IRISH Chamber Orchestra presents WAR & PEACE, a Christmas offering for its annual December concert in St Mary’s Cathedral next Thursday 8 at 8pm.
The night will be one of landmark works by Shostakovich, Corelli, Telemann and Haydn led by the flamboyant Corsican conductor Jean-Christophe Spinosi. Music will span the centuries combining elements from the Baroque, Classic and Modern eras.
Charlotte Eglington of the ICO provides these programme notes:
Shostakovich’s dramatic ‘8th String Quartet’ is one of the most powerful and personal compositions of the 20th century, dedicated to victims of war. It was inspired by the destruction of Dresden.
From war to peace, concerts of old at this time of year, especially those of the Baroque period, were rich and colourful. Corelli’s ‘Christmas Concerto’ was composed for Christmas night and published a year after his death, establishing his fame.
Telemann, a late Baroque composer and multi-instrumentalist, composed more than 3,000 works. His charming ‘Concerto in E minor’ for Flute, Recorder and Bass Continuo is more like a series of small tone poems than a typical Baroque concerto. This keeps the audience both interested and beguiled and musicians Fiona Kelly and Emma Roche feature on flute.
Rounding off the night within St Mary’s glory, Haydn’s Paris Symphonies, ‘No. 83, La Poule’ is a seminal work marking a new level of compositional skills. This launched the important cycle of mature symphonies and the aesthetic basis for their extraordinary appeal.
Tickets in advance from
