Music in the Burnhams and Brancaster

There are some wonderful concerts this month with tickets at £20 and under 18s free.

May comes from the Latin Maius, probably referring to the goddess Maia. She embodied the concert of growth both in nature and business. Naturally, we are hoping that May will bring lots of glorious sunshine into this beautiful county (no more rain please!). We hope too that it might attract lots of people to some great concerts coming up in May.

Last year we introduced the idea of performing a Beethoven concerto in a village hall with a string quartet plus bass. What a success The Victoria with Leon Bosch and Peter Hewitt was, so we shall repeat the formula but this time with the great Beethoven 5th piano concerto on May 11^th at 7.30pm in Burnham Overy Village Hall.

The “Emperor” was written in 1809 and by then Beethoven had grown too deaf to perform at the piano. It was the year of the French siege and occupation of Vienna and Beethoven’s patron Archduke Rudolf had to leave the city to protect his safety. Who knows the true origin of its title, but a story is told that a French army officer attending its premier in 1812 dubbed it “an emperor amongst concertos”. It is certainly an heroic piece and a performance not to be missed.

The programme also includes works by Bottesini and Holst.

On May 18^th at Brancaster Church, the Music Director of King’s Lynn Festival Chorus, Ben Horden is playing Bach, Wesley, Haydn and Mozart accompanied by a talk about why he loves Baroque music. The recital is at 3pm.

Peter Hewitt returns to Overy Village Hall at 7.30pm on May 25^th with the Litmus Trio (Hannah Lang on flute and Peter Adams playing the cello.) A lovely traditional programme of Mozart, Haydn and Beethoven.

Tickets are £20 under 18s free.

Book now on musicintheburnhams.com or ring 07989 177079