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Das Jahr – The Year

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Sunday 23 March 2025, 7pm

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Music

FANNY MENDELSSOHN
Overture in C major
‘January’ and ‘February’ from Das Jahr

ELECTRA PERIVOLARIS
March (OAE Commission – world premiere)

ERROLLYN WALLEN
April (OAE Commission – world premiere)

FANNY MENDELSSOHN
‘May’ from Das Jahr

FREYA WALEY-COHEN
June (OAE Commission – world premiere)

FANNY MENDELSSOHN
‘July’, ‘August’ and ‘September’ from Das Jahr
Romanze from String Quartet in E flat major
‘October’, ‘November’ and ‘December’ from Das Jahr

ROXANNA PANUFNIK
Postlude (OAE Commission – world premiere)
Guest Artist

Olga Pashchenko fortepiano

Price

£15 - £59

Olga Pashchenko showcases Fanny Mendelssohn's cycle of 13 piano pieces describing the passage of a year, within a reimagining for period instrument orchestra by four contemporary composers: Roxanna Panufnik, Electra Perivolaris, Freya Waley-Cohen and Errollyn Wallen.

Fanny Mendelssohn’s description of Das Jahr as “a small work that is giving me much fun” reflects the challenges women composers had to get their work taken seriously in the 19th Century. It is, after all, a substantial piece – each movement representing a month of the year – lasting 50 minutes in performance that could sit alongside pillars such as Schumann’s Davidsbündlertanzen. Even with the efforts to make the work of Fanny and other women composers more widely known, we’re still faced with one big obstacle: women simply weren’t allowed to write for orchestras.

“I’m really excited to dive into the sound worlds opened up by the period instruments of the OAE: the quirks of each instrument, the possibilities, the restrictions…”

Freya Waley-Cohen

Electra Perivolaris will take ‘March’ as her starting point, followed by a contribution inspired by ‘April’ from Errollyn Wallen. Freya Waley-Cohen’s commission will draw on “her beautiful and elegant June serenade with visitations or memories of the darkly playful February scherzo”. Roxanna Panufnik will compose a piece inspired by the closing movement, ‘Nachspiel’, which she says “appealed to me with its intense focus on harmony which moves and never really settles until the very end.”

Part of Southbank Centre Season 2024/25.

Fanny Mendelssohn © Chronicle / Alamy Stock Photo

Das Jahr - The Year Press Release

PDF, 646.93kb

"I hope Fanny is looking down on us and cheering loudly - and happy that her music still relates to our sense and emotions, after 200 years "

Roxanna Panufnik

Cockayne – Grants for the Arts: a donor advised fund held at The London Community Foundation.

The London Community Foundation

Vaughan Williams Foundation

The Golsoncott Foundation

Philip & Rosalyn Wilkinson

A student participating in an open workshop with violinist Matthew Truscott and other members of the OAE

Japanese conductor Masaaki Suzuki conducts the OAE with singer Florian Stortz

OAE musicians run a workshop in a school classroom

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Das Jahr – The Year

London, Southbank Centre's Queen Elizabeth Hall

Sunday 23 March 2025, 7pm

Event detail

Olga Pashchenko showcases Fanny Mendelssohn's cycle of 13 piano pieces describing the passage of a year, within a reimagining for period instrument orchestra by four contemporary composers: Roxanna Panufnik, Electra Perivolaris, Freya Waley-Cohen and Errollyn Wallen.

“I’m really excited to dive into the sound worlds opened up by the period instruments of the OAE: the quirks of each instrument, the possibilities, the restrictions…”

Das Jahr - The Year Press Release

"I hope Fanny is looking down on us and cheering loudly - and happy that her music still relates to our sense and emotions, after 200 years "

This event is supported by

Did you know you can support the OAE?

Hear it first

Sign up to our newsletter

Olga Pashchenko showcases Fanny Mendelssohn's cycle of 13 piano pieces describing the passage of a year, within a reimagining for period instrument orchestra by four contemporary composers: Roxanna Panufnik, Electra Perivolaris, Freya Waley-Cohen and Errollyn Wallen.

“I’m really excited to dive into the sound worlds opened up by the period instruments of the OAE: the quirks of each instrument, the possibilities, the restrictions…”

Das Jahr - The Year Press Release

"I hope Fanny is looking down on us and cheering loudly - and happy that her music still relates to our sense and emotions, after 200 years "

This event is supported by

Did you know you can support the OAE?

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