Giovanni, Pierre, Pierre & Rodolphe; John, Paul, George & Ringo. Fundamentally, these four composers spotlighted in Vocatio:Responsio’s next concert and The Beatles have very little in common. One appears as a selection of obscure nineteenth-century French violinists, the other is the most widely recognisable rock band to ever grace the earth. Totally different, almost worlds apart… right? Especially when you consider figures like Franz Liszt or Niccolo Paganini (the most celebrated virtuosic ‘rock-stars’ of the nineteenth-century), to design a poster that makes such an overt comparison between The Beatles and these four composers seems rather misguided.

However, looking into their history a bit more creates an altogether different narrative. We think of the Beatles today as a revolutionary, trailblazing group: redefining the live performance experience, the aesthetics of music (something that was very fluid throughout their career), and continuing to do so after the band’s dissolution as solo artists. This is exactly what was going on in French violin music in the early nineteenth-century. Giovanni Battista Viotti’s highly successful residency in France during the late-eighteenth-century proved highly influential to young violinists, with his pupils Pierre Baillot and Pierre Rode going on to teach at the Conservatoire de Paris. The pair, together with Rodolphe Kreutzer, continued to promote Viotti’s new aesthetics, co-authoring the Conservatoire’s official Methode du violon and setting a new standard, performatively and musically, for violin virtuosi.

Vocatio:Responsio’s next venture looks to revive a narrative diving head-first into obscurity, with musical director Samuel Oliver-Sherry leading the orchestra in a concerto by each of the four violinists. Just like the Beatles, we look to present this tradition as a trailblazing aesthetic with artists flourishing both collectively and individually, with a performance style unlike anything seen today.

Giovanni Battista Viotti: Concerto No.26 in B♭ Major
Pierre Baillot: Concerto No.3 in F Major
– – – – INTERVAL – – –
Pierre Rode: Concerto No.7 in A Minor
Rodolphe Kreutzer: Concerto No.19 in D Minor

£5