As part of a new concert series at Milton Court (a new performance space at the Barbican), Endymion will be teaming up with the BBC Singers this October to play Steve Reich’s cantata ‘The Desert Music’. This thrilling five-movement cantata, based on texts by William Carlos Williams, takes centre stage in a concert devoted to american choral music. The concert is on October 15th, and tickets are available here. Keep up-to-date with all Endymion news via the Endymion website.
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Posted in 2013 concerts, diary, Endymion, Events, News
Onyx are very excited to be part of the forthcoming Bach Unwrapped series at King’s Place – a collection of concerts celebrating Bach’s music as a gift to mankind.
The concert, Bach Through Brass, will take place on May 3rd – and will include a selection of Bach classics arranged for brass ensemble. It’s a unique offering in a traditional concert series – the rigorously pure, clean nature of Bach’s counterpoint really warms up when played by brass instruments and adds a certain romantic twist to some old favourites. If King’s Place are unwrapping Bach, then we are rewrapping him!
Tickets for King’s Place can be booked here. If you can’t make the King’s Place concert, there will be plenty of other opportunities to hear Onyx play their programme of Bach arrangements. Just click on the Onyx Diary tab on our homepage to find upcoming performances – or, if you want something more permanent – have a think about the Onyx CD Recording ‘Fugue‘ – an album of Bach and Shostakovich fugues nourished by the rich energy of brass instruments.
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Posted in 2013 concerts, diary, News, Onyx Brass
Firth Hall at Sheffield University
If you haven’t been able to make it down to London to hear the Phoenix Piano trio at Wigmore Hall, then you’ll be glad to know they’re heading up to Sheffield on Tuesday. The programme includes relatively unknown trios by the British composers John Ireland (No. 3) and Thomas Dunhill, his contemporary as well as a popular work by Beethoven. The Dunhill trio is a lighter counterpart to the Ireland, which was written in 1938, just as clouds were darkening over Europe.
The second half of the programme pairs Beethoven’s “Ghost” trio – with it’s famously “spooky” sounding slow movement – and Philip Venables’ “Klaviertrio im Geiste“.
The concert, at the university’s Firth Hall, is at 7.30pm on February 26th. You can book tickets using the link on the university’s concert website, where you can also find more information. The performance of the Ireland trio is generously supported by the John Ireland Trust.
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Posted in 2013 concerts, diary, Events, fourfortytwo, News, Phoenix Piano Trio
Endymion is taking part in “Brahms Unwrapped” at Kings Place in just a few weeks, bringing their celebrated programme of the Brahms Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano in A minor, Op.144 and the Horn trio in E flat, Op.40. We’re happily augmenting our regular short programme with both of his Clarinet Sonatas, Op.120.
The Horn Trio is by far the earliest work in the concert, written in 1865 after the death of Brahms’ mother. It’s full of childhood memories of woodland and countryside, as well as “a sense of enigma, turbulence, serenity, deep sorrow, exuberant joy,” according to our violinist Krysia Osostowicz.
Another frequent performer at Kings Place, Daniel Tong, joins us to perform the much later Clarinet Trio. Towards the end of his life, Brahms had pretty much decided to give up composing, but ended up exploring the potential of the clarinet as a chamber instrument like no one had since Mozart. A contemporary musicologist and friend of Brahms’ said his trio was “as though the instruments were in love with one another”. As well as the trio (from 1891), he wrote two Clarinet Sonatas in 1894, which are regarded as masterpieces for the instrument. At our concert, they’ll be performed by Mark van de Wiel with Daniel Lebhardt.
Tickets are already on sale here. Kings Place has its £9.50 Internet Savers, and then tickets start from as little as £13.50. This concert really is full of Endymion’s core repertoire, and not to be missed!
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Posted in 2012 concerts, diary, Endymion, News
Tagged brahms, Clarinet, Daniel Lebhardt, Daniel Tong, Horn, Kings Place, Krysia, Mark, Mark van de Wiel, November, Osostowicz, Quintet, Stirlng, Trio, Unwrapped, van de Wiel
The Music for People project is now just under two weeks away, and promises great things. Endymion are teaming up with EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble, and this project will combine three works by Pärt with three newly commissioned compositions.
Arvo Pärt has been a real focal point of our repertoire over the last year, and the group will be performing Fratres and Summa along with the vocal masterpiece Stabat Mater. Look out for Arvo Pärt’s exceptional ability to combing textures. The Stabat Mater really brings strings and voices together with delicious originality. The interaction between voice and instrument is so carefully judged that the boundaries become blurred: voices creep into string textures, and vice versa, the strings embody personal, vocal qualities through the minimality of the scoring, and strings double vocal lines at the peaks and depths of their range to create new aural colours. These blurring techniques, in turn, make moments of unaccompanied playing or singing, exceptionally striking.
In addition to Pärt, the concert includes three fantastic new works. James Weeks’ Inscription is an expansive and thought-provoking work in Portugese, whilst the other two works are as riotous as Weeks’ is meditative. Andrew Hamilton’s right and wrong contains a vast sound pallet of buzzing, ringing, waltzing and even shouting, and Philip Venables’ numbers : 76-80 ‘Tristan und Isolde’ contains a remarkable auralisation of swarming wasps.
These three new pieces were commissioned by Endymion, EXAUDI and SOUND Festival, Aberdeen, whose musical and financial support has been most valuable. We are also extremely grateful to the Leche Trust, the Marina Kleinwort Trust, and the Golden Bottle Trust, all of whom have generously funded this event.
The project takes place on November 12th, 7.30pm, at the SOUND Festival in Aberdeen. Tickets can be booked here, and are just £10 – £8 for concessions or a remarkable £2 for students. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Posted in 2011 concerts, Blog, diary, Endymion, Events, fourfortytwo, Fundraising, News
Tagged aberdeen, Arvo Pärt, Endymion, EXAUDI, minimalism, Philip Venables, Sound Festival, Sound Scotland, Stabat Matar, vocal music
Fourfortytwo is taking over The Forge in Camden this week! Well, on Wednesday and Sunday at least.
On Wednesday night, come along to hear the continuation of the Phoenix Piano Trio’s Beyond Beethoven series – including Beethoven’s ‘Ghost Trio’ and a new companion commission to accompany it by Philip Venables, called Klaviertrio im Geiste.
You can also catch Sholto, Marie and Jonny from the Phoenix Piano Trio on BBC Radio 3′s In Tune on Friday afternoon at about 4.45pm, performing excerpts from this concert and talking about their Beyond Beethoven project. They’ll be repeating the programme at Oxford’s Holywell Music Room on Saturday evening.
On Sunday evening, we’re back again at The Forge for the New London Chamber Ensemble’s performance with guest pianist Michael Dussek. Their concert ‘Piano and Winds Converge at Forge’ will feature a revised sextet by Julian Philips, written specially for the quintet, and also brand new arrangements of Mozart miniatures by Philip Cashian and Julian Philips, alongside Mozart’s popular Quintet for piano and Winds and Poulenc’s lively Sextet. Should be a colourful evening! There’s also an interval talk by Catherine Burd, the architect who designed the Forge venue. Tickets available here.
See you there!
Posted in 2011 concerts, diary, nlce, Phoenix Piano Trio
Tagged BBC Radio 3, Beyond Beethoven, In Tune, Julian Philips, Mozart, Philip Cashian