Concerts & Tickets

Schubert Octet - The Bloomsbury Players

Sijie Chen - violin

Will McGahon - violin

Hannah Shaw - viola

Christopher Graves - cello

Alexander Jones - double bass

Katherine Spencer - clarinet

Ursula Leveaux - bassoon

Richard Bayliss - horn

Schubert's extraordinary Octet for strings and wind instruments was composed in 1824, and was inspired by Beethoven's famous Septet of a few years earlier. It remains one of the pinnacles of the chamber music repertoire, showcasing astonishing virtuosity across all the instruments and expanding the scope of the genre to an unprecedented scale.

The piece is performed this evening by the Bloomsbury Players, a group of outstanding chamber musicians based in London who perform worldwide as soloists, chamber musicians and orchestral principals with leading London orchestras. They combine an awareness of historically informed with modern playing styles to create performances that sparkle with the joy and discovery of the music.

This concert is part of a tour that is generously supported by the Continuo Foundation.