Friends of Chamber Music
In 1948, a group of music lovers gathered to consider how to present fine chamber music in postwar Vancouver. Within two years, Friends of Chamber Music was created, and ever since we have continued to bring the most renowned ensembles in the world to play this great musical literature.
Sir Henry Hadow captured the essence of chamber music with this comment: “There is no kind of music in which it is more difficult to write a masterpiece, for there is none where the composer retires so intimately to the very centre and fastness of the heart. No other form of music has such power to engage our attention, no other can delight our senses with such exquisite beauty of sound or display so clearly to our intelligence the intricacies of its design.”
Chamber music represents the most introspective work of the great composers, and for those of us who have lived in this universe, many of the great works such as the late quartets of Beethoven, the quartets of Shostakovich and Bartók, the clarinet quintets of Mozart and Brahms, the piano and cello quintet of Schubert, and the piano quintet of Dvořák are friends in our lives.
That is not to say that we present work only from the established classical canon. In among programmes of the “tried and true” you will find a surprising mix of works from the late 20th century and occasional premieres of contemporary works exemplified by this season’s presentation of renowned pianist Steven Hough’s first string quartet performed by (and dedicated to) returning audience favourites,the Takács Quartet.
Simply stated, our mandate is to bring the highest-calibre chamber music ensembles to Vancouver, musicians who can reveal the profound insights embedded in the scores of this most intimate form of music during every concert. They do this as intended by the composers, acting as living conduits in direct communication with us, their live audience.
In surveying some of our top rated ensembles in recent years, we’ve noticed a recurring theme when it comes to describing the essence of the form. “Intimacy” is frequently mentioned. Others refer to “intimate musical conversations” among musicians as they bring the great chamber works to life. This is further enhanced by the fact that the Vancouver Playhouse, where we have been presenting these great ensembles since it opened in 1960, affords a degree of proximity to the music in ways larger halls cannot. As we like to say; this is your opportunity to “eavesdrop on intimacy”!
As a community enterprise for more than 60 years, we have presented an annual chamber music competition for young musicians to display their skills and receive cash prizes. Canadian musicians such as Jackie Parker, Amanda Forsyth, Steven Gann, Desmond Hoebig, Gwen Hoebig, and Jonathan Crow (current concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony) are all alumni of this program. Every year the Young Musicians’ Competition is held in Koerner Hall, the Vancouver Academy of Music, and affords the public the opportunity to hear tomorrow’s great classical musicians today.
Please join us! We welcome you as a friend of chamber music!
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