Prokofiev and Mozart Quintets
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- What you'll hear
- All about the music
Dark. Violent. Intimacy and power combined.
Who’s on stage
Musicians from our own Royal Northern Sinfonia. This is a chance to hear them up close and personal in the more intimate atmosphere of our smaller venue, Sage Two.
What they’re playing
We’ve got household names, Sergei Prokofiev and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and two composers you probably don’t know – Reinhold Glière and Grażyna Bacewicz. Across four pieces of music they show off just what you can do with the string and wind instruments of the orchestra.
Need to know
Price: £18
Running time: 1 hour 50 minutes, including a 20 minute interval.
Age: Under 14s must be accompanied by an adult.
What you'll hear
Reinhold Glière String Octet in D major (25′)
Sergei Prokofiev Quintet in G minor (20′)
Grażyna Bacewicz Quartet for Four Violins (11′)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart String Quintet in G minor (25′)
Who's playing it
Kyra Humphreys violin
Daniel Meszoly violin
Jane Nosset violin
Anthony Poon violin
Malcolm Critten viola
James Slater viola
Daniel Hammersley cello
James Craig cello
Michael O’Donnell oboe
Jessica Lee clarinet
What's happening in the music?
The longest and most intense piece in the concert is Mozart’s. Mozart is known for being tuneful, pretty, and sometimes just very ‘nice’ but in this music he shows his dark side (we’ve all got one) – sinister, tragic, even a bit violent, with clashing, stabbing notes. In total contrast, Prokofiev’s music is based on life in the circus – playful and experimental. Folky tunes feature in Bacewicz’s music and our opener is pacy, elegant and dead classy.
Introducing a trailblazer
Grażyna Bacewicz probably isn’t a composer you’ve heard of. It’s time for that to change, as she was an amazing woman. She began performing on the violin aged 7 and by her mid 20’s was winning a ton of composition prizes – and this was as a woman in 1930’s Poland. Success like this for a female composer was unheard of. She never wanted her music to be ‘classified’ or put in a box, and it’s true that it’s super varied, from music that definitely is more on the more traditional side to pieces that are pretty experimental. She died tragically young in 1969, and is now enjoying a surge in popularity as audiences and musicians seek out scandalously under-rated music by women composers.
Take a listen
Check out one of our favourite Grażyna Bacewicz pieces Concerto for String Orchestra. You might even have seen Royal Northern Sinfonia play it in Gateshead or Kendal in February 2022. This is recording is by the fabulous Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.
