The album’s title is owed to Stephen Dodgson, eight delightful vignettes, beautifully crafted, which fall on grateful ears. Throughout, Emma Abbate and Julian Perkins play as one, with dedication and shared pleasure.
Captured in beguilingly immediate sound that creates the impression of Emma Abbate and Julian Perkins playing in your living room, this is a recording I have already returned to several times simply for the pleasure of hearing two players at the top of their game.
We're delighted to announce that guitarist Sungbin Cho has won second prize at the Royal Academy of Music's concerto competition with Stephen Dodgson's Guitar Concerto No. 1. Cho also won the International Guitar Competition in October with a programme which featured Dodgson's Partita No. 1.
Announcing the release of 'Tournament for Twenty Fingers', a collection of piano duets performed by Julian Perkins and Emma Abbate, featuring the Dodgson suite by the same name and his Sonata for piano duet alongside works by Berkeley, Arnell and Lambert.
Reflections from the performers of Dodgson's Cadilly. 'The overriding thing is his sense of humour, even in the most profoundly beautiful moments.' 'Whatever the mood or character, whatever the scene is, there is such a clear picture painted through the textures and the colours in instruments and the vocalists.' 'It's very colourful music – expect the unexpected!'
Fletcher’s expertly crafted distillation of Cobbold’s novel is set by Dodgson to music that’s as telling as it is unobtrusive ... Dodgson’s compositions went wider and deeper than any of us imagined ... Like Britten, he had the gift of needing very few instrument – Margaret Catchpole is scored for just 11 players – to paint pictures and distil moods.
There is a wonderful limpidity to Dodgson’s vocal lines, the words … always clearly audible and never obscured by the accompanying ensemble... The fanciful ending... is wonderfully poetic in Dodgson’s sunlit setting.
The Magnard Ensemble and a cast of soloists perform Stephen Dodgson’s short chamber opera Cadilly alongside his Sonata for Wind Quintet 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 Outcry Ensemble and English Voices perform Stephen Dodgson’s full-scale upper-voice Hymn Harmony at St John’s Smith Square alongside other works by Gibbons, Vaughan Williams and Coleridge-Taylor. The evening constitutes the final concert of their ‘Music for a Great City’ series, which explores the essence of a city as portrayed through its music, its history, its people and their perpetual sense of spirit through a rich variety of pieces. Directed by James Henshaw and comprised of young, exceptionally skilled professionals poised to become the next generation of global orchestral leaders, The Outcry Ensemble brings together vibrant energy and captivating performances. Their repertoire programming[...]
The much admired wind group the Magnard Ensemble return to Luton with a programme particularly featuring Stephen Dodgson’s Promenade No.2. Richard Sisson (Chair of Luton Music): ‘Stephen was for many years associated with Luton Music, generously giving his time to serve as a Vice-president. 2024 is the centenary of his birth and it is an honour to programme this fine piece in his memory.’ Programme Sergei Rachmaninov (arr. McDermid) – Prelude in E flat Major Op 23 No.6 Martin Butler – Down-Hollow Winds Stephen Dodgson – Promenade No.2 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (arr. Shiner) – Rondo in A minor K511 Samuel Barber – Summer[...]