The VSO Chamber players is pleased to present a collection of four pieces by three of the great composers of the twentieth century. Dmitri Shostakovich’s Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano is a surprisingly charming collection of simple popular music – arrangements of ballet suites, an animated cartoon, and the film “The Gadfly”. Benjamin Britten’s Second String Quartet was written to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the death of Henry Purcell,  a composer Britten revered above all others. Our third offering is a wonderful string sextet written by Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu. The work was composed in under a week, and yet won first prize in a composition competition. The composer refused to collect his reward for several weeks, believing his friends were merely playing a trick on him by insisting he had won. The final work on the programme brings all eight VSO musicians together for Shostakovich’s Two Pieces for String Octet. Shostakovich completed the work at only nineteen years old, and proclaimed the scherzo movement to be “the very best thing I have written” (Laurel Faye, “Shostakovich, A Life”). Audiences will undoubtedly be transported by this exquisite collection of some of the most beautiful and varied chamber music of the twentieth century.

EPSG:4326

April Chamber Players

Jennie Press

Events

Past events

18 - 21 Apr, 2024

April Chamber Players · Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Violin in Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano by Shostakovich

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Violin in Two Pieces for String Octet by Shostakovich

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

Violin in String Sextet by Martinů

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra

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