Thomas Simaku World Premiere at Wigmore Hall

A substantial new work by Thomas Simaku, Catena IV (for solo piano), will receive its world premiere at London’s most prestigious hall of chamber music, Wigmore Hall, on 2 January 2025. The piece is written for and dedicated to Danny Driver – celebrated British pianist, whose “most recent release of György Ligeti’s Piano Études has met with particular critical acclaim”.

This is Simaku’s fourth work in the Catena Cycle - the first three have been recorded by Joseph Houston and Dimitri Vassilakis, and released by BIS Records and NMC Recordings in 2000 and 2023 respectively. The overall formal structure of Catena IV consists of nine main sections and four interludes played without a break. The main sections are considered as self-contained units in a chain of events, which are linked by interludes and silences; in a nutshell, the work as a whole is in one movement lasting some 20 minutes. As Simaku writes in his programme note, “Focal points of the entire work are the 4th and 5th sections entitled Hommage à Chopin' and Hommage à Ligeti respectively. The first uses the exact notes of Chopin's opening motif from his Ballade No 1 in G-minor Op. 23. Although in a completely different stylistic environment, Chopin’s six different notes peacefully co-exist in a non-tonal canvas within the spectrum of total chromaticism.

Lancaster's 'Swan' broadcast on RTE Lyric FM

David Lancaster's saxophone quartet Swan, published by UYMP, received a broadcast on RTE Lyric FM in the Republic of Ireland last week, from the CD recording Bowie, Berlin and Beyond made by the brilliant Delta Sax Quartet. Swan was featured on the 'Vespertine' show, presented by Ellen Cranitch, which features a wonderfully wide array of music. Here's a link to the broadcast – please click here to listen (Swan is 43:55 minutes into the programme).

Late Music December concerts

Late Music York have a couple of fantastic final concerts of 2024 lined up, for Saturday 7th December.  The lunchtime concert includes a world premiere of a work by local composer James Else.  Late Music York write: ‘Our final concerts of 2024 promise to be absolute crackers (pun intended)! First up at 1pm on Sat 7th Dec, the Micklegate Singers give us a Christmas concert based on Joanna Marsh's In Winter's House, including Poulenc, Tallis and Vaughan Williams.  Then at 7:30 Art Sung celebrate the 60th anniversary of Edith Sitwell’s death, with music by Walton, Britten and Satie, featuring photography, 3D imagery and video. And don’t forget to join us for a free glass of wine or juice with the preconcert talk at 6:45.

New Sound World Podcast About the State of Music in the UK Interviews Sadie Harrison

We are excited about a new and important podcast initiative recently launched by the charity SOUND WORLD, including an interview with house composer Sadie Harrison. The podcast asks: "is our musical culture facing an existential threat? With ever smaller numbers of young people learning instruments, the gradual erasing of music from state education and years of declining funding, things may be worse than you think. Sound World investigates the state of music today and looks at what we can do to safeguard it for future generations".

In the first episode, the podcast looks at the value of music both to individuals and to society and asks why those in power don't always recognise this value. In the second, guests talk about how they discovered music and what enabled them to develop their interest into a life-long passion; it also asks whether they would have had such opportunities had they been growing up today.

The series is written and presented by Julian Leeks with series guests Sally Beamish, Daisy Fancourt, Peter Flach, Jess Gillam, Dame Evelyn Glennie, Sadie Harrison, Iain McGilchrist, Kadiatu Kanneh-Mason, Nico Muhly, John Pickard, and Jörg Widmann.

2024
December
10 December 2024

EGLI PRIFTI (Piano)

Time
7:00 PM
Location
City of Olomouc Festival, Czech Republic
Featuring
Thomas Simaku

raggio lunare

Thomas Simaku

14 December 2024

Philip Edwards (clarinet), David Elwin (piano)

Time
7:30 PM
Location
Christoph Probst Gymnasium, Gilching, Germany
Featuring
George Nicholson

Blood Moon

George Nicholson

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