Hi everyone. There’s a lot going on that’s hard to take in the world, but here is another chance for a little break from all that if you want one.

I’ll be leading the second violins of the Civic Orchestra of Victoria for this concert, as I usually do.

The string section principals in this orchestra - that’s me, Raya Fridman on first violin, Alex Klassen on cello, and Mark Waddell on viola - have also formed a quartet, and we’ll be performing in the lobby before the concert, which means that you can really make an afternoon of it if you like. You can come to Grant’s pre-concert talk, come out and see us play for about 20 minutes, and then go back in for the show.

Here’s what’s in store for you, if you come:

String Quartet #3 (selected movements) - Robert Schumann

There isn’t time to play the whole thing - but we’ll pick a couple movements from this quartet. I like the way that Schumann plays with the sense of time in it by shifting the emphasis away from where it would normally be. I like how he writes his second violin parts in this quartet; I’m teamed up with another player a lot of the time, but never the same person for very long.

Academic Festival Overture - Johannes Brahms 

This is apparently one of the earliest examples of the pop medley, since Brahms wrote it for - wait for it - an academic festival, and mashed up a whole bunch of songs that were popular to sing at universities at the time. A member of the orchestra from Finland informed us all that when students graduate high school there, they sing the one that this ends with, to this day.

Since Brahms wrote it, it’s also slightly more serious than a pop medley should really be and totally gorgeous.

Callirhoë Suite - Cécile Chaminade

It’s a French ballet suite and it sounds every bit like a French ballet suite should. There are delicate melodies, graceful waltzes and scherzos, and also energetic dances. The story it tells is a Greek myth about a priest of Dionysus who fell in love with a woman who rejected him, so Dionysus caused a plague that wouldn’t go away until the woman, Callirhoë, was sacrificed to him.

Bummer.

I hadn’t heard of Chaminade until I started working on this piece, so I was surprised to learn that she was really popular in the late 1800s and early 1900s. After that, the cutting edge of classical music moved on from the kinds of things she liked to write, but she left us with a lot of good music.

Symphony No. 1 "Spring" - Robert Schumann

Just outside my front door is a pot of hostas and I can see them erupting from the soil a little more each time I look at them. The first movement of this symphony is their soundtrack. There’s a lot of exuberance in this whole work, blossoms in the air and sun warming the earth. The fourth movement has the violin sections flirting with each other. The middle two are a tender slow movement and a stern scherzo. We hope to make daffodils bloom in your mind.

This concert is at 2pm on March 14th, at the Dave Dunnet Community Theatre in Oak Bay High School. You can read more and get your tickets here.

And as always, thank you for listening.

Oh, and if you’re the kind of person who likes to mark your calendar in advance (hi mom), here are the next three things that you’ll be hearing about:

• Friday, April 17th: Victoria Chamber Orchestra, featuring a very young cello soloist

• Sunday, May 3rd: Camas Day with The Bald Eagles

• May 9th, 10th, 16th and 17th: The Gondoliers with the Victoria Gilbert and Sullivan Society