NOSPR Chamber Musicians / Lightness and Elegance - NOSPR

The Classical style is not just a framework of technical rules governing the composition of music. It is also inextricably bound to the rich sphere of intangible traditions practised by European societies during the Enlightenment. Among the cultural legacies of this period, particular significance was attached to the custom of chamber music-making – once characteristic solely of aristocratic palaces but gradually entering the salons of the bourgeoisie.

Social change was accompanied by an aesthetic shift: the galant style, with its emphasis on lightness and elegance, gained increasing popularity. This spirit also permeates the chamber programme prepared by the NOSPR’s concertmaster Sulamita Ślubowska together with her colleagues – Krzysztof Firlus, a double bassist of the orchestra’s permanent ensemble and an outstanding gambist, and his wife Anna Firlus, a specialist in early keyboard instruments. In the music of Carl Friedrich Abel, Johann Gottlieb Graun and Tommaso Giordani, Baroque influences intermingle with newer Classical trends. At that time, the viola da gamba was already a somewhat outdated instrument, and the cello, with its stronger sound, was better suited to the new symphonic and concert repertoire. However, in chamber settings, the warm sound of the viola da gamba perfectly complemented the atmosphere of friendly gatherings accompanied by music.

Szymon Maliszewski

Concert duration: approximately 60 minutes