Rimsky-Korsakov Dance of the Tumblers (Snow Queen) Dvořák Wind Serenade
Shostakovich Symphony No 10  

1 February 2025 7.30 pm

Robert Guy - conductor

In 1878, Dvorak heard a performance of a Mozart wind serenade in Vienna and was so taken that he wrote his  similar work in just two weeks! It’s a mixture of the serious and the upbeat. As Brahms remarked on hearing it, it must be a great piece for the wind players but actually there are also a cello and double bass enjoying themselves too.

2025 marks 50 years since the death of Shostakovich and debate continues over the meaning in his music, written as it was in an era of oppressive control. A victim of the purges of 1948, Shostakovich waited eight years before presenting his next symphony. Written partly before and partly after Stalin’s death, it has been suggested that the Allegro is a portrait of Stalin himself, a claim denied by Shostakovich's son. Whatever the truth of it, few doubt its intent as an indictment of life under the Stalinist regime.