Philharmonia Chamber Players: Two Octets

Programme

The sweep and grandeur of Mendelssohn’s Octet forms the heart of this 45-minute chamber concert celebrating the form of the string octet.

Composed when Mendelssohn was only 16, his Octet was already groundbreakingly symphonic in form. From its soaring opening, to the tenderness of its slow movement, before the rip-roaring passion of its finale closes the piece, Mendelssohn innovates, surprises, and confidently strides forward into the pages of music history. 100 years after Mendelssohn, another teenage composer used the octet to develop his symphonic ambitions. Shostakovich, aged 18, divides his two pieces into a solemn, ominous Prelude, written in mourning for a friend who had died young, before an aggressive, confident Scherzo looks forward to the masterpieces he is yet to compose.

Pop in just for this 45-minute concert, or stay to hear our Featured Artist Sol Gabetta take on Dvořák’s Cello Concerto, followed by Brahms’s lyrical Symphony No. 2 conducted by Tugan Sokhiev at 7.30pm (separate ticket required).