This Christmas come with us on our European tour to Spain, Italy Hungary and Germany

We open with J S Bach’s Passacaglia. Originally an organ piece it has been arranged by our tireless conductor, Robin McEwan for our wind section. Probably composed early in Bach’s career, it is one of his most important and well-known works. The Passacaglia originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is based on the phrase that we hear at the start in the horns. This is then followed by a series of variations on this theme. Robert Schumann described the variations of the Passacaglia as “intertwined so ingeniously that one can never cease to be amazed.”

Next our string section will play the Christmas Concerto by Arcangelo Corelli scored for a ‘concertino’ (i.e. solo violins and cello with Ripieno strings, beloved of this era. Enjoy the dynamic contrast this creates in the 6 alternating fast and slow movements. It is perhaps the best known of his 12 extant concerti grossi and was composed to be played on ‘the night of Christmas’ — a lovely way for us all to look forward to the festive season ahead.

Brahms’ Hungarian dances are amongst his most popular works and were his most profitable. The first half of the concert concludes with possibly the best known of them all — No. 5 in G minor. This is actually based on a piece composed by Hungarian composer Béla Kéler and not a traditional folk song as Brahms thought lovely none the less.

After the interval we conclude with Brahms’ 4th and final symphony which links us to our first piece as the 4th and final movement here is also a Passacaglia — very rare in symphonies. The only one of Brahms pieces to end in a minor key it has been described as being “like a dark well; the longer we look into it, the more brightly the stars shine back”

The programme for the evening is:

J S Bach (arr McEwan) — Passacaglia Arcangelo Corelli — Christmas Concerto Brahms — Hungarian Dance No. 5

INTERVAL

Brahms — Symphony No. 4