Concert Series
with
Mary Hofman (Violin)
and
Richard Ormrod (Piano)
Beethoven
in
Wales
PROGRAMME
Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano No 6 in D (Op 30.1)
Allegro
Adagio molto espressivo
Allegretto con variazioni
Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano No 7 in D (Op 30.2)
Allegro con brio
Adagio cantabile
Scherzo: Allegro
Finale: Allegro
INTERVAL
Beethoven Sonata for Violin and Piano No 8 in D (Op 30.3)
Grave – Allegro di milto e con brio
Adagio cantabile
Rondo:Allegro
Sarah-Lianne Lewis Sonata for Violin and Piano (new commission)
Beethoven in Wales Concert Series
In autumn 2018 Mary and Richard started a project with Rhyl music club performing all ten Beethoven Violin and Piano sonatas in ten music clubs across Wales. A new work by Rhian Samuel, Hilary Tann and Sarah-Lianne Lewis has been commissioned for each set of sonatas. This project has been generously supported by PRS Foundation's Women Make Music, The Colwinston Foundation, Ty Cerdd and Gwyneth and Tony Peters.
Composer Sarah-Lianne Lewis
Her music is interested in exploring semi-improvisatory gestures within larger ensembles, and the dialogue that this creates between composer and performer. She also finds inspiration regularly from poetry, which is reflected in many of the titles of her works.
Her music has been described as “quiet and delicate” (Matthias Roth, Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung, 2016), “full of imaginative sonorities” (Steph Power, Wales Arts Review, 2016), with “pristine dissonance and eerie ambience” (Weeping Tudor Productions, 2018).
Sarah studied at Cardiff University between 2006 and 2011, gaining a BA (Hons) 2:1 in Music & History, and an MMus in Composition, and her music has since been performed in Europe, Canada and Australia, and broadcast on several UK and European radio stations. She is based in the Vale of Glamorgan.
Sarah-Lianne Lewis on her new composition:
I was particularly drawn to Beethoven’s life around the time that he composed the Op.30.2 Violin Sonata (Sonata No.7). Written in 1801-02, it was finished around the time of the Heiligenstadt Testament, a letter written by Beethoven to his brothers Carl and Johann, in which he despairs over his increasing deafness and the struggle
to continue his artistic destiny.
I often find inspiration from written text, and in this case, I’ll be reflecting on the effect that Beethoven’s deafness had on his art. I’m using a couple of motifs from the Sonata, and slowly manipulating the sound over a length of time, so that even though the same ‘notes’ are played by the end, the effect is completely different, effectively masking the original pitches, to create something very different, exploring the idea of what our ears can hear.
I’m looking forward to not only the opportunity to hear the piece performed in different venues around Wales (and see how it transforms over the year or so as Mary and Richard embed themselves in the music), but also the opportunity to run workshops alongside the concerts.
I myself began composing through the Young Composer of Dyfed scheme when still in secondary school, and very aware of how vital it is to encourage young minds to explore and create new classical music.
Richard Ormrod
and
Mary Hofman have performed together as a duo for six years in venues across the UK as well as touring the Mediterranean. They have performed in Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia and will be returning to Malaysia and giving first performances in Brunei and Indonesia in summer 2018. Individually they also lead varied musical careers when they are not at home in the mountains of north Wales with their young daughters.
Richard is an acclaimed soloist playing for audiences throughout the United Kingdom as well as in more than a dozen countries abroad. He has won numerous prizes including at the Tchaikovsky and Rubinstein competitions. Chamber music has been central to Richard’s musical life. He is the pianist with the Salzburg Hyperion Ensemble and he has also played with the renowned Dorian Wind Quintet on three US tours. Other collaborations include frequent performances with Trio d’Archi di Praga and the Czech Nonet. He also performs widely as concerto soloist, twice performing Beethoven Concertos at the London Barbican Centre with the Philharmonia Orchestra under conductor David Parry. He has made international tours with the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra and the Philharmonia Virtuosi. In February 2018 he
released a CD of Schubert and Schumann with Austrian Gramaphone. Richard teaches on the piano faculties of the Royal Northern College of Music and the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama.
Since graduating in 2007, Mary has pursued a varied career as an orchestral and chamber musician and teacher. While at Cambridge she won an award from the Stradivari trust leading to performances at West Road Concert Hall with some of Britain's most eminent chamber musicians. She also won an award from the Maestro Foundation in Los Angeles giving chamber performances on the United States West Coast. Mary has worked as guest leader of the Edinburgh Quartet as well as performing with the Endellion quartet and regularly performs with Ensemble Cymru. She has worked with most of Britain's leading chamber orchestras including the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata and Britten Sinfonia. Mary also teaches violin at the Junior Royal Northern College of Music.
Biography and Duo pages on
This programme is kindly sponsored by
