Please note: This concert is happening at St Andrew's Church

Schubert Rosamunde Overture
Bruch Violin Concerto no. 1 – Soloist: Sophia Jackson, violin
Ravel Menuet Antique
Schubert Symphony no. 8 ‘Unfinished’

Conductor: David Chatterton
Leader: Brenda Willoughby

Schubert Rosamunde Overture
This beloved work should more properly be called the overture to Die Zauberharfe (“The Magic Harp”), a fairytale opera which Schubert wrote in 1820. After eight performances, the opera was quickly forgotten. The overture was later attached to Schubert's Rosamunde music almost thirty years after the composer's death. The music consists of a brooding slow introduction (in C minor), followed by a spirited fast movement in C major. It has an abundant flow of pleasing melodies, brilliantly orchestrated. Once freed from the unsuccessful stage production to which it had been connected, this sparkling music has thrived on its own as one of Schubert's most popular works.

Bruch Violin concerto no. 1 in G minor - soloist, Sophia Jackson
Perennially ranked by audiences as one of the most popular violin concertos of all time, Max Bruch’s melodious Violin Concerto No. 1, written in 1866, is the composer’s most famous work. The orchestra offers a hushed preamble to the solo violin’s improvisatory ruminations. Smoldering outbursts soon lead to a sweet lyrical section where the violin soars, unabashedly tugging at heartstrings. The tempo quickens, intensity builds and the orchestra finally comes to the fore with its own impassioned declaration. The force ebbs and the opening improvisatory section returns with even greater fire. Thus spurred, the orchestra provides a gentle transition linking this prelude to the second movement. Filled with warmth and sincerity, the second movement is the concerto’s jewel. The violin sings and sways, gentle one moment, passionate the next. The music alternates between quiet intimacy and full-throated declarations, with soloist and orchestra each sharing in the ineffable beauty of the melody. The violin pyrotechnics throughout are impressive but remain subordinate to the melodic imperative at the heart of this concerto. Lyrical moments are liberally interspersed with more flamboyant passages.

Sophia Jackson was born in Devon and started learning the violin at the age of 7 with Kim Van Der Kiste. Throughout her school years she was a member of Saturday Morning Music in Totnes, Devon Youth Symphony Orchestra and Torbay Symphony Orchestra. Sophia began studying with Professor Ofer Falk during the covid lockdown. She started with online lessons, then as restrictions were reduced, she enjoyed the 412 mile round trip to London for face to face lessons. In 2022 she was awarded a scholarship to continue her studies with Ofer at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. In 2023 she was invited back to Torbay Symphony Orchestra as Soloist to perform Mozart’s Violin Concerto no. 5 in Totnes and Shaldon. In these performances, she played one of her own cadenzas. More recently, in November 2025 she performed as soloist with the Lyric Chamber Orchestra in their contemporary music concert series, playing music by Jeff Moore and Ashburton-based Elfyn Jones. . In 2025 she won the Vera Kantrovich Prise for Solo Strings adjudicated by Peter Manning. In the same year she won the Vivien Joseph Classical Concerto Competition adjudicated by Tasmin Little. She currently plays on a Guarneri model violin made by Jeremie Legrand in 2019

Ravel Menuet Antique
Ravel was 20 and still a student at the Paris Conservatory when he wrote his Menuet Antique for solo piano. His friend Ricardo Viñes played the premiere in 1898 (when it also became Ravel’s first published work), but the composer subsequently performed it often himself, and he orchestrated it in 1929. This little early dance in A-B-A form is nonetheless remarkably prophetic of its composer’s mature style, and Ravel echoed its modal “antique” spirit in four subsequent minuets, including the one in the Tombeau de Couperin. Despite its “Majestueusement” marking, the syncopated framing section seems sprightlier and more vivacious than “majestic,” but the gentle centre of this musical confection is every bit as sweet as Ravel’s “Doux” suggests.

Schubert ‘The Unfinished’ Symphony no. 8
Allegro molto moderato • Andante con moto
Written late in 1822, the work did not come to light until the 1860s, when it was discovered in the study of Schubert’s friend and fellow composer, Anselm Hüttenbrenner. The opening of the Allegro moderato is dark, with a theme in the unusual key of B minor played by the oboe and clarinet. The secondary melody is a well-known tune played by the cellos. There is a warmth and beauty in this section of the movement that reflects Schubert’s talent for melody. The dramatic turns throughout the movement allow Schubert to explore light and dark, gravity and playfulness. The Andante movement has a slightly slower tempo and bright major tonality. At this point, the clarinet presents a solo that again highlights Schubert’s ability to write beautiful melodic lines. There is an artful delicacy in Schubert’s textures and harmonies.

Ashburton Arts Centre
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