Courtenay Cleary In Recital 2021

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Courtenay Cleary - Violin
Alex Raineri - Piano

Francis POULENC
Sonate pour violon et piano, FP. 119

Béla BARTÓK
Violin Sonata No. 2, sz. 76

Arthur BENJAMIN
Sonatina for Violin and Piano

"Francis Poulenc wasn't one to shy away from politics in his music. Penned in France during World War Two, this violin sonata was provocatively dedicated to the Spanish poet Federico García Lorca, thought to have been assassinated during the Spanish Civil War either for his socialist leanings or his sexuality. Each movement references Tea for Two, a popular song banned by the occupying Nazi forces. Devastated by Ginette Neveau's tragic death shortly after her rapturous premiere of the work, Poulenc revised the final movement, weaving in the gut-wrenching phrases for which the piece is now known.

'Béla Bartók too found himself at odds with the rise of fascist powers, many of his later works bearing the weight of war and oppression. This earlier work is filled with fragments of traditional Hungarian folk melodies, juxtaposed with violent outbursts of passion and anger.

'Described by the composer as a work of 'charm and gaiety rather than of philosophical import,' Arthur Benjamin's mischievous violin sonatina is actually one of his more harmonically complex works."

Courtenay Cleary
Violin

Complimentary afternoon tea is served following the recital.

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