Merton Abbey Music

~ SUNDAY EVENING MUSIC AMONG FRIENDS ~

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Forthcoming Sunday Evening Chamber Concerts

Sunday 25th
July 2010  
7.30pm


 NEIL CROSSLAND (PIANO)

BEETHOVEN:  Sonata No. 12 in
                     A flat, opus 26
                     "The Funeral March" 
                         
                     Sonata No. 14 in
                     C sharp minor, opus
                     27/2 "The Moonlight"

SCHUBERT:    Sonata No 21 in B flat
                     D960
   
Neil has given us many virtuoso thrills over the years, and we welcome him back with three of the finest classical sonatas.  The famous “Moonlight” hardly needs any introduction, but the A flat Sonata that just precedes it in the series is just as remarkable, its  Funeral March movement anticipating the Eroica Symphony.  Schubert is a composer of whom Neil has given us especially memorable performances, and his other-worldly final Sonata, written just a month or two before his death, is one of those serene and deeply moving works for which the word “profound” is no exaggeration.    

Sunday 22nd
August 2010
7.30pm


THE ARCADIAN STRING QUINTET
Rebecca Totterdell, Anya Birchall (violins), Toby Hawks, Bimbi Urquhart (violas), Ros Acton (cello)  

Purcell: 
Fantasia on One Note
Bridge:  
Lament for Two Violas
Vaughan Williams: 
Phantasy String Quintet
Mozart: 
String Quintet in G minor K.516


Five young players make a welcome return to the Colour House, first with some beautiful English pieces - Purcell’s famous tour-de-force elaborates melodic patterns around a constantly repeated single note; Britten’s teacher Frank Bridge, a great composer in his own right, hits the spot with his “Lament”, scored for a brace of violas; and the Vaughan Williams is in that beautiful pastoral vein that will appeal to lovers of his “Tallis” Fantasy. Then the great G minor Quintet, one of chamber music’s undisputed masterpieces, and surely the most perfect example of Mozart’s uniquely refined blend of pathos, passion, heartbreak and humanity. 

    Sunday 26th
 September 2010
        7.30pm
 THE COLOUR HOUSE ENSEMBLE
Lynn Cook (violin)
Gill Tarlton (viola)
John Kirby (cello)

with JUSTIN HYER (guitar)

Bach        Trio Sonata in C BWV529
Dohnanyi Serenade for String Trio 
De Falla   Spanish Popular Songs
Schubert  String Trio in B flat
Sibelius   String Trio in G minor
Vivaldi     Guitar Concerto in D





 
 		 

The classical guitar with a trio of strings is a lovely combination. The varied programme visits many countries - topped and tailed by the German and Italian Baroque, there’s a charming piece Schubert wrote for his Viennese friends, together with a chance to hear rarities by the Hungarian and Finnish masters. And with this combination there has to be music from Spain – a selection of Falla’s captivating songs arranged for violin and guitar, for which we're delighted to welcome Justin as our distinguished soloist.