Franz Helfersdorfer

Entry to the concert is by donation which can be made by cash or card at the door (suggested amount £10-15) - please give generously.

As places are limited, please reserve your ticket in advance by emailing inveruriemusic@gmail.com or book via TicketSource.

We are very grateful to Franz for agreeing to perform, and to Barbara, Lady Grant and Professor Claire Wallace for their generosity in suggesting and hosting this concert.

Hope to see you next month at Keith Hall House.

M E L A N C H O L Y

The program “Melancholy”, performed by classical guitarist Franz Helfersdorfer, explores melancholy not merely as sadness, but as a creative force that emerges in times of change and uncertainty. The concert opens with Suite No. XX by Johann Jakob Froberger, presented in a guitar transcription by Tilman Hoppstock.  Froberger’s deeply expressive Baroque language sets an introspective tone and invites the listener into a world of contemplation and emotional nuance. The central part of the program features eight songs from Franz Schubert´s Schwanengesang, arranged for solo guitar by Helfersdorfer. In these intimate arrangements, Schubert’s lyrical melodies and poetic atmosphere are transformed into a new instrumental voice, preserving their emotional depth while revealing new colours on the guitar. Before the final piece, the audience hears Hungarian Appropriation, a composition by Helfersdorfer based on two Hungarian folk songs.  Combining elements of lament and dance, the work reflects on tradition while reshaping it in a personal musical language. The concert concludes with Farewell to Stromness by Peter Maxwell Davies offering a gentle, meditative farewell that deepens the programme’s exploration of melancholy as a space for resonance, reflection and creative transformation.