Detailed Concert Listing
Organ recital: Thursday 3 October 2019 at 1.15 p.m.
As part of the Thursday Live series at St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham, organist Paul Carr will be giving a lunchtime recital starting at 1.15 p.m.
Paul's concert will open with CBR's "Fantasia Overture in D minor" Op.14 - a work recently published by London Music Press.
And his programme also includes works by Louis-Nicolas Clérambault, Eugène Gigout, Franz Schubert, Tielman Susato, Gabriel Fauré, Sir William Walton and Henri Nibelle.
You can download the entire 2019-20 Thursday Live programme from Paul Carr's website.
Concert: Sunday 21 July 2019 at 7.30 p.m.
A concert conducted by Alistair Jones forms part of the Bracknell Forest Arts Festival,
to be held in the Wilde Theatre at the South Hill Park Arts Centre.
Alistair's chosen programme includes some well-known and popular works by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Smetana, Grieg, Bizet, Verdi and Wagner.
But his concert also includes an unknown gem by Cyril Rootham: "The Two Sisters concert overture" Op.57 - another CBR work recently published by London Music Press.
You can download the concert flyer for more details.
South Hill Park, Bracknell RG12 7PA
Concert: Saturday 20 July 2019 at 7.30 p.m.
The "Simply Strings" amateur string ensemble will be giving their Summer Concert at Rayleigh Elim Church, Castle Rd, Rayleigh Essex SS6 7QG.
Their programme includes CBR's "In the Lake Country" Op.73, to be performed by Maureen Redbond (cello) and Janet Roberts (piano).
Maureen Redbond |
Booking is essential: tickets and further information from ashmoggs@gmail.com
The ticket price is £5, which includes light refreshments.
|
Evening Concerts: Friday & Saturday 14-15 June 2019 at 7.30 p.m.
The Charles Kingsley 200 Festival in Eversley (Hampshire) will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Kingsley, perhaps best known as the author of "The Water-Babies".
Cyril Rootham's dramatic cantata Op.18 Andromeda (1905) uses Kingsley's poem of the Andromeda legend, and this work will be one of the showpieces of the Festival.
Using a new orchestral arrangement by Dan Keen, this production by Cantata Dramatica promises to be quite startling:
full details are on the CK200 Festival website!
Rootham's "Andromeda" has not been heard since its premiere at the Bristol Music Festival in 1908, so these two performances are not to be missed.
Morning Concert: Saturday 25 May 2019
At the English Music Festival in Dorchester-on-Thames,
Rupert Marshall-Luck (violin) and Michael Korstick (piano) gave the Saturday morning concert.
Their programme included works by Nimrod Borenstein, David Matthews and Elgar - and for the first time at the Festival, a work by Cyril Rootham.
We are delighted that their persuasive and moving performance of Op.75 Sonata for Violin and Piano in G minor (1925) introduced the EMF audience to the music of Cyril Rootham.
The Saturday morning concert was held in the beautiful Dorchester Abbey.
Lunchtime Recital: Wednesday 16 January 2019
The Great British Viola Project continued with this lunchtime recital, given by Emma Sheppard (viola) and Julian Jacobson (piano).
Their light-hearted programme of "Suites and Miniatures" was very much in the light music/salon style,
and featured Rootham's Op.73 In the Lake Country as well as works by Robin Milford, Howard Ferguson, Lionel Tertis, Christabel Baxendale, Eric Coates, Julian Jacobson, Gavin Sutherland and Archibald Joyce.
Emma Sheppard |
Julian Jacobson |
This recital was part of the Doncaster Arts and Museum Society weekly concert series, and took place at their new venue in the beautiful Priory Place Methodist Church, Doncaster.
Afternoon Concert: Sunday 2 December 2018
Taunton Sinfonietta directed by Mary Eade gave a wide-ranging concert which included Rootham's Op.61 Miniature Suite for piano and string orchestra. The piano part in CBR's Op.61 was played by Keith Jones, who was once a Choral Scholar at CBR's musical home - St. John's College, Cambridge. The Op.61 "Miniature Suite" remains one of CBR's most popular works, judging by emails received on the Rootham website.
