An excellent aspect of this disc is that we have a wide variety of star-studded voices adding interest throughout with the guitar (for which Dodgson was brilliant at writing) and recorder. In all there are 26 songs here and that includes five cycles and these are, attractively, divided between the voices. The texts stretch from light verse through Gerard Manley Hopkins and Walter de la Mare. In the accompanying essays, Dodgson’s style and language is neatly summed up as ‘a tonal-based inspiration and a natural creative communicative desire’, although Matthew-Walker does add that Dodgson clearly has his own personal voice. And, one must agree with him that Dodgson has been ‘unfairly neglected’.
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.
Exceptional young guitarist Sungbin Cho, winner of the London International Guitar Competition in 2021, performs Stephen Dodgson’s Guitar Quintet with the Asaka Quartet in an evening performance at the Royal Academy of Music. Graduating with a BMus from the Korea National University of Arts, Sungbin Cho subsequently served in the Republic of Korea Air Force where he completed his two-year military service before entering the Royal Academy of Music to undertake an MA in Performance, with Michael Lewin. He is the first Korean national to play classical guitar at the RAM. Sungbin Cho – guitar Asaka Quartet: Iona Mcdonald – Violin I[...]
Pegasus presents a choice selection of beautiful choral pieces exploring themes of day and night, sleep, and nature, including Stephen Dodgson’s Four Poems of Mary Coleridge and Two Choral Songs, the latter setting verses from Ronald Fletcher’s Old Pathways.
This year, the Barnes Music Festival sees the launch of a year-long international choral project, which marks the 10th anniversary of the composer’s death (2023) and his centenary year (2024) and encourages choirs and vocal groups all over the world to perform and record Stephen Dodgson rich and varied choral output. To mark the start of the project, Barnes Music Festival host a three-choir concert with the opportunity to browse scores and a catalogue detailing Stephen Dodgson’s choral works. Programme ‘Tis Almost One Four Poems of Mary Coleridge Home-bred pictures Two Choral Songs Barnes Festival Consort – dir. James Day Pegasus[...]
The Vickers-Bovey Duo perform a programme at the Barnes Music Festival based around nature and the works of Stephen Dodgson, who wrote prolifically for guitar composing many works for Julian Bream and John Williams, also paying tribute to one of his favourite composers Leoš Janáček. The duo received the Principal’s Prize at the Birmingham Conservatoire and graduated from the Royal Academy of Music with Distinction and the Performance Diploma in 2016. Programme Dodgson – Promenade Janáček – In The Mists (arr. Bovey) Rameau – Pieces de Clavecin (arr. Vickers/Bovey) Dodgson – Riversong
Shining new light on an old treasure. This Barnes Music Festival concert centres around ‘A Beautiful Object’: the harpsichord, with a new work of that same name by a rising figure on the contemporary music scene, composer Héloïse Werner. Auspiciously absent at the start, the harpsichord is introduced with music of its main era, in an arrangement that links its celebrated past to the present. With Héloïse’s piece, then follows an exciting journey of discoveries. Stephen Dodgson’s Sonata has beautiful serenade-like character, with its last movement a nod to the harpsichord’s illustrious past, guiding us back in time again to[...]
Exceptional young guitarist Sungbin Cho, winner of the London International Guitar Competition in 2021, performs his final recital at the Royal Academy of Music: a complete concert of Dodgson guitar works. Programme Partita no. 1 Fantasy-Divisions Guitar Quintet (with the Asaka Quartet) Guitar Concerto (with orchestra) Graduating with a BMus from the Korea National University of Arts, Sungbin Cho subsequently served in the Republic of Korea Air Force where he completed his two-year military service before entering the Royal Academy of Music to undertake an MA in Performance, with Michael Lewin. He is the first Korean national to play classical guitar[...]
Join the Mēla Guitar Quartet in a wonderfully eclectic evening hosted by the Luton Music Club featuring Stephen Dodgson’s Change-Ringers alongside works by Philip Houghton and Laura Snowden and arrangements of Bach, Debussy, Ravel, Glinka, Milhaud, Bizet, Sain-Saëns, and Brubeck and Desmond. The quartet recently recorded Change-Ringers as part of a delightful collection of Dodgson guitar chamber works. Programme Camille Saint-Saëns – Bacchanale from Samson and Delilah arr. Bovey Claude Debussy – Deux Arabesques arr. Tarlton Andante con Moto; Allegretto Scherzando Phillip Houghton – Opals (1995) Black Opal; Water Opal; White Opal J.S. Bach – Organ fugue BWV 578 arr. Mēla Mikhail Glinka – Ruslan and Ludmilla Overture arr.[...]