CHRIS ADDISON’S INCOMPLETE GUIDE TO CHAMBER MUSIC

Chris Addison & Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Thursday 7 May 2026, 8.00pm

Tickets:
£16.50 – £27.50

Book Tickets
Home› What's on› CHRIS ADDISON’S INCOMPLETE GUIDE TO CHAMBER MUSIC

“It’ll be a really fun show with some of the most insanely talented musicians playing some of the best music ever written… All you have to know is – do you like a good tune? Because we’re going to be playing a ton of those.” Chris Addison

Chris Addison (The Thick of It, Mock the Week) joins Ensemble 360 to bring his infectious enthusiasm for classical music to The Stables, Milton Keynes.  

Telling the story of Europe from the courts of 17th century Italy, through the political and social revolutions of 18th and 19th century Europe, to the weird and wonderful sounds conjured by today’s contemporary composers, Chris takes us on a journey through the rich, vibrant – and sometimes bizarre – history of classical chamber music.  

Discover how a bassoonist beat up Bach, Mozart’s passion for the newly-invented clarinet (and for crude poetry), Beethoven’s embattled relationship with his failing hearing and the Emperor of France, and how Schoenberg tore up the musical rule book in a continent ravaged by war. Featuring live performances from some of the UK’s finest musicians and the inimitable curiosity and wit of Chris Addison’s storytelling, this will be an evening of insight, laughter and spine-tingling music. 

Programme includes excerpts from:
CORELLI Trio Sonata da Camera Op.2 No.1 in D
STROZZI (arr. Birchall) Che si può fare Op.8
JS BACH Prelude from Cello Suite No.1 in G
CPE BACH Flute concerto in D minor
HAYDN String Quartet Op.76 No. 3 ‘Emperor’
MOZART Trio for Piano, Clarinet and Viola K.498 ‘Kegelstatt’
BEETHOVEN Serenade for flute, violin and viola Op.25
CHOPIN Nocturne No.20 in C sharp minor
DEBUSSY Syrinx
S. COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Clarinet Quintet
SMYTH Piano Trio in D minor
SHOSTAKOVICH String Quartet No.8 in C minor Op.110
SCHOENBERG Suite for Piano Op.25
REICH New York Counterpoint
MEREDITH Tuggemo

 

“Perfect for someone like me who knows next to zero about classical music but [Chris] put people at ease, made us laugh and I loved the interaction with the musicians too who were bloody awesome!”

Audience comment

“I absolutely loved Chris Addison’s enthusiasm and knowledge. A history and music class rolled into one with beautiful performances from all the musicians… I left feeling elated and could have listened for hours!”

Audience comment

About the Artists

Chris Addison

Chris Addison is a British comedian, writer, actor, and director. He is known for his role as Ollie Reeder in the BBC Two political satire series The Thick of It (2005–2012) and Toby Wright in its spin-off film In the Loop (2009). He was a panellist on several editions of TV comedy panel show Mock the Week. He is known for lecture-style stand-up comedy shows, two of which he later adapted for BBC Radio 4.

Addison starred in the Sky Living comedy-drama Trying Again (2014) and appeared in three episodes of series 8 of Doctor Who. He co-created and starred in the BBC Two sitcom Lab Rats (2008). On radio, he hosted the weekly comedy news satire show 7 Day Sunday on BBC Radio 5 Live from 2009 to 2010. In 2020 he co-created the FX parental-comedy series Breeders, starring Martin Freeman.

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

SYMMETRIES IN SOUND

Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Monday 16 March 2026, 8.00pm

Tickets
£11 – £27.50

Book Tickets
Home› What's on› SYMMETRIES IN SOUND

DE MACHAUT Ma fin est mon commencement (arr. trio) (6’)
PICFORTH In Nomine (arr. chamber ensemble) (4’)
Attrib. MOZART Der Spiegel (2’) 
CAGE Book One from ‘Music of Changes’ (8’) 
PÄRT Spiegel im Spiegel (10’)
DEBUSSY Reflets dans l’eau (5’)
BARTÓK String Quartet No.4 (25’) 

From the musical games of Mozart’s music to the playful patterns in Bartók and beyond, the mysteries of mathematics are never far from the surface of classical music.

This playful one-off concert with the world-class musicians of Ensemble 360, celebrates musical games and mirrors, exploring the fascinating relationships between music, numbers and patterns.

‘Der Spiegel’, Mozart’s piece for two violinists features two musicians looking at the same sheet of music, one right-way-up, the other upside-down. De Machaut’s ‘Ma fin est mon commencement’, is a piece performed forwards then backwards. Pärt’s masterpiece for cello and piano, ‘Spiegel im Spiegel’ (Mirror in the mirror) and Debussy’s impressionistic evocation, ‘Reflets dans l’eau’ (Reflections in the water) explore reflective textures. The concert culminates with a wonder of musical structure, Bartók’s String Quartet No.4, composed as a musical arch, showcasing symmetry, structure and the enchanting interplay of mirrored sounds.

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

SCHOOLS’ CONCERT: THE STORM WHALE

Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Monday 16 March 2026, 11.00am / 1.00pm
Home› What's on› SCHOOLS’ CONCERT: THE STORM WHALE

Music in the Round invites your class to take part in a brilliant music project, culminating in a live concert at The Stables, Milton Keynes.

Paul Rissmann (composer) has created a brand-new piece of music based around the modern-classic children’s books by Benji Davies, which includes songs for your class to learn and join in with in the concert.

The Storm Whale tells the story of a boy, a whale washed up on the beach and friendships that will change their lives forever and echo down the generations. Benji Davies’ heart-warming tales of friendship, love and courage are brought to life through music specially written to accompany the book. 

Our EY and KS1 practitioners will support you to embed singing and music-making in classroom learning throughout the project, with training, resources, and in-school support newly developed around The Storm Whale books. The project introduces young children to classical music in a fun and educational setting, including a concert featuring strings, woodwind and horn, presented together with story-telling and projected illustrations.

Performed by the wonderfully dynamic and hugely engaging musicians from Ensemble 360, this concert is a great introduction to live music for early years and KS1 children. It’s full of wit, invention, songs and actions, and plenty of opportunities to join in.

An educators’ classroom pack and other resources are available here.

“The Storm Whale tells a simple but powerful story about loneliness and the love between a parent and child… The world may be as big and lonely and incomprehensible as the ocean, but still it’s possible to find tremendous, heart-stopping tenderness.” The New York Times on the book

With many thanks to all our funders, including:

The Sarah Nulty Power of Music Foundation, Gripple Foundation, JG Graves Charitable Trust, Sheffield Town Trust and Wise Music Foundation

“The musicians did a wonderful job of introducing the young audience to enjoyment of the theatre, live music and engaging story-telling. Proof of their success [were] the lines of excited children coming up to meet the musicians who had gathered in the foyer with their instruments.”

The Yorkshire Post (on a previous Music in the Round storybook concert)

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

SCHOOLS’ CONCERT Close Up for KS2

Ensemble 360 & Guest presenter

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Tuesday 7 October 2025, 11.00am / 1.00pm

Tickets £8
Free teacher ticket with every 10 seats booked

Past Event
Ensemble 360 musicians
Home› What's on› SCHOOLS’ CONCERT Close Up for KS2

Take a tour through the wondrous world of chamber music, specially created for young audiences, combining well-known classical favourites with new works from surprising places. This concert for Key Stage 2 includes thrilling musical adventures told through music, cheeky characters and epic heroes, mind-blowing musical games and the chance to join in and make music together.

The concert includes extracts from: Schubert’s String Quartet in D Minor ‘Death And The Maiden’, Stravinsky Three Pieces, Haydn’s Op.33 No.3 ‘Russian Quartet’ and Mozart’s String Quartet In E Flat (full repertoire list is available on stables.org)

Classroom resources will also be provided to support the concert.

 

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

JASDEEP SINGH DEGUN & ENSEMBLE 360

Jasdeep Singh Degun & Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Tuesday 7 October 2025, 8.00pm

Tickets:
£11 – £27.50

Past Event
Home› What's on› JASDEEP SINGH DEGUN & ENSEMBLE 360

A composer and virtuoso of the sitar with a classical string quintet makes for an electrifying pairing. Ensemble 360 celebrates its 20th birthday with a gift to us – boundary-breaking new music created collaboratively.

Jasdeep Singh Degun is no stranger to forming alliances in the music world. He was composer and co-music director for Opera North’s 2022 award-winning production of Orpheus, weaving a tapestry from the European and Indian traditions. ‘It’s really not a matter of different worlds meeting’, he reflects. ‘It’s just me: as much as I’m immersed in Indian classical music, I’m a product of this country; I’m a British composer.’ Both innovator and custodian of tradition, composer and performer, with a debut album made with the legendary Nitin Sawnhey released on Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records, he is reshaping the musical landscape.

 

About the Artists

Jasdeep Singh Degun

Breaking down cultural boundaries with his extraordinary artistry and new approach to composition, virtuoso sitarist, Jasdeep Singh Degun, brings a new energy and vision to both Indian classical and contemporary music. He’s redefining genres and passionate about exposing music from his heritage to audiences across the globe. Learning under the careful guidance of Ustad Dharambir Singh MBE, Jasdeep has performed all over the world in many high profile productions and prestigious venues, including Buckingham Palace, the Amphitheatre in Doha, and Westminster Abbey at the Royal Commonwealth Service 2022 in the presence of the British Royal Family and Prime Minister.

Signed to the prestigious Real World Records, Jasdeep released his much anticipated debut album titled ‘Anomaly‘, working under the guidance of celebrated musician and producer Nitin Sawhney. Jasdeep was announced as Artist-in-Residence at Opera North, and in 2022 he was composer, co-music director and soloist in Opera North and South Asian Arts-uk’s acclaimed opera Orpheus. This production garnered five-star reviews and earned Jasdeep a 2022 Critics’ Circle Music Award for “Outstanding Achievement in Opera”.

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

FANTASIAS & FLIGHTS: THE LARK ASCENDING

Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Tuesday 4 March 2025, 8.00pm

Tickets:
£22 – £24

Past Event
String quartet players of classical music group Ensemble 360, with their instruments
Home› What's on› FANTASIAS & FLIGHTS: THE LARK ASCENDING

HOLST Phantasy String Quartet
BRITTEN Three Divertimenti for String Quartet
HOLBROOKE Eilean Shona 
HOWELLS Phantasy Sting Quartet Op.25
PURCELL (transc. Warlock) Three-part Fantasias 1,2 & 3 
HOWELLS Rhapsodic Quintet 
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS (arr. Gerigk) The Lark Ascending

The violin soars melodiously above the rest of the quartet in the gorgeous arrangement of Vaughan Williams’ most popular work The Lark Ascending, which concludes this concert of English music for clarinet and string quartet. Fantasies from the Baroque gems of Purcell’s Three-part Fantasias (arranged for string trio) to Imogen Holst’s Phantasy String Quartet sit alongside this perennial favourite and Holbrooke’s intoxicating depiction of a Scottish Island in a magical Celtic evocation for clarinet and strings.

HOLST Imogen, Phantasy String Quartet

Imogen Holst (1907-1984) composed her Phantasy String Quartet in 1928 (although it wasn’t premiered until several years after her death, in 2007). The piece typifies the composer’s early style, blending the English pastoral tradition with her own unique talents for melodic development, contrapuntal writing, and idiosyncratic quartet-textures. It won the Cobbet Prize – an award founded by the wealthy industrialist Walter Willson Cobbett to encourage composers to write ‘Phantasies’, works of one movement in the tradition of 16th and 17th-Century English ‘fancies’, ‘fantasies’, or ‘fantasias’. These were short instrumental works which, like Holst’s, did not adhere to strict forms but rather developed in their own imaginative and unexpected ways. Beginning with lush pastoral harmonies, Holst’s Phantasy transitions fluidly through episodes of meditative introspection and spirited energy. 

BRITTEN Benjamin, Three Divertimenti for String Quartet

Britten planned these movements as part of a five-movement Quartetto serioso with a subtitle from Shakespeare’s Winter’s Tale: “Go play, boy, play!” An earlier version of the opening March was written for a suite inspired by the film Emil and the Detectives (the children’s novel by Erich Kästner was a great favourite of Britten’s), but this was never completed. Eventually he settled on a work in three movements, and the first performance was given by the Stratton Quartet at the Wigmore Hall on 25 February 1936. The audience response was chilly and a hurt Britten withdrew the Three Divertimenti, which were only published after his death. His brilliant gift for idiomatic quartet writing is already apparent in this early work – from the arresting rhythms and textures of the March to the beguiling central Waltz, and the driving energy of the closing Burlesque.

 

© Nigel Simeone

HOLBROOKE Joseph, Eilean Shona for Clarinet and String Quartet

Joseph Holbrooke was a curious and sometimes infuriating character. His chamber music concerts would often include oddly aggressive notes for the audience, presenting – as he put it – ‘music to an apathetic public’ after which he ‘hopes to receive as few blows as possible (with the usual financial loss) in return.’ On another occasion, he refused to perform his Piano Concerto in Bournemouth: an insert in the programme explained that ‘Mr Joseph Holbrooke declines to play today because his name is not announced on the posters in large enough type.’ Setting his personal flaws to one side, he was capable of producing fine music, of which Eilean Shona is a brief and very attractive example. Eilean Shona is a small island off the west coast of Scotland and Holbrooke’s short work for clarinet and string quartet (reworked from a song for voice and piano) is haunting and evocative. 

Nigel Simeone 2024 

PURCELL Henry, Three-Part Fantasias

Henry Purcell (1659–1695) was one of the most celebrated English composers of the Baroque era. Among his remarkable works is a series of Fantasias (or Fancies), composed in 1680 when Purcell was only 21 years old. Showcasing his profound skill with contrapuntal writing – in which each of the instrument’s melodic lines work both independently and as part of the musical-whole – the Fantasias are considered among the finest examples of the form and are regarded by many to be the ‘jewel in the crown of English consort music’. This wasn’t always the case, however. When Purcell composed these works, the Fantasia was quite unfashionable. King Charles II is said to have had ‘an utter detestation of Fancys’. Out of favour in the Royal court, Purcell’s Fantasias were therefore likely intended to be performed in domestic settings. Originally written for three viols, they are here transcribed for string trio (violin, viola, and cello). 

HOWELLS Herbert, Rhapsodic Quintet for Clarinet and Strings Op.31 

Lento, ma appassionato – A tempo, tranquillo – Piu mosso, inquieto – Doppio movimento ritmico, e non troppo allegro – Più elato – Meno mosso – Lento, assai tranquillo – Più adagio 

Herbert Howells is probably best remembered for his church music (including the famous hymn tune ‘All my hope on God is founded’ as well as several outstanding settings of service music) and for his choral masterpiece Hymnus paradisi. But he was also a gifted composer for instruments and wrote a good deal of chamber music at the start of his career. The Rhapsodic Quintet was completed in June 1919 and Howells himself said that there was ‘a mystic feeling about the whole thing’. Still, mystic feelings didn’t come without some serious hard work, and the Howells scholar Paul Spicer has drawn attention to an entry in the composer’s diary where he noted that the quintet had involved quite a lot of preparatory thinking. Howells wrote of his ‘long ponderous thoughts on problems of musical form … hours spent in an easy-chair, fire-gazing, form-thinking.’ The ‘form-thinking’ was clearly productive, since this beautifully written quintet for clarinet and strings in one movement appears to flow effortlessly from one idea to the next as well as having overall coherence. This was an early work – Howells had only recently finished his studies at the Royal College of Music with Stanford and Charles Wood – but his handling of the instruments shows tremendous assurance. Cobbett’s Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music makes particular mention of this, describing the work as having a ‘sensitive appreciation of instrumental needs’, but there is more to it than that, since Howells also shows a great gift for unfolding long, lyrical melodies, and contrasting these with more capricious ideas. It’s this combination of fluent and idiomatic writing with memorable thematic material that led Christopher Palmer, in his biography of Howells, to call the Rhapsodic Quintet ‘an outstanding achievement’.  

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Ralph, The Lark Ascending

Vaughan Williams began The Lark Ascending before the outbreak of the First World War, taking his inspiration from George Meredith’s 1881 poem of the same name. But he set this ‘Romance’ aside during the war and only finished it in 1920. The violinist Marie Hall gave the first performance of the original version for violin and piano in Shirehampton Public Hall (a district of Bristol) on 15 December 1920. Vaughan Williams dedicated the work to her, and she went on to give the premiere of the orchestral version six months later, when it was conducted by the young Adrian Boult at a concert in the Queen’s Hall in London. Free, serene and dream-like, this is idyllic music of rare and fragile beauty.

© Nigel Simeone

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

ENSEMBLE 360

Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Wednesday 13 March 2024, 8.00pm

Standard: £22.50-£25
Under 25s: Free

Past Event
Home› What's on› ENSEMBLE 360

MOZART Amadeus, Trio in E flat K498 Kegelstatt

Andante
Menuetto
Rondo. Allegretto

This is Mozart’s only trio for his three favourite instruments: clarinet, viola and piano. The nickname ‘Kegelstatt’ means ‘skittle alley’, and legend has it that Mozart wrote the work during a game of skittles. This may be far-fetched, especially given the rather noble character of the music, but what is certain is that he wrote the trio in Vienna, and entered it in his own thematic catalogue on 5 August 1786. The first movement is a marvellous example of Mozart’s invention at its most concentrated and unforced: every element in this sonata-form movement derives from the ornamental turn that is such a distinctive feature of the opening. The Minuet surprises by its almost grand character – no mere courtly dance, but something more imposing – and this is followed by an unhurried Rondo that brings this radiant work to a lyrical conclusion.

© Nigel Simeone

MOZART Wolfgang Amadeus, Clarinet Quintet in A K581

Allegro 
Larghetto 
Menuetto 
Allegretto con variazioni  

The Clarinet Quintet was completed on 29 September 1789 and written for Mozart’s friend Anton Stadler (1753–1812). The first performance took place a few months later at a concert in Vienna’s Burgtheater on 22 December 1789, with Stadler as the soloist in a programme where the premiere of the Clarinet Quintet was a musical interlude, sandwiched between the two parts of Vincenzo Righini’s cantata The Birth of Apollo, performed by “more than 180 persons.” 

From the start, Mozart is at his most daringly beautiful: the luxuriant voicing of the opening string chords provides a sensuously atmospheric musical springboard for the clarinet’s opening flourish. The rich sonority of the Clarinet Quintet is quite unlike that of any other chamber music by Mozart, but it does have something in common with his opera Così fan tutte (premièred in January 1790), on which he was working at the same time. In particular, the slow movement of the quintet, with muted strings supporting the clarinet, has a quiet rapture that recalls the trio ‘Soave sia il vento’ (with muted strings, and prominent clarinet parts as well as voices) in Così. The finale of the Quintet is a Theme and Variations which begins with folk-like charm, then turns to more melancholy reflection before ending in a spirit of bucolic delight. 

Nigel Simeone © 2012 

SCHUBERT Franz, Piano Quintet in A major D667, ‘The Trout’

Allegro vivace 
Andante 
Scherzo: Presto 
Theme and Variations: Andante 
Allegro giusto 
 

Silvester Paumgartner was a wealthy amateur cellist who lived in Steyr, Upper Austria, and an enthusiastic supporter of Schubert and his music. After playing Hummel’s Piano Quintet Paumgartner wanted a quintet for the same combination of instruments (violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano) from Schubert, who visited in the summer of 1819 (and again in 1823 and 1825). Paumgartner also wanted a work that included reference to Schubert’s song Die Forelle, The Trout, which had been composed in 1817. For Schubert, his visits to Paumgartner in the Upper Austrian countryside were a delight, a chance to make music, enjoy good company and revel in the spectacular scenery. 

 

Willi Kahl, writing in Cobbett’s Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music wrote that ‘the fundamental tone of the piece is defined by the persistence of a major key throughout’ – underlining that this is among Schubert’s most genial chamber works. The first movement is brilliant but never flashy while the Andante is the expressive core of the work, suggesting, Kahl believed, ‘a moonlit night-song from the Styrian landscape’. The Scherzo is muscular and energetic, with a more easy-going central Trio section. In the first three variations, the theme is heard in its original form (on a different instrument each time) and remains clearly recognisable in the more freely worked fourth and fifth variations. In the last variation, Schubert brings the Quintet back to the original song as the unmistakable figurations of the song’s piano accompaniment are heard for the first time, to utterly enchanting effect. The finale is amiable and untroubled (though not without a couple of surprises), bringing this most affable of works to a properly jubilant close. 

 

© Nigel Simeone  

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

THE CHIMPANZEES OF HAPPY TOWN

Ensemble 360 & Elinor Moran

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Wednesday 13 March 2024, 11.00am / 1.00pm

Please call 01908 280800 to book

Past Event
Home› What's on› THE CHIMPANZEES OF HAPPY TOWN

Paul Rissmann’s much-loved musical retelling of Giles Andreae and Guy Parker-Rees’s best-selling picture-book returns. Meet Chutney the Chimpanzee who, with one small act of planting a seed, transforms the lives of the entire town of Drabsville, and teaches its inhabitants to celebrate their differences and make life more colourful along the way!

With narration, visuals from the book and lots of music, this is brilliant first school/family concert for 3-7 year-olds. Before the concert why not buy the book, download the free participation pack, use the Learn the Songs YouTube videos and other learning and participation resources at: https://linktr.ee/mitr_learnin…

Free twilight teachers/educators INSET session for participating groups on Tuesday 6 February, 4.30-6pm. Contact education@stables.org for more information.

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

Elinor Moran

Elinor is in demand as a vocal workshop leader and animateur. She regularly works in learning and participation teams with such companies as ROH, ETO, Opera North, Snape Maltings, Garsington Opera and as far away as The Canadian Children’s Opera Chorus in Toronto.

Elinor has just returned from singing with André Rieu and his Johann Strauss Orchestra as a soloist on a world tour. She was a soloist on a SONY BMG recording “The Best Of Gilbert And Sullivan” which reached the top of the Classical Chart and can be heard on Blossom Street’s new Naxos recording of choral music by female composers “This Day”. Her recent roles include Mimi La Boheme (in the Olivier Award winning OperaUpClose production at the Soho Theatre and Charing Cross Theatre and Tour) and she has been the recipient of a Garsington Opera Chorus Award. 

Elinor studied voice at Chetham’s School Of Music and The Guildhall School of Music and Drama. In 2012 she performed a dance role in Danny Boyle’s Olympic Opening Ceremony but has since put away her hip hop shoes (until the right future opportunity…).

SOUNDS OF NOW: THE STRING QUARTETS OF ANNA MEREDITH

Ligeti Quartet

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Wednesday 18 October 2023, 8.00pm

Tickets:

£20.00 (including £2.50 commission)

Past Event
Home› What's on› SOUNDS OF NOW: THE STRING QUARTETS OF ANNA MEREDITH

Anna Meredith has achieved incredible success straddling multiple musical worlds, never compromising her raw, individual style. This concert tour promotes the Ligeti Quartet’s new album, Nuc, providing a survey of Meredith’s career to date, heard through her original works for string quartet. 

Nuc started life as a conversation between Anna Meredith and Richard Jones (Ligeti Quartet’s viola player) after realising that after a decade of frequently working together, they had almost an album’s worth of music. So an idea developed in which they would not only make the first studio recordings of Anna’s original music for string quartet, but that Richard would create new arrangements of existing tracks by Anna including from her award-winning electronic and dance albums.

The result is a joyful, occasionally furious, never too serious, energetic/restful collection of tracks which dazzle with Anna’s signature compulsive harmonies, rhythmic shifts of gear and sparkling textures.


Find out more and join the conversation here.

“One of the most innovative voices in contemporary British music.”

BachTrack

About the Artists

Ligeti Quartet

The ​Ligeti ​Quartet ​have ​been ​at ​the ​forefront ​of ​modern ​and ​contemporary ​music since ​their ​formation ​in ​2010. ​They ​have ​established ​a ​reputation ​as ​one ​of ​the ​UK’s leading ​ensembles, ​breaking ​new ​ground ​through ​innovative ​programming ​and championing ​of ​today’s ​most ​exciting ​composers ​and ​artists.

Find out more.

SIR SCALLYWAG & THE GOLDEN UNDERPANTS Schools concert

Ensemble 360 & Polly Ives

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Wednesday 8 March 2023, 11.00am / 1.00pm

 £7.50
 (Free teachers ticket with every 10 seats booked)

Past Event
Home› What's on› SIR SCALLYWAG & THE GOLDEN UNDERPANTS Schools concert

For ages 3-7 / Foundation/ Key Stage 1

When King Colin’s golden underpants go missing, it’s Sir Scallywag to the rescue! Brave and bold, courageous and true, he’s the perfect knight for the job… even if he is only six years old!

Original music by Music in the Round’s children’s Composer-in-Residence, Paul Rissmann, features instruments including strings, woodwind, and horn, presented together with story-telling and projected illustrations from the best-selling children’s book by Giles Andreae and Korky Paul.

Performed by the wonderfully dynamic and hugely engaging Ensemble 360 and Polly Ives, this concert is a great introduction

to live music for children. It’s full of wit, invention, songs and actions, and plenty of opportunities to join in.

Free twilight teachers/educators INSET session for participating groups on Tuesday 31 January, 4.30-6pm.
Contact education@stables.org for more information

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

Polly Ives

Polly Ives is one of the UK’s leading music educationalists with a varied portfolio as a concert presenter, narrator, promoter, workshop leader, trainer and cellist.

Polly believes that music should be accessible to everyone from birth and throughout people’s lives. Her career has focused on finding unique and creative ways to provide high-quality musical experiences for young children (particularly 0-8 year olds) and their wide and varied communities.

She regularly produces and presents children’s concerts (including with London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Mozart Players and Ensemble 360). She has worked with CBeebies, BBC Radio 3 and Scala Radio. Find out more. 

THE LARK ASCENDING

Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Wednesday 8 March 2023, 8.00pm
Past Event
Home› What's on› THE LARK ASCENDING

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS The Lark Ascending for piano and violin (15′)
RAVEL String Quartet in F major (30′)
STANFORD Fantasy for Horn Quintet in A minor (12′)
VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Piano Quintet in C minor (30′)

Celebrating the 150th birthday of the celebrated composer who embodies the sound of English music. The evening opens with Vaughan Williams’ most famous work, The Lark Ascending, recently voted No.1 in the Classic FM Hall of Fame for a record 12th time, in its original version for piano and violin.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Ralph, The Lark Ascending

Vaughan Williams began The Lark Ascending before the outbreak of the First World War, taking his inspiration from George Meredith’s 1881 poem of the same name. But he set this ‘Romance’ aside during the war and only finished it in 1920. The violinist Marie Hall gave the first performance of the original version for violin and piano in Shirehampton Public Hall (a district of Bristol) on 15 December 1920. Vaughan Williams dedicated the work to her, and she went on to give the premiere of the orchestral version six months later, when it was conducted by the young Adrian Boult at a concert in the Queen’s Hall in London. Free, serene and dream-like, this is idyllic music of rare and fragile beauty.

© Nigel Simeone

RAVEL Maurice, String Quartet in F.

Allegro moderato. très doux
Assez vif. très rythmé
Très lent Vif et agité

The first two movements of Ravel’s Quartet were finished in December 1902 and the next month he submitted the first movement for a prize at the Paris Conservatoire, where he was still a student. The jury was unimpressed and the Director Théodore Dubois was typically acidic, claiming that it “lacked simplicity”. The failure to win a prize meant that Ravel’s studies with Fauré were over but Ravel persisted with the Quartet, and by April 1903 he had finished all four movements. He put it aside for yet another doomed attempt at the Prix de Rome, but it’s likely that he made further revisions later in the year. The pianist and composer Alfredo Casella recalled running into Ravel in the street in January 1904: “I found [Ravel] seated on a bench, attentively reading a manuscript. I asked him what it was. He said: It is a quartet I have just finished. I am rather pleased with it.” The first performance was given at the Schola Cantorum by the Heymann Quartet, on 5 March 1904. It is dedicated “à mon cher maître Gabriel Fauré”.

In a parallel with Debussy’s Quartet, Ravel makes use of cyclic themes – material heard in the first movement returns in various guises throughout. The second movement is notable for Ravel’s brilliant use of cross-rhythms as all four string players become a kind of gigantic guitar. The rhapsodic slow movement includes a dream-like recollection of the cyclic theme. In the finale, Ravel’s use of irregular time signatures generates a momentum that is not only impossible to predict but impossible to resist. Recollections of the cyclic theme are woven into the texture with great subtlety and the kaleidoscopic string writing produces a conclusion that glitters and surges.

Nigel Simeone © 2012

STANFORD Charles Villiers, Fantasy for Horn Quintet in A minor

In the 1890s Charles Villiers Stanford was the foremost English composer with an international reputation. But long before 1922 when he composed his Fantasy for Horn Quintet, his fame had been eclipsed by Edward Elgar, whose own success was in no small part down to Stanford – Elgar’s music had been included in a number of high-profile concerts conducted by Stanford. Stanford appears to have been badly affected by his younger colleagues success, and in 1904 they had a particularly spiteful fall-out via their regular correspondence.

As a result, Stanford became increasingly disillusioned with the English music scene. It is not known who the Fantasy for Horn Quintet was composed, or whether it ever received a public performance (though it may have been intended for students at the Royal College of Music). Like those quintets from Schumann and Liszt on which it may have been modled, it has a central theme, heard at the beginning in the cello and horn, which re-occurs as a foundation for other material.

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS Ralph, Quintet in C minor for violin, viola, cello, double bass and piano

Allegro con fuoco
Andante
Fantasia, quasi variazioni

This Quintet in C minor, scored for the same instrumentation as Schubert’s Trout, was composed in 1903 and revised twice before the first performance at the Aeolian Hall on 14 December 1905, but after a performance in 1918 it was withdrawn by Vaughan Williams. It was finally published in an edition by Bernard Benoliel a century after its composition. Vaughan Williams’s friend and biographer Michael Kennedy speaks of ‘the shadow of Brahms looming over’ the work, and this seems especially true of the expansive first movement. The expressive, romantic melody of the Andante second movement is more characteristic of its composer at this stage in his career, and it has some similarity to the song Silent Noon, composed the same year. The finale is a set of five variations, ending with a beautiful bell-like coda.

As Michael Kennedy observes, what matters with an early work such as this is not whether it anticipates Vaughan Williams’s later masterpieces (for the most part, it doesn’t), but that it is impressive in its own right. He does, however, make an intriguing observation: ‘Vaughan Williams may have withdrawn the Quintet but he did not forget it, for in 1954 he used the theme of the finale, slightly expanded, for the variations in the finale of his Violin Sonata.’

© Nigel Simeone

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players. 

 

BRAHMS, RABL & ZEMLINSKY

Ensemble 360

The Stables, Milton Keynes
Thursday 17 March 2022, 8.00pm

Tickets: £20 / £16.50

Past Event
Home› What's on› BRAHMS, RABL & ZEMLINSKY

BRAHMS Violin Sonata No.2 in A minor
RABL Quartet in E-Flat minor
ZEMLINKSKY Clarinet Trio in D minor

Ensemble 360 return to The Stables with a sumptuous and sparkling concert of strings and clarinet repertoire. Opening with Brahms’s virtuosic sonata, the concert begins with lyricism, grace and warmth. The programme continues with two of the composers lesser known inheritors who crackle with fin-de-siècle verve: Rabl’s optimistic quartet is an overlooked gem of the chamber repertoire, by turns languid and vivacious. Closing with Zemlinksky’s passionate trio, this is a programme full of warmth and energy which concludes with an explosive flourish.

About the Artists

Ensemble 360 musicians

Ensemble 360

Ensemble 360 has gained an enviable reputation across the UK for the quality and integrity of their performances. Formed in 2005, eleven musicians of international standing came together to take up residency in South Yorkshire with Music in the Round, establishing a versatile group comprising five string players, five wind players and a pianist.  Get a glimpse of them in performance here.

The Ensemble 360 musicians share a passion for the music which radiates through each performance. Their enthusiasm, drive and musicality captivate audiences both through the quality of their playing and their engaging spoken introductions. Due to the flexible nature of the group’s line-up the repertoire possibilities are enormous; anything from baroque duos, through classical quartets to new commissions for all eleven players.