concert 6

Smetana's Piano Trio is an emotionally wrought, powerful work, written following the death of his eldest daughter. This tragedy prompted music of unparalleled complexity and poignancy from the then thirty year old Bohemian composer. In contrast, his compatriot Dvorak is represented here by a set of songs which celebrate young love, with melodies of breathtaking  beauty and simplicity from a composer at the height of his powers. Nestled in between, Helen Grime's piano trio is a response to the mood and atmosphere conveyed by three distinctive chalk and pastel miniatures by the great American-born artist Whistler.

• Dvořák arr. Matthews Love Songs Op.83 (16’)
• Helen Grime Three Whistler Miniatures (12’)
• Smetana Piano Trio in G minor, Op.15 (30’)

Concert 7

Our festival finale opens with one of Boccherini’s many string quintets (there are over a hundred!), a particularly vocal example which draws upon influences as diverse as Italian Opera and Spanish Fandango. We then draw together some of the threads of the 2024 Corbridge Festival, with Pierrot’s escapades graphically depicted by Thea Musgrave, and a final reminder of JP Joffre’s astonishing bandoneon playing in that classic of ‘Nuevo Tango’, Piazzolla’s ‘Libertango’. ‘I can’t tell you how moved I am by it, and powerfully gripped’ wrote Clara Schumann of Brahms’ Piano Quintet Op.34. Widely regarded as the jewel in the crown of Brahms' chamber works, what better way to bring the 2024 Corbridge Chamber Music Festival to a rousing end?

• Boccherini String Quintet in D major G353 (20’)
• Thea Musgrave Pierrot (14’)
• Piazzolla Libertango (5’)
• Brahms Piano Quintet in F minor, Op.34 (45’)