THE ENGLISH Symphony Orchestra Chamber Ensemble and leader and soloist Zoe Beyers will be performing at Great Malven Priory at 1pm on Thursday, September 15.
It is part of the company’s 2022/23 Journeys of Discovery – a ‘deep dive’ into some of Bach’s finest works for violin and chamber ensemble.
The ‘Discovering Bach in Malvern’ event is suitable for Bach lovers or those who are just curious.
The concert aims to showcase Bach’s love for the violin and its versatility.
On the programme will be JS Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No.4, the composer’s Air on a G String, his Violin Concerto in E Major and the Brandenburg Concerto No.5
Zoe is one of the finest violinists of her generation and for this programme she will be joined by members of the orchestra she leads, in the stunning acoustics of Great Malvern Priory to illuminate some of Bach’s finest works for violin.
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos were effectively written as an instrumental job application for the German aristocracy but unfortunately these iconic works were unlikely to have been performed during his lifetime.
They were later discovered in the Brandenburg archives almost 100 years after Bach’s death and they remain some of the finest examples of instrumental music of the Baroque canon.
Bach was renowned as a virtuoso keyboard player, but he was also a highly skilled violinist and wrote a considerable number of masterpieces for the instrument, including eight sonatas for violin and harpsichord, six works for unaccompanied violin and it appears as a soloist in most of his Brandenburg Concertos, including Nos.4 and 5.
Bach’s love for both the harpsichord and violin is also evident in his Violin Concertos which he later transcribed into Harpsichord Concertos (self-plagiarism is commonplace in composer circles) and his Violin Concerto in E Major has remained one of his most popular and regularly performed to this day.
Tickets are free, subject to availability.
There will be a retiring collection at the end of the performance.
Click here for more information and to book places at the event.
