NOTTURNO is an ensemble that seeks to recapture and refresh the expressive intimacy and colourful exoticism of the salon concerts and soirées of 19th century Vienna, Paris and Berlin. Offering an ever-changing and shifting world of sonority and playful lyricism, NOTTURNO reaches out to our audience of like-minded friends with style and sophistication.

Notturno… Takes its repertoire primarily from the early Romantic era, encompassing the years from roughly 1780 through to 1840. Composers represented include well-known names such as Beethoven, Schubert and Mozart, and lesser ones such asMatiegka, Lhoyer and Diabelli. A vast proportion of Notturno’s repertoire was written for intimate salon entertainments and not the concert stage. As a result, the music is often approachable, light and entertaining. Notturno strives to ensure that concerts are precisely that, by making themselves available to patrons before or after the concert, and by peppering the program with anecdotes and information for the audience. Notturno… Is particularly committed to the resurgence and preservation of the salon performance tradition for professional musicians of early 19th Century Europe.

Salon performance in the early 19th Century was the cornerstone of live classical music entertainment in Europe. Many concert halls were inaccessible to performers because of their cost, and aside from opera, professional musicians had limited access to performance opportunities that would allow them to earn a living. Monarchies were also in decline, so that source of income was also limited. A solution was found when the middle class in Paris, London and Vienna in particular, invited professional musicians into their homes. Some of classical music’s most renowned names made a living from private performances, including Paganini, Chopin, Schubert, Mendelsohn and Liszt. It is with this milieu in mind that Notturnowishes to revive the joy and specialness of Salon performance.

The program is of music by various contemporaries of Beethoven

Václav Tomáš Matějka (1773-1830) Noturno pour Flute, Viole et Guitare,Op.21 Allegro moderato

Fernando Sor (1778-1839)

Les Adieux, sixième fantaisie pour Guitare seule Andante largo

un poco mosso

Matějka Noturno cont... Menuetto, Trio I, Trio II

Lento e patetico

Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841)

Deux Duos pour Alto et Guitare Op.137 No. 2

Largo

Rondeau Allegretto

Matějka Noturno cont...

Zingara

Ständchen: Mädchen o schlumr’e noch nicht!: /Thema Moderato,

Var: 1, Var: 2, Var: 3 Capricio

Var: 4, Var: 5 Minore

Var: 6 Allegro

Var: 7 Marcia.