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Sally Beamish: Partita for String Octet
Korngold: Sextet in D Major, Op. 10
Mendelssohn: Octet for Strings in E-flat Major, Op. 20
(program notes)
6:30 PM lecture with John Lawrence
What were you doing when you were sixteen years old? Felix Mendelssohn was busy writing one of the greatest masterpieces of his career, and one of the most beloved works for string chamber ensemble. In our season-opening concert, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber ensemble performs Mendelssohn’s joyful and energetic Octet alongside another youthful masterpiece, Erich Korngold’s Sextet in D Major, and a brand-new work by ASMF Composer-in-Residence Sally Beamish, herself a former member of the ensemble.
Drawn from one of the world’s most prominent and prolific chamber orchestras, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble melds the precision and vitality of interpretation for which the orchestra is known with the intimacy and energy of a small ensemble. With fourteen albums in its discography (and more than twice that with the full Academy), the ASMF Chamber Ensemble has developed a reputation around the world through its recordings. The sound they bring in live performance, however, combines “the sound of a chamber orchestra [with] the polish of a string quartet” and gives “good reason to turn off the stereo and go to a real live concert” (The Milwaukee Sentinel).
Hear the ASMF Chamber Ensemble’s season-opening performance on Friday, October 11 in Mandel Hall; before the concert, join music critic and historian John Lawrence for a pre-concert lecture from the stage.