Benjamin Britten

3rd Suite for solo cello

Julia Yang, cello

Julia Hsui , dance

The cello suites by Benjamin Britten (Opp. 72, 80, and 87) are a series of three compositions for solo cello, dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. The suites were the first original solo instrumental music that Britten wrote for and dedicated to Rostropovich, but Britten had earlier composed a cadenza for Joseph Haydn's Cello Concerto in C major, for Rostropovich, in 1964. Rostropovich gave the first performances of each work, and recorded Suites Nos 1 and 2 commercially.
Britten composed the Third Suite in 1971,inspired by Rostropovich's playing of the unaccompanied Cello Suites of Bach. Rostropovich first performed the suite at the Snape Maltings, 21 December 1974. In 1979 the Britten Estate authorised Julian Lloyd Webber to make the suite's first recording.
The work incorporates four Russian themes, including three arrangements of folksongs by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, reminiscent of Beethoven's use of Russian themes in the Razumovsky quartets. The final Russian tune, stated simply at the end of the set, is the Kontakion, the Russian Orthodox Hymn for the Dead. Philip Brett considers the Third Suite to be the most passionate of the three.

I - Introduzione: Lento
II - Marcia: Allegro

III -Canto: Con Moto
IV - Barcarolla: Lento
V - Dialogo: Allegretto

VI - Fuga: Andante espressivo VII - Recitativo: Fantastico
VIII - Moto perpetuo: Presto
IX -Passacaglia: Lento solenne

Julia Yang, cello

Praised for “her sense of joyful virtuosity” as concerto soloist, Julia Yang is a dynamic and versatile cellist, founding member of the award winning Merz Trio and recent member of Carnegie Hall's Ensemble Connect. She was recently featured in the 2018-19 season as a Young Artist in Residence on Performance Today with Fred Child.

Hsiao-Chu (Julia) Hsia 夏小筑, dancer

With a psychology background, Hsiao-Chu (Julia) Hsia is a freelance artist now working in the New York City area after receiving her Master’s degree in Community Arts at Maryland Institute College of Art. She focuses on performance art and painting, simultaneously investigates relational art and mental health. Her vision is to keep developing the interdisciplinary of the two fields, psychological art, in order to utilize psychology knowledge on a broader scale in art.
Julia sees her art as a medium that has the ability to raise awareness of social issues mildly. She tends to build each of her performances into a conversation by utilizing interactions in order to invite audiences to not only view as audiences but also join the conversation with her. Julia expects her performances can become mind-open spaces for people to share thoughts comfortably and talk about social issues safely together.
Being involved in communities allows Julia to learn from others and see social issues in different aspects. She values the time that an artist spends on relationship building as an artist in the community. This is the way she becomes a part of the people and stays in solidarity with them.​

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