sinfonia ViVA in Chelmsford

Sunday 13th February 2011 at 7.30pm
Civic Theatre, Chelmsford
Tickets: £23.00, £19.00, £15.00 (Conc: £20.50, £16.50, £12.50. Full-time students, under 16s and registered unemployed: £5.00)
Box Office: 01245 606505

• Schumann: Zwickau Symphony in G minor
• Stravinsky: Pulcinella Suite
• Beethoven: Symphony No.6 in F Op6 'The Pastoral'

Pre-Concert Talk: 6.30pm (free to ticket holders).

The turbulent and tragic Robert Schumann, whose intention to become a concert pianist was defeated by an injury to his right hand, decided instead to study and master composition. His Zwickau Symphony in G minor was begun in 1832, the first movement receiving its premiere during the winter of that year, performed by his former piano teacher's thirteen year old daughter, Clara Wieck.

Stravinsky's ballet Pulcinella was a turning point in the composer's work as he moved into his neoclassical phase. Having a single act structure, it premiered in Paris in 1920 with set design and costume by Picasso. The Suite derives from the ballet, and like the ballet itself which was revised in the late 1940's, Stravinsky would go on to rework it as late as 1965.

Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony is his testament to the influence of the natural world, the music depicting the composer's love for and appreciation of the landscape and the forces of nature. Finished in 1808, the work takes us from the serenity of a gently depicted country scene with birdsong and babbling brook through to the unleashing of a full-blown storm before a resolution in the form of the thanksgiving song of shepherds. A truly timeless piece.

Supported by M&G Investments, Chelmsford Borough Council, Orchestras Live and Arts Council England