Our second post-COVID festival, and our 26th year of the festival in its current format. As always, we have a great series of varied concerts with outstanding artists, and a return to normality for our audiences and performers alike!
For those who have not experienced the festival before, or even if you have, a short editorial (originally published in the Sheffield Sixer magazine) is worth a read here.
Tickets are available from 1st March 2023; click “Tickets” above for a link to our ticket sales site and other purchase options, or click here.
There is a short report of these performances as they occur here – I hope this reminds you of what you enjoyed and not a regret for what you missed!
Note that programmes are subject to change.
Saturday 24th June, 7:30pm – The Doric String Quartet
The Doric String Quartet, formed in 1998, are Alex Redington (violin), Ying Xue (violin), Hélène Clément (viola) and John Myerscough (cello). They have an extensive touring programme, many recordings and repertoire driven by curiosity that spans many centuries and styles. For tonight’s concert, the quartet perform some great classics from that repertoire.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) String Quartet No. 2 in G Op. 18 No. 2 (1799)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio Cantabile
III. Scherzo
IV. Allegro molto quasi presto
Alban Berg (1885-1935) String Quartet Op. 3 (1910)
I. Langsam
II. Massige Viertel
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884) String Quartet No. 1 “From my life” (1876)
I. Allegro vivo appassionato
II. Allegro moderato a la polka
III. Largo sostenuto
IV. Vivace
Monday 26th June, 7:30pm – The Galliard Ensemble
Former BBC New Generation Artists, and now established for 24 years, the Galliard Ensemble is one of Britain’s leading chamber groups, with repertoire ranging from Mozart and Beethoven to Berio and Birtwistle.
Gioachino Rossini (1792-1868) Overture from “The Italian Girl in Algiers” (arr. Graham Sheen)
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) Fantasie in F minor, K. 594 (arr. Wolfgang Sebastian Meyer)
François Couperin “The Great” (1668-1733) Rondeau from “Les Moissonneurs” (arr. Mordechai Rechtman)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Le Tombeau de Couperin selection (arr. Mason Jones)
Eugène Bozza (1905-1991) Scherzo, Op. 48
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) Wind Quintet in A flat major, Op. 14
Percy Grainger (1882-1961) Walking Tune; Lisbon (from The Lincolnshire Posy)
Paul Patterson (1947-) Westerly Winds, Op. 84
The Galliard Ensemble are:
Kathryn Thomas (Flute)
Owen Dennis (Oboe)
Katherine Spencer (Clarinet)
Richard Bayliss (Horn)
Helen Storey (Bassoon)
Tuesday 27th June, 7:30pm – The Linos Piano Trio
Formed in 2007, the Linos Piano Trio’s colourful and distinctive musical voice draws on the rich cultural and artistic backgrounds of Prach Boondiskulchok (piano), Konrad Elias-Trostmann (violin) and Vladimir Waltham (cello).
Carl Phillipp Emanuel Bach (1714-1788) Piano Trio in E flat major, Wq. 89 No. 4 (1776)
I. Andantino
II. Andante
III. Tempo di minuetto
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) Piano Trio in D major, Op 70 No. 1 “The Ghost” (1808)
I. Allegro vivace e con brio
II. Largo assai ed espressivo
III. Presto
Jean-Féry Rebel (1666-1747) Fantasie, “Les caractères de la danse” (1714) (arr. The Linos Piano Trio)
Prelude — Courante — Menuet — Bourée — Chaconne — Sarabande — Gigue — Rigaudon — Passepied — Gavotte — Sonate — Loure — Musette — Sonate
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937) Piano Trio in A minor (1914)
I. Modéré
II. Pantoum: Assez vif
III. Passacaille: Très large
IV. Final: Animé
Wednesday 28th June, 7:30pm – Armonico Consort Soloists
Armonico Consort Soloists are Jennifer Cearns, Áine Smith (soprano), David McGregor (counter-tenor), Ben Thapa (tenor), Gregory Bannan (bass) and Geoffrey Webber (piano, director). For the Bradfield Festival, soloists of the Armonico Consort in its 21st year draw on their extensive repertoire of music from Renaissance and Baroque eras, to music from the Romantic and modern periods.
