Known internationally for her ‘Composer Portraits’ in words and music, pianist Lucy Parham has created a new programme, Elégie, chronicling the life of composer and pianist Sergei Rachmaninov. Though he became an exile in 1917, Russia remained deeply rooted in his soul. His cultural identity and his longing for his homeland imbue his music, not least the many much-loved works he wrote for his own instrument, the piano. The narrative, scripted from letters and diaries, follows Rachmaninov from his youth in Russia, through his subsequent self-imposed exile in 1917 and finally to California USA, where he died in 1943.
The concert includes many of his best-loved works for solo piano, including a selection of Préludes, Etudes-tableaux and Moments musicaux, some of his own transcriptions and the haunting Elégie, as well as works by Scriabin and Tchaikovsky.
Summer Music in City Churches is a fledgling festival, founded in 2018, presenting beautiful music to inspire, divert and engage, in ancient and architecturally stunning churches in London's Square Mile. Standing cheek by jowl with City offices, these churches are glorious settings in which to listen and reflect: oases of history, beauty and peace amidst the 24-7 hurly-burly of City life.
The theme for the second festival in June 2019 is Words and Music. During a week and a half of events, you will find sumptuous settings of poetry, lyrical music inspired by poetry, plays and literature, words that illuminate music with biographical insight and context, music of significance to literary heroes and heroines, and more: a lyrical celebration.