Event info

Two popular yet very different sextets inspired by memories are the cornerstones of this concert by the Reykjavik Chamber Orchestra. Mladi or Youth by Janacek for winds and the string sextet Souvenir de Florence by Tchaikovsky. Also performed will be the Serenade no. 1 by Martinu for winds and strings.

Tchaikovsky composed Souvenir de Florence in 1890 and uses themes the composer sketched while he lived in Florence. Though written in a minor key, the character of the piece is open and lively. Tchaikovsky's genius for melody shines through the second movement, as does his use of Slavic folk music style in the third. He was particularly pleased with the last movement which ends with a 6 part fugue.

Czech composer Janacek composed Mladi in 1924 when he was 70 years old. This was the height of his creativity as it wasn't until his last years that he took to writing chamber music of which this is one of five works. Mladi is built mostly on themes which Janacek heard or sang as a boy in the Augustine Cloister in Brno. The work bears witness to Janacek's happy youth, full of childish glee and optimism.