Mio Takahashi &
Sherri Lun

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)

Violin Sonata No.18 in G major, K.301 (Mozart)

i Allegro con spirito, ii Allegro

Violin Sonata No. 18 in G major (K. 301/293a) was composed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in March 1778 in Mannheim, Germany, and was first published in the same year as part of Mozart’s Opus 1 collection, which was dedicated to Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach and are consequently known as the Palatine Sonatas (Kurfürstin Sonaten).

Claude Debussy (1862-1918)

Sonata in G minor, L.140 (Debussy)

i Allegro vivo, ii Intermède, iii Finale: Très animé

This was Debussy’s last work, and it cost him dearly. Depression induced by war, with aggressive cancer causing debilitation and intense pain, this should have been a morose piece. But, inspired by the then little known baroque keyboard music of the likes of Couperin and Rameau, it is joyous – and all too short. Like Reger and Ysaӱe he was looking back to find renewal. If you think of cats and kittens as you listen to this, you won’t be alone.

Johannes Brahms (1883-1897)

Scherzo in C Minor, from the FAE Sonata (Brahms)

iii Scherzo

The F-A-E Sonata, a four-movement work for violin and piano, is a collaborative musical work by three composers: Robert Schumann, the young Johannes Brahms, and Schumann’s pupil Albert Dietrich. It was composed in Düsseldorf in October 1853.

Performers

Mio Takahashi - Violin

Born in 2001, Japanese violinist Mio Takahashi moved to London at the age of three. She is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music (RAM) under Professor Philippe Honoré, after completing her Bachelor of Music there, graduating with first-class honours. She is a recipient of The Clarence Myerscough Trust Award 23-24. Mio was a strings category finalist of the BBC Young Musician of the Year 2020, where her playing was described as ‘gorgeous and effortless’. In February 2022, she gave the world premiere of Shinuh Lee’s Caprice No.4 for violin, ‘Totentanz’, as part of RAM’s 200 PIECES series, launched to celebrate the Academy’s bicentenary.

Sherri Lun - Piano

Sherri Lun was named ‘2020 Performing Artist of the Year’ by South China Morning Post. Graduating from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Junior Music Programme, she now studies under Prof. Christopher Elton at the Royal Academy of Music with a prestigious scholarship from RAM and the Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence Scheme. She is also a KNS Classical and Keyboard Charitable Trust Artist.