...Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak
Whispers the o'er-fraught heart and bids it break.
(Shakespeare: Macbeth iIV.iii.)

Composers over the centuries have articulated grief through creating music to immortalise their beloved. Berlioz wrote of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, "I know few examples in music of a style in which grief has been so consistently able to retain such pure form and such nobility of expression." The Marquis de Custine once remarked to Chopin:

"You have gained in suffering and poetry, the melancholy of your compositions penetrates ever deeper into the heart. Each of us feels alone with you in the crowd. It's not a piano that you play, but a soul. Take care of yourself for your friends' sake, we need the consolation of listening to you. In the hard times ahead, only an art like yours has the power to unite men otherwise divided by the harsh realities of life. We love and understand each other through Chopin...the man and the artist are one. What else is there to say?"

Beginning with the Barcarolle Op. 60 of Chopin, Smart takes us on a journey where bereavement is articulated through the entire spectrum of emotional states, from all-encompassing joy of remembrance to the depths of despair.

Smart also performs music from the second half of the twentieth century. Some works commemorate individuals, while others have been written for the memory of victims of oppression (as in Andrew Ford's 'Fear No More....'). From the haunting simplicity of Shostakovich's music to the monumental 'for Cornelius' by Alvin Curran, Smart takes us to a place where music attempts to make sense of, and thus salve, the tragedy of human loss.

Shostakovich Prelude and Fugue No.1 in C Major, Op. 87 Three Fantastic Dances

Chopin Berceuse in Db Major, Op. 57 Étude in E Minor, No. 5, Op. 2 Barcarolle in F# Major, Op. 60

Constantine Koukias Within a Prayer at Lamplightings

Andrew Ford 'Fear No More'

Michael Nyman 'Tango for Tim'

Sophie Lacaze Tarantella

Carl Vine Five Bagatelles

Alvin Curran 'for Cornelius'

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