5th Chamber Concert
Victor Ewald: Quintet No. 1 op. 5 / Camille Saint-Saëns: Fantaisie op. 124 for Violin and Harp / Francis Poulenc: »Le bal masqué« FP 60. Cantata for Baritone and Chamber Orchestra
Alter Saal
A programme proposing a wide range of styles: Wind instruments take centre stage in the last chamber concert of the season. Victor Ewald (1860-1935) earned his living as an engineer, though he also studied composition at the Conservatory of Saint Petersburg and was an amateur composer. His series of quintets for brass instruments is a repertoire staple and almost the only example of original writing in the Romantic style.
In 1907, aged 72, Saint-Saëns composed his Fantasy for harp and violin. It would become the second of three major pieces he composed for harp. The Fantasy is a virtuoso piece for both instruments, while the use of a harp instead of the more typical piano gives the instrumental duet a special, magical sonority.
»Those who don’t know it, don’t really love my music. It is 100% Poulenc,« the composer writes about his secular cantata »Le bal masqué«. 100% Poulenc means: musical humour and a virtuoso play with many genres from bel canto to opera, chamber music as well as fairground and cabaret music.