Romantic Cello by Candlelight - 20th November, St George's Church

Chris Grist - Cello

Daniel Grimwood - Piano

Bridge - Cello Sonata

Saint-Saëns - The Swan

Villa-Lobos - O Canto do Cisne Negro

Ireland - Cello Sonata

Cellist Chris Grist and pianist Daniel Grimwood present a richly expressive programme celebrating the lyrical beauty and dramatic power of the cello.Frank Bridge’s Cello Sonata opens the evening with music of great depth and introspection, its sweeping lines and shifting moods shaped by a composer writing in the shadow of the First World War.At the heart of the programme are two strikingly contrasted pieces centred around swans. Saint-Saëns’ much-loved The Swan, from The Carnival of the Animals, offers a moment of poise and elegance, while Villa-Lobos’ O Canto do Cisne Negro (Song of the Black Swan) casts a darker, more mysterious spell, blending Romantic lyricism with the distinctive colours of Brazilian music.The programme concludes with John Ireland’s Cello Sonata, a powerful and rhapsodic work admired for its emotional breadth, intensity and passion.Together, these works create a compelling journey through light and shadow, revealing the cello at its most expressive and evocative.