Friends of Regis School of Music present Rachel Firmager and Paul Gregory
The West Sussex Guitar Club is pleased to advertise an event for the Regis School of Music, 46 Sudley Road, Bognor Regis, PO21 1ER
Tickets are £9 (booked in advance, West Sussex Guitar Club members £7, 18 and under - free) Booking: 01243866462 & [email protected])
This one hour long concert is outstanding on 2 counts, one the musical personalities involved and two the attractive combination of pieces. The classical guitar and cello are united in an unconventional but deeply compatible alliance where each instrument brings out a different sound and personality in the other in a richly contrasting repertoire .
Paul and Rachel first performed as a duo in 1996 and share a strong commitment to the teaching and performance of their instruments throughout Sussex. Paul won the prestigious Andres Segovia International Guitar Competition, known to all classical guitar enthusiasts, at the age of 22 and has captivated audiences at all the major recital halls and on Radio 3.
Rachel's deep love of chamber music led her to be the founder member of the Bergersen Quartet and she is cellist for the Hilser Trio and Sussex Quartet.
Programme
Nocturne No.1 in A minor Friedrich Burgmuller (1806-1874 )
Sonata in A minor Arpeggione Franz Schubert (1979-18289)
Seascapes Paul Gregory ( 1956)
Sonata 1969 Radames Gnattali ( 1906-1988)
More Programme Details
The concert begins with Burgmuller's Nocturne No.1 in A minor. The melancholic, almost familiar, melody sung by the cello is made even more sonorous by the rocking guitar arpeggios.
Video for Burgmuller:
Austrian composer Schubert's Sonata in A minor D821 was originally written for the Arpeggionne, a fretted bowed guitar with six strings. In this performance the guitar rather than the piano accompanies the cello. The tender melody captures the fragility of Schubert as he gradually succumbed to the terminal condition that would eventually kill him.
Video for Schubert:
Paul also studied the cello and composition in London. Inspired by Brighton and Sussex, Seascapes was written by him in 1991. The piece captures the many moods of the sea, stillness with violent interludes with ever present undercurrents of flowing menace.
Brazilian composer Gnattali incorporated elements of jazz and traditional music in his classical compositions. In his sonata for guitar and cello an aching melody and arpeggios played in two beats and then five beats in the bar pass to and fro between the two instruments.
Video for Gnattali: