Classical and Jazz: Preview - City Chorus at St Alban the Martyr, Holborn, Friday 27 March
Published: 25 March 2010
by SEBASTIAN TAYLOR
NATURE or nurture? It’s a much-debated issue – and we’ll never know the answer.
But there’s an interesting concert being given by the City Chorus at St Alban the Martyr off Holborn that should add some music to the discussion.
The concert celebrates musical genius shared by members of the same family.
We all know we wouldn’t have had Mozart had it not been for the persistence of his father Leopold, a professional violinist. But we’re not familiar with Leopold’s own compositions before Wolfgang Amadeus came along.
Works by father and son performed at the concert may show whether the prodigious Wolfgang really was God’s miracle born in Salzburg, as Leopold believed, or a chip off the old block.
Then there’s the Haydn brothers, Franz Joseph and Johann Michael.
Although Michael was almost as prolific a composer as the older Joseph, maybe we don’t know so much about his music as he stayed in Salzburg for much of his life while his brother became a London celebrity.
Thirdly, there’s brother and sister
Felix and Fanny Mendelsohn.
She showed prodigious musical ability as a child and began to write music at an early age and, being older than Felix, she was the first to embrace music.
Mainly due to prevailing 19th-century attitudes, she was unable to pursue a career in music.
So it will be interesting to hear whether her compositions stand comparison with her brother’s work.
Rebecca Outram (pictured), one of our leading soprano’s, will be performing with the choir.
l City Chorus is at St Alban the Martyr, 16 Brooke Street, Holborn, tomorrow (Friday), £7.30pm, £13, tickets@citychorus.info