2008-2009 Season
Bedford Music Club presents the following classical chamber music concerts between October 2008 and March 2009 in the town of Bedford. Concerts are open to the general public. Season tickets are available by contacting Bedford Music Club using the Email link on the Ticket or Contact pages. Individual tickets are available through Bedford Box Office or on the door.
Thursday 23 October 2008 (at 7.45pm)
Stile Antico
Desire of Heavenly Harmonies – motets and psalm-tunes by William Byrd and Thomas Tallis
The superb young Renaissance vocal ensemble Stile Antico were an instant hit when they appeared in our 2006-7 season, and their reputation has since continued its sharp upward curve. For this welcome return they bring music from their highly praised second CD, offering a glimpse of the religious turmoil of the Reformation, and an encounter with two of the greatest names in the history of English music.
Thursday 20 November 2008 (at 7.45pm)
Royal String Quartet
Mozart: String Quartet in D major, K499
Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat major, Op. 74 ‘Harp’
Dvořák: String Quartet in F major, Op. 96 ‘American’
Established only ten years ago, the Royal String Quartet from Poland have already made themselves well-known to concert-goers in this country as members
of BBC Radio 3’s prestigious New Generation Artists scheme. Here they perform one of Mozart’s finest quartets, Beethoven’s lyrical ‘Harp’ Quartet, and Dvořák’s typically lyrical