Trockne Blumen-Schubert (an appreciation)
Trockne Blumen ‘Variations on an Original Theme for Flute and Piano’y Und Lenz wird kommen, und Winter wird gehn Und Blümlein werden in Grase stehnn…
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Mendelssohn-Sextet Op 110
Sunday’s concert offers a very rare opportunity to hear Mendelssohn’s early Sextet. This ebullient piece, written in 1824, was first performed at one of the…
Mendelssohn at Wiltons 20-12-09
Felix Mendelssohn A Major String Quintet Op 18 Wilton’s Music Hall Sunday December 20th 6 pm On Sunday, the we will be returning to…
Louis Krasner
(This article cited here-Auditorio Nacional) I have never forgotten the advice that Louis Krasner gave me about concerto playing. There is an astounding recording…
Nesi Hensu
Nesi Hensu The Zagrebacka Mumija lies in a small dedicated room at the back of the Archeological museum in Zagreb. The museum is set…
Alexandre Boucher and La Marseillaise
Boucher and La Marseillaise Alexandre-Jean Boucher (1770-1861) was born and died in Paris. His father was a member of Louis XV’s Mousquetaires Gris A pupil…
Schubert, Dale Roberts, Penderecki
On the way home after a day working with the inspired young composers at York University. In the middle of the day, a happy return…
Paul Pellay-Evolving to
I met the composer Paul Pellay when we were both students at the Royal Academy of Music. At that time, although I was involved in…
Luca Francesconi
Last night, we played Luca Francesconi’s wonderful 1993 Quartet, ‘Mirrors’ at Wiltons. This is one of the most physically uplifting pieces that we play-a work…
Turbulent Quartets
Turbulent Quartets Pre-Concert Talk-Wilton’s Music Hall-13th December 2009 Schubert’s friend Eduard Bauernfeld noted: “Schubert has the right blend of the ideal and the…
Beethoven and Tsar Aleksandr. A Polonaise
One promise too many Beethoven had little time for Polonaises, and rejected the craze for this dance which swept through Vienna at the time of…
Practice
Much practice is done away from the violin, and much of it does not lead anywhere. I am not ashamed to admit that I am…
Bach-Beethoven-Mendelssohn-David Matthews
Bach-Beethoven-Mendelssohn-David Matthews Extract from pre-concert talk given at Wilton’s Music Hall, Spring 2009 The unifying figure behind all of the composers that we are playing…
Louise Vale-Poetry for Wilton’s
Poet Louise Vale responds to the enchanted spaces of Wilton’s Music Hall. As It Was [Fuse the future with a version of the…
John McCabe
With John MCabe-Burgh House, 2007 On the 15th June 2011, the Kreutzers will premiere John McCabe’s new Clarinet Quintet with Linda Merrick at the Royal…
Thoughts on Paganini and England
Click on Paganini and Eliasson Preparations for Paganini’s Arrival in London-1831 (10-12-09) “For I have learned To look on nature, not as in the hour…
Carl Nielsen Conservatory-Odense
Working with young bassists at the Carl Nielsen Conservatory, Odense. Photo Richard Bram
Jeremy Dale Roberts
Studying Jeremy Dale Robert’s Croquis was a turning point for us all. It also gave us all pause-how can an absolute masterwork, be totally neglected…
Schubert and the violin
Discussion continues within the Quartet as to where Schubert’s crazy late violin writing comes from. Imagine him handing the last movement of the G…
Elliott Schwartz – composer
Elliott Schwartz and Peter Sheppard Skaerved have been collaborating for over a decade-following a much earlier meeting. This collaboration has resulted in countlesss performances of…
Shibboleth – Opening the Salon Door
Opening the Salon Door Text of Talk given at SOUNDBOX,RAM 2008 It is perhaps appropriate that we discuss the question of the Salon here, in…
Wesley, Bach, Bridgetower
George August Polgren Bridgetower and Bach On reading The Letters of Samuel Wesley/Professional and Social Correspondence 1797-1837. Philip Olleson. Oxford University Press. 2001. Samuel…
Library of Congress
Library of Congress-Washington In November 2006, I was lucky enough to be invited to play a concert with Aaron Shorr, and members of the wonderful…