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.
Acclaimed trumpeter Imogen Whitehead, with St Martin’s Chamber Ensemble and conductor Patrick Milne, performs Stephen Dodgson’s Trumpet Concerto – his very last work, written for Imogen Whitehead herself when she was 18 – alongside Haydn’s Trumpet Concerto and Mozart’s Divertimento in D. All in the stunning and atmospheric setting of St-Martin-in-the Fields. Tickets available at: https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/calendar/mozart-and-haydn-by-candlelight/?whatson-event-date=2024-11-23&whatson-event-time=7:00%20PM
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[...]