Chopin’s Scotland in Perth

St. John’s Kirk in Perth on the 9th of October 2019 was filled with real music and history lovers. And in the audience Dennis Melloy, Provost of Perth and Kinross, Mrs Sylwia Spooner representing the Consulate General of Poland and many other celebrities. Perth Friends of Bydgoszcz, Perth Scouts, Jagiellonian University, Consulate General of Poland in Edinburgh, thank you!

Programme:

F. Chopin
Andante op. 22
Nocturne No 2 in D flat major op. 27 
Etude No 12 in C minor op. 25
Berceuse op. 57
Nocturne No 1 in F minor op. 55
Fantaisie Impromptu op. 66
Nocturne No 1 in C sharp minor op. 27 
Prelude No 20 in C minor op. 28
Nocturne No 2 in E flat major op. 55

Chopin’s Scotland, as part of the Jane Stirling Project, was a tribute to Frédéric Chopin’s pupil and friend. It told the story of the Great Romantic and the Dunblane-born Jane Stirling – the story that began in Scotland in 1848 and has rested dormant ever since, for nearly two centuries. 

The event was an opportunity to listen to a variety of Chopin’s  compositions,  including the two Nocturnes which he dedicated to Jane Stirling, performed by the inimitable Anna Dębowska.  Her performance during Chopin’s Scotland fused the past and the present, as they provided the audience with a unique opportunity to commune with sounds that so clearly carried a message. Combined with readings from Chopin’s letters and Sir Walter Scott’s poetry,  they offered a musical voyage in time back to 1848, when Caledonian soil hosted the dying Chopin, impoverished by his declining lot, enriched by numerous tokens of hospitality and genuine friendship.

Contextualized by Marcin Jaroszek’s narration, Chopin’s Scotland span a story of love, devotion, disillusionment and unconditional respect for this somewhat whimsical Romantic genius. It told the story of Jane Wilhelmina Stirling, who gave so much and received so little in return. It told a story that has so undeservedly fallen into oblivion – a story that will now unfold…

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