The Bloomsbury Players return to the Roman River Spring Series and Vermeer Chamber Concerts with a programme showcasing Dvorak’s double bass quintet on gut strings and in its original 5-movement version (including the extraordinary Intermezzo that was removed). They pair this with Rossini’s first Sonata a quattro, composed when he was only twelve years old, and Fanny Mendelssohn’s rhapsodic and poignant string quartet.

We are grateful to the Continuo Foundation for supporting this project.

Programme

Gioachino Rossini - Sonata a quattro, no.1 in G major

Fanny Mendelssohn - String Quartet in Eb major

~~~ Interval ~~~

Antonín Dvořák - String Quartet in G major, op.77 (including Intermezzo)

~ The Bloomsbury Players - Sijie Chen & Will McGahon (violins), Hannah Shaw (viola), Orlando Jopling (‘cello), Alexander Jones (double bass) ~

The clarinet quintets by Mozart and Brahms have become two of the most celebrated chamber works of all time, and the quintet by Coleridge-Taylor is a musical gem that deserves more recognition. The Bloomsbury Players featuring esteemed clarinettist Katherine Spencer perform these works on period instruments, exploring the different possibilities in texture, sound and phrasing, and bringing a fresh approach to these glorious classics. They complete this programme with two arrangements by Bill Thorp of poetic songs by Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.

Programme

Clara Schumann, arr. Bill Thorp - Ich stand in dunklen Träumen, op.13 no.1

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Clarinet Quintet in A, K.581 OR Samuel Coleridge-Taylor in F sharp minor, op.10

—-Interval—-

Johannes Brahms - Clarinet Quintet in b minor, op.115

Johannes Brahms, arr. Bill Thorp - Wie Melodien zieht es mir, op.105 no.1

~ Bloomsbury Players - Katherine Spencer (clarinet), Sijie Chen & Will McGahon (violins), John Crockatt (viola), Orlando Jopling (‘cello) ~

The inaugural concerts of the Bloomsbury Players!

Brahms String Sextet in Bb major & Dvorak String Sextet

20th April 2022 - Art Workers’ Guild, London

21st April 2022 - Roman River Spring Series - Old Library, Colchester

~ Bloomsbury Players - Sijie Chen & Will McGahon (violins), Hannah Shaw & Rebecca Chambers (violas), Reinoud Ford & Orlando Jopling (‘cellos) ~