Concerts

About the Concert

A Double-Bill of Concerts

This afternoon’s double-bill of concerts features works by four renowned women composers, as well as Beethoven’s much-loved first piano trio.

Concert One: Around Three Corners

Roxanna Panufnik: Around Three Corners (1995)

Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio in E flat major, Op. 1, No. 1 (1795)

About the Concert

A Double-Bill of Concerts

This afternoon’s double-bill of concerts features works by four renowned women composers, as well as Beethoven’s much-loved first piano trio.

Concert Two: The Swedish Celebrity – Amanda Maier at 2:15pm

Concert Works

Britta Byström: Love in the Afternoon (2017)

Mel Bonis: Soir et Matin, Op. 76 (1907)

Amanda Maier: Piano Trio in E flat major (1874)

About the Concert

Rudersdal Chamber Players have collaborated with Poul Ruders for several years and received international acclaim for their recording of his chamber music. On the occasion of Poul Ruders’ 75th birthday, the Hindsgavl Festival has invited the ensemble to be part of the celebration, where they will perform his virtuosic piano quartet, which is one of the most challenging Danish chamber works.

About the Concert

PROGRAM:
Alexander Glazunov: Rêverie Orientale
Poul Ruders: Clarinet Quintet
W.A. Mozart: Clarinet Quintet

Rudersdal Chamber Players are performing at the Festival in Djurs and Mols

About the Concert

Program:
Mel Bonis: Soir & Matin
Dulcie Holland: Fantasy Trio
Roxanna Panufnik: Around Three Corners
Amanda Maier-Röntgen: Piano Trio

Female composers are very much in vogue. Some believe it’s about time, while others think it’s becoming a bit much. In reality, it probably doesn’t matter as long as the music is truly good! Rudersdal Chamber Players have chosen a program featuring music by four women from different countries. This year’s festival composer, Roxanna Panufnik, is represented by the trio “Around Three Corners,” which is a sort of musical palindrome, as the theme appears in the middle surrounded by variations both before and after.

The three deceased composers on the program did not achieve the same success that Panufnik is experiencing. Gender undoubtedly plays a role in this. The oldest is the Swede Amanda Maier-Röntgen (1853-1894), who had great success as a violinist, but her career ended when she got married, as it was not appropriate for a married woman to perform publicly. She continued to write music, but it was mostly played in small private salons. Her Piano Trio from 1874 stylistically resembles both Schumann and Grieg.

Mel Bonis from France (1858-1937) studied at the Paris Conservatory alongside Debussy, with César Franck as their teacher. Again, marriage stopped the music. It wasn’t until she met her youthful sweetheart again that she resumed composing, ultimately writing more than 300 works. “Soir et Matin” from 1907 consists of two lyrical miniatures.

The Australian Dulcie Holland (1913-2000) was accepted into the Royal College in London in 1937 after studying in Sydney. When World War II broke out, she returned home and shortly after got married. In the following years, she wrote relatively few and very short works, finding success instead as an author of children’s books and educational materials. Later, she became more active as a composer again, but interest in her music has only emerged in recent years. Her “Fantasy Trio” from 1938 is late romantic in style with a touch of impressionism.

Rudersdal Chamber Players specialize in discovering unknown high-quality works, and they have been the first to perform many composers’ works in Denmark.

About the Concert

PROGRAM:
J.S. Bach: from Partita for flute
Roxanna Panufnik: The Faithful Gazelle
W.A. Mozart: Violin sonata in e minor played for clarinet
Robert Schumann: Piano Quintet

Rudersdal Chamber Plazers perform here with six musicians, featuring both a clarinet quintet and a piano quintet. The ensemble’s distinctive feature is its changing combination of instruments, which allows for an almost unlimited repertoire. This has made them one of the country’s busiest ensembles, with around 30 concerts annually. In Denmark, they have performed at venues including Louisiana, Christiansborg Palace Chapel, Ærø, Fanø, and Hjørring, and several tours have taken them to Germany, Sweden, Canada, Norway, Poland, and Russia (before the war).

The clarinet is a relatively new instrument, invented around 1700 but not widely used until the late 18th century. This is why Bach wrote no works for clarinet, but that doesn’t stop Jonas Frølund from playing two movements from his Partita for Flute. Mozart contributed to the clarinet’s popularity with both a quintet and a concerto. He did not write any clarinet sonatas, but since the clarinet is the wind instrument most similar to strings, it can often replace a violin or viola. While Brahms’ Clarinet Sonata is often played on viola, Jonas performs Mozart’s E minor Violin Sonata on clarinet. It was written in Paris, where Mozart was traveling with his mother, who fell ill and died during their stay.

Roxanna Panufnik began composing “The Faithful Gazelle” about three months after the Taliban took over Afghanistan. She was inspired by an Afghan tale about a beggar who gains wealth from a magical gazelle but loses everything again when she becomes ill and he ignores her pleas for help.

The concert concludes with Schumann’s Piano Quintet, a work of symphonic scale. It is dedicated to his wife, pianist Clara Schumann, who was supposed to play at the first private performance. However, she fell ill, and Mendelssohn stepped in and sight-read the piece! Clara did manage to play at the official premiere.