An Easter programme of music by Brahms and

Schumann at St. Petroc’s Church, Bodmin.

Kay Deeming (soprano)            Gavin Davies (bass)

          Played by Paul and Benjamin Comeau on two pianos.

Paul Drayton  -  conductor
 

There were several strong women in the life of Johannes Brahms, the 19^th century’s most famous bachelor-composer.  Most important was the concert pianist Clara Schumann, wife of Robert Schumann and a composer in her own right.  In 1853, with a glowing introduction from the great Hungarian violinist Joachim, the 20-year Brahms visited the Schumanns in Dussledorf, and was hailed by them as the “young eagle” who would save German music.  Even with such a weight of expectation he delivered triumphant results, his music combining warmth and humanity with a robust technique.

CHOIR:

Geistliches Lied Op.30 (Sacred song)                          Brahms (1833 – 1897)

This short motet uses a text by the 17^th century Paul Flemming – Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren (Let no sad thought oppress thee…)  Until the final Amen the tenor part follows the soprano almost exactly, four beats later and a ninth (an octave plus one step) lower in pitch.  The alto and bass parts have the same relationship, the whole fitting seamlessly together – a remarkable technical feat.  

KAY DEEMING (Soprano):

Two songs from Myrthen (Myrtles) Op.25             Schumann (!809 – 1856)

 Widmung (Devotion)                Die Lotosblume (The Lotus Flower)

 1840 was a wonderful year in the life of young Robert Schumann.  His marriage to the beautiful Clara Wieck after months of turbulent wrangling with her father, was marked by an outpouring of romantic song.  She became the foremost interpreter of his piano music but their happiness was short-lived.  The unstable and suicidal Schumann was committed to an asylum in 1854 where he died two years later.   

GAVIN DAVIES (Bass):

 From Vier ernste gesange (Four Serious Songs) Op.121                 Brahms