The work is dedicated to CBR's sister Mabel ("May") Rootham and was originally written for Clifton High School for Girls,
where CBR's sister ran the music department. It seems that CBR got a bit carried away, because the work is complex and not at all easy to play: Taunton Sinfonietta gave a masterly and sensitive performance.
This concert was held at Temple Methodist Church, Upper High Street, Taunton.
Taunton Sinfonietta in the Temple Methodist Church
(Photo: Dan Rootham)
Concert: Wednesday 4 July 2018
CBR's unusually-scored Op.83 Septet received a performance in the USA on Independence Day, very appropriately. Why so appropriate?
Because the work was composed in 1930 by Cyril Rootham, dedicated to the well-known patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge and received its world premiere in the USA in 1933!
This 2018 concert took place at the annual Interlochen Summer Arts Camp in Michigan, USA.
The performance was in the chapel at Interlochen, a small wooden structure with an intimate and warm sound.
You can download details of works and performers at the Interlochen concert as a PDF file.
Afternoon concert: Sunday 1 July 2018
This Sunday afternoon concert at St Stephen’s Church, Bristol by the Bristol Chamber Choir included CBR's Op.44 Four Dramatic Songs
(written by Cyril Rootham for the original Bristol Madrigal Society) and his Op.5 songs Strew on her Roses and Love and Laughter.
Charlotte Newstead was the soloist in the rarely-heard "Four Dramatic Songs".
You can download the Concert poster with all the details as a PDF file.
Lieder recital: Monday 18 June 2018
The transcription effort which started in February 2018 to digitise the OpenScore Lieder Corpus had its launch event at Murray Edwards College in Cambridge - including (of course) a Lieder recital! And the recital included a work by Cyril Rootham: his Op.30 A Supplication, which poignantly is dedicated to "R. M. L." - his future wife Rosamond Margaret Lucas. That song was performed by Will Bosworth, with Mark Gotham as accompanist.
Left to Right:
Dr Mark Gotham (Lieder Corpus project manager), Dan Rootham (reviewer & transcriber),
Bruno Bower (uploader & reviewer), Peter Jonas (OpenScore project manager),
Will Bosworth (uploader & reviewer), Prof Leigh VanHandel (originator of the corpus templates)
At launch, the Lieder Corpus contained over 25 completed song cycles and 260 transcribed songs (now 300+). Not featured in the above photo is OpenScore's global team of transcribers in
Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, UK, Canada and USA: without the transcribers there would be no OpenScore Lieder Corpus! Also missing from the group photo is Patrick Dawkins (developer of the Cut Outs music exercise generator). "Cut Outs" is the very first music application to make use of the new OpenScore Lieder Corpus.
CD launch and informal recital: Friday 20 April 2018
James Dutton (flute) and Oliver Davies (piano) were there at Christ Church, Kensington
to play extracts from tracks on their new CD titled "Idyll: the English Flute Unheard",
and and to chat about their choice of pieces featured on the CD. It was a great evening, and James later went on to give recitals in Norway and USA to launch the CD.
The CD album includes Rootham's Op.64 "Suite in Three Movements" (1921),
as well as works by several other English composers - all of whom had connections with the Royal College of Music.
Good news: copies of the "Idyll" CD are available from Mike Purton Chamber Classics.
Lunchtime recital: Tuesday 31 October 2017
A recital was held in the beautiful setting of The Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks, Birdcage Walk, London SW1E 6HQ, featuring James Dutton (flute) and Oliver Davies (piano). This was an early opportunity to hear in public some of the works they have recently recorded on a CD for Mike Purton Chamber Classics, to be released Spring 2018.
The programme included Rootham's Op.64 "Suite in Three Movements" (1921), as well as works by George Henschel (1850-1934), Richard Walthew (1872-1951), Stanley Bate (1911-1959) and John White (b.1936) who was present in person.
You can download the complete Recital Programme (PDF file, 38Mb).
