Voices of Protest is part of a series of chamber programmes exploring themes of equality and diversity, featuring music from Bach to the present day, performed by Reiko Fujisawa and friends, and introduced by Peter Quantrill.

Protest doesn’t have to take the form of grim defiance. Arvo Pärt rebelled from Soviet conformity with a new and timeless voice of calm. Martinu wrote his Second Sonata in the United States as a wartime exile from his beloved Czech lands, but he translated his exile into music of joy in adversity. In the hands of Weinberg and Casals, the cello becomes an extension of the human voice, conquering struggle with heroic defiance.

Programme

Arvo Pärt: Fratres

Martinu: Cello Sonata No.2

Interval

Beethoven: Variations on ‘Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen’

Weinberg: Cello Sonata No 1

Casals: Song of the Birds

Performers

Richard Harwood, cello

Reiko Fujisawa, piano