The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is delighted to present Harmonies du Soir, a three day chamber music festival celebrating the refined sounds of French music performed by ANAM’s outstanding musicians.
This chamber music festival, marking the close of the ANAM year, is a thoughtful nod to the intricate interplay of tradition and modernity. Expect whispers of elegant, fleeting melodies alongside daring, avant-garde gestures – a journey through the shifts in French musical identity.
The program navigates a spectrum of moods and textures, honouring both the old masters and contemporary voices who have left their mark on the genre, in ways both subtle and bold.
Over three days music lovers and Francophiles can plunge into the passion and artistry of France in concerts and music inspired by iconic works of literature, famous monuments, and historical flash points.
Could the Adagio of Gabriel Fauré’s first piano quartet have inspired the Vinteuil’s fictional sonata, the “little phrase” of Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time? In the novel, the sonata marks the deepening love between Swann and Odette before twisting into a motif for the heartache of their separation.
Fauré himself was grieving after the end of his engagement to Marianne Viardot, and pianist Marguerite Long later recalled being unable to hide her tears when performing the quartet while Fauré quietly turned pages for her.
Around this emotional core are a triptych of late nineteenth century works by Fauré’s lesser-known contemporaries. Louise Farrenc’s Nonet brings together a wind quintet and a string quartet in a four-movement design that follows classical forms while giving each instrument an equal role. Mel Bonis’s Scènesde la forêt offers a sequence of short, nature-themed pieces that evoke quiet woodland scenes. Pauline Garcia -Viardot, singer, pianist, composer and sister of Fauré’s former fiancée, adds a different intimacy with the salon elegance of her Romance and the lively Tarantella from Six Morceaux.
