We’re very pleased to announce the release of the recording of 24 Inventions for Harpsichord by Stephen Dodgson (Sets 1-4), recorded by Ekaterina Likhina on Naxos. For more about the Ekaterina’s style and approach, and the recording process, see the earlier blog about the Inventions CD. The official blurb: “Stephen Dodgson won Royal Philharmonic Society prizes for his early compositions, which signalled his emergence as a significant figure in British musical life. Though he composed in most genres he wrote with particular distinction for guitar and harpsichord and his sets of Inventions for harpsichord span a period of almost forty years. Scarlatti remained his inspiration […]
A gratifyingly insightful and complimentary review of the Stephen Dodgson ‘Complete Music for Cello and Piano’ by Jonathan Woolf in this month’s British Music Society newsletter: “Since Stephen Dodgson was fond of the medium of chamber music and as he wrote so well for the voice it’s not surprising that his cello works should be so infused with lyric-vocal qualities. The Cello Sonata of 1969 shows a fine conception of equals in a clearly structured three-movement work that reveals echoes of Bartókian Nocturne and a spare call-and-response between the instruments. There’s a certain refined introspection to Dodgson’s writing and an […]
We are delighted to announce the imminent release (1st March) of the next Toccata Classics Stephen Dodgson recording: three quintets performed by the Tippett Quartet, Emma Abbate (piano) and Susan Monks (cello). Piano Quintet No. 1 in C (1966) String Quintet (1986) Piano Quintet No. 2 (1999) These three quintets continue the exploration of his chamber music on Toccata Classics. Dodgson’s musical language inherited something of Shostakovich’s irony, Janáček’s spiky energy and Britten’s polished clarity, occasionally reaching further into the past in passages of Purcellian dignity, all animated with a gentle harmonic warmth of Dodgson’s own. The result, in a […]
On Wednesday, an intimate audience were treated to a beautiful performance of Stephen Dodgson’s Five Occasional Pieces at Emma Abbate and Evva Mizerska’s launch concert of their Toccata Classics recording of Dodgson cello and piano works. The performance was further enhanced by the elegant architecture of the St Margaret Pattens Church, a little gem of a church tucked away in the heart of the City of London. Alongside the Dodgson, Emma and Evva also performed Janáček’s Pohadka and Algernon Ashton’s Arioso which they have also recently recorded. Toccata’s Martin Anderson explained to us that Ashton, sadly forgotten but being gradually revived, wrote music […]
On the 3rd and 4th November, Lucian Plessner and the Philharmonisches Orchester Plauen-Zwickau performed Stephen Dodgson’s Concerto No. 2 for Guitar and Chamber Orchestra, a work very close to his heart. Here he tells us more about his experience and the back story of the concerto. “I don’t remember exactly which year the CBS Masterworks record featuring Stephen Dodgson’s 2nd guitar concerto was released with John Williams and the ECO under Sir Charles Groves. I asked Sony, but they couldn’t find out either. It must have been in the late 1970s or early ’80s. I do remember very clearly though […]
We are delighted to announce a new recording on the Naxos label – the first four sets of harpsichord Inventions by Stephen Dodgson. Professor Glen Wilson, who set up the project in collaboration with the Stephen Dodgson Charitable Trust, gives us an insight into the music, the performer and the process of setting up the recording Masterpieces performed by a master harpsichordist “A major step towards a wider dissemination of Stephen’s important corpus of harpsichord music was taken this September (2016) when the first four sets of his Inventions, 24 pieces in all, were recorded in Würzburg, Germany, by a brilliant […]
2015-16 sees Toccata Classics produce five new recordings of Stephen Dodgson chamber works. Below, Stephen’s widow, the harpsichordist Jane Clark Dodgson, gives her perspective on the music and the talented artists performing it. “It is very exciting for me, as Stephen Dodgson’s widow, to report that Toccata Classics will be releasing a series of recordings of his chamber music – which at the moment looks like being five albums. Allow me to outline what you can look forward to. The first of this series, just released, is of his music for cello and piano, played by Evva Mizerska and Emma […]
We are excited to announce the release of the complete works for cello and piano by Stephen Dodgson performed by cellist Evva Mizerska and pianist Emma Abbate, for whom several of the works were written. The works present Stephen’s musical personality in a nutshell. The style is direct but rich in allusion, from Purcell to Janáček, with a lively, sometimes brittle, sense of humour adding a Shostakovichian irony, all fused together in an elegant, individual voice. And the remarkable clarity of the instrumental textures underlines a strong sense of narrative, with the cello almost as a human voice, unfolding its […]
We’re thrilled to discover that Craig Ogden will be playing two movements from Stephen’s Partita No.1 on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune this Monday (3rd October) as part of Radio 3’s residency at the South Bank. Hear it in person at the Royal Festival Hall foyer or tune your ‘sets’ in at 4.30pm! Craig also performed two of Stephen’s partitas at the last Barnes Music Festival and will be performing Stephen’s ‘Watersmeet’ for solo guitar and guitar ensemble at the same festival on 24th March next year. No related posts.
Thursday 9th May – Royal Academy of Music (David Josefowitz Recital Hall) 5.30pm book launch | 7.30pm concert The Royal Academy of Music celebrates the unique contribution to the classical guitar repertoire made by Stephen Dodgson, in his centenary year, with an evening of events comprising: roundtable discussion book launch concert of varied Dodgson guitar chamber works 5.30pm A roundtable discussion, led by Michael Lewin, Head of Guitar, and Stephen Goss, focusing on Dodgson’s long association with the Academy. This will be followed by the launch of the book Born by the Thames: Stephen Dodgson – A Centenary Celebration, edited by Oliver Chandler and Thomas Hyde (de la Porte Publishing, 2024).[...]
The LFCCM commemorates Stephen Dodgson’s centenary with a concert that features several Dodgson sacred choral works alongside works by established and up-and-coming contemporary composers. All performed by a crack team selected from among London’s finest choral singers directed by Alastair Carey. Tickets will be available nearer the time from the LFCCM website.
Tenor James Gilchrist and guitarist Mark Eden will be performing a selection of Stephen Dodgson guitar songs at St Mary’s Church in Arkengarthdale at 4pm on Wednesday 29 May 2024 as part of the Swaledale Festival. The programme will also include music by Dowland, Schubert and Alec Roth. James Gilchrist is a leading interpreter of Oratorio and Song, especially the German and English repertoire. He is internationally renowned as one of the evangelists in Bach’s passions and oratorios and maintains an ongoing interest in older music, regularly performing as a soloist with viol consorts, lutenists and period pianos. Mark Eden is better known as one[...]
The Magnard Ensemble and a cast of soloists perform Stephen Dodgson’s short chamber opera Cadilly alongside his Gipsy Songs at Conway Hall. Cadilly, based on one of the Tales from the Fens by W. H. Barrett, tells the story of a beautiful woman and ‘willing maid’ who is loved by the scholars, their tutors and the townsmen alike but jailed for ‘immoral behaviour’! A vibrant and comic piece. Programme Dodgson – Sonata Gipps – The Lady of the Lambs Vaughan Williams – Ten Blake Songs for Soprano and Oboe Arnold – Three Shanties Dodgson – Cadilly Pre-concert talk – 5.30pm Concert – 6.30pm Tickets will be available via the[...]