Imagining times past, Dvořák evokes the Balkan bagpipe with the accordion in his Bagatelles, where Piazzolla’s instrument depicts the sacred and profane moods of Buenos Aires, and Sofia Gubaidulina conjures sounds growing out of silence. Turina’s Circulo meditates on the rhythms of daily life, which are marked for Bloch by the set prayers of Jewish devotion, as Poulenc transfigures grief into beauty in his great Clarinet Sonata.

Ernest BLOCH | Prayer from 'From Jewish Life' (1924) 

Joaquin TURINA | Círculo Op. 91 (1936) 

Sofia GUBAIDULINA | Silenzio (1991/2000) 

Francis POULENC | Clarinet sonata (1962) 

Antonin DVOŘÁK | Bagatelles Op.47 (1878) 

Astor PIAZZOLLA | Le Grand Tango (1982) | Ave Maria (1984) | Oblivion (1984) | Libertango (1974) 

David Griffiths, clarinet; Dimity Hall, violin; Julian Smiles, cello; and guest artist James Crabb, accordion

‘The bagpipes were playing’, goes the Bohemian folksong used by Dvořák in his Bagatelles, where the accordion or harmonium helps establish a mood of simple joy in these charming vignettes of daily life in the countryside.  
Joaquín Turina’s Círculo is a ‘poetic expression’ of a day in his native Spain, where sounds of morning give way to joyful singing before gradually returning to the calm of night, while Astor Piazzolla’s accordion-based music conjures the rich texture of life in Buenos Aires.  

Ernest Bloch provides a vivid elegy for European Jewish life, his ‘Prayer’ developing the beautiful cantillation of an Ashkenazi synagogue on the Sabbath, where Sofia Gubaidulina’s visionary music in this unusual trio takes us to the mystical space where sound emerges from silence. 

Single Tickets

Adult $56 | Senior $43 | Concession $34 (All tickets are subject to booking fees.)

Tickets for individual concerts can be purchased via the link below or by phoning the box office
(Wed-Fri) on 02 9385 4874. On sale from Monday February 12, 2024.

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Membership Booking [4-Concert Package]

Adult $175 | Senior $131 | Concession $105 (All tickets are subject to booking fees.)

General public bookings closed on 29 January, 2024 for processing and distribution.

For all membership purchases after this date, please email your request to australia.ensemble@unsw.edu.au