Valentine’s Day Treat with Chris Addison’s Incomplete Guide to Chamber Music

One-of-a-kind evening of laughter, remarkable music and amusing insight into the genre

An unusual Valentine’s Day treat as Chris Addison (The Thick of It, Mock the Week) joins Music in the Round to bring his unbridled enthusiasm for classical music to WMC.

Telling the story of Europe from the courts of 17th century Italy, through the political and social revolutions of 18th and 19th century Europe, to the weird and wonderful sounds conjured by today’s contemporary composers, Chris takes us on a journey through the rich, vibrant – and sometimes bizarre – history of classical chamber music.  

Discover how a bassoonist beat up Bach, Mozart’s passion for the newly-invented clarinet (and for crude poetry), Beethoven’s embattled relationship with his failing hearing and the Emperor of France, and how Schoenberg tore up the musical rule book in a continent ravaged by war.

Featuring live performances from some of the UK’s finest musicians – Music in the Round – and the sharp-witted curiosity of Chris Addison’s storytelling, this will be an evening of insight, laughter and spine-tingling music. 

Says Chris: “It’ll be a really fun show with some of the most insanely talented musicians playing some of the best music ever written… All you have to know is – do you like a good tune? Because we’re going to have a ton of those.”

Programme to include:

CORELLI Trio Sonata da Camera Op.2 No.1 in D
STROZZI Che si può fare Op.8
JS BACH Prelude from Cello Suite No.1 in G
CPE BACH Flute concerto in D minor
HAYDN String Quartet Op.76 No. 3 ‘Emperor’
MOZART Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Viola K.498 ‘Kegelstatt’
BEETHOVEN Serenade for flute, violin and viola, Op.25
-Interval-
CHOPIN Nocturne No.20 in C sharp minor
DEBUSSY Syrinx
S. COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Clarinet Quintet
SMYTH Piano Trio in D minor
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No.8 in C minor Op.110
SCHOENBERG Suite for Piano Op.25
REICH New York Counterpoint
MEREDITH Tuggemo

Please note, in a change to our current brochure listing, food is no longer offered with this performance