Mendelssohn and Haydn Concert presented by ACMS

110 Federal Street,Anderson SC 29625

28 July, 2022

Description

The Anderson Chamber Music Series will present a concert on July 28, 2022, at the Anderson Arts Center at 7:30pm (the pre-event reception will start at 7:30 and music at 8:00). The concert will consist of two pieces played by nine local community professional players and one future professional player who we hope will still be in our community! Felix Mendelssohn began writing the Octet in Eb Maj., op. 20, for 4 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos, in the fall of 1825, completing it in October 15, 1825. With the Octet, the 16- year-old Mendelssohn created a totally new chamber music genre! Conrad Wilson summarizes, “Its youthful verve, brilliance and perfection make it one of the miracles of nineteenth-century music”. The Mendelssohn Octet is one of the true gems of early Romantic chamber music, and audiences have appreciated it, and it’s young composer, from the very beginning. The other piece on the program is the Symphony No. 104, “London”, the last symphony by Franz Josef Haydn, arranged for Flute, String Quartet, and Piano by Johann Peter Salomon. Salomon was the impresario who commissioned the final 12 Haydn symphonies and presented them to the London audience, playing Concertmaster in the orchestra under Haydn’s direction. Since there was no YouTube, Apple Music, or any other communication devices yet to make music available to a broad audience in 1798, the practice was to arrange pieces for smaller ensembles who could then more easily travel around allowing the music to be heard. Because of Salomon’s arrangement that we will play, Haydn’s last symphony, number 104, became very widely heard and dearly loved by a large audience. Salomon’s arrangement is very true to the Haydn original and incredibly exciting to play as well as listen to.