News
British Music Society review: Guitar Chamber Works recording
October 01, 2017
Comments are off
"Fresh from an investigation of Stephen Dodgson’s richly imaginative Inventions for Harpsichord, Naxos turns its attention to his chamber works with guitar. It was on the advice of Julian Bream – who premiered the Suite for Guitar in 1952 – that Dodgson turned to the instrument and wrote a long sequence of music that continues to beguile... The performances are unfailingly eloquent and textured and the fine booklet note from Graham Wade also has full texts. It’s good to know that Dodgson’s music continues to generate such enthusiasm in performers and, I’m sure, listeners alike."
Continue Reading →
Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review: 24 Inventions
September 11, 2017
Comments are off
"Here is a modern English composer of obvious caliber... The short pieces all have a Scarlatti-like rhythmic drive, expressiveness, and compact incisiveness, thriving within a chromatic-diatonic realm one might call neo-classical... There is much excellent music to absorb. The complexities and inventive detail in these works demand multiple and unsuperficial hearings to grasp fully. It is worth the trouble, since in the end there is a great deal to like!"
Continue Reading →
New recording released: Guitar chamber works
August 24, 2017
Comments are off
We're delighted to announce the release of a new recording of Stephen Dodgson guitar chamber works performed by the Mēla Guitar Quartet and a number of other talented artists
Continue Reading →Diapason Review: 24 Harpsichord Inventions Recording
July 24, 2017
Comments are off
"It is a particular pleasure to recommend the first complete recording of the first four books of Stephen Dodgson’s Inventions for Harpsichord... Playing throughout is first-rate as each set of six displays its various moods. [And the] illuminating program notes [are] brimming with unique information... You might wish to order multiple copies of this recording for distribution to friends who 'already have everything'."
Continue Reading →
The Story behind ‘The Selevan Story’
June 29, 2017
Comments are off
Guitarist Stephen Gordon shares with us the collaborative relationship between Stephen Dodgson and the Prussia Cove International Guitar Seminar across a number of works, a relationship which led to the commissioning and recording of his work The Selevan Story.
Continue Reading →
MusicWeb review: Dodgson Quintets CD
June 19, 2017
Comments are off
"All the performances are absolutely splendid and quite beautifully recorded and balanced, with a pleasingly wide sound stage. The piano sound in particular is exemplary. Booklet notes are by John Warrack and are models of their kind.
Toccata can be proud of this generously-filled offering which is a very worthwhile and welcome addition to the discography of an unjustly neglected composer."
British Music Society review: Quintets CD and Harpsichord Inventions CD
June 05, 2017
Comments are off
"Toccata continues its excellent mission to propagate the music of Stephen Dodgson whilst Naxos has also done the composer proud with its disc of 24 Inventions for Harpsichord. Everything here is a premiere recording....
The performances are uniformly splendid and the church acoustic has been well judged. John Warrack’s notes are similarly first-class... The recording quality is excellent. Let’s hope there are many more such excellent discs before the centenary of Dodgson’s birth in 2024."
Planet Hugill review of Dodgson Complete Music for Cello and Piano CD
June 05, 2017
Comments are off
"The music is complex yet approachable, always with a spicy twist to the harmony. I found the musical language rather reminiscent of that of Kenneth Leighton with the combination of melodic fragments and toughness...
The performances from Evva Mizerska and Emma Abbate are excellent, with the two demonstrating the sort of balanced partnership which the music presupposes. Both bring out the lyricism, fascination and challenge of Dodgson's music."
Fanfare magazine review of Dodgson Complete Music for Cello and Piano CD
May 10, 2017
Comments are off
Once the music reveals its secrets, it becomes intensely appealing... Five Occasional Pieces, like the other works on the album, are the products of an original, highly distinctive, consistently surprising voice, making what is now the collection devoted entirely to Dodgson’s music long overdue.
Continue Reading →
Latest news
Upcoming events
Nov
7
Wed
2018
7:30 pm Magnard Ensemble – Suite for Win... @ Dulwich Picture Gallery
Magnard Ensemble – Suite for Win... @ Dulwich Picture Gallery 
Nov 7 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Magnard Ensemble will perform Stephen Dodgson’s Suite for Wind Quintet along with works by Bach, Haydn, Gershwin, Ligeti and more in southeast London’s beautiful and intimate Dulwich Picture Gallery. Programme Haydn – Divertimento in Bb major arr. Harold Perry JS Bach – Prelude and Fugue in Bb minor BWV 867 arr. Joseph Shiner Stephen Dodgson – Suite for Wind Quintet George Gershwin – Porgy and Bess Suite arr. Bill Holcombe György Ligeti – Six Bagatelles Paul Patterson – Westerly Winds
Jan
6
Sun
2019
7:30 pm Magnard Trio: Suite for Oboe and... @ Theatre by the Lake, Keswick
Magnard Trio: Suite for Oboe and... @ Theatre by the Lake, Keswick 
Jan 6 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The talented Magnard Trio (subgroup of the Magnard Ensemble), consisting of oboist Mana Shibata, bassoonist Catriona McDermid and pianist Suling King, gives a performance of delightful music which includes Stephen Dodgson’s Suite in C minor alongside works by Elgar, Britten Poulenc and lesser-known composers worthy of exploration and discovery. Programme Peter Hope – Trio Stephen Dodgson – Suite for Oboe and Piano Edward Elgar – Romance for Bassoon Op.62 Nino Rota – Toccata for Bassoon and Piano Anonymous – Caprices for solo bassoon Clemence de Grandval – Trio de Salon Benjamin Britten – Pan, Phaeton, Niobe and Arethusa from Six[...]
Jan
11
Fri
2019
7:30 pm Magnard Trio: Suite for Oboe and... @ Outwood Academy Foxhills
Magnard Trio: Suite for Oboe and... @ Outwood Academy Foxhills
Jan 11 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The talented Magnard Trio (subgroup of the Magnard Ensemble), consisting of oboist Mana Shibata, bassoonist Catriona McDermid and pianist Suling King, gives a performance of delightful music which includes Stephen Dodgson’s Suite in C minor alongside works by Elgar, Britten Poulenc and lesser-known composers worthy of exploration and discovery. Programme Peter Hope – Trio Stephen Dodgson – Suite for Oboe and Piano Edward Elgar – Romance for Bassoon Op.62 Nino Rota – Toccata for Bassoon and Piano Anonymous – Caprices for solo bassoon Clemence de Grandval – Trio de Salon Benjamin Britten – Pan, Phaeton, Niobe and Arethusa from Six Metamorphoses[...]
Jan
20
Sun
2019
3:00 pm Emma Abbate and the Tippett Quar... @ Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-up-Avon
Emma Abbate and the Tippett Quar... @ Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-up-Avon 
Jan 20 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Pianist Emma Abbate and the Tippett Quartet unite for a performance of piano quintets, hosted by the Stratford-upon-Avon Music Society, including Stephen Dodgson’s Piano Quintet No. 1 which they recently recorded on the Toccata Classics label and a voted a MusicWeb recording of the year. Programme Haydn: String quartet op. 33 no. 1 Dodgson: Piano quintet no. 1 in C Puccini: “Crisantemi” for String quartet Schumann: Piano quintet in E flat major Quintets CD reviews MusicWeb review British Music Society review Klassisk Musikk review Musical Opinion review You can also listen to/buy the recording at Toccata Classics.
Feb
9
Sat
2019
7:00 pm Karolos – West Dulwich @ All Saints, West Dulwich
Karolos – West Dulwich @ All Saints, West Dulwich 
Feb 9 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Karolos (Harriet Mackenzie, Sarah-Jane Bradley, Graham Walker, Craig Ogden and Juliette Bausor) perform an array of Stephen Dodgson’s chamber pieces bookended by works by Mozart and Schubert. Programme Mozart – Flute Quartet Dodgson – Echoes of Autumn Dodgson – String Trio no. 2 Dodgson – Pastoral Sonata (flute/cello/guitar) Schubert – Quartet D96 (flute, guitar, viola, cello) Performers Juliette Bausor (flute) Craig Ogden (guitar) Harriet Mackenzie (violin) Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) Graham Walker (cello)
Feb
17
Sun
2019
3:00 pm Emma Abbate and the Tippett Quar... @ Canterbury Music Club, St Gregory's Centre for Music
Emma Abbate and the Tippett Quar... @ Canterbury Music Club, St Gregory's Centre for Music
Feb 17 @ 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm
Pianist Emma Abbate and the Tippett Quartet unite for a performance of piano quintets, hosted by the Canterbury Music Club, including Stephen Dodgson’s Piano Quintet No. 1 which they recently recorded on the Toccata Classics label and a voted a MusicWeb recording of the year. Programme Haydn: String quartet op. 33 no. 1 Dodgson: Piano quintet no. 1 in C Puccini: “Crisantemi” for String quartet Schumann: Piano quintet in E flat major Quintets CD reviews MusicWeb review British Music Society review Klassisk Musikk review Musical Opinion review You can also listen to/buy the recording at Toccata Classics.
Mar
15
Fri
2019
7:30 pm Magnard Ensemble – Alnwick Music... @ St. Michael's Church, Alnwick
Magnard Ensemble – Alnwick Music... @ St. Michael's Church, Alnwick
Mar 15 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm
The Magnard Ensemble will perform Stephen Dodgson’s Suite for Wind Quintet along with works by Ibert, Bach, Barber and more in Alnwick as part of the Alnwick Music Society series. Programme Ibert – Trois pièces brèves Dodgson – Suite for Wind Quintet Bach arr. Shiner – Prelude & Fugue in C# minor BWV 849 Arnold – Three Shanties Barber – Summer Music Woolrich – Book of Studies Set 1 Amy Beach – Pastorale Patterson – Westerly Winds
Mar
31
Sun
2019
6:30 pm Karolos – trios @ Conway Hall, London
Karolos – trios @ Conway Hall, London 
Mar 31 @ 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Karolos, in their trio format of Harriet Mackenzie, Sarah-Jane Bradley and Graham Walker, perform Stephen Dodgson’s 1st trio alongside Mozart Divertimento in E Flat K563. Programme Dodgson –Trio No. 1 Mozart – Divertimento in E Flat K563 Performers Harriet Mackenzie (violin) Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) Graham Walker (cello)
Aug
11
Sun
2019
3:00 pm The Italian Connection – Sounds ... @ Cratfield, Suffolk
The Italian Connection – Sounds ... @ Cratfield, Suffolk 
Aug 11 @ 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
If Italy was the ‘cradle of the renaissance’, it was also the ‘playground of the Baroque’. Julian Perkins and Sounds Baroque’s The Italian Connection celebrates the infusion of Italian music throughout Europe with a programme that juxtaposes works by esteemed Baroque Masters with Baroque-inspired tonal works by Stephen Dodgson. Dodgson works include Invention No. 5 from Set 1: ‘The Worm’; Invention No. 5 from Set 2: ‘Plush and Roses’ and The New Terpsichore, Book 1. Julian Perkins harpsichord Sophie Barber violin Karin Björk violin Henrik Persson cello Sounds Baroque Italian Connection programme Find out more about Concerts at Cratfield.
