Book your free tickets here.
Wellesz wrote the Octet O. 67 in 1948, ten years after emigrating to Britain from Vienna to escape persecution by the Nazis. This Sunday morning performance by RCM students, part of the Chamber Music Festival, will be introduced by RCM's Director Colin Lawson, who played under the composer's baton as a student. Wellesz wrote the Octet in Oxford, where he was a Fellow at Lincoln College and lecturer in musical history. He wrote the Octet immediately after completing his Second Symphony, which is often referred to as THE ENGLISH. The piece was commissioned by the Wiener Oktett, which was made up of principals of the Vienna Philharmonic and other orchestras in Vienna,and is one of Wellesz’s most widely performed works.It is a modernist masterpiece, built on the often playful divertimento form, but enlarged by a profound and expansive second movement.
.Foto: Egon Wellesz, credit: Boosey&Hawkes Boote&Bock