Repertoire
Frank Bridge: Sonata for cello and Piano in D minor, H. 125 (1913-17) 25’
Benjamin Britten: Tema ‘Sacher’ for solo cello (1976) 2’
Frank Bridge:
Spring Song for cello and piano in G major, H. 104 No. 2 (1912) 3’
Mélodie for cello and piano in C sharp minor, H. 99 (1911) 4’
Scherzo for cello and piano in D minor, H. 19a (1902) 4’
Benjamin Britten: Sonata for cello and piano in C major, Op. 65 (1961) 26’
Artists
Sheku Kanneh-Mason, cello
Isata Kanneh-Mason, piano
Program
Despite their youth, Sheku and Isata Kanneh-Mason –two of seven siblings from a family of British musicians– are already global stars with a solid track record in chamber ensembles, almost always with family members. In this duo concert they explore a fascinating and complex creative relationship: that of teacher and student. Frank Bridge, the master, was a violist in several quartets and an orchestral conductor before devoting himself fully to composition. Benjamin Britten, the student, was a central figure in 20th century English and European music.
DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM HEREThe four works in the concert reveal different facets of creation. The Sonata for cello and piano in two movements, written between 1913 and 1917, is the gateway between an innocent and carefree aesthetic and the anguish of the Great War, which had a profound effect on Bridge. In contrast, we will experience Benjamin Britten’s very short Tema Sacher, written for a collective project that cellist Mstislav Rostropovich commissioned from several composers as a tribute to the Swiss conductor Paul Sacher. We return to Bridge to hear the Spring Song, taken from Four Short Pieces, as if it were an independent work, and Mélodie together with Scherzo, which is a revision of an earlier work. Britten’s Cello Sonata, one of the five works Britten dedicated to Rostropovich, closes the loop.
