Peter Medhurst

In 1782 Mozart wrote to his father: I go every Sunday at twelve o’clock to the Baron van Swieten, where nothing is played but Handel and Bach. I am collecting at the moment the fugues of Bach . . . Because of the aesthetic differences between the worlds of Baroque and Classical music, it might appear that there is little or no connection between the compositions of Bach and Handel and those of Haydn and Mozart.  And yet, closer inspection reveals not only Haydn and Mozart’s indebtedness to the earlier composers, but also an appreciation and an understanding of their music as well.  How and why this should be the case is the subject of the study day.

10.30 am – 5.00 pm

For mailing list members only

Edgbaston, Birmingham

B15 2TS

Music on the Grand Tour

Peter Medhurst takes a look at 18^th century Italian music making – the composers, the performers, the musical forms and styles – and determines exactly what it was that drew the musical British travellers south, time and time again.

Information: NADFAS House 020 7430 0730

Abbey United Reformed Church, Romsey

Recital

“The Course of True Love . . . ”

Peter Medhurst | bass-baritone & piano

Philip Salmon | tenor

Although Shakespeare once remarked of love that ‘it is an ever-fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken’ he also suggested that ‘the course of true love never did run smooth’.  Inspired by these ideas, Peter Medhurst and Philip Salmon present a mixed and varied programme of songs and duets that range from the 16th to the 21st centuries..

Music includes:  I saw My Lady Weep – J Dowland, A Dialogue upon a Kiss – H Lawes, Pious Celinda – H Purcell, Sweeter than Roses – H Purcell, She Never Told Her Love – J Haydn, O Mistress Mine – E Humperdinck, The Sally Gardens – I Gurney, Tell Me the Truth about Love – B Britten, Brush up Your Shakespeare – Cole Porter, The Bindweed and the Honeysuckle – Flanders & Swann

7.30 pm

www.romseyfestival.org

St Mary’s Platt, Borough Green

TN15 8QS

From Palace to Parlour

The golden age of Viennese music & culture

Introduced and presented by

Peter Medhurst

with

Andrew James | baritone

Linda Howarth | flute

and Jeremy Limb | piano

On a day that is filled with a variety of live performances, Peter Medhurst takes a look at the paintings, architecture, poetry and the history of the period to explore the music of four great Viennese composers – Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert.

Tickets £25.00

(to include tea or coffee from 10.30)

http://greatcompmusic.org/booking/

Although Beethoven studied composition with Joseph Haydn, it is often the influence of Mozart that has the greater impact on the younger composer.  The study day considers two great Piano Quintets, the first by Mozart written in 1784, and of which Mozart himself said “I myself consider it to be the best thing I have written in my life.  The other quintet is by Beethoven, who – recognising the genius in Mozart’s chamber work – drew extraordinary inspiration from Mozart’s ideas and himself produced a masterpiece.  The study day examines each work in turn and then goes on to search out the many parallels that exist between them.

10.30 am – 5.00 pm

For mailing list members only

Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury

CT1 1QU

Lecture-recital

Peter Medhurst explores the works of the French sculptor Roubiliac, the paintings of Hudson and Denner, the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, the novels of Samuel Butler, the Crystal Palace, the chimes of Westminster, as well as compositions by Sullivan and Tippett, to assess the cultural influences Handel had on ‘a nation’, as he once wrote, ‘from whom I have receiv’d so generous a protection’.

7.30 pm

South Canterbury DFAS

http://www.southcanterburydfas.org.uk/events-menu/lectures/

Sonning Eye,

Reading, Berkshire

RG4 6TY

Study Day

Dissecting Schubert

The airiness and carefree aspect of much of Franz Schubert’s music belies the fact that the private world of the composer was overshadowed by profound sorrow and immense unfulfillment.  And indeed, it was Schubert himself who once remarked of his compositions that “those that give the world the greatest delight were born of my deepest griefs.”  With an eye to the shrewd self-assessment of his output, Peter discusses and analyses Schubert’s music to reveal what it is that gives this great Viennese composer his unique and haunting musical voice.

Music to include Piano Sonata in Bb D960, Impromptu in Ab as well as selections from Die Schöne Müllerin and Winterreise.

Peter Medhurst

presenter and bass-baritone

with

Richard Rowe | tenor

Jeremy Limb | piano

For booking details contact:

Blue Thread Medhurst Productions

12 Hall Park Gate, Berkhamsted

Herts HP4 2NJ

Tel: +44 (0)1442 865528

info@bluethreadmedhurst.com

1-3 South Road, Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire County CM23 3JG

Study Day

Dissecting Schubert

Details are the same as for 22^nd July above

For booking details contact:

Blue Thread Medhurst Productions

12 Hall Park Gate, Berkhamsted

Herts HP4 2NJ

Tel: +44 (0)1442 865528

info@bluethreadmedhurst.com

In 1913, Stravinsky and Prokofiev each had a succes de scandale, Stravinsky with his Rite of Spring and Prokofiev with the Second Piano Concerto.  A few years later each composer embarked on the writing of a Neo-classical work, which became important turning points in their careers.  Prokofiev wrote Symphony No 1 ‘The Classical’ and claimed that in it, he had drawn inspiration from the symphonies of Haydn, and that the symphony was the first work that he had written away from the piano – an experience that gave even greater originality to his future compositions.  Stravinsky wrote the ballet score Pulcinella, which was based on the music of Pergolesi and other Italian Baroque composers.  Stravinsky later remarked that the challenges of writing Pulcinella provided the gateway through which his future work became possible.  The study looks closely at the two neo-classical works and delves into the 18^th century to look at the prototypes.

10.30 am – 5.00 pm

For mailing list members only

Rolston Road, Hornsea, Yorkshire

HU18 1XG

Vermeer – the musical pictures

The Dutch paintings of the 17th century, which show musical scenes are among the most evocative and best loved of the period.  However, the presence of music in the pictures of Vermeer and his contemporaries goes far beyond mere representation and appears to carry hidden and complex meanings that the viewer must attempt to decode, in order to get to the heart of the picture.  Peter Medhurst discusses in great detail Vermeer’s musical scenes and performs a selection of period songs and keyboard music to complement the pictures.

10.30 am

Holderness DFAS

Contact: 01964 624214

Kelleythorpe, Driffield Yorkshire

YO25 9DW

Lecture-recital

Peter Medhurst explores the works of the French sculptor Roubiliac, the paintings of Hudson and Denner, the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens, the novels of Samuel Butler, the Crystal Palace, the chimes of Westminster, as well as compositions by Sullivan and Tippett, to assess the cultural influences Handel had on ‘a nation’, as he once wrote, ‘from whom I have receiv’d so generous a protection’.

Driffield DFAS

7.30 pm

http://www.nadfasne.org.uk/Societies/AboutSociety.aspx