Saturday 14 June, 2.30pm
St. Elizabeth’s Church, Ashley Road, Ashley, Cheshire WA12 3QE
BMS members are invited to share in a musical celebration of the creative life and music of Edward Gregson as he celebrates this milestone birthday in July.
Eddie (b. 23 July, 1945) as he is known to friends and colleagues alike has made an inestimable contribution to the country’s musical life as composer, educator and mentor.
Some of his former colleagues at the Royal Northern College of Music, where he served as its second Principal (1996 – 2008), have joined forces to present a selection of Eddie’s own chamber and instrumental music, some specially written birthday gifts and music with personal connections.
The quality of Eddie’s music that has resonates most strongly across over 60 years of active composition is its directness. Moments of high drama, emotional disquiet or acerbic dissonance (Six Little Pieces for piano are prime examples) are offset by an innate melodicism drawn from his love of English modality.
The music selected for this concert is full of melody, from the elegant early Romance, composed during his first year as an undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music in the early 1960s to the mature concision and emotional range of String Quartet no. 2 (2017) – arguably his finest chamber work thus far!
Eddie has also requested items linked with his early musical experiences. To that end we have just the second performance since its 1954 premiere of Three Pieces for piano by a composer more closely associated with brass band music, Wilfred Heaton (1918-2000) – who Eddie has described as “a composer’s composer” – and a selection of some favourite English songs from the 20th century.
The birthday celebration is taking place at Ashley Parish Church, a beautiful rural setting in the Cheshire countryside a few miles south of Manchester Airport and close to the M6. Thanks to the support of the Ida Carroll Trust there is no admission charge. Refreshments will be available after the concert. Please email John Turner or Paul Hindmarsh if you plan to attend.
The concert programme will include:
Edward Gregson Romance for recorder and string quartet (1964/ 2004)
Edward Gregson Six Little Pieces for piano (1982)
Wilfred Heaton Three Piano Pieces (1954)
Simon Parkin S8G80 for string quartet (first performance)
Edward Gregson Five Songs of Innocence and Experience (1980)
Gary Carpenter For Example for recorder and string quartet
Helen Leach new work for recorder and string quartet (first performance)
Adam Gorb After the Darkness
Edward Gregson Friday AM (1981)
Edward Gregson Serenata Notturna for violin and piano (1998)
Three English Songs:
Ralph Vaughan Williams Linden Lea
John Ireland Spring Sorrow
Roger Quilter Dream Valley
Edward Gregson String Quartet No. 2 (2017)
The artists
Rebecca Afonwy-Jones mezzo-soprano
Benedict Holland violin
John Turner recorder
Murray McLachlan piano
Simon Parkin piano
Victoria String Quartet