The Late Music concert series continues this weekend – Saturday 6th November – with a lunchtime piano recital by Duncan Honeybourne at 1.00pm. Duncan presents a selection of pieces from his collection Contemporary Piano Soundbites: Composers in Lockdown 2020.
During the 2020 Lockdown Duncan commissioned over 30 piano miniatures from an eclectic mix of composers, ranging from distinguished senior figures to younger and emerging composers.
Described by Tom Service on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show as “a dazzling explosion of creativity”, a selection were released on Prima Facie Records in November 2020 and have been broadcast frequently on Radio 3 and in Belgium, Portugal and the USA. Today’s selection includes pieces by John Casken, John McLeod, David Power, David Lancaster, Sadie Harrison and Adam Gorb.
The evening concert features the Elysian Singers (Saturday 6th November, 7.30pm). Director Sam Laughton, has devised a fascinating programme of choral music where a contemporary work is paired with an earlier piece based on words from the same poet or source.
For example, Cheryl Frances-Hoad and Rachmaninoff’s settings of All Night Vigil, James MacMillan and Granville Bantock’s settings of Burns, and Thea Musgrave’s and Benjamin Britten’s settings of words by Herrick.
There are three new works by David Power, David Lancaster and Tom Armstrong, as well as a motet by Ivor Gurney which was only published in 2017, 92 years after it was composed. And Judith Weir provides a brief opportunity for audience participation!
More details can be found on the Late Music website.