Florilegium

Performers

Haydn’s London Symphonies as chamber music? Yes! Johann Peter Salomon was the impresario and musician who successfully persuaded Haydn to visit London in the 1790s. He subsequently bought the rights to the 12 symphonies written during those visits and made delightful and quirky chamber versions for the domestic amateur market. These were published in 1798.

We will hear three of those arrangements this evening alongside Mozart’s first flute quartet, all in the very capable hands of Florilegium, one of the UK’s most outstanding period instrument ensembles.

Florilegium have played in many of the world’s leading concert halls, from Sydney Opera House to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. They were ensemble-in-residence at London’s Wigmore Hall from 1998 to 2000 and have been ensemble-in-association at the Royal College of Music since 2008. Many of their recordings have won, or been nominated for, awards.

‘Remember their name. They are great poets, magicians who will hypnotise your mind in the magic of their music, touching the very heart of your soul.’ – Le Diapason, France

Programme

Haydn (arr. Salomon) Symphony no. 101 in D major (‘The Clock’)

Mozart Flute Quartet no. 1 in D major, K285

Haydn (arr. Salomon) Symphony no. 94 in G major (‘Surprise’)

Haydn (arr. Salomon) Symphony no. 104 in D major (‘London’)

Listen

Florilegium play Salomon’s arrangements of Haydn’s Symphony no. 101:

and Symphony no. 93: