Music for Easter Bank Holiday
IT'S BEEN TRADITIONAL, these past few years, for there to be an informal
concert of music by Bach in St Cyriac & St Julitta's Church, Swaffham
Prior to celebrate Easter, by kind permission of The Churches Conservation
Trust: indeed, what better composer could there be to listen to, in praise of
God and all his creation? This year the concert will survey Bach's famous
Well-tempered Clavier, otherwise known as the 48 Preludes and Fugues in all
keys. This year, concert-pianist Ian de Massini will look at the second of the
two volumes (not surprisingly called Book 2!), and will present four of the
preludes and fugues from it - in C major and minor, and in D major and minor.
Additional composers will featured at this year's recital, as we mark not only the 70th anniversary of the birth of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich but also the 200th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Ian will, therefore, include in his programme Mozart's fantastical multi-movement Fantasia in C minor (K. something-or-other), together with four of Shostakovich's 24 Preludes and Fugues in all keys, the latter having been written in one rapid creative burst during the end of 1950 as a way of communist Russia marking the 200th anniversary of the birth of Johann Sebastian Bach.
Entrance to the concert is free. There will be a retiring collection in aid of the improving amenities of St Cyriac and St Julitta's Church.