Bath Philharmonia Chamber Players

with Joseph Havlat, piano

Kingston Deverill Church, BA12 7HE

£15 (£7.50 under-17)

Bath Philharmonia is one of the leading professional orchestras in the South West. Its players are some of the finest and most experienced orchestral musicians in Britain, led by Music Director Jason Thornton. The orchestra is renowned for its musical virtuosity as well as a versatile and creative approach to programming.

Performing throughout the year, the orchestra prides itself on its innovative programming working regularly with a roster of international soloists, including Nicola Benedetti, Stephen Hough, Peter Donohoe, Sumi Jo, Sara Connolly, Natalie Clein, Sir Willard White, James Gilchrist, Benjamin Grosvenor, Tasmin Little, Claire Jones, Jennifer Pike, and Michael Collins.

Saturday 17 September 7.30pm

Tickets: info@deverillsfestival.com or 01985 844385

bathphil.co.uk

Central to its focus is to serve the community in Bath & North East Somerset, but in addition the orchestra regularly tours throughout the south west region, performing at festivals and venues including the Colston Hall, Hall for Cornwall Truro, Octagon Yeovil, the Roseland, Fishguard, Beaminster and Frome festivals as well as the Bath International Music Festival – and now the Deverills Performing Arts Series.

Bath Philharmonia has a vibrant learning and participation team ‘Music in Action’ who deliver a portfolio of up to 15 open-access projects a year. They are proud to have over six years experience working with Young Carers across the South West including Bath & North East Somerset, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, Poole and Bournemouth. This work has resulted in performances at the Bath International Music Festival and Greenbelt Festival. In 2012 Bath Philharmonia was awarded a major grant by Youth Music to run 'Listen To US 2', the largest Young Carers music programme in the UK. With Youth Action Wiltshire, Ageas Salisbury International Arts Festival, Wiltshire Music Centre, Pound Arts Centre, Calne Music and Arts Festival, Wiltshire College and Bath Spa University, the orchestra will be working with 144 Young Carers in six performances over the next two years.

The seven-stong ensemble comprises the leader, Sophie Langdon, and principals of Bath Philharmonia – the region's leading professional orchestra – together with Joseph Havlat, piano. The programme will include:

Piano Concerto No 12 in A maj, K414

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 - 91)

Written in the autumn of 1782 in Vienna, the work was scored for solo piano, two oboes, two bassoons (optional), two horns, and strings (consisting of violins, violas, cellos, and double basses). Like all three of the early Vienna concertos that Mozart wrote, it is frequently played with the ensemble we have tonight - a string sextet with piano.

Despite its modest nature and scoring, it stands out in Mozart's early production. Although the three early Viennese concertos (Nos 11, 12 and 13) represent in some senses a formal regression compared to their immediate predecessors, this one is a forerunner of the maestro's mature works in terms of its musical effect.

Souvenir de Florence

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 - 93)

This sublime string sextet in D minor, Op 70, is scored for 2 violins, 2 violas and 2 cellos composed in the summer of 1890. Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to the St Petersburg Chamber Music Society in response to his becoming an Honorary Member. The work, in the traditional four-movement form, was titled Souvenir de Florence because the composer sketched one of the work's principal themes while visiting Florence, Italy. The work was revised between December 1891 and January 1892, before being premiered in 1892.

The ensemble:

Sophie Langdon – violin

Matt Scrivener – violin

Emma Sheppard – viola

Mike Briggs – viola

Miriam Lowbury – cello

Alison Gillies – cello

Joseph Havlat -piano