Chichester Music Society celebrates Beethoven for Christmas special

Chairman Chris Hough said: “Chichester Music Society are delighted to welcome David Owen Norris for our Christmas special. This lecture/recital is a highly appropriate end to the Society’s celebration of the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven.

“In this evening’s lecture/recital David begins by tracing the development of Beethoven’s stylistic traits from the variations: triple-time Adagios, such a metrical minefield for performers throughout his work; the ridiculous jokes, the baffling dynamic shifts, the exploitation of each end of the keyboard, even the boldness of tonality – all is here in embryo. He then turns his attention to Beethoven’s two most remarkable sonatas composed before deafness put an end to his performing career: the Sonate Pathétique, Op. 13 (1799) and the Fantasy-Sonata Op.27 No.2 (1802 – the Moonlight Sonata), ending with a complete performance of The Moonlight.”

Chris added: “The University of Chichester will live-stream the event. Full booking details together with the free live streaming link are available on our website at www.chichestermusicsociety.org.”

David is a pianist, composer and broadcaster. He won the Prize of the City of Geneva in the Geneva Competition, and the Accompanist’s Prize at Leeds; and since his appointment to the Gilmore Artist Award, has performed across the world, with four appearances in the BBC Proms, concert tours of Europe, Australia and North America, including performances at Sydney Opera House, the Kennedy Centre, Lincoln Centre, Ravinia Festival Chicago, the South Bank Centre etc.