Schubert Songs: The Beloved Colour

Overview

London, UK-based musicians Fred Thomas and Alice Zawadzki present a programme of Schubert Lieder, lovingly chosen from the early 19th-century Viennese composer's 600-strong songbook. Their project takes inspiration from film-maker David Lynch's maxim: having caught an idea, don't let it go! As Fred describes "We're trying to access a simpler way – both ancient and contemporary – of delivering song, one that sidesteps assumptions and embraces music lovers of all kinds. With the sound intimately close to the listener, our innermost thoughts are exposed by the tiniest details; in this micro universe, nuances become earth-shattering. The songs do their work through virtuosities of sound, stillness and "psychology."

Taking inspiration from the Schubertiades (intimate concerts held at people's homes) of 1820s Vienna, the duo treat Schubert's songs as living and breathing compositions, available to everybody.

Beloved favourites such as Death and the Maiden are reevaluated alongside lesser-known jewels, bringing to life the transformative Romantic poetry of Schubert's young friends and contemporaries: Goethe, Müller, Schiller and many others. Long term collaborators, Fred and Alice have recorded numerous albums for ECM Records, including 'Three or One' and the recently released 'Za Górami'.