Heavenly Bodies
The sun, moon, planet and stars align with music for a concert of heavenly musical delights. This astronomically varied programme includes those Renaissance composers who took inspiration from the music of the spheres (Monteverdi, Dowland) to the composers of the Romantic era (Schubert, Schumann) who were captivated by the moon. With a mixture of ensemble, upper-voice and solo pieces, the concert will feature familiar and possibly less familiar music.
Peter Philips (1561-1628) Assumpta est Maria
Emilio de’ Cavalieri (1550-1602) Chiostri altissimi
Claudio Monteverdi (1567-1643) O stellae coruscantes
Henry Purcell (1659-1695) Ye gentle spirits (from the Fairy Queen)
Giles Farnaby (1590-1640) The wavering planet
John Dowland (1563-1626) What poor astronomers
Thomas Bateson (1570-1630) Hark, hear ye not?
Henry Purcell ’Tis Nature’s Voice (from Ode to St Cecilia)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) An den Mond; An die Sonne; Lebenslust
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) Lied (from Drei Gedichte Op. 29 No. 2)
Edward German (1862-1936) O Peaceful Night
Joseph Barnby (1838-1896) Luna
Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) Calme des nuits
Henri Duparc (1848-1933) L’invitation au voyage
Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924) Automne
Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) A dream
Gustav Holst (1874-1934) / Sir Cecil Spring Rice (1859-1918) I vow to thee my country
John Joubert (1927-2019) There is no rose
Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) In splendour bright is rising now the sun; The heavens are telling the glory of God (from The Creation)
Thursday 29th June, 7:30pm – Bones Apart
“Bones Apart represents all that is best about British brass playing.”
“If music be the food of love…”
In this concert, the ecstatically reviewed Trombone ensemble Bones Apart perform music inspired by the works of William Shakespeare. Formed in 1999, Bones Apart are Sarah Williams, Helen Vollam, Becky Smith and Jayne Murrill.
Various Music from Henry V
Tim Jackson (1972) Three Shakespeare Songs (from Five Shakespeare Songs arr. Tim Jackson (2008))
Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) Suite from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”
Amy Beach (1867-1944) Over hill, over dale
Duke Ellington (1899-1974) Such Sweet Thunder
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) Scenes from “Hamlet”
Jason Carr (1967-) Poem Unlimited (1999)
Cole Porter (1891-1964) Songs from “Kiss me Kate”
John Dankorth (1927-2010) Shakespeare and all that jazz
Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990) West Side Story selection
Friday 30th June, 7:30pm – ZRI
ZRI stands for Zum Roten Igel, or To The Red Hedgehog Tavern, a 19th Century Viennese drinking joint that saw folk and gypsy musicians along with some of the great classical composers such as Schubert and Brahms.
ZRI is led by clarinet virtuoso Ben Harlan with Matthew Sharp (cello), Max Baillie (violin), Jon Banks (accordion) and Iris Pissaride (santouri).
Brahms and the Gypsy
ZRI perform the Brahms Clarinet Quintet re-scored with santouri (Greek island hammer dulcimer) and accordion to bring out the gypsy and Hungarian qualities of this much loved piece of chamber music. This was ZRI’s debut programme and has toured the UK extensively, and has been recorded to critical acclaim.
Saturday 1st July, 7:30pm – The Academy of St Martin in the Fields Chamber String Ensemble
Fresh from a tour of the US, the Chamber Ensemble of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields return to the Bradfield Festival of Music (they were here in 2013 and 2017) to perform a wonderfully varied yet superbly balanced programme:
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Ricercar a 6 (from The Musical Offering, BWV 1079)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828): String Trio in B flat, D471
Alexander Borodin (1833-1887): String Sextet in D minor
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Sextet in B flat minor, Op 18
The 6 musicians of the Chamber Ensemble of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields are:
Tamas Andras (violin)
Martin Burgess (violin)
Robert Smissen (viola)
Fiona Bonds (viola)
Will Schofield (cello)
Juliet Welchman (cello)
And if their last visit to Bradfield is any guide, these musicians will bring a few surprises too!