MUSIC BY the great Georg Friedrich Händel will be performed by the classical duo Gandolpho in a concert entitled Handel 250 Years/Joyful Mystery on Wednesday December 2 at 8pm in the Aula Maxima, NUI Galway.
On the night Eleanor Harrison (baroque violin ) and David Wright (harpsichord ) will play Handel’s Sonata in F Major HWV 370, Sonata in A Major HWV 361, Sonata in A Major HWV 372, Sonata in D Major HWV 371, and the variations on Vo Far Guerra (with Babell ). The concert is part of a series of events by Music for Galway to mark the 250th anniversary of the composers’ death.
Gandolpho will also perform music by Heinrich von Biber’s ‘Annunciation Sonata’ from his Rosary (or Mystery ) Sonatas. Described as the wizard of Bohemian composers, Biber combines foot-stamping rhythmic energy with eccentric improvisational passages and lyrical folk melodies. Maximilian Gandolpho was Biber’s employer in Salzburg and the Rosary Sonatas were dedicated to him.
There is a Galway connection as Eleanor’s mother is from the city. Eleanor graduated with distinction from the Royal Academy of Music in 2006 where she was awarded the Friends Chamber Music Prize for two consecutive years.
Born in Bethnal Green in the East End of London, David Wright received no musical training as a child and taught himself to play by ear. It wasn’t until he was 16 he had his first piano lesson and learned to read music, later going on to study harpsichord, organ, and viola da gamba as an undergraduate at Trinity College of Music, where he won the Ella Kidney prize for early music.
Eleanor and David first joined forces at the Royal College of Music, as founder members of the baroque group La Follia. Both now perform as Gandolpho and have also worked with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Gabrieli Consort, Ex Cathedra, and Florilegium.
Tickets are €20/16/6 from Music for Galway (091 - 705962 ), Opus II, The Cornstore, or from the Town Hall Theatre through www.tht.ie
