Music at Lunchtime
Wednesday 15 May 2024, 1.30pm
All Saints’ Church
Harriet Devenyi violin
Anne Bolt piano
Allegro (Sonata in A major, HWV 372) George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Chanson de Matin, op. 15 no. 2
Allegro risoluto (Sonatina in G major, op. 100)
Meditation (Thaïs)
Edward Elgar (1857-1934)
Antonín Dvořák (1841-1904)
Jules Massenet (1842-1912)
There will be a retiring collection in aid of Church funds. Please take your programme with you at the end of the recital.
Forthcoming Music at Lunchtime recitals
Wednesday 22 May, 1.30pm Joshua Davis horn Music by Mozart, Saint-Saëns & Vinter
Forthcoming Music in Chapel concerts
Tickets from wegottickets.com or 01572 758820
Thursday 16 May, 7.30pm
Professional Music in the Chapel
Dan Milverton saxophone & Victoria Bonham piano
George Friedric Handel was a German Baroque composer who wrote a huge amount of music including the Water Music, Zadok the Priest and six sonatas for violin and keyboard. This movement has been the most challenging piece for me to play, it has fast passages and there is a lively conversation between the keyboard and violin. I hope you enjoy the invigorating energy of this piece.
Chanson de Matin by Edward Elgar is from a set of two pieces, a morning song and a night song. They show the contrast between night and day in two beautiful pieces of music. Their popularity has meant they have been arranged for many different instruments and for orchestra. This piece is the most sentimental to me as it has carried me through my scholarship exam, my first concert, two competitions, and now my lunchtime concert.
Dvořák was a Czech composer who found inspiration in folk music and found effective ways to use folklike rhythms and scales in his compositions. He dedicated this Sonatina to his children who played piano and violin, and said in a letter to his friend "It is intended for youths (dedicated to my two children), but even grown-ups, adults, should be able to converse with it..".
I really like this Sonatina because it is a piece with variation and enthusiasm, it is both enjoyable to play and technically challenging. This is the first piece I've played by Dvořák and I'm keen to explore more, particularly as I love folk music and the way Dvořák uses it.
Meditation is a famous piece composed by Jules Massenet for the opera ‘Thaïs’, based on the story written by Anatole France. Massenet was a French composer of the Romantic era. He was best known for his operas, but this piece has become one of his most loved compositions. The music is very emotional and covers a whole spectrum of feelings, from a stormy section in the middle, to the peaceful theme of the beginning and recapitulation. I personally love the piece, and as a player who prefers romantic classical music, this is my favourite of today's programme.
Harriet DevenyiHarriet is a music scholar in Form 1 and studies violin with Head of Strings, Emily Holland.