Cellist

It’s not often that classically trained musicians are encouraged to ‘break away’ from the notation and improvise, but Jessie Montgomery’s piece Break Away asks them to do just that.

Philharmonia Chamber Players: Transfigured Night

Southbank Centre

This free 45-minute concert showcases the skills of six Philharmonia string players.  

It’s not often that classically trained musicians are encouraged to ‘break away’ from the notation and improvise, but Jessie Montgomery’s piece Break Away asks them to do just that. She writes phrases that can be repeated, riffed on, overlap and interrupt one another, and her instructions to the players include the crucial words ‘Have fun!’.  

The passionate emotions of Schoenberg’s Verklärte Nacht make it perhaps his most popular work. Composed in 1902 in a lush, late-Romantic style, it traces a story from a contemporary poem. A woman confesses to her lover that she is pregnant with another man’s child. Her fear and despair give way to joy as he promises that their love for each other will make the child his, and the ‘high, bright night’ itself is transformed.  

Cellist

Silvestrs Kalniņš

Events

Past events

Nov 13, 2025

Philharmonia Chamber Players: Transfigured Night · Southbank Centre

Nov 13, 2025

Philharmonia Chamber Players: Transfigured Night · Philharmonia Orchestra

Future and recently performed repertoire

Cello in Verklärte Nacht by Schönberg

Southbank Centre

Cello in Break Away by Montgomery

Southbank Centre

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