The Guards' Chapel, Wellington Barracks
Afternoon concert: Sunday 19 March 2017
The London Military Band conducted by Alan Shellard performed a wide range of works by traditional masters such as Elgar, Sousa, Lehar and Grainger. Guest vocalist Emily Dankworth sang "Fragile" (Sting) and "Can't help lovin' dat man" (from "Showboat" by Jerome Kern, arr. Alec Dankworth).
The concert took place in the Wilde Theatre at South Hill Park Arts Centre, Bracknell.
And the connection with Cyril Rootham? Conductor and composer Alistair Jones recently typeset CBR's "March for Military Band" (1933). Alan Shellard then made a special arrangement to match the instrumentation of the London Military Band, and for this piece only Alistair took over the baton from Alan Shellard to conduct CBR's March: probably its first outing for about eighty years!
Our playlist now includes this first recording of CBR's Op.89 "March for Military Band".
South Hill Park, Bracknell RG12 7PA
Twelfth Night Concert: Friday 6 January 2017
The regular Twelfth Night Concert took place in the lovely Victorian setting of the Normansfield Theatre in Teddington. The evening was a charity event and raised around £1600 for local charities.
During the evening CBR's grandson Dan Rootham sang the rarely-heard Op.19 "The Ballad of Kingslea Mere" (1905), accompanied by Pam Kent.
Normansfield Theatre, Teddington
Lunchtime choral concert: Friday 18 November 2016
The Treasury Singers performed in the beautiful setting of St Margaret's Church, Westminster (beside Westminster Abbey). Their programme included Cyril Rootham's two Op.5 songs (1898):
You can download the full concert programme, with helpful notes by their conductor William Ormerod.
And you can also hear a recording of these two performances on our Listen page:
St Margaret's Church, Westminster
Chamber concert: Monday 20 June 2016
As part of the Festival of Chichester, the Anemos Wind Quintet was joined by Ruth McGibben (viola) and Kate Ham (harp) for a recital on 20 June 2016 in St John's Chapel, Chichester. Their programme included:
- Cyril Rootham "Septet for Viola, Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Bassoon, Horn and Harp" Op.83
- Mikhail Ivanov-Ippolitov "An Evening in Georgia" Op.71
Composed in 1930, Cyril Rootham's Op.83 "Septet" was dedicated to the American patron of the arts Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge (1864-1953). The Septet was last performed in the Master's Lodge at St John's College Cambridge in 2012, so this was a rare oppotunity to hear it live.
Anemos Wind Quintet with Viola and Harp - left to right:
Ruth McGibben (viola), Helen Walton (flute), Lucinda Willets (oboe), Richard Moore (bassoon),
Bridget Batholomew (horn), Robert Blanken (clarinet) and Kate Ham (harp)
Organ recital: Saturday 3 May 2014
Organist Marilyn Harper gave a recital on Saturday 3 May at St George's Cathedral, Southwark. Her programme included:
- Johann Sebastian Bach: Fantasia & Fugue in G minor BWV 542
- Cyril Rootham "Epinikion" (Song of Victory) Op.28
- Denis Bédard: Suite pour Orgue
Composed in 1906, "Epinikion" was very popular during Rootham's lifetime, so this was a great chance to hear it live.
The Cathedral occupies an historic site close to the Imperial War Museum, a few minutes walk from London's South Bank and the Thames, Westminster Bridge, the London Eye, and landmarks such as St Thomas' Hospital and Waterloo Station. Largely destroyed during the Second World War, it was painstakingly restored and was eventually reopened in 1958 in a ceremony by Bishop Cowderoy.
Easter 2011 saw the partial restoration of the 1958 John Compton organ which featured in this recital.
St George's RC Cathedral,
Westminster Bridge Road, Southwark,
London SE1 7HY (
map)
Interior of St George's RC Cathedral
Choral concert: Saturday 17 May 2014
At St Nicolas Church Cranleigh on Saturday 17 May, Cantilena (conductor Jenny Hansell) presented a concert of music with a floral theme celebrating Cranleigh in Bloom.
And their concert also included this charming song for soprano and alto voices by Cyril Rootham:
- Opus 92: "Guy's Cliffe at Night" (1935)
More details? You can hear a rehearsal recording of Cantilena performing "Guy's Cliffe at Night", on the Listen page.
St Nicholas, Cranleigh
Photo © Stephen Halloran
Cantilena
chamber choir for female voices
Choral concert: Saturday 7 June 2014
On Saturday 7 June in the Chapel of St Mary's University College, Strawberry Hill, Ember Choral Society and Hampton Choral Society presented their summer concert:
- Rootham "For the Fallen"
- Vaughan Williams "A Sea Symphony"
On the sombre anniversary of the start of the First World War, this concert was the first chance to hear Rootham's setting of Binyon's 1914 poem "For the Fallen" since the Chiswick Choir gave a performance in 2011.
And what better work to accompany it than Vaughan Williams' uplifting setting of Walt Whitman's beautiful poetry? In a way this concert was a historic reunion for the two composers: Rootham conducted the very first performance of Vaughan Williams' opera "The Poisoned Kiss" in 1936.
The concert played to a packed venue: the lovely chapel at St Mary's College. Conductor John Sutton led Ember Choral Society, Hampton Choral Society, the VfH Sinfonia and soloists Helen Bailey (soprano) and Andrew de Silva (bass) in a memorable concert of great English choral music.
St Mary's University College,
Waldegrave Road, Strawberry Hill,
Twickenham TW1 4SX
Chapel of St Mary's University College
"Evensong: English Cathedral Organists In Song" at the Wigmore Hall: Sunday 15 June 2014
Countertenor Iestyn Davies, praised by the Independent as "Ferrier's nearest contemporary male equivalent", gave a recital at the Wigmore Hall with Malcolm Martineau (piano).
The concert spanned works from the Restoration Chapel Royal to songs by Herbert Howells and his close friend Ivor Gurney, who met during their youth at Gloucester Cathedral. Songs The concert also included two of Cyril Rootham's Siegfried Sassoon songs (Op.58), and the poignant "A Supplication" (Op.30) which is dedicated to CBR's wife-to-be Rosamond Margaret Lucas.
- Opus 30: "A Supplication" (1909)
- Opus 58: "Idyll" (1919-20)
- Opus 58: "Everyone Sang" (1919-20)
The Wigmore Hall
36 Wigmore Street
London W1U 2BP
(
map)
Iestyn Davies
Photo: Marco Borggreve
Ripieno Choir "The Flight of Song": Saturday 21 June 2014
The Ripieno Choir's mixed Supper Party programme featured music by Howard Skempton, one of today's leading composers of choral music. His unusual setting of words by Longfellow - partly spoken - gives the concert its title.
And happily for us, the Ripieno Choir also included in their concert at the Menuhin Hall three part-songs by Cyril Rootham. The concert was recorded, and you can now hear these songs on our Listen page:
- Opus 16: "A Shepherd in a Glade" (1904)
- Opus 87: "Daybreak at Sea" (1933)
- Opus 94: "Hark, where Poseidon's White Racing Horses" (1936)
The Menuhin Hall,
The Yehudi Menuhin School,
Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey KT11 3QQ
The Mezin Piano Trio: Tuesday 4 November 2014
As part of the ever-popular Lunchtime Concerts at Chichester Cathedral, the Mezin Piano Trio gave a concert in Chichester Cathedral on 4 November.
Their concert included Cyril Rootham's Op.85 "Trio for Violin, Violoncello and Pianoforte". This work dates from 1935, and the concert was a very welcome opportunity to hear this rarely-heard piece. The composer's grandson Dan Rootham was there, to hear the work for the first time.
Before a near-capacity audience of around 500, Mezin Piano Trio members Anthony McCarthy (piano), Richard Smith (violin) and Yvonne-Marie Parsons (cello) concluded their concert with an early Beethoven work: his Piano Trio in G (Op.1 No.2).
Chichester Cathedral
