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‘A vibrant, dramatic and playful approach to a contemporary text.’

‘It’s funky and it’s poetic, and it’s very evocative of a hot summer’s day.’

‘An enigmatic and interesting composer, and one I would like to explore some more.’

‘It’s a very surprising and very engaging piece, and very unusual. It’s a privilege to perform it and I hope that’s how our audience will feel when they hear it as well.’

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Vivamus share their experience of singing Stephen Dodgson's Canticle of the Sun.

Student violinist Kangmin Kim reflects on contrasting works by Holst and Dodgson, performed at the opening concert of the Barnes Music Festival. Two composers from Barnes, yet two strikingly contrasting approaches to writing for strings. On the opening night of the Barnes Music Festival 2025 (15th March), the theme of music and literature was explored through a programme made up of music by Dodgson, Britten, Mozart and Holst. Performed by the Academy of St Martin’s in the Fields, the concert opened with a contemporary and abstract showcase of Stephen Dodgson’s Essay No. 7, contrasted with the final work – an […]

In the opening-night Barnes Music Festival concert, ASMF brought wonderful rich, crisp textures to their performance. And players and audience responded warmly and thoughtfully to Stephen Dodgson's atmospheric Essay No. 7, gently full of different full of different personalities: major-minor cross-modalities, rhythmic interest and constantly shifting cross-rhythms, interwoven with more nebulous parts that are almost ‘kaleidoscopically coming into and out of focus'.

An absorbing and important book, which deserves to be widely read – and is a hugely enjoyable read!

To discuss music with Stephen Dodgson was to follow an incomparably rich trail of knowledge and ideas. And many memories of him have been rekindled by reading this excellent book. It is beautifully produced and reasonably priced. It is a worthy celebration of its subject, a fine composer and erudite musician who was also a thoroughly nice man.

A heartfelt and thoughtful centenary tribute – the appetite to learn more is thoroughly whetted through remembrances, interviews, essays and more.

Challenging yet rewarding music, fine performance and recording.

Sonoro choir, conducted by Neil Ferris, celebrates the memory of Stephen Dodgson (1924–2013) with a selection of works which, without revolutionising the genre, attest to the composer's attachment to British poetry, such as the dazzling Canticle of the Sun. This colourful lively ensemble, with generous warmth of expression, finds the nocturnal atmosphere of the Poems of Mary Coleridge, woven together under the breath of a meandering flute.

Sonoro sings with precision and produces a vibrant and sumptuous sound. Singers from the choir are well equipped to take solo parts. Dodgson's choice of texts is keen. His compositional style seems to resist categorization. This is a very well performed and recorded album.