
On the 28th October 2019, I will return to Dover, where he has been building site-specific projects for some years, to present a programme in the tiny chapel of St Edmund.
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J S Bach – Chaconne (1720)
Peter Sheppard Skærved-4 Troubadours (2017)
Evis Sammoutis – Nicosia Etudes (2014-2019)
Nicola LeFanu – Prelude (St Cecelia & King David) (2018)
Nigel Clarke – Epitaph for Edith Cavell (2014)
Paul Pellay, his ‘Anacreonantic Variations’ (2019) World Premiere
Anonymous (17th Century) – Passacaglia on ‘How beautifully Shines the Morning Star’ (ca 1670)

I have been dreaming of a project in this exquisite chapel since he first visited and played in there in 2012. Its layered history, like the materials of this historic building, have inspired me to draw together old and new music, speaking to the universal ideas it embodies.

St Edmund’s was founded by St Richard of Chichester in 1253, as a chantry to St Edmund of Abingdon. Both had opposed Henry III’s attempts to undermine Magna Carta, and this brave resistance is reflected in the doughty survival of this wonderful building.

The programme includes works by Nicola LeFanu, Paul Pellay, Nigel Clarke, Evis Sammoutis, Bach, and the wonderful anonymous sonata on “Wie schön leuchtet der Morgenstern”. Oh, and my own ‘St Edmunds Chapel – gaudete cum lætitia’ (ca 1670)

The programme is framed by passacaglia/walking style masterpieces from the baroque, which enfold works written for Peter by some of the many composers with whom Peter collaborates around the world. Evis Sammoutis reflects on the lost French medieval culture of Cyprus, Nicola LeFanu inspired by a 17th century sculpture of two ideal musicians, Nigel Clarke offer a memorial to Edith Cavell, whose body returned to Dover in 1919, and Paul Pellay’s variations is clarion call to stand up to political oppression, following the model of St Richard and St Edmund.


Posted on September 12th, 2019 by Peter Sheppard Skaerved