The programme included a duet by Beethoven's teacher, Johann Albrechtsberger, and the first public performance of a new work, Lento Cantabile, composed by David Halls, director of music at Salisbury Cathedral.

The younger brother of Steven Halls attracted international media attention earlier this year after a mass vaccination centre was set up in the 800-year-old cathedral. As people queued for their jabs, David Halls soothed their nerves by playing organ music by Bach and Handel - and a little Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The detailed programme was -

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Duets for Violin & Cello Nos 2 in F & 3 in G, BWV 803 & 804

Johann Albrechtsberger (1736-1809) Duet No.2 in F

Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) Duet for Violin & Cello in D, HobVI:D1

Edward Elgar (1857-1934) Fugue for Violin & Oboe

David Halls (b. 1963) Lento Cantabile for Violin & Cello
specially written for TRMS, first performance

Wolfgang Mozart (1757-1792) Duet for Violin & Cello in B flat K424

None of the works in the programme had ever been played before for the Three Rivers Music Society.

They performed a wildly exciting programme referred to as Lords of the Dance because it comprised a wide variety of Dance-inspired music.

The concert was be held in the the Baptist Church, High Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1EH on Saturday 29 February 2020 at 7.30pm. There was also a pre-concert talk at 7.00 pm.

Female composer who proved that music has no gender - Clara Schumann

A piece of music that has come to symbolise women's struggle for gender equality was performed at a lunchtime concert in Rickmansworth on Wednesday, January 29. Clara Schumann, wife of the composer Robert Schumann, wrote her brilliant Piano Trio in G minor opus 17 in the 1840s - a time when women were expected to play, but not compose, music.

Clara, who was an outstanding concert pianist, also wrote choral music, solo piano pieces, a concerto and many songs but her work was never as highly regarded as her male contemporaries' compositions.

Today we like to think that such prejudices no longer exist. But as recently as 2015 the A-level music syllabus offered by Edexcel, Britain's biggest exam board, featured 63 male composers and not a single woman.

It took a petition organised by a 17-year-old London music student, Jessy McCabe, to help correct that balance - and now Clara Schumann's piano trio is one of five works by female composers that Edexcel candidates study.

The Three Rivers Music Society concert featuring Clara's best-known composition was given by a trio led by violinist Jayne Walker. She was accompanied by cellist Steven Halls and Chorleywood-based pianist Rosemary Venner.

The one-hour concert, which also included two trios by Joseph Haydn and Paul Juon, was performed at the Baptist Church, High Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1EH to an enthusastic and loyal audience of over 70 people.