Bristol friends—join us on 16 May at St George’s for a programme of flicker, longing, and symphonic power. Sweeney. Mahler. Brahms. 7:45pm → tickets from £22. 🎟️ stgeorgesbristol.co.uk/whats…
If you haven’t heard Aileen Sweeney’s Glisk before, there’s a recording on YouTube to get you in the mood for our performance in May youtube.com/watch?v=I6laVlhq…
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Richard Wagner
Lifespan: 1813–1883
Known for: Music dramas like The Ring cycle and Tristan und Isolde
Fun Fact: Designed his own opera house in Bayreuth with a hidden orchestra pit.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Franz Liszt
Lifespan: 1811–1886
Known for: Piano virtuoso; symphonic poems
Fun Fact: Invented the solo “piano recital” as a public format.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Clara Schumann
Lifespan: 1819–1896
Known for: Pianist-composer; piano concerto, chamber works
Fun Fact: Was one of the 19th century’s most celebrated touring virtuoso pianists.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Robert Schumann
Lifespan: 1810–1856
Known for: Piano works, songs, symphonies
Fun Fact: Began as a piano virtuoso-in-training but injured his hand with a finger-strengthening device.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Frédéric Chopin
Lifespan: 1810–1849
Known for: Nocturnes, ballades, mazurkas, piano works
Fun Fact: Almost all his mature output is for solo piano.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel
Lifespan: 1805–1847
Known for: Songs and piano works; important Romantic composer
Fun Fact: Many of her works were initially published under her brother Felix’s name.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Felix Mendelssohn
Lifespan: 1809–1847
Known for: Violin Concerto, A Midsummer Night’s Dream overture
Fun Fact: Helped revive interest in Bach by conducting the St. Matthew Passion in 1829.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Franz Schubert
Lifespan: 1797–1828
Known for: Lieder (art songs) and symphonies
Fun Fact: Wrote over 600 songs despite dying at just 31.
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Ludwig van Beethoven
Lifespan: 1770–1827
Known for: 9 symphonies, piano sonatas, late string quartets
Fun Fact: At first he was known more as a fiery piano improviser than as a composer.
Ravel’s Le Tombeau de Couperin, which opens our concert in March, is dedicated to friends the composer lost in WWI. Yet the music is light, graceful, and full of life. Ravel famously explained: “The dead are sad enough, in their eternal silence.” #Ravel#MusicHistory#BHCO
🎼 Composer Fun fact:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Lifespan: 1756–1791
Known for: Operas (The Magic Flute, Don Giovanni), symphonies, concertos
Fun Fact: Toured Europe as a child prodigy with his sister Nannerl, who was also an exceptional musician.