BEETHOVEN, MOZART & MORE: STRING QUARTETS

Marmen Quartet

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 20 January 2025, 7.30pm

Past Event

Home› What's on› BEETHOVEN, MOZART & MORE: STRING QUARTETS

BEETHOVEN String Quartet No. 11 in F minor Op.95 “Serioso” (22′)
BARTÓK String Quarter No. 3 (15′)
FISHER Heal (8′)
MOZART String Quartet in C K465 ‘Dissonance’ (30′)

The Marmen Quartet has won a glittering array of international prizes; its musicians are rigorous and deeply humane performers. Charting hundreds of years string writing, their concert begins with Beethoven’s ‘Serioso’ String Quartet No. 11 in F minor, followed by the vivid folk-inspired motifs of the Third Quartet No. 11 in F minor, followed by the vivid folk-inspired motifs of the Third Quartet by Hungarian composer Belà Bartók.

Salina Fisher’s highly original hypnotic new work, specially commissioned for the Marmen Quartet during lockdown by Chamber Music New Zealand, also features. Culminating in Mozart’s daring ‘Dissonance’ String Quartet in C, join us for a celebration of timeless classics and the innovative spirit of modern works.

Allegro con brio
Allegretto ma non troppo, attacca subito
Allegro assai vivace ma serioso. Più allegro
Larghetto espressivo. Allegretto agitato. Allegro

‘The Quartet is written for a small circle of connoisseurs and is never to be performed in public.’ Thus wrote Beethoven to Sir George Smart in October 1816. The kind of public concerts he had in mind – mixed programmes of vocal and instrumental music – would indeed make an odd setting for a work of such concentrated intensity. Composed in 1810 and revised for publication in 1815, Beethoven dedicated it to his friend, Nikolaus Zmeskall von Domanovetz, a talented amateur cellist who worked as Hungarian Court Secretary in Vienna.

One of Beethoven’s shortest and most tautly argued quartets, it was the composer himself who called it Quartetto serioso on the autograph manuscript. The Beethoven expert William Kinderman sums up its character as ‘dark, introspective, and vehement’, and it’s no surprise that Beethoven takes a similarly pithy approach to form: a much-shortened recapitulation in the first movement, a slow movement that eschews lyricism in favour of a chromatic fugal section, and a prickly Scherzo (more of an anti-Scherzo really, since it is not only completely lacking in any kind of humour, but is even marked ‘serioso’). The finale sustains this tension and agitation until the last moment – then something extraordinary happens: the music takes a sudden turn to F major, and there’s a dash to the finish. The American composer Randall Thompson commented that ‘no bottle of champagne was ever uncorked at a better time.’

About the Artists

Marmen Quartet

From 2015-2018, the Marmen Quartet was the first ensemble to participate in Music in the Round’s Bridge scheme to support promising young musicians at the start of their professional career. Bridge provided the quartet with performance opportunities, mentoring, guidance and advice on developing and succeeding in the world of professional music-making. This included mentoring by the late, world-renowned leader of The Lindsay String Quartet and founder of Music in the Round, Peter Cropper.

Formed in 2013 at the Royal College of Music, the Marmen Quartet were holders of the Guildhall School of Music String Quartet Fellowship (2018-2020) and studied at the Hochschule für Musik in Hannover with Oliver Wille as well as in London with Simon Rowland-Jones and John Myerscough (Doric Quartet). They were mentored by the late Peter Cropper and have received support from the Musicians Company/Concordia Foundation, the Hattori Foundation, Help Musicians and the Royal Philharmonic Society (Albert and Eugenie Frost Prize). The Marmen Quartet is an official Pirastro Artist.

With a growing reputation for the courage, vitality and intensity of its performances the Marmen Quartet is fast establishing itself as one of the most impressive and engaging talents in the chamber music arena. 2019 marked a year of significant achievement for the Quartet, with First Prizes at both the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and Banff International String Quartet Competition, where they were also awarded the Haydn and Canadian Commission prizes. Other accolades include first prize at the Royal Overseas League Competition (2018) and awards at the International Joseph Joachim Chamber Music Competition.

The Marmen Quartet has performed at leading European venues including Wigmore Hall, Berlin Philharmonie, Boulez Saal, Frankfurt Alte Oper, Stockholm Konserthuset, Milton Court (Barbican), Palladium Malmö and Muziekgebouw Eindhoven. Festival engagements have taken the Quartet to the BBC Proms, Lockenhaus, Mecklenburg Vorpommern, Rheingau, Heidelberg and Zeister Musiekdagen Festivals as well as the Amsterdam, Barcelona and Gulbenkian Foundation String Quartet Biennale Festivals. Read more.

FANFARE! TRUMPET CLASSICS

Aaron Azunda Akugbo & Zeynep Özsuca

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 28 April 2025, 7.30pm

Past Event

Home› What's on› FANFARE! TRUMPET CLASSICS

HONEGGER Intrada (4′)
L BOULANGER Nocturne et Cortege (8′)
VIVALDI Agitata da due venti (6′)
BOZZA Aria (4′)
FRANCAIX Sonatine (8′)
HUBEAU Sonata (15′)
PRICE The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (3′)
PRICE Song to the Dark Virgin (3′)
MAHLER Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft (3′)
ROPARTZ Andante et Allegro (6′)

Having made waves with recent performances at Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms, rising star trumpeter Aaron Akugbo comes to Portsmouth. Citing Louis Armstrong as his greatest musical influence, this charismatic performer presents an uplifting mix of works in a captivating evening of diverse and evocative musical expressions. With music spanning centuries and continents, from classical elegance to vibrant modern works, this evening promises to take you on a journey through a rich tapestry of emotions and styles.

The Intrada by Arthur Honegger (1892–1955) was composed in April 1947 for that year’s concours at the Geneva Conservatoire. Its maestoso outer sections are ceremonial in character – with angular melodic lines (over sustained piano chords) that are particularly well suited to the trumpet – while the lively central section resembles a kind of toccata for trumpet.

The phenomenal gifts of Lili Boulanger (1893–1918) were recognised when she was in her teens, and in 1913 she became the first woman to win the Prix de Rome for composition at the Paris Conservatoire with her cantata Faust et Hélène. She was nineteen at the time, but her musical language was already distinctive. The Nocturne was one of her earlier pieces, originally entitled ‘pièce courte pour flûte et piano’, the manuscript dated 27 October 1911. It was subsequently reworked for violin and piano and is here arranged for trumpet. The Cortège, which is often paired with it, dates from June 1914 when it began as a piano solo which was then arranged for violin and piano and later transcribed for trumpet.

Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741) is much less remembered for his operas than for his instrumental and choral works, but he claimed to have composed more than 90 of them, of which complete scores of around 20 are known to survive. The aria ‘Agitata da due venti’ began life in his opera Adelaide – first performed in Verona during the Carnival season in February 1735, and recycled few months later in Griselda which was given its premiere at the Teatro San Samuele in Venice on 18 May 1735. In both cases, this florid virtuoso aria was performed by the same singer, Margherita Giacomazzi. The title refers to the character Costanza, caught by conflicting emotions like a sailor between opposing winds. The coloratura vocal lines of Vivaldi’s original transfer very successfully to a trumpet.

Eugène Bozza (1905–91) was born in Nice to an Italian father (who was a professional violinist). After graduating from the Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, he pursued further studies over the next decade (in violin, conducting and composition) at the Paris Conservatoire, winning the Prix de Rome in 1934. He composed the Aria in 1936, scoring it originally for saxophone and piano but its flowing melody over ripely-harmonised piano chords is well suited to the trumpet.

Jean Françaix (1912–97) composed his Sonatine for the 1952 trumpet concours. Cast in three short movements, the opening ‘Prélude’ requires considerable agility while the ‘Sarabande’ presents a long, slow melody on a muted trumpet which gives way to faster and more complex section full of rapid chromatic writing. An unaccompanied cadenza leads directly to an entertaining ‘Gigue’ which brings the work to a high-spirited close.

Jean Hubeau (1917–92) is remembered primarily as a pianist, but he studied composition with Paul Dukas at the Conservatoire and was runner up in the 1934 Prix de Rome competition, coming second to Eugène Bozza. Hubeau composed his Sonata for Trumpet in 1943 and it was published by Durand the following year with a dedication to Jean Bérard, head of the Pathé-Marconi recording company. One of its most celebrated later exponents was the trumpeter Maurice André who recorded the work with the composer at the piano. It is cast in three movements: a Sarabande marked Andante con moto, a rapid Intermède and a concluding blues-inspired Spiritual.

The rediscovery of the African-American composer Florence Price (1897–1953) has not only revealed an impressive body of symphonic music but also a number of songs including The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (on a poem by James Weldon Johnson) and Song to the Dark Virgin (from her 1941 collection Songs of the Weary Blues, four settings of Langston Hughes, the great poet of the Harlem Renaissance).

The rediscovery of the African-American composer Florence Price (1897–1953) has not only revealed an impressive body of symphonic music but also a number of songs including The Glory of the Day was in Her Face (on a poem by James Weldon Johnson) and Song to the Dark Virgin (from her 1941 collection Songs of the Weary Blues, four settings of Langston Hughes, the great poet of the Harlem Renaissance).

‘Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft’ is from the Rückert-Lieder by Gustav Mahler (1860–1911), composed in the summer of 1901 and evoking the gentle fragrance of a lime tree which the poet associated with his love.

Joseph Guy-Ropartz (1865–1955) composed his Andante et Allegro for the 1903 trumpet concours at the Paris Conservatoire. Born in Brittany, he studied composition with Massenet and the organ with César Franck before becoming director of the conservatoires in Nancy and then Strasbourg. His compositions include five symphonies as well as shorter works including this fluently written competition piece which explores many of the characteristics of the instrument – expressiveness in the slower sections and considerable brilliance towards the close.

MOZART, ONSLOW & WATKINS

Ensemble 360

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 2 December 2024, 7.30pm

Past Event

Home› What's on› MOZART, ONSLOW & WATKINS

ONSLOW Nonet (35′)
MOZART Quintet for Piano and Wind K452 (25′)
WATKINS Broken Consort (30′)

On the eve of their 20th anniversary, the string, wind and piano players of much-loved Ensemble 360 return to Portsmouth. Their programme includes captivating charm and wit in George Onslow’s Nonet. This is a chance to hear one of the finest and largest-scale chamber works by the composer, nicknamed the ‘French Beethoven’, whose five movements move through an expressive array of moods from turbulence to a jubilant conclusion.

A delightful Mozart masterpiece for piano and wind follows, and the evening concludes with a specially commissioned work, Broken Consort, by award-winning Welsh composer Huw Watkins.

Allegro spirituoso
Scherzo. Agitato
Tema con variazioni
Finale. Largo – Allegretto quasi Allegro

Onslow was born in Clemont-Ferrand, the son of an aristocratic British family. He studied with Cramer and Dussek, and though travelling widely, he always remained loyal to the Auvergne working as a successful farmer as well as composing a large body of chamber music (including thirty-six string quartets) along with four symphonies and operas. His music was admired by Schumann and Mendelssohn, and the Nonet, composed in 1848, is dedicated to Prince Albert. The first movement has a nervous energy that is quite characteristic, and from the very start it’s clear that Onslow makes imaginative use of the ensemble. The Scherzo that follows has an unusual combination of austerity and charm, based on pithy Beethovenian main idea. The slow movement is theme with five variations. After a slow introduction, the finale is gently animated, working its way towards a dramatic conclusion.

Largo – Allegro moderato
Larghetto
Allegretto

In a letter to his father on 10 April 1784, Mozart described his new Quintet for Piano and Wind as ‘the best piece I have ever written’. Completed on 30 March 1784 it was given its première just two days later on 1 April, at a ‘grand musical concert’ for the benefit of the National Court Theatre in Vienna. The extraordinary programme consisted of two Mozart Symphonies (almost certainly the ‘Haffner’ and the ‘Linz’), an ‘entirely new concerto’ played by Mozart (either K450 or K451, both recently finished), a solo improvisation, three opera arias and the first performance of an ‘entirely new grand quintet’. It was probably the presence of wind players for the symphonies that prompted Mozart to write one of his most original chamber works for this occasion.

While the first movement is designed on almost symphonic lines (complete with substantial slow introduction), it has a gentler sensibility and textures that recall the kind of dialogue between piano and wind that are such a feature of Mozart’s mature piano concertos. After a slow movement that makes the most of the song-like expressiveness of wind instruments, the finale is a sonata rondo – in essence a theme that returns repeatedly within a developing context – that was also much favoured in the piano concertos. The Quintet is highly original in terms of how it is put together, and the daring with which Mozart explores unusual sonorities.

Broken consort is a term used to describe an instrumental ensemble that developed in Europe during the Renaissance. It originally referred to ensembles featuring instruments from more than one family of instruments, as for example a group featuring both string and wind instruments. It also neatly describes what I have done with the eleven instruments from Ensemble 360 (a group featuring string, wind, brass and keyboard instruments). There are four main movements – a lament, a study, a sicilienne and a finale – which all use different groups of instruments with the whole ensemble only playing together in the finale. Each movement is preceded with a brief interlude (or introduction in the case of the lament) which all use the same fanfare-like material in different ways. This material occasionally finds its way into the main movements, more or less overtly, at important structural moments.

Huw Watkins, 2008

About the Artists

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.

NEW IMPRESSIONS: DEBUSSY & MORE

Solem Quartet

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 19 May 2025, 7.30pm

Past Event

Home› What's on› NEW IMPRESSIONS: DEBUSSY & MORE

BOSMANS String Quartet (12′)
FINNIS String Quartet No.3 ‘Devotions’ (23′)
N BOULANGER Three Pieces for cello and piano, arr. Tress for string quartet (c.8′)
DEBUSSY Quartet in G Minor (25′)

A concert of glittering works with Debussy’s sensual and impressionistic quartet at its heart, shimmering with life and light between opening storms and a grand conclusion.

Praised for their “immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and “cultured tone” (Arts Desk), the Solem Quartet is on of the most innovative and adventurous string quartets of its generation. The Quartet is celebrated for their pairing of established works with hidden gems, and their programme here also features complementary works by Nadia Boulanger, Edmund Finnis and Henriette Bosmans.

1. Allegro molto moderato
2. Lento
3. Allegro molto

Henriëtte Bosmans had a successful career as a pianist in the Netherlands in the 1920s and 30s, appearing as a soloist with the Amsterdam Concertgebouw Orchestra. She was less fortunate as a composer, initially running into the prejudice against female composers that was prevalent at the time. Later on, her performing career was curtailed: as a half-Jewish woman she was registered as a ‘Jewish case’ in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam. After the war, Bosmans wrote a number of songs, and was awarded the Royal Order of Orange Nassau in 1951 – a recognition that came too late: she was always very ill and died the following year.

Bosmans’s String Quartet is in three movements. It was composed in 1927, the year in which she began studying with the outstanding Dutch composer of the time, Willem Pijper. She dedicated it to Pijper, noting on the manuscript that it was completed in time for his birthday on 8 September 1927. The Allegro molto moderato opens with a haunting idea in unison which blossoms into a movement full of unusual harmonies. A new faster section (in 7/8 time) is launched by the cello. After a recollection of the opening idea, the movement ends quietly with two plucked chords over a low cello note. The central Lento opens with a violin lament over sustained chords, its mood serious but with gentler, pastoral moments. The finale is marked by driving rhythms which make for an urgent and exciting close. Throughout the work, the influence of the quartets by Debussy and Ravel is often apparent, but this in not derivative music: even in a work from quite early in her composing career, Bosmans has an individual creative voice.

The first performance of this remarkable quartet was given on 28 January 1928 by the Amsterdam String Quartet, all members of the Concertgebouw Orchestra.

Moderato
Sans vitesse et à l’aise
Vite et nerveusement rythmé

Nadia Boulanger, teacher, conductor, early music pioneer and trusted adviser to the likes of Stravinsky and Poulenc, was also a gifted composer. Fiercely self-critical, she always claimed her own music was nothing like as significant as that of her brilliant younger sister, Lili, but with the rediscovery of Nadia’s music it has become clear that she was a remarkable talent in her own right. She entered the Paris Conservatoire at the age of nine and subsequently studied composition with Fauré. Most of her music dates from between 1904 and 1918 (the year Lili died), including the Three Pieces for cello and piano, composed in 1914 and first published the following year. The first, in E flat minor, presents a song-like melody on the cello over a hushed piano part marked doux et vague. After a brief climactic central section, the opening music returns for a serene close in E flat major. The second piece, in A minor, treats a deceptively simple tune – almost a folksong – in an ingenious canon between the cello and the piano. The last piece, in C sharp minor, is quick, with a middle section that provides a contrast in both rhythm and texture to the playful but muscular mood of the rest.

Debussy’s String Quartet was first performed at the Société Nationale de Musique on 29 December 1893 – almost exactly a year before he shocked Paris with the Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune, the most laconic manifestation of his revolutionary creative spirit. The Quartet, composed just after the Prélude, is one of his earliest mature works – a piece that still has some roots in the musical language of César Franck but in which a fresh and brilliant imagination can be heard, not just in the free handling of forms, but also in the spectacularly inventive writing for string instruments – something absorbed by Ravel in the Quartet he wrote a decade later. The first movement is robust and confident, while the second, with its extensive use of pizzicato, hints at the Javanese music that Debussy heard at the 1889 Exposition. The slow movement begins with fragments of the theme split between the lower instruments before being introduced in full by the first violin, over rich chromatic harmonies. The finale has clear thematic links with the first. It starts hesitantly, gradually building up both tension and speed, on a melodic idea that is presented in different guises before reaching the dazzling conclusion in G major.

About the Artists

Solem Quartet

Praised for their “immaculate precision and spirit” (The Strad) and “cultured tone” (Arts Desk), the Solem Quartet has established itself as one of the most innovative and adventurous quartets of its generation. A 2020 awardee of the Jerwood Arts Live Work Fund, one of 33 artists selected from more than 1200 applicants, the Solem Quartet takes its place amongst some of the UK’s brightest artistic voices.

Since winning the Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Competition 2014, the Solem Quartet has built a strong following. They enjoy a busy concert schedule, ranging from international tours in Asia and Europe to performances at venues such as London’s Wigmore and Queen Elizabeth Halls, Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, Muziekgebouw Amsterdam, Perth Concert Hall (subsequently broadcast by Radio 3) and the Tung Auditorium in Liverpool.

Passionate about collaboration, the Quartet has worked with artists from across genres including filmmaker Jessie Rodger, cellist/singer/composer Ayanna Witter-Johnson, and clarinettist/composer Mark Simpson, with whom they appeared at the Aldeburgh Festival and live on BBC Radio 3. They have also worked closely with many of today’s leading composers, including Anna Meredith, Colin Matthews and Thomas Adès, and in 2021 gave the UK premiere of Jonny Greenwood’s Quartet Suite from “There Will be Blood” at the V&A Museum.

CLOSE UP: MUSIC FOR CURIOUS YOUNG MINDS

Ensemble 360

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 22 April 2024, 1.30pm

For tickets, please email hayley.reay@portsmouthguildhall.org.uk

Home› What's on› CLOSE UP: MUSIC FOR CURIOUS YOUNG MINDS

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 7-11 year-olds 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.

Ideal for 7-11 year olds.

Hey Presto! We begin with a twitchy chase from Franz Schubert, which he told the string players should be played ‘presto’ meaning ‘very quick or very fast’. How does the sound change when each musician plays on their own? How do you feel when they all play the same tune together? This tense piece kicks off an exciting hour of music…

Haydn was the composer who did most to first create a form of music for two violins, a viola and a cello: a group we know as a string quartet. This piece has the nickname ‘The Bird’ — can you hear why?

This beautiful tune is almost like a lullaby and shows how gentle the sound of the strings can be. Listen to the way the first violin plays a tune and the other three instruments rock gently back and forth underneath, creating a warm blanket of sound. This is music to wrap up warm within. How does it make you feel?

This string quartet was written by a composer who is making music today, the wonderful Judith Weir. A piece full of mysteries, inspired by a medieval Spanish tune. This quartet sounds like a strange landscape where it’s easy to get lost among these lopsided rhythms where nothing is quite as it seems…

This piece was written at the start of the first world war and is full of the drama and sadness of a scary time. But it ends full of hope with long notes seeming to climb into the air. Look and listen out for all the times the musicians play across the strings to make two or more notes sound at once — a technique called double stopping.

Anna Meredith is another musician writing music today. She makes music for her band as well as for classical musicians, often mixing up instruments usually seen in an orchestra with rock and pop instruments. This piece combines the two and is a tribute to one of her favourite bands performed by string quartet who don’t use their bows at all but pluck their instruments in a technique called ‘pizzicato’.

This beautiful quartet is known as ‘the harp’ because in the first part, all four musicians have sections where they pluck the strings their instruments rather than using the bow. Can you hear the difference?

This is a traditional song created by enslaved Africans in America. The composer and singer Harry Burleigh was the grandchild of slaves who became a famous musician and helped share music by black people with the rest of the world. This simple song looks forward to a better time when injustices like slavery and racism will end. Perhaps you can hear both the sadness and the hope in this beautiful music.

This spiky, short piece of music was created in Russia at the same time Suk wrote the piece we heard earlier. Stravinsky uses the plucking technique we heard in the Meredith and Beethoven, as well clashing notes and unexpected changes in pulse and speed. Stravinsky keeps us guessing what he’ll do next!

This piece brings our concert to a celebratory end, from Czech composer Anton Dvořák. Listen out for all the places it gets louder, or faster — or both! — or where the quartet hang back to build tension. This piece uses folk tunes from Czechoslovakia, where Dvořák was born and started writing, and includes a native American tune, and music from all the people like him who had travelled to live and work in the USA. Bringing these together, our concert ends with an explosion of joy!

About the Artists

Ensemble 360

SOUNDS OF NOW: LULLABY

Manasamitra

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth

Wednesday 1 May 2024, 7.30pm

Tickets:
£8 – £10

Past Event

Home› What's on› SOUNDS OF NOW: LULLABY

SUPRIYA NAGARAJAN vocals
DUNCAN CHAPMAN field recordings & electronics
LUCY NOLAN harp

Lullaby is an entrancing evening of music in which the hypnotic purity of Indian music meets contemporary electronica and live instrumental improvisation.

Inspired by traditional Indian lullabies, this is an entrancing evening of music in which the hypnotic purity of Indian music meets contemporary electronica and live instrumental improvisation.

Timeless night-time sounds from around the world – chirping cicadas, the call of the night jar, the soft fall of rain – have been captured and located within the rhythmic pattern and soothing cadence of a lullaby to create an immersive experience that both soothes and stimulates. The space is yours to do as you please – sit, stand, lie down, slump into cushions and drift off, or remain alert and engaged throughout.

Devised by Supriya Nagarajan, a composer and southern Indian singer of the Carnatic tradition, who formed Manasamitra with musicians based in the north of England, including the electro-acoustic composer Duncan Chapman, the project also features a collection of sounds gathered in order to create a bespoke soundscape unique to Portsmouth for this performance.

Find out more and join the conversation here.

Thanks to funding from the Hinrichsen Foundation.

About the Artists

Manasamitra

Manasamitra is an artist-led organisation based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, delivering a range of exciting and original cross-cultural experiences. Their work is rooted in the creative vision of Supriya Nagarajan, a classically-trained Carnatic singer who is inspired by not only the traditions of her South Asian roots but also by a drive to work with new ideas, forms and aesthetics from across the world, presented within a contemporary British context. Find out more.

THE CHIMPANZEES OF HAPPY TOWN

Ensemble 360 & Elinor Moran

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 20 November 2023, 1.30pm

Booking for schools is now open, for tickets please contact portsmouthmusichub@portsmouthcc.gov.uk

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

CONCERTS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Celebrating the importance of love and happiness in everyone’s lives, 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 to introduce the musicians of Ensemble 360, this is a brilliant first concert for 3 – 7 year-olds.

Presented in collaboration with the Guildhall Trust and Portsmouth Music Hub.

About the Artists

Ensemble 360

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: ANNA MEREDITH STRING QUARTETS

Ligeti Quartet

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth

Thursday 21 March 2024, 7.30pm

Tickets:

£5 – £10

Past Event

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

Anna Meredith’s joyful, furious, energetic and restful music dazzles but is never too serious. The critically-acclaimed Ligeti Quartet share tracks from their new album fusing acoustic and electronic music for string quartet by the Mercury-prize nominated composer.

MEREDITH Tuggemo (5’30)
MEREDITH A Short Tribute To Teenage Fanclub (5’)
MEREDITH Honeyed Words (4’)
MEREDITH Chorale (8’)
MEREDITH Shill (3’)
MEREDITH Haze (4’)
MEREDITH Blackfriars (3’)
MEREDITH Nautilus (5’)

Anna Meredith has achieved incredible success straddling multiple musical worlds, never compromising her raw, individual style. This concert is based around 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.

Series Discount: 20% discount if you book any 6 or more Portsmouth Chamber Music/Sounds of Now concerts.

Time advertised is the start time, please check your ticket for door time.

Thanks to the Hinrichsen Foundation for supporting Sounds of Now.

“A remarkable, uncompromising collection that shows the composer and ensemble to be uniquely perfect collaborators.”

Buzzmag

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.

SOUNDS OF NOW: ROTATIONS

Tabea Debus, Samuele Telari & Elisa Blasi

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth

Friday 8 March 2024, 7.30pm

Tickets:

£5 – £10

Past Event

Home› What's on› SOUNDS OF NOW: ROTATIONS

A unique performance of music and movement inspired by the physicality of Roosendael’s Rotations, created in collaboration with award-winning choreographer Sally Marie.

PÄRT Pari Intervallo (5’)
CAGE Harmony XVIII (from 44 Harmonies) (2’)
ROOSENDAEL Rotations for solo recorder (15’)
CAGE Harmony XX (From 44 Harmonies) (5’)
LIM slowly, turning (6’)
CAGE Harmony XXXVI & HARMONY XL (From 44 Harmonies) (3’)
HOSOKAWA Sen V for solo accordion (10’)
CAGE Harmony XII (From 44 Harmonies) (1’)
PÄRT – Spiegel im Spiegel (8’)

A unique programme of music and movement, inspired by the physicality of Roosendael’s Rotations, created by virtuoso recorder player Tabea Debus and dazzling accordion player Samuele Telari, in collaboration with award-winning choreographer Sally Marie.

Featuring a new commission and works from giants of twentieth century music, the show’s choreography of the musicians makes full use of the Guildhall’s intimate ‘in the round’ Studio space.

This performance has no interval. There will be a post-show Q&A with the artists.

Find out more and join the conversation here.

Series Discount: 20% discount if you book any 6 or more Portsmouth Chamber Music/Sounds of Now concerts.

Time advertised is the start time, please check your ticket for door time.

Presented by Music in the Round, in partnership with the Young Classical Artists Trust.

Thanks to the Hinrichsen Foundation for supporting Sounds of Now.

About the Artists

Tabea Debus

“Neat, unforced, beautifully articulated.” – The Times

Described by The Times as a charismatic virtuoso, Tabea Debus is constantly exploring the horizons of music for recorder and has performed widely across Europe, Asia, North and South America. Tabea’s keen interest in contemporary music for recorder has led to numerous collaborations with composers throughout the UK and beyond. She has premiered new works at LSO Soundhub, at the Barbican Centre’s Sound Unbound and Baroque at the Edge festivals, worked with composers including Philip Cashian, Freya Waley-Cohen, Moritz Eggert and Alex Nante, and has appeared as soloist in contemporary recorder concertos with the WDR Rundfunkchor at the Funkhaus in Cologne and the English Chamber Orchestra at Cadogan Hall. In 2020 the recorder solo Diaries of the Early Worm by Gareth Moorcraft, which Tabea premiered and recorded, won the solo/duo category at the Ivors Academy Awards. Read more.

Samuele Telari

‘His musicianship is so big, so irrepressible, that he transcends the instrument that he’s playing’ (BBC Record Review).

Sought after as a soloist, chamber musician and teacher, Samuele’s recent solo engagements include recitals at Wigmore Hall, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam and Berlin Konzerthaus.

Highlights during 2023 include his debut at the Trasimeno Festival in Italy with Angela Hewitt and a ‘Story Teller’ event for the Elbphilharmonie (Hamburg) with mezzo-soprano Ema Nikolovska. He returns to the MiTO Festival in Milan and Torino to perform Mussorgsky’s Pictures alongside a newly commissioned arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and will be resident at the Machynlleth Festival in Wales. Read more.

Elisa Blasi

Elisa is an Italian dancer who having trained in ballet and contemporary dance at the Balletto di Roma moved to London to complete her Bachelor’s degree at Rambert School of Ballet and Contemporary Dance.

During her time at Rambert she had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Richard Alston, Alleyne Dance, Christopher Bruce CBE and Akram Khan.

Since graduating Elisa has gone on to work with with dance theatre company Sweetshop Revolution and most recently started working with Alexander Whitley Dance Company in October 2022.

SOUNDS OF NOW: VOICE(LESS)

Rosie Middleton & Angharad Davies

The Guildhall Lens Studio, Portsmouth

Thursday 5 October 2023, 7.30pm

Tickets:

£5 – £10

Past Event

Home› What's on› SOUNDS OF NOW: VOICE(LESS)

Exploring the sonic force of the human voice and how easily it can be silenced.

Programme includes:

ESIN GUNDUZ – En-he-du-an-na-me-en (3′)
MIRA CALIX – code poem: any chance of war? (c.9′)
LAURA BOWLER – Cover Squirrel (c.15′)
Includes improvisations by Angharad Davies

(A woman sits alone in the room. She tries to speak. Her voice is gone.)

Mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton and violinist Angharad Davies perform a sequence of works that explore the sonic force of the human voice and how easily it can be silenced.

Esin Gunduz examines power and resistance in music that transforms Rosie’s voice through electronic manipulation. Semaphore, morse code and other non-verbal communication inform Mira Calix’s anti-war musical poem. In Cover Squirrel by Laura Bowler, the human voice switches from operatic power to broken and unintelligible fragments. This provocative performance blends music and physical gesture by two captivating, exceptional performers.

Watch and listen to short clips of work from the performers and find out more about the Voice(less) project here:

This performance has no interval. There will be a post-show Q&A with the artists.

Series Discount: 20% discount if you book any 6 or more Portsmouth Chamber Music/Sounds of Now concerts.

Thanks to the Hinrichsen Foundation for supporting Sounds of Now.

Time advertised is the start time, please check your ticket for door time.

About the Artists

Rosie Middleton

Mezzo-soprano Rosie Middleton specialises in new music. In 2019 Rosie was artist-in-residence at Snape Maltings and The Banff Centre, where she collaborated with composers on voice(less) – a series for voice and electronics with works by Mira Calix, Laura Bowler, Esin Gunduz and Michael Betteridge exploring voice loss and communication. Find out more.

Angharad Davies

Angharad Davies is a Welsh violinist based in London working with free-improvisation, compositions and performance.

Her approach to sound involves attentive listening and exploring beyond the sonic confines of her instrument, her classical training and performance expectation. Find out more.

MARSCHNER, BRAHMS, DVOŘÁK

Gould Piano Trio

The Guildhall, Portsmouth

Monday 20 May 2024, 7.30pm

Tickets:

£10 – £20

Past Event

Home› What's on› MARSCHNER, BRAHMS, DVOŘÁK

MARSCHNER Piano Trio No.2 in G minor, Op.111 (32’)
BRAHMS Piano Trio No.3 in C minor, Op.101 (21’)
DVOŘÁK Piano Trio No.4 in E minor, Op.90 ‘Dumky’ (32’)

The Gould Piano Trio returns to Portsmouth after a warmly received collaboration with violist Gary Pomeroy in 2021. At the heart of this concert is Dvořák’s most celebrated chamber work, the ‘Dumky’ trio which takes its name from a bohemian lament. This earthy and emotionally rich work is full of contrasts, folk tunes and invention. Paired with a rarely performed trio from a celebrated opera composer and Brahms’s lush, dramatic third piano trio, this promises to be an evening of high drama and the finest musicianship.

There will be a post-show Q&A with the artists and Colin Jagger of Portsmouth Chamber Music.

Series Discount: 20% discount if you book any 6 or more Portsmouth Chamber Music/Sounds of Now concerts.

Time advertised is the start time, please check your ticket for door time.

About the Artists

Gould Piano Trio

The Gould Piano Trio has been compared in the Washington Post to the great Beaux Arts Trio for their “musical fire” and “dedication to the genre” and has remained at the forefront of the international chamber music scene for well over a quarter of a century. They have performed at iconic venues worldwide, such as New York’s Weill Recital Hall, with tours of N. America, the Far East, Europe and New Zealand, and numerous appearances at London’s Wigmore Hall. Their extensive discography includes releases on Naxos, Chandos, Somm, Resonus, NMC and Champs Hill.

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About the Artists

Rakhi Singh

BEETHOVEN Ludwig van, String Quartet in F minor Op.95 Serioso

About the Artists

Marmen Quartet

HONEGGER Arthur, Intrada

BOULANGER Lili, Nocturne et Cortège

VIVALDI Antonio, Agitata da due venti

BOZZA Eugene,

FRANÇAIX Jean, Sonatine

HUBEAU Jean, Sonata

PRICE Florence, The glory of the day was in her face

PRICE Florence, Songs to the dark virgin

MAHLER Gustav, Ich atmet’ einen linden Duft

GUY-ROPARTZ Joseph, Andante et Allegro

ONSLOW George, Nonet in A Op.77

MOZART Wolfgang Amadeus, Quintet for Piano and Wind in E flat K452

WATKINS Huw, Broken Consort

About the Artists

Ensemble 360

BOSMANS Henriëtte, String Quartet (1927)

BOULANGER Nadia, Three pieces for cello and piano

DEBUSSY Claude, String Quartet in G minor Op. 10

About the Artists

Solem Quartet

SCHUBERT String Quartet in D Minor (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

HAYDN Russian Quartet No.3 (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

MOZART String Quartet In E Flat K428 (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

WEIR String Quartet (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

SUK Josef, Meditation on an Old Czech Chorale (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

MEREDITH Anna, Short Tribute to Teenage Fanclub (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

BEETHOVEN ‘The Harp’ Quartet (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

BURLEIGH Henry Thacker, Oh Lord, What A Morning (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

STRAVINSKY Igor, Three Pieces for String Quartet (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

DVOŘÁK ‘American’ String Quartet (excerpt for ‘Close Up’)

About the Artists

Ensemble 360

About the Artists

Manasamitra

About the Artists

Ensemble 360

Elinor Moran

“A remarkable, uncompromising collection that shows the composer and ensemble to be uniquely perfect collaborators.”

Buzzmag

About the Artists

Ligeti Quartet

About the Artists

Tabea Debus

Samuele Telari

Elisa Blasi

About the Artists

Rosie Middleton

Angharad Davies

About the Artists

Gould Piano Trio