{"id":7015,"date":"2015-09-10T13:51:20","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T12:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/?p=7015"},"modified":"2015-09-10T13:51:20","modified_gmt":"2015-09-10T12:51:20","slug":"kenneth-woods-and-english-symphony-orchestra-present-an-elgar-pilgrimage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/2015\/09\/10\/kenneth-woods-and-english-symphony-orchestra-present-an-elgar-pilgrimage\/","title":{"rendered":"KENNETH WOODS AND ENGLISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA PRESENT AN ELGAR PILGRIMAGE"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u00a0<\/strong>For Immediate Release<\/p>\n

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PERFORMANCES IN MALVERN, HEREFORD AND BIRMINGHAM<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

COLLABORATION WITH ACADEMIA MUSICA CHOIR AND<\/strong><\/p>\n

SINGERS FROM THREE CHOIRS FESTIVAL CHORUS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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WORLD PREMIERE PERFORMANCES OF NEWLY-ARRANGED ELGAR WORKS<\/strong><\/p>\n

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As the English Symphony Orchestra<\/strong><\/a> (ESO) continues its resurgence under Principal Conductor Kenneth Woods<\/strong><\/a>, it\u2019s fitting that the ensemble, based in Elgar\u2019s hometown of Worcester, presents An Elgar Pilgrimage, a four-day festival in October, celebrating the composer\u2019s life and music. Repertoire ranging from Elgar\u2019s earliest to his last, some of his most iconic works, music by contemporaries, new commissions and world-premieres will be performed in a trinity of locations associated with Elgar: the Cathedral in Hereford where he lived at Plas Gwyn from 1904 \u2013 1912, The Forum Theatre in Malvern where he lived from 1891 \u2013 1904, and in the hall which bears his name at the University of Birmingham where he was appointed the University\u2019s first Professor of Music in 1905.<\/p>\n

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(Composer Donald Fraser)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cBy celebrating the music of Elgar and his legacy across the Midlands,\u201d says Woods, \u201cwe are also celebrating the orchestra\u2019s rich history with this music and our own pride of place as the professional orchestra of Elgar country. Given that Elgar\u2019s music, which I\u2019ve loved and performed all my life, is so central to British musical discourse, it\u2019s incredibly exciting to be able to share with our audiences a programme that gives our listeners a chance to hear some of his greatest music from new perspectives.\u201d<\/p>\n

The curtain rises on An Elgar Pilgrimage on Wednesday,<\/strong> 7 October<\/strong> at Hereford Cathedral and brings together three of the region\u2019s leading musical organisations: select members of the Three Choirs Festival Chorus; Academia Musica, the scholars choir of the Hereford Sixth Form College; and the English String Orchestra conducted by Kenneth Woods. The programme features two world-premieres, a virtuoso work for strings by Elgar, and an audience favourite by one of Elgar\u2019s English contemporaries. The concert opener, Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis<\/em> by Ralph Vaughan Williams was first performed in 1910 as part of the Three Choirs Festival. The ESO\u2019s composer-in-association Philip Sawyers\u2019 Songs of Loss and Regret <\/em>was commissioned last year to commemorate the 100th<\/sup> anniversary of the outbreak of World War I; featuring soprano soloist April Fredrick, the work receives its world-premiere on this concert. Elgar\u2019s Introduction and Allegro<\/em>, scored for string quartet and string orchestra, was composed in 1905 for the newly-formed London Symphony Orchestra. Elgar\u2019s string writing has inspired the Elgar Pilgrimage\u2019s Guest Composer Donald Fraser, who lived and worked for many years at Brinkwells, Elgar\u2019s Sussex cottage. The climax of the Elgar Pilgrimage\u2019s opening concert is the premiere of Fraser\u2019s arrangement of the iconic Sea Pictures<\/em> for choir and string orchestra. \u201cWhat Donald has done is quite incredible,\u201d remarks Woods. \u201cHe\u2019s not added, changed or removed a single note of Elgar\u2019s work, but has created a new, flexible sound world between two homogenous ensembles.\u201d The performance continues the successful collaboration between the ESO and Academia Musica, who in the spring won critical acclaim for their performance of Mozart\u2019s Requiem <\/em>at London\u2019s St. John\u2019s Smith Square, and marks a renewed association with the Three Choirs Festival.<\/p>\n

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Soprano April Fredrick<\/p><\/div>\n

Woods and the ESO return to the Malvern Theatres on Thursday, October 8<\/strong>, to perform one of Elgar\u2019s earliest works as well as one of his most revered, both put into context alongside a great 19th<\/sup> century symphony. The Froissart Overture<\/em> was Elgar\u2019s first large-scale orchestral work. Written in 1890, it was commissioned for that year\u2019s Three Choirs Festival. Twenty years later, Elgar penned a work that became an instant hit, his Violin Concerto<\/em>. This performance will feature Alexander Sitkovetsky, a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of Yehudi Menuhin, former Principal Guest Conductor of the ESO, who was indelibly associated with the work, having made the legendary recording with the composer on the podium. The influence on Elgar of continental European composers will be heard in one of his favourite works, Brahms\u2019 Symphony No. 3<\/em>, a work that served as the focus of his first lecture at the University of Birmingham.<\/p>\n

Elgar and Brahms will be side by side again for a chamber music concert on Friday, 9 October<\/strong>, at the University of Birmingham\u2019s Elgar Concert Hall. ESO guest artists violinists Alexander Sitkovetsky and Tamsin Waley-Cohen, violist Louise Lansdown, cellist Matthew Sharp and pianist Clare Hammond, will come together to perform Brahms\u2019 Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25<\/em>, the first of his three works in the genre, and Elgar\u2019s Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 85<\/em>, one of the composer\u2019s latest works that was written at Brinkwells in 1919.<\/p>\n

Elgar\u2019s Piano Quintet features again in An Elgar Pilgrimage\u2019s closing concert on Saturday, 10 October<\/strong> at the Elgar Concert Hall, this time in a world-premiere performance of Donald Fraser\u2019s orchestration of the work. Another arrangement opens the programme, that by Elgar of J. S. Bach\u2019s Fantasia and Fugue in C minor<\/em>, one of the composer\u2019s final compositions. In between comes\u2028Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen<\/em>, the first great song cycle written by Gustav Mahler, who conducted Elgar\u2019s Sea Pictures<\/em> and Enigma Variations<\/em> during his final season as Music Director of the New York Philharmonic in 1910-11.<\/p>\n

An Elgar Pilgrimage is supported in part by Arts Council England<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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All media enquiries, interview and image request, please contact Melanne Mueller, melanne@musiccointernational.com<\/a>, +44 (0) 20 8698 6933<\/p>\n

For further information about An Elgar Pilgrimage, please visit http:\/\/eso.co.uk\/?page_id=2270<\/a><\/p>\n

For further information about Kenneth Woods, please visit http:\/\/kennethwoods.net\/blog1\/<\/a><\/p>\n

For further information about the English Symphony Orchestra, please visit http:\/\/eso.co.uk<\/a>
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AN ELGAR PILGRIMAGE<\/strong><\/p>\n

English Symphony Orchestra
\nEnglish String Orchestra
\nKenneth Woods – Principal Conductor
\nDonald Fraser – Guest Composer<\/strong><\/p>\n

7 \u2013 10 October 2015
\nHereford, Malvern, Birmingham<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Wednesday, 7 October<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:30 pm\u2028(pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm)
\n<\/strong>Ralph Vaughan Williams <\/strong>Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis<\/em>
\nPhilip Sawyers <\/strong>Songs of Loss and Regret <\/em>(world premiere)
\nApril Fredrick soprano<\/em>
\nEdward Elgar <\/strong>Introduction and Allegro for Strings<\/em>
\nElgar\/Fraser <\/strong>Sea Pictures <\/em>(world premiere of new version for choir and strings)
\nEnglish String Orchestra
\nAcademia Musica
\nThree Choirs Voices
\nKenneth Woods conductor<\/em><\/p>\n

Hereford Cathedral
\n5 College Cloisters, Cathedral Close
\nHereford HR1 2NG
\nTickets \u00a325, \u00a320, \u00a318, \u00a315. Seniors 25% discount, children and students 50% discount<\/p>\n

Hereford Courtyard Theatre Box Office: http:\/\/www.courtyard.org.uk\/events\/an-elgar-pilgrimage-sea-pictures-premiere\/<\/a>, 01432 340 555
\nThursday, 8 October<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:45 pm\u2028(pre-concert talk at 6:30 pm)<\/strong>
\nElgar<\/strong> Overture \u201cFroissart\u201d, Op. 19<\/em>
\nJohannes Brahms<\/strong> Symphony No. 3 in F major, Op. 90<\/em>
\nElgar<\/strong> Violin Concerto, Op. 61<\/em>
\nAlexander Sitkovetsky violin<\/em>
\nMalvern Theatres
\nGrange Road
\nMalvern, Worcestershire WR14 3HB
\nEnglish Symphony Orchestra<\/p>\n

Kenneth Woods conductor<\/em><\/p>\n

Tickets \u00a322.96 – \u00a333.04 (inclusive of 12% booking fee)<\/p>\n

Malvern Theatres\u00a0Box Office: http:\/\/www.malvern-theatres.co.uk\/events\/event\/english-symphony-orchestra-2015\/<\/a>, 01684 892 277
\nFriday, 9 October<\/strong><\/p>\n

7:30 pm (pre-concert talk at 6:45 pm)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brahms<\/strong> Piano Quartet in G minor, Op. 25<\/em>
\nElgar<\/strong> Piano Quintet\u00a0 in A minor, Op. 85<\/em><\/p>\n

Elgar Concert Hall
\nUniversity of Birmingham<\/p>\n

Bramall Music Building,
\nBirmingham B15 2TT
\nAlexander Sitkovetsky and Tamsin Waley-Cohen violins<\/em>
\nLouise Lansdown viola<\/em>
\nMatthew Sharp cello<\/em>
\nClare Hammond piano <\/em><\/p>\n

Tickets\u00a0\u00a320, \u00a315, \u00a310<\/p>\n

Town Hall & Symphony Hall Box Office: http:\/\/www.thsh.co.uk\/event\/elgar-pilgrimage-brahms-and-elgar-chamber-music-on-an-orchestral-scale\/<\/a>, 0121 345 0600<\/p>\n

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Saturday, 10 October<\/strong><\/p>\n

4:00 pm (pre-cocnert talk at 3:15 pm)<\/strong>
\nJ. S. Bach\/Elgar<\/strong> Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, Op. 86<\/em>
\nMahler Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer)
\n<\/em>Njabulo Madlala baritone<\/em>
\nElgar\/Fraser<\/strong> Symphonic Realisation of Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84 <\/em>(world premiere)
\nElgar Concert Hall<\/p>\n

University of Birmingham<\/p>\n

Bramall Music Building,
\nBirmingham B15 2TT
\nTickets\u00a0\u00a320, \u00a315, \u00a310
\nTown Hall & Symphony Hall Box Office: http:\/\/www.thsh.co.uk\/event\/elgar-pilgrimage-elgars-war-symphony-world-premier\/<\/a>, 0121 345 0600<\/p>\n

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