Schumann, Clarke and Grime

An exciting range of 19th-21st chamber music, dominated by the idea of fairy tale.

Combining the soulful viola with the languid clarinet, Schumann’s four musical fairy tales is an enchanting set of miniatures that brings the picturesque to life. Rebecca Clarke’s work for clarinet and viola is alternately spectral, austere, powerful and desolate. A very different, equally expressive duo follows, exploring the extremes of musical range and possibility for violin and viola in Grime’s ‘To see the summer sky’, played by Ensemble 360’s Rachel Roberts (who first performed this work’s world premiere in 2010). Kurtág’s homage to the fanciful spirit of Schumann’s fairy tales brings us full circle.

Programme

• SCHUMANN: Marchenerzählungen (16’)
• CLARKE: Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale (15’)
• GRIME: To see the summer sky (9’)
• KURTÁG: Hommage à R Schumann (11’)