2017 marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution and The Mavron Quartet are proud to be involved with other arts organisations and projects across Wales for a season of performances and events which capture the social and cultural explosion of the era and Wales’ historic connections with the Russia of the time.
Join us for some Russian inspired concert programmes, to include works by Tchaikovsky, Borodin, Stravinsky, Shostakovich, and Gliere. (R17 dates below).
What is R17?
R17 marks one hundred years since the Russian Revolutions. In a bold first-of-its-kind collaboration, 15 arts organisations and venues in Wales have come together to commemorate the centenary with exciting, challenging productions inspired by revolution that continue to influence many art forms and artists today.
2017 will feature a season of events, performances, talks and lectures in venues across Wales, but centred mainly on Cardiff and the Valleys.
The R17 season has been produced with the assistance of the Arts Council of Wales lottery funding.
Why Wales?
There is significant evidence of Wales’ social, political and cultural links with Russia during that time not least during the creation of the UK Communist Party which has roots in the south Wales Valleys.
In 1921 Lenin wrote to the founder of the Communist Party of Great Britain ‘Comrade Tom Bell’, apologising for his ‘bad English’, and referring to developments in south Wales:
“Perhaps it is the beginning of the real proletarian mass movement in Great Britain in the communist sense…If the South Wales Miners’ Federation has decided on July 24 to affiliate to the Third International by a majority of 120 to 63-perhaps it is the beginning of a new era.”
The town of Maerdy in south Wales was also labelled “Little Moscow” on account of its socialist sympathies. The first recorded instance of this was recorded in the South Wales Daily News in 1930. The miners of Maerdy took great pride in the tag. The town also produced several important Communist trade unionists including Arthur Horner – a founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
The R17 season of cultural events is apolitical and purely a reflection on the cultural resonance of a period in history.
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January 25th 2017 – Art Shop and Chapel, Abergavenny 7.30pm
19th February 2017 – Trinity St David, Lampeter 2.30pm
25th April 2017 – St David’s Hall, Cardiff 1.00pm
19th May 2017 – St John’s Church, Cardiff 7.30pm
29th October 2017 – St John’s Church, Cardiff 7.30pm