Chopin & Schumann Recital Series

Clive Swansbourne continues his performances of works by Chopin and Schumann in a six-recital series at Christ the King Lutheran Church

Final recital Sunday, April 25th!

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of both Chopin’s and Schumann’s birth, Clive Swansbourne presents a series of six piano recitals (program details) on Sunday afternoons at 5 pm at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Rice Village, between January and April 2010. He will also be presenting a companion series of lectures on three Thursday evenings.

Dates for 5 pm Sunday Recitals:

• January 10

• January 24

• February 21

• March 7

• April 11 and 25

Tickets for Sunday Recitals:
At the door: $20 ($15 students and seniors)
Season passes: $80, ($60 students and seniors)

Location for Sunday Recitals:
Christ the King Lutheran Church is at 2353 Rice Blvd in Houston, Texas (corner of Rice and Greenbriar). The events will take place in the intimate Parish Hall with the piano (a beautiful new Bosendorfer Grand) in the middle of the room.

Program for Sunday Recitals
The recitals will each consist of works by Schumann in the first half and works by Chopin in the second half, and will provide audience members with an opportunity to make direct comparisons between the ways in which these two towering masters revolutionized piano writing. Clive Swansbourne will give spoken introductions to the music. A feature of the series will be the inclusion in each program of the master’s most individualistically Polish compositions, his mazurkas. [Program details below]

Companion Thursday Evening Lecture Series

To accompany the main recital series, Swansbourne will also be presenting three Thursday evening lecture/recitals.

• The January 21 lecture is at 6:30 pm in the Dowling Music Recital Room, 2615 Southwest Freeway.

• The February 11 and April 8 lectures are at 8:00 pm at the same location as the recitals: Christ the King Lutheran Church in Rice Village.

Tickets (at the door): $10

Dates for Thursday Lecture Series:

• January 21 (A brief comparison of the music of Schumann and Chopin)

• February 11 (Chopin's Mazurkas)

Full Program Details

Recital Program for Sunday, January 24:
Schumann
Davidsbuendlertaenze, op.6

Chopin
Mazurka in B minor, op.33 no.4
Mazurka in D, op.33 no.2
Sonata in B minor, op. 58
 

Recital Program for January 10:
Schumann
Papillons, op.2
Carnaval, op. 9

Chopin
Ballade no. 1 in G minor
3 Mazurkas, op.7
Etude in C sharp minor, op.25, no.7
Scherzo no.4 in E, op. 54

Recital Program for February 21:
Schumann
Etudes symphoniques, op.13

Chopin
Etude in A flat, op.25 no.1 ("Aeolian Harp")
Ballade no. 3 in A flat, op. 47
3 Mazurkas
Berceuse in D flat, op. 57
Scherzo no. 2 in B flat minor, op 39

Recital Program for March 7:
Schumann
Humoreske, op.20

Chopin
Barcarolle in F sharp, op 60
3 Mazurkas
2 Nocturnes op.27
Ballade no.4 in F minor

Recital Program for April 11:
Schumann
Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), op.15
Kreisleriana, op.16

Chopin
24 Preludes, op.28

Recital Program for April 25:
Schumann
Arabesque in C, op.18
Fantasy in C, op. 17

Chopin
Ballade no. 2 in F, op.38
3 Mazurkas
Impromptus nos. 2 in F sharp and 3 in G flat
Polonaise in A flat, op.53

This is the third major recital series Clive has given in Houston. In Fall 2005 he performed to capacity crowds the 32 Beethoven sonatas in eight recitals, and in Fall 2008 he presented a series of five recitals encompassing all of Schubert’s late piano music, both at the Rothko Chapel.

He has since recorded all of the Schubert series on six CDs for Swan Records. For more information, visit   www.theenlightenedlistener.com.