Robert Bridge Performs Sonatas By Tippett and Schubert

The Putney Knitting Concert is on 7th February

Tippett - Sonata No.1 (1937-42)
Schubert - Sonata in G major, D.894

Robert Bridge says: " I am feeling very excited about this programme! I have wanted to learn each of these sonatas for many years but never got around to it and then, about six months ago, it occurred to me that if I learnt them both and put them side by side they would make a great pairing."

Both sonatas were written by composers who were about 30 years old: Tippett's First Sonata was one of his first published pieces in a compositional career that lasted into his late eighties; Schubert wrote his G major Sonata 18 months before his death at the age of 31. And both works, in my opinion, are neglected, overshadowed by more spectacular works that would follow - in the following years Tippett wrote A Child of our Time and the Concerto for Double String Orchestra, and Schubert went on to write the three late sonatas that were published after his death. But both pieces contain such richness : the Tippett Sonata is a work of youthful exuberance, driven along by 'sprung rhythms' that have equal nods to the English baroque and jazz, intermingled with passages of yearning lyricism; and in amongst the brief storms of the Schubert Sonata are passages of devastating simplicity which give little hint of the pain and turmoil of Schubert's life.

As ever the concert is free with complimentary wine and soft drinks and you are invited to bring something (not too noisy!) to do whilst you listen if you want to. A polite request here, based on audience feedback in recent concerts: if you are intending to use a phone or a tablet during the concert could you choose a seat in one of the side aisles, as the light from the screen can be very distracting to members of the audience sitting behind you. Many thanks.

The proceeds from the retiring collection will go to PSE (Pour un Sourire d'Enfant), a French outreach project working with extremely poor children in Cambodia. I work with a London-based family who have become very involved with this project. You can take a look at their work on their website - www.pse.ong