Angela Hewitt piano
J.S Bach – Partita No.5 in G, BWV829
Schumann – Piano Sonata No.2 in G minor, Op.22
Couperin – ‘From the Sixième Ordre’
Ravel – Le Tombeau de Couperin
We are thrilled to welcome internationally-acclaimed pianist Angela Hewitt to Paxton for our festival finale. Her programme is especially apt as the beautiful Paxton Picture Gallery takes on a new lease of life as the Ballroom – historic dance forms and celebration are the essence and inspiration of the featured works.
Dance rhythms lie at the very heart of many of Bach’s compositions, as the Partita No.5 in G demonstrates so well. Schumann’s Piano Sonata in G Minor was written the year after his marriage to Clara, and it was at her insistence that he produced a virtuoso work with irresistible momentum and passion.
François Couperin held positions at the Royal Court of King Louis XIV of France both as organist and harpsichordist, and his compositions for the latter explore a wide range of dance-styles with supreme elegance and wit. Ravel’s ‘Tombeau de Couperin’ is a tribute to French Baroque keyboard styles generally, with its six movements imitating a dance suite that can be summarised as ‘light-hearted reflection’.
Sponsored by Neville and Kathleen Cartwright.
Tickets: £34/£27 (concessions £19/£16)
“superb … as if we are hearing this music for the first time” Bachtrack
Artist info: angelahewitt.com
