Variations on a Roberts Burns Air “By Yon Castle Walls” by twelve British composers including Sally Beamish, John Casken, Joe Cutler and Robin Ireland and with a new variation by a Birmingham Conservatoire student.
Chamber Music Festival 2012
Themes and Variations
Composers throughout history have been fascinated by the possibilities inherent in Chamber Music, and many have been inspired to some of their greatest masterpieces using this genre. We present some of these masterpieces this week, for example Schubert’s Death and the Maiden Quartet, with variations based on his own song of that name, and Beethoven’s op 131 quartet, in the opinion of many, possibly his finest quartet.
In what promises to be a week of beautiful concerts, hear how other well known masterpieces have been given new life through skilled arrangements for other instruments, such as Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Dvorák’s Czech Suite. Performances of Haydn's Emperor Quartet, and Frank Martin's Trio on Irish Folk Tunes also provide you with the opportunity to experience popular melodies transformed by the inventiveness of the great composers. All this and much more characterizes this exciting and varied week of Chamber Music, and we do hope that you can join us.
Events include: