Tammas Slater is standing in for George Herbert who has unfortunately injured his wrist. Thank you!
i Andante – Allegro vivace, ii Adagio – Tempo d'andante – Allegro vivace
This short, almost enigmatic work demonstrates in a concentrated form how Beethoven was ready to challenge and even subvert the sonata structures he inherited from composers such as Haydn and Mozart.
Starting as a piece for cello and organ at some unknown date, the Romance was long delayed in its publication and finally brought out in 1894 and premiered that year in Geneva with Fauré playing the piano part. In transferring the accompaniment, Fauré articulated the original crotchet chords as semiquavers, but the solo part remains unchanged except for the very end, where the cello now hangs on to the final high A instead of making a two-octave descent. The opening of the tune recurs in the wonderful ‘Nocturne’ from Shylock, and again in the song ‘Soir’. Even if here there is no nocturnal reference, the piece conforms to an archetype of the meditative Fauré. (Roger Nichols)
i Lento – Allegro moderato, ii Allegro scherzando, iii Andante, iv Allegro mosso
Sergei Rachmaninoff's Sonata in G minor for Cello and Piano, Op. 19 was completed in November 1901 and published a year later. He regarded the role of the piano as not just an accompaniment but equal to the cello. Most of the themes are introduced by the piano, while they are embellished and expanded in the cello's part.
Joe Reynolds & Tammas Slater (Cello/Piano Duo)
Joseph Reynolds (cello) grew up in Cambridge before studying music at Exeter College, Oxford. Since then he has given concerts across Europe, from Parisian churches to the Royal Albert Hall to Italian mountaintops. As a soloist he recently performed Elgar’s Cello Concerto with the Forest Philharmonic Orchestra and won First Prize and the Suzanne Beer prize at the North London Music Festival. As a chamber musician he has performed with the Barbican Quartet and the Knussen Chamber Orchestra; his quartet were in residence at the 2025 Lake District Music Festival. Joe has participated in masterclasses with Steven Isserlis, Yo-Yo Ma and Natalie Clein. Joe organised and performed in two sold-out concerts at the 2025 Students Create Festival: Jazz meets Baroque and Sonic Tasting. Supported by Help Musicians, the Wayne Sleep Foundation, the Derek Simpson Award and a Calleva Scholarship, Joe is continuing his studies with Hannah Roberts at the Royal Academy of Music.
Tammas Slater is standing in for George Herbert who has unfortunately injured his wrist. Tammas is a prize-winning graduate of Chetham’s School of Music, Cambridge University and the Royal Academy of Music, Tammas Slater has partnered singers and instrumentalists at many of the UK’s most prestigious concert venues, including the Wigmore Hall, Leeds Lieder, and the Bridgewater Hall, and appeared on BBC Radio as a pianist, organist and composer. The recipient of numerous prizes and scholarships during his studies, Tammas is currently Gilbert & Eileen Edgar and Anthony Saltmarsh Fellow in Collaborative Piano at the Royal College of Music.
Scan QR code for extended programme notes & biographies:
