Tag Archives: Thea Musgrave

News: Elgar Festival 2026 – tickets now on sale

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by Ben Hogwood, with adapted text from the press release

Set against the backdrop of ‘Elgar Country’, the Elgar Festival is a highlight of the West Midlands cultural calendar, this year taking place across the scenic destinations of Worcester, Malvern, and Pershore from 23 – 31 May 2026. The festival celebrates the enduring legacy of Worcester-born composer Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934), through a diverse programme featuring world-class artists and accessible performing experiences, talks, exhibitions and guided walks designed to attract the broadest audience.

GALA CONCERT IN WORCESTER CATHEDRAL

Amongst highlights this year is a Gala Concert in Worcester Cathedral on Saturday 30 May which features a performance of the rarely-heard Cello Concerto by Elgar in the version for Viola, prepared by Lionel Tertis and premiered under Elgar’s baton in 1930. The work is to be performed by one of today’s leading performers and educationalists, Rosalind Ventris, with the English Symphony Orchestra (ESO) under their Principal Conductor Kenneth Woods. For the second half, the ESO will be joined by the Elgar Festival Chorus for another Elgar rarity; the composer’s early ‘symphony for chorus and orchestra’, ‘The Black Knight’.

‘GREAT BRITISH TONE POEMS’

There will be a further opportunity to hear the English Symphony Orchestra – as Orchestra-in-Residence at the Elgar Festival – on Friday 29 May at Worcester Cathedral in a rousing ‘Great British Tone Poems’ programme, to include Elgar’s ebullient ‘Falstaff’, Bax’s evocative ‘Tintagel’ and Holst’s ever-popular ‘The Planets’ Suite.

STRING GREATS AND NEW DISCOVERIES

On Thursday 28 May, the ESO Strings perform at Great Malvern Priory in a programme of masterpieces from the string repertoire; popular works by Elgar alongside ‘Rakastava’ by Sibelius, and Schoenberg’s ‘Verklarte Nacht’ (‘Transfigured Night’), both haunting and powerful. The final work is ‘Night Windows’ by Thea Musgrave; a five-movement chamber work inspired by a painting of that name by Edward Hopper.

THEA MUSGRAVE CELEBRATED AS FEATURED COMPOSER

The distinguished 97-year-old Scottish-American composer, Thea Musgrave, is featured composer this year at the Elgar Festival and her work will be showcased in performances throughout the event.

GUEST ARTISTS

Guest artists include oboist Nicholas Daniel and composer and pianist Huw Watkins. I Fagiolini, the British solo voice ensemble and Director Robert Hollingworth will be making a special visit as part of their 40th anniversary tour. Already fully booked is an evening with cellists Julian and Jiaxin Lloyd Webber, while leading record producer Andrew Keener will be reminiscing on his work in the studio with some of the most renowned Elgar conductors and instrumentalists from the 1980s to the present day.

In recital, soprano April Fredrick who, as ESO Affiliate Artist, is well-known to audiences for her many fine performances and recordings, will be joined by acclaimed composer-pianist Eric McElroy and guests Grace Shepherd, violin, and narrator Joseph Campbell Powell, to explore the World War I experiences in words and music of regional luminaries including composers Ivor Gurney, George Butterworth, Arthur Bliss, and Ralph Vaughan Williams.

BEST-LOVED ENSEMBLES

Offering FREE admittance is a popular programme given by Worcestershire Symphony Orchestra, the orchestra co-founded by Sir Edward Elgar, providing an opportunity for families to experience the thrill of live orchestral music. Choral and song repertoire is to be performed by the region’s best-loved ensembles including The Elgar Chorale, and The Jenny Lind Singers who celebrate the works of women composers past and present.

An exciting new collaboration is to be led by Malvern-based multi-disciplinary artist Nakisha Swatton who is working with local amateur and professional musicians to create new musical portraits inspired by Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’. International competition winner Roman Kosyakov brings the 2026 festival to a close in virtuosic style with a piano transcription of Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’.

PARTICIPATORY EVENTS FOR MUSICIANS OF ALL AGES

At Malvern College, a ‘Come and Play Elgar’ day invites amateur musicians to perform alongside members of the English Symphony Orchestra in two of Elgar’s most challenging overtures as part of a collaborative workshop.

The ‘Elgar for Everyone’ Family Concert is hosted by ESO Youth’s patron, Classic FM broadcaster, composer and author Zeb Soanes, and provides an introduction to the orchestra for music lovers of all ages. Over 100 young musicians from across Elgar Country will play alongside their teachers and ESO mentors for a performance following rehearsals and workshops. A highlight of the program includes the premiere of the winning entries from the 2026 Young Composers Competition.

Participants from the Elgar Festival/Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Young Performer Showcase Programme will perform works for string quartet by Elgar and Rebecca Clarke at the Church of St Mary Magdalene, NT Croome Court.

FREE AND INFORMAL EVENTS

All concerts at the Elgar Festival offer free entry for under 18s accompanied by full-paying adults. Many other events are free-of-charge including relaxed concerts, talks, film and an exhibition.

‘ELGAR FOR EVERYONE’ – BACKGROUND TO THE ELGAR FESTIVAL

Since its inception in 2018, the annual Elgar Festival has grown from a weekend to a 9-day celebration of the life and music of Worcester’s most famous son and Britain’s great composer, Sir Edward Elgar (1857-1934), held at a number of integral venues of both historic interest and personal significance to the composer including Worcester Cathedral and Great Malvern Priory. The Elgar Festival was The Guardian’s Crtic’s Pick in 2018 and in 2022 featured as one of the top 20 Jubilee events. https://elgarfestival.org/about/

FURTHER INFORMATION AND BOOKINGS

Elgar Festival 23 – 31 May 2026
Patron: Julian Lloyd Webber
Artistic Director: Kenneth Woods
Orchestra-in-Residence: English Symphony Orchestra
Programme information and ticket sales
Online: www.elgarfestival.org
Email: elgar@elgarfestival.org
Telephone: 01905 611 427
In person: Worcester Theatres, Huntingdon Hall Box Office, CrownGate, Worcester WR1 3LD

HOW TO SUPPORT THE ELGAR FESTIVAL

The Elgar Festival is raising money to help deliver its 2026 iteration and to continue the development of its range of events for people of all ages, interests, and lifestyles. Funding continues to be a huge challenge across all arts organisations and donations are valuable in helping to continue the legacy of one of England’s most revered composers, contributing towards costs for relaxed concerts, artist’s fees and instrument and venue hire, and keeping the Free events free for all. https://elgarfestival.org/support/

Published post no.2,839 – Friday 27 March 2026

On Record – MahlerFest XXXVI: Kenneth Woods conducts ‘Resurrection’ Symphony & Musgrave’s Phoenix Rising

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April Fredrick (soprano), Stacey Rishoi (mezzo-soprano), Boulder Concert Chorale, Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Musgrave Phoenix Rising (1997)
Mahler Symphony no.2 in C minor ‘Resurrection’ (1888-94)

Colorado MahlerFest 195269301194 [two discs, 104’02”]
Live performances on 21 May 2023, Macky Auditorium, Boulder, Colorado

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

What’s the story?

Last year’s edition of MahlerFest continued its latest, not-quite-chronological traversal of the symphonies with the Second – appropriately coupled on this release (as in the concert) with a work such as considers ‘resurrection’ from a very different while no less relevant perspective.

What’s the music like?

Six years in the writing, Mahler’s Second Symphony fairly laid the basis for his reputation as a composer at its Berlin premiere in 1895. It is a measure of this performance that it captures something of the shock or excitement no doubt in evidence back then, not least in an opening movement with Kenneth Woods notably more interventionist tempo-wise as compared to that of the Third Symphony a year before. What emerges is imposing but never diffuse, at its most gripping in that baleful lead-in to a development whose terseness duly accentuates its impact, with the pathos of the second subject on its reprise making the coda’s sardonic recessional the more acute. After which, the second movement feels the more enticing through its alternation of warm sentiment with capering animation while heading to a conclusion of beatific repose.

There is no lack of incident in a scherzo whose glancing irony is leavened yet not lessened by its trios, the first as soulful with its lilting trumpets as the second is ominous in its import; but not before Stacey Rishoi has characterized the Urlicht setting with rapt inwardness. What to say about the finale other than, while this may not be the most overwhelming take on its vast fresco, it is matched by relatively few as regards an organic unfolding that sees the movement whole. Its contrasting elements here fuse with unforced cohesion to a fervent rendering of the chorale episode then on to a surging Toten-marsch – the kinetic momentum carried through to a methodical reprise of earlier ideas, then a rendering of Klopstock’s text (much altered by the composer) as only grows in intensity before the majestic affirmation of its closing pages.

As the ‘first half’, Thea Musgrave’s Phoenix Rising provides an ideal complement. The much esteemed (latterly more in the US than the UK) nonagenarian has written often for orchestra, but seldom with such immediacy than in a piece whose formal and expressive trajectory feels nothing if not symphonic in its progress. Comparison with the 2016 studio recording by BBC National Orchestra of Wales and William Boughton (Lyrita SRCD372) confirms that, passing tentativeness in ensemble excepted, Woods’s reading demonstrably makes more of this aspect.

Does it all work?

Yes, pretty much always. As on previous releases in this ongoing Mahler cycle, the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra punches appreciably above its weight in music which should never fall prey to wanton virtuosity. The unyielding acoustic of Macky Auditorium is less an issue than before, with the finale’s offstage brass adeptly managed. April Fredrick brings her customary eloquence to bear on this movement, and the Boulder Concert Chorale – as prepared by Vicki Burrichter – rises to the occasion with notable fervency as this work reaches an ecstatic close.

Is it recommended?

It is. There have been too many superfluous Mahler cycles, but this traversal is shaping up as one of the most worthwhile and more than the memento of a memorable occasion. Hopefully such standards will be maintained by the Sixth Symphony as part of next year’s 37th edition.

Buy

For further purchase options, visit the MahlerFest website – and for more information on the festival itself, click here. Click on the names for further information on conductor Kenneth Woods, soloists April Fredrick, Stacey Rishoi and composer Thea Musgrave

Published post no.2,244 – Friday 19 July 2024

In concert – London Chamber Ensemble & Madeleine Mitchell: A Century of Music by British Women (1921-2021)

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London Chamber Ensemble [Madeleine Mitchell (violin, director), Joseph Spooner (cello), Sophia Rahman (piano), David Aspin (viola), Gordon Mackay (violin), Lynda Houghton (double bass), Peter Cigleris (clarinet, bass clarinet), Nancy Ruffer (flute), Alec Harmon (oboe), Bruce Nockles (trumpet), Ian Pace (piano)

Rebecca Clarke Piano Trio (1921)
Judith Weir Atlantic Drift: Sleep Sound ida Mornin’ (1995), Atlantic Drift (2006), Rain and Mist are on the Mountain, I’d Better Buy Some Shoes (Movements I-IV, 2005)
Helen Grime Miniatures (2005)
Judith Weir The Bagpiper’s String Trio (1985)
Cheryl Frances-Hoad Invocation for cello & piano (1999)
Thea Musgrave Colloquy (1960)
Ruth Gipps Prelude for bass clarinet (1958)
Errollyn Wallen Sojourner Truth (2021, world premiere)
Grace Williams Suite for Nine Instruments (1934)

St John’s Smith Square, London
Monday 9 March (review of the online broadcast)

Written by Ben Hogwood

Classical music still has an awfully long way to go before female composers are an integral part of its make-up, but the celebration of International Women’s Day is helping the cause considerably, gaining more traction with each passing year.

One of the highlights of the 2021 celebrations was this concert from St John’s Smith Square, masterminded by Madeleine Mitchell, who led the London Chamber Ensemble in a very satisfying hour-and-a-half of music.

In a concert celebrating eight women composers, the common threads of America and the Royal College of Music were also explored. The latter organisation is where Rebecca Clarke, Grace Williams and Helen Grime all studied, and where Errollyn Wallen and Mitchell herself are now professors. Wallen wrote a new piece, Sojourner Truth, for the occasion.

The concert began however with a terrific performance of Rebecca Clarke’s Piano Trio. Completed in 1921, this substantial piece begins with a passionate outpouring, but it also has its elusive, mysterious moments. The trio of Mitchell, cellist Joseph Spooner and pianist Sophia Rahman caught these elements, getting off to a terrific start but pulling back to allow the enchanting slow movement room to breathe. At times Clarke’s music hints at influences from France – particularly Ravel but also Franck – which Spooner caught in his high intonation in the second movement. The spirit of the dance inhabited the finale, a more obviously English statement, but there was still room for more fervent thoughts when the trio united.

There was a sudden transition on the broadcast to the refreshing open air of Judith Weir’s Atlantic Drift, a compilation of three pieces for two violins proving an invigorating contrast to the denser textures of the Clarke. Weir’s incorporation of folk material into her music is enchanting, especially in the four-part last piece, Rain and mist are on the Moutain, I’d Better Buy Some Shoes. Using a Gaelic song as its inspiration, Weir’s adaptation worked really well in these open air accounts from Mitchell and Gordon Mackay, the empty St John’s providing the ideal acoustic. Weir appeared later with The Bagpiper’s String Trio, a similarly folk-powered work from 1985. Based on a Scottish pipe tune this too lifted the listener away to the great outdoors, with excellent teamwork from Mitchell, Spooner and viola player David Aspin.

Helen Grime’s trio of Miniatures for oboe and piano were next, studies in compressed expression from the pale harmonics of the first to the jagged edges of the second. The third was an effective summation of Grime’s thoughts, panning out for a wider perspective from the piano. Alec Harmon and Sophia Rahman were fully responsive to the virtuoso demands.

Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s Invocation for cello and piano followed, a late teenage piece offering an immediate chance to appreciate the probing line given to Joseph Spooner’s fulsome cello. As the composer’s response to Edvard Munch’s painting Melanchola reached its apex there were clangorous chords from Rahman, capping a compact but powerful utterance.

Thea Musgrave’s Colloquy was next, another model of economy – four short pieces for violin and piano packed with sharp, expressive statements. There were some challenges to performance here – such as the quick interchange between pizzicato and bowing in the second movement – which Mitchell took in her stride. The third piece was a touch more playful but still assertive, but the fourth was the most effective, a private train of thought gracefully prompted by Ian Pace’s piano.

The most striking piece of the evening – for its sound, its soul and its warmth – was Ruth Gipps’ Prelude for bass clarinet. Gipps’ centenary falls this year, and her slightly baleful writing for the instrument was beautifully captured by Peter Cigleris, a model of control. After watching this I was struck by two questions – why do we not hear the music of Gipps more, and why are there not more pieces for solo bass clarinet?

Errollyn Wallen’s Sojourner Truth followed, written not just for Madeline Mitchell but for International Women’s Day – and taking us back to violin and piano. Based on a spiritual, O’er the crossing, it features intense dialogue between the two instruments, but when the melody is heard unaccompanied on the violin the ear is pulled firmly towards the centre of the music, a striking feature of another piece with more traditional inspirations.

To finish, we heard the 75-year-old Suite for Nine Instruments by Grace Williams. Scored for piano quintet, double bass, flute, clarinet and trumpet, it is a vivacious piece, quite modal and with hints of Stravinsky’s Septet for a similar instrumental combination – and equally driven in the outer movements, bringing the interval of a tritone right to the front. The London Chamber Ensemble played with flair, commitment and virtuosity, bringing a very impressive program to a close.

The concert is available to watch until 8 April on the link below – with some spoken introductions by Mitchell herself. On occasion the gaps between pieces are very short, but there are helpful markers to make viewing easier. Do make sure you watch, as some of the best chamber music from British women composers in the last 100 years is right here.

A Century of Music by British Women (1921-2021) on International Women’s Day, directed by Madeleine Mitchell from St John’s Smith Square on Vimeo.

Meanwhile, Madeleine and the London Chamber Ensemble’s album of works by Grace Williams can be heard here: