The 18th North Norfolk Music Festival
Friday 11th - Friday 18th August 2023
All concerts will take place in St. Mary’s Church, South Creake
Friday 11 August
4pm ORA Singers
Ave Verum
The world-class award-winning vocal ensemble in a programme inspired by the iconic masterpiece Ave Verum Corpus by William BYRD in this the 400th anniversary year of his death. ORA Singers was summed up by Geoff Brown of The Times as: “It’s hard to fault the vocal qualities of ORA Singers... They sail through the air with an almost astonishing purity of tone, perfect balance and togetherness - ideal weapons for their chosen repertoire, Renaissance masterpieces and the new fruits of contemporary composers.”
Also included in the programme are works by Hildegard of BINGEN (1179), Orlando de LASSUS (1532), Richard DERING (1580) as well as plainchant, and works by 20th-century composers Roxanna PANUFNIK, Caroline SHAW, Roderick WILLIAMS and ORA's recently commissioned All Shall be Well by Joanna MARSH.
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm MELVYN TAN piano
A warm welcome to Melvyn Tan, back in South Creake after an absence of two years. He brings with him a typically original and varied programme, which includes Benjamin Britten’s Holiday Suite (1934), a work in four movements by the young composer evoking memories of his summer at the seaside in Lowestoft, and Berg’s Piano Sonata, Op.1, an early work from 1908, firmly rooted in the Late Romantic style.
SCHUMANN Abegg Variations
SCHUMANN Kreisleriana
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BERG Piano Sonata, Op.1
BRITTEN Holiday Suite
Saturday 12 August
4.30pm KARSKI QUARTET
The wonderfully passionate Polish/Belgian Karski Quartet from Brussels returns for two concerts this year. Three members of the quartet are from Poland and we are very pleased that they will be including a beautiful work from their homeland, by 20th century composer, Grażyna Bacewicz, composed in 1951.
HAYDN String Quartet in B flat, Op.64 No.3
BACEWICZ String Quartet No.4
SCHUBERT String Quartet in E flat, D.87
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm KATHERINE BRODERICK soprano GARY MATTHEWMAN piano SIMON ROWLAND-JONES viola
Katherine has recently scored impressive triumphs at the Opera National de Montpelier where her “youthful and radiant” Isolde won great acclaim. Other recent appearances include Miss Jessel in Turn of the Screw and Leonore in Fidelio at Garsington Opera, as well as the role of Berta in Il barbiere di Siviglia at the Opera National de Paris. At the Karlsruhe Opera she stunned the audience with her performance in the hugely demanding title role in Cilea’s opera Adriana Lecouvreur and as Vitellia in La clemenza di Tito.
It will be a treat to see Katherine back in St Mary’s Church alongside the familiar figure of pianist Gary Matthewman.
Songs by DEBUSSY, STRAUSS and DUPARC
BRAHMS Two songs with viola, Op.91
ROWLAND-JONES Spaziergang
Sunday 13 August
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm GALA CONCERT (N.B. This concert begins at 7pm and NOT at 4.30pm as shown on the Festival flyer)
KATHERINE BRODERICK soprano JONATHAN STONE violin JÂMS COLEMAN piano KARSKI QUARTET
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
This gala programme is given by seven musicians who are all making more than one appearance at NNMF this year. The first half is made up of works that combine voice with not just piano but also string quartet, or individual string instruments. In the second half we are proud to present one of the great chamber works of all time, Ernest Chausson’s magnificent Concert pour violin, piano et quatuor à cordes, Op.21. The composer Vincent d’Indy, who arranged for the work’s premiere, described it as like “the gardens where bloom the charming fancies of a Gabriel Fauré.”
A rare chance to hear this wonderful work!
CHAUSSON Chanson Perpetuelle
SAINT-SAENS Les violons dans le soir
BERLIOZ La captive
RESPIGHI Il tramonto
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CHAUSSON Concert for violin, piano and string quartet, Op.21
Monday 14 August
4.30pm JONATHAN STONE violin JÂMS COLEMAN piano
We welcome Jâms Coleman to South Creake for the first time. He is joined by a great festival favourite, Jonathan Stone, well known for his performances here for many years with the Doric String Quartet. They have created a unique programme of works mostly by French composers, some of them with blues influence.
RAVEL Sonata for violin and piano in G
COPLAND Two Pieces for violin and piano
IVES Sonata for violin and piano, No. 4
Lili BOULANGER Nocturne and Cortège
FRANCK Sonata for violin and piano in A
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm FIONA KIMM mezzo-soprano GARY MATTHEWMAN piano
‘In Flanders Fields’ A Celebration of Composers and Poets who died in the Great War
Fiona Kimm’s astonishing 40-year career at the pinnacle of opera continues apace. There can be few, if any, sopranos who have triumphed in roles as diverse as the Kabanicha in Janacek’s Katya Kabanova and Julie in Show Boat with so many distinguished performances in between!
Together with Gary Matthewman they will present In Flanders’ Field, a thoughtful and carefully compiled programme which explores music and conflict in the twentieth century. It received much praise at the Wigmore Hall.
Enrique GRANADOS La Maja Dolorosa (Tres Tonadillas) (F. Periquet)
Toivo KUULA Tuijotin tulehen kauan (Eino Leino) & Sinipiika (V.A. Koskenniemi)
Lili BOULANGER Quatre Chants pour Voix et Piano Dans L’Immense tristesse (B Galeron de Calone) Attente (Maurice Maeterlinck) Reflets (Maurice Maeterlinck) Le Retour (Georges Delaquys)
Francis POULENC Banalités (Five poems by Guillaume Apollinaire)
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Elaine HUGH JONES Futility & I saw his round mouth’s crimson deepen (Wilfred Owen)
W. Denis BROWNE To Gratiana dancing and singing (Richard Lovelace)
Cecil COLES A Benediction (Robert Browning)
Anthony PAYNE Adlestrop (Wilfred Owen)
Bertholdt GOLDSCHMIDT Clouds (Rupert Brooke)
Charles IVES Granchester (Rupert Brooke) & Three Songs of War (Col. John McCrae)
Tuesday 15 August
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm LOUIS SCHWIZGEBEL piano
Louis Schwizgebel has been praised repeatedly for his poise, elegance, imagination, expressive lyricism and crystalline articulation. He performs regularly in recital and with the finest orchestras across the globe and has received critical acclaim for his recordings. This Louis’s fourth visit to NNMF!
JANACEK In the Mists
BEETHOVEN Sonata in A flat, Op.110
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DEBUSSY
Three Preludes Les sons et les parfums..,Brouillards, La cathédrale engloutie
Estampes Pagodes, La soirée dans Grenade, Jardins sous la pluie
Images oubliées II. Souvenir du Louvre
L'isle Joyeuse
Wednesday 16 August
4.30pm TABEA DEBUS recorder ROBIN BIGWOOD harpsichord
‘Lessons from the Master’
Hailed by The Times as “a charismatic virtuoso” recorder player Tabea Debus together with harpsichordist Robin Bigwood bring us an imaginative and colourful programme of works by J.S. and C.P.E. Bach as well as Dieupart and Albinoni. “All one has to do is hit the right notes at the right times, and the instrument plays itself.” We all know it is not as easy as Johann Sebastian Bach would make us believe! The famous Bach quote is the departure point for their recital.
JS BACH Sonata in C Minor, BWV1017 & French Suite No. 2, BWV813 (arr. Tabea Debus)
Alex NANTE Luz de otoño (2022, written for Tabea Debus)
Tomaso ALBINONI Violin Sonata in A Minor, Op.6 No.6
Charles DIEUPART Suite No. 1 in A Major
CPE BACH Variations on the Folie d’Espagne, H. 263
JS BACH Concerto in B flat BWV982
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm MARMEN QUARTET
The Marmen Quartet have been away from South Creake for much too long. Since their last NNMF appearance they won First Prizes at both the Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and Banff International String Quartet Competition, a truly significant achievement. We look forward to celebrating their return.
HAYDN Quartet in C, Op.50 No.2
LIGETI String Quartet No.2
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BEETHOVEN Quartet in E minor, Op.59 No.2 'Razumovsky'
Thursday 17 August
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm ALIM BEISEMBAYEV piano
We booked Alim for this performance even before he had left St Mary’s after his 2022 recital. The remarkable young pianist, who took Frist Prize at the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition, brings a programme of works by Schubert, John Adams, Ligeti and Chopin.
SCHUBERT Sonata No.19 in C minor, D.958
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John ADAMS China Gates
LIGETI Etude No.13 “L’escalier du diable”
CHOPIN
Nocturne in B major, Op.9 No.3
Scherzo No.4 in B major, Op.54
Prelude in C-sharp minor, Op.45
Scherzo No.3 in C-sharp minor, Op.39
c. 8.45pm FRIENDS OF NNMF PARTY
Join us as our guest for post-concert drinks and canapés in the Festival Marquee after Alim Beisembayev’s recital.
Our annual party for The Friends provides a chance for everyone to get together. This is free for Friends but places MUST be booked in advance. If you are not already a member, see our website for details on how to join.
Friday 18 August
4.30pm TIM HORTON piano
We have lost count of how many times Tim Horton has appeared at NNMF and the Festival wouldn’t be the same without him. Tim is performing in two concerts on this year’s final day. First will be a solo recital, after which he will be joined by five colleagues from the Ensemble 360.
HAYDN Sonata Hob.XVI:42 in D,
RAVEL Gaspard de la Nuit
CHOPIN Nocturne in F sharp minor, Op.48 No.2
BEETHOVEN Sonata in C sharp minor, Op.27 No.2 “Moonlight”
5.45pm FESTIVAL PICNIC HAMPERS in the Festival Marquee
7pm ENSEMBLE 360 (string quartet, piano and clarinet)
Tim and the strings of the Ensemble 360 will be joined by the outstanding clarinettist Robert Plane, formally principal of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales for an uplifting finale to the 18th NNMF. The final work in their programme is the ultra-expressive Piano Quintet by César Franck, which Nadia Boulanger said contained more ppp and fff markings than any other chamber piece, so fasten your seatbelts!
STRAVINSKY Three pieces for solo clarinet
MOZART Clarinet Quintet in A, K.581
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FRANCK Piano Quintet in F minor