Lunchtime Concert Series

James Risdon – recorders Trevor Hughes – piano

Tuesday 15 November 1.00pm

Suggested donation £3.50

St Martin-in-the-Fields Trafalgar Square London WC2N 4JJ Tel: 020 7766 1100 www.smitf.org

If you are unable to stay for the whole of the concert please leave during the applause. Smoking and the consumption of food and drink are not allowed in this church. Members of the audience are kindly requested to switch off mobile phones and alarms on digital watches. Photography, audio or video recording are not permitted.

Programme Our programme is framed by works commissioned and inspired by the late recorder maker, performer and teacher Carl Dolmetsch whose centenary is celebrated this year. Dolmetch’s pioneering work in the field of early music, inspired by his father Arnold Dolmetsch, lifted the recorder from historical relic to the concert platform. His series of concerts at the Wigmore Hall with harpsichordist Joseph Saxby from 1939 to 1989 each included at least one new work for recorder, many of which have deservedly found a place in the recorder’s repertoire. The list of composers who wrote for Dolmetsch includes many familiar names: Gordon Jacob, Lenox Berkeley, Malcolm Arnold, Edmund Rubra, Herbert Murrill, Donald Swan and York Bowen among others.

Scottish Suite Norman Fulton (1910 – 1980) Prelude – Air – Musette – Nocturne – Reel Norman Fulton studied at the Royal Academy of Music from 1928 before joining the staff of the BBC. His characterful Scottish suite was first performed on 7 May 1954. The Prelude sets the scene with a succession of Scotch snaps in imitation of a fiddle player. After the brief calm of the lilting Air, the central Musette opens mysteriously with a familiar drone over which the recorder and piano vie for supremacy before eventually burning out. The Nocturne combines free, almost improvisatory episodes which frame a lilting melody, depicting perhaps swirling Highland mists. The final Reel is typically exuberant with some harmonic and rhythmic surprises.

Lux Aeterna Markus Zahnhausen (b. 1965) Markus Zahnhausen is a renowned recorder player, teacher and broadcaster. As a composer, he has found innovative ways of exploring the instrument’s many sound colours through extended techniques while staying true to the recorder's natural expressive sound. Lux Aeterna was written in 1992, and attempts to capture in sound a depiction of eternal light. Zahnhausen employs various techniques including harmonics and quarter tones to create subtly changing shades of light. Fragments of plainchant punctuate the work, lending it a timeless and ethereal quality.

Introduction and Variations Brillantes Op 23 Ernst Krähmer (1795 – 1837) By the late 18th century, the recorder was almost extinct, (having largely been superseded by its side-blown cousin) although can lay claim to inclusion in works by Weber and Berlioz. During the early 19th century, various incarnations of keyed recorders known as czakans were invented, some similar in appearance to the oboe, and some more intriguingly shaped as walking sticks. Austrian Ernst Krähmer was one of a handful of players and composers who contributed several hundred works for the instrument, which, although not the high point of 19th century romanticism, do constitute a lively footnote in the recorder's history.

Sonatina for recorder and piano Op 121 York Bowen (1884 – 1961) Moderato e Demplice – Andante Tranquillo – Allegro Giucoso 2011 also marks fifty years since the death of York Bowen, whose sonatina was premiered in 1948 with the composer playing the piano. York Bowen had enjoyed early success as a composer and pianist, performing his piano concertos under Henry Wood before the First World War. Although his Romantic style subsequently fell out of fashion he remained a prolific composer, notably for the horn and viola (his second and third studies at the Royal Academy.) Through his close work with Dolmetsch in preparing the sonatina, Bowen produced a work which gives the recorder a thoroughly convincing neo-Romantic voice. The lyrical opening and rhapsodic middle movement give the recorder opportunity to show off its vocal qualities and variety of tone colours,while the final movement is a test of virtuosity and agility with a proliferation of notes in the recorder’s stratosphere.

The Performers James Risdon began playing the recorder aged seven and remains captivated by this most simple of instruments and its rich musical possibilities. His repertoire spans over five centuries and he has worked with several pianists, harpsichordists and even an accordionist to present a number of exciting and varied programmes. James studied privately with Alan Davis for eight years in Birmingham and now continues his studies with Rebecca Miles supported by the Elizabeth Eagle-Bott Memorial Fund. In 2011 he gained the LRSM with distinction and was runner-up in the international competition for blind musicians held at the Jan Dale conservatoire in Prague. James has performed at the Salvation Army Regent Hall, the Handel House, London; the Great Hall, Dartington; Music at St. Martin’s, Stamford; for the Treasury Music Society, the Totnes Early Music Society and Thornbury Arts Festival among many others. Notable recent engagements have included Eaton Hall, home to the Duke of Westminster, The London Eye and for the Japanese Ministry of Culture. As a concerto soloist, James has performed with London Musici alongside Piers Adams in Bach’s fourth Brandenburg Concerto and with the Prague Chamber Orchestra. Since 2001 he has been a regular guest artist with Devon Baroque under the direction of renowned violinist Margaret Faultless. James graduated from the University of Wales, Swansea with a joint honours degree in German and French before completing his Master’s in German Translation Studies at Leeds University. Since 2008 he has been the Music Officer at the Royal National Institute of Blind People. Trevor Hughes is a Graduate of the Royal College of Music (where he studied organ, piano, and viola), winning the Colles Prize, and an Associate of the Royal College of Organists, winning the Doris Wookey Prize. He has accompanied recitals in the Purcell Room, the Wigmore Hall, and on BBC Radio 3, as well as in many music clubs over the country, and for over ten years he contributed regularly to BBC Schools Radio music programmes, as keyboards player, musical director, and arranger. He has also made a number of educational recordings for Lindsay Music, and Faber Music. Trevor has conducted many musicals in the theatre, and has also played keyboards in a number of West End shows. In 1995 he became Director of Music at Holy Saviour Church in Hitchin where he has also formed a second, female voice choir, The Radcliffe Singers. During recent years, he has performed in many fund-raising concerts for Barnardo’s at the Barbican Centre, and on the organs of Ely and Canterbury Cathedrals, Birmingham Symphony Hall, Leeds Town Hall, St. John’s Smith Square, and the Royal Albert Hall.

St Martin-in-the-Fields has welcomed talented musicians to this central London platform for over 60 years - from highly acclaimed young soloists, to choirs from all over the world; from promising new ensembles, to established professionals. This tradition is supported by the generosity of our performers as well as our audiences. Whilst these concerts are free to all, for those able to give, a suggested donation of £3.50 would be greatly appreciated to help fund all aspects of the work at St Martin’s.

Friday 18 November, 7.30pm Vivaldi and Piazzolla Four Seasons Bach - Brandenburg Concerto No 3 Pachelbel – Canon in D Bach - Air ‘on a G String’ Vivaldi – ‘Spring’ from Four Seasons Piazzolla – ‘Summer’ in Buenos Aires Vivaldi – ‘Autumn’ from Four Seasons Piazzolla – ‘Winter’ in Buenos Aires Finzi - Romance for String Orchestra Vivaldi - Violin Concerto op 3 No 12 Trafalgar Sinfonia Helen Davies Violin Ivor Setterfield Conductor Tickets: £24 £20 £16 £10 £8 Saturday 19 November, 4.30pm – 5.30pm Mini Maestro Family Concert Great Music for Little Ears! A musical feast full of discovery, imagination and fun featuring Beethoven’s ‘heroic’ Third Symphony. London Musical Arts Orchestra John Landor Conductor/Presenter Tickets: £8 .50(adults) £6.50 (under 16) Saturday 19 November, 7.30pm Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony A Musical Journey A fascinating journey of discovery through Beethoven’s ground-breaking Third Symphony exploring its creation, revealing its hidden treasures and ending with a full performance Beethoven - Symphony No 3 in E flat ‘Eroica’ London Musical Arts Orchestra John Landor Conductor Tickets: £28 £24 £20 £14 £8

Hire the Neville Marriner Room for your rehearsal or workshop. Purpose built rehearsal space in central London with break-out areas, changing rooms and kitchen facilities Discounts available for block bookings and community groups. For more information call 020 7766 1130 or e-mail music@smitf.org