Elias Quartet Schumann Series 2015

February 2015

ELIAS QUARTET PRESENT SCHUMANN SERIES AT TURNER SIMS, SOUTHAMPTON In an exclusive for Turner Sims in its 40th anniversary year, the Elias Quartet, Associate Artists at the venue, present a three-concert series centred around Schumann’s string quartets, placing the works in context with the composers who influenced him, as well as British music from the past 40 years and today.

Following his year-long immersion in song in 1840 and orchestral music in 1841, Robert Schumann spent 1842 focusing almost exclusively on chamber music, producing three string quartets, a piano quartet and a piano quintet.

For the last of their three years as Turner Sims Associate Artists, the Elias Quartet centre this exclusive series around the three quartets.

Concert Hall Manager Kevin Appleby says: We are delighted the Elias Quartet are performing this exclusive series at Turner Sims during our 40th anniversary year.

Schumann’s three quartets are comparative rarities in chamber music programmes, and this is an opportunity to re-evaluate these important works in the composer’s canon. Alongside this fascinating exploration, we are particularly pleased to offer audiences three pre-concert talks specially created for Turner Sims. Writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore introduces the series, whilst composers Sally Beamish and Emily Howard, whose respective new works are included in the programme, shed further light on their music in the second and third concerts.

The Elias Quartet add: We are excited to present our first ever Schumann series at Turner Sims during their 40th anniversary year, building on the great relationship we have developed with audiences there during our three years as Associate Artists. For this exclusive series we have chosen to place Schumann’s works in context with the composers who influenced him, as well as British music from the past 40 years and today. For the final concert – also our last as Associate Artists at the venue – we are delighted to be joined by pianist Jonathan Biss, making it a truly special occasion as we perform Schumann’s Piano Quintet.

Each concert is preceded by an introduction to Schumann the composer and the music for the evening. The series is supported by the Friends of Turner Sims.

Schumann 1: Tuesday 17 February 2015, 8pm Haydn Britten Schumann

Quartet Op 33 No 3 Quartet No 3, Op 84 Quartet No 1, Op 41 No 1

7pm Pre-concert talk by writer and broadcaster Richard Wigmore Haydn’s work, with its bird-like grace notes, begins the first concert in the series which also includes the first of Schuman’s works. Britten’s quartet by contrast is one of his last works.

Schumann 2: Thursday 19 February 2015, 8pm Mozart Quartet No 19 in C, K 465 Sally Beamish Quartet No 3, Reed Stanzas Schumann Quartet No 3, Op 41 No 3 7pm Pre-concert talk by Sally Beamish The second in the Elias’ Schumann series features the third quartet, arguably the most well known of the three, the last of Mozart’s six works dedicated to Haydn, and Sally Beamish’s work commissioned by the BBC Proms in 2011 and premiered by the Elias.

Schumann 3 – Tuesday 9 June 2015 at 8pm Elias Quartet with Jonathan Biss (piano) Last Concert of the Anniversary Season Plus Associate Artist relationship Schumann Quartet No 2, Op 41 No 2 Emily Howard Afference (for String Quartet) Schumann Piano Quintet in E flat, Op 44 7pm Pre-concert talk by Emily Howard The final concert in the Elias Quartet’s Schumann series is also the final concert in their three-year role as Associate Artists. For this special occasion they are joined by one of the world’s great Schumann interpreters, pianist Jonathan Biss, for the composer’s Piano Quintet, the first work by a Romantic composer to pair the piano with the string quartet. The work comes from the same ‘Year of Chamber Music’ which spawned the three string quartets, 1842.

Elias Quartet take their name from Mendelssohn’s oratorio, Elijah, of which Elias is its German form, and have quickly established themselves as one of the most intense and vibrant quartets of their generation.

They perform around the world, collaborating with many different artists. The Quartet was formed in 1998 at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester where they worked closely with the late Dr. Christopher Rowland. They also spent a year studying at the Hochschule in Cologne with the Alban Berg quartet. Other mentors in the Quartet’s studies include Hugh Maguire, György Kurtág, Gábor Takács-Nagy, Henri Dutilleux and Rainer Schmidt.

Jonathan Biss has established himself as one of the most versatile and eminent pianists on the worldwide concert platform today. Jonathan is a keen chamber musician and recitalist and his recent four part chamber music series entitled 'Schumann: Under the Influence' was highly acclaimed by critics worldwide. He has recently embarked on an ambitious recording project in which he plans to record all the Beethoven Sonatas by 2020. His combination of traditional and contemporary approaches to music is reflected in his partnership with the Curtis Institute of Music and Coursera; this year he taught an online course, entitled 'Exploring Beethoven's Piano Sonatas' for which over 50,000 people signed up. He is also the author of two 'Kindle Singles' - extended essays on Beethoven and on Schumann - which have been best sellers on Amazon, translated into German and Spanish, and released as audio books.

Turner Sims Southampton is acknowledged as one of the finest music venues in the country.

Hosting over 60 concerts a year, it attracts internationally renowned performers such as Courtney Pine, Nicola Benedetti, Hugh Masekela, Mitsuko Uchida and the Vienna Piano Trio. Situated on the University of Southampton’s Highfield Campus, the varied programme includes classical, jazz, folk and world music, as well as talks from personalities. Turner Sims’ intimate auditorium, outstanding acoustics and garden setting make it a favourite destination for artists and audiences alike.

Richard Wigmore is a writer, broadcaster and lecturer specialising in Romantic and Classical chamber music, and in Lieder. He writes for Gramophone, BBC Music Magazine and other journals, and has given classes in the history and interpretation of Lieder at Birkbeck College, the Royal Academy of Music and the Guildhall. Richard appears frequently on Radio 3’s CD Review, and runs his own music study events in the UK (www.wigmoresworld.co.uk).

Sally Beamish’s string quartet for the Elias, ‘Reed Stanzas’, received its premiere at the 2011 BBC Proms, and won the 2011 RPS award in the Chamber-Scale Composition category. She was one of the PRS 20×12 Cultural Olympiad composers, and her work with The Times columnist Melanie Reid, Spinal Chords, was premiered at Turner Sims in 2012, with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, featuring Juliet Stevenson as narrator. Sally Beamish’s Variations on a Theme of Benjamin Britten received its world premiere at Turner Sims in 2013 performed by the Academy of St Martin in the Fields.

Emily Howard is a British composer who came to critical attention with Magnetite, commissioned by Liverpool European Capital of Culture 2008 for the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and Vasily Petrenko. Her works are commissioned, performed and broadcast internationally by festivals and ensembles. Emily has been appointed Leverhulme Trust Artist in Residence at the University of Liverpool's Department of Mathematical Sciences during 2015, a year which also sees the premieres of String Quartet "Afference" (Elias String Quartet / Wigmore Hall, London) and Leviathan (scapegoat / North American Tour, May 2015).

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