16 November @ 3:30 pm - 5:30 pm
£21.00
Artist: Clare Hammond (piano)
Generously sponsored by the C & M Pike Trust
Programme Includes
- Mél Bonis – Femmes de Légende (selections)
- Germaine Tailleferre – Partita
- Maurice Ravel – Miroirs, Sonatine
- Claude Debussy – Images, Book I
- Cécile Chaminade – Autrefois, Au pays devasté
- Co-created by participants at HMP Oakwood with Michael Betteridge – Internal Victories
Final Piece: Ravel – Sonatine
About the Concert
Clare Hammond returns to nadsa with a programme that celebrates both the pioneering women composers of fin de siècle France and the luminous masterworks of French Impressionism. This Royal Philharmonic Society Young Artist award winner brings her extraordinary interpretative gifts to an afternoon that promises revelations alongside beloved classics, and including a deeply moving world premiere.
Exploring Forgotten and Familiar Voices
The programme artfully weaves together voices both familiar and unjustly neglected. Hammond opens with selections from Mél Bonis’s evocative Femmes de Légende, before presenting Germaine Tailleferre’s spirited Partita – a work that showcases the wit and sophistication of the only female member of Les Six. These discoveries frame the afternoon’s centrepiece: Ravel’s kaleidoscopic Miroirs and elegant Sonatine, alongside Debussy’s first book of Images. This 1905 vintage represents French piano writing at its most innovative, capturing light, movement, and atmosphere with unprecedented subtlety. The programme closes with Cécile Chaminade’s poignant reflections in Autrefois and Au pays devasté.
A New Commission Rooted in Real Experience
Internal Victories was co-created with participants at HMP Oakwood and composer Michael Betteridge. It incorporates sounds from participants’ experiences of prison which were then modelled using graphic scores and translated into sound at the keyboard. The men wished to show that, while there is a great deal of sadness and reflection in prisons, it can also be a place of resilience, transformation and hope.
Why You Shouldn’t Miss This
Hammond’s championship of neglected repertoire and her commitment to music’s transformative power through the Gloucestershire Piano Trust make her uniquely qualified to present this remarkable programme. An unmissable afternoon that promises both artistic discovery and genuine emotional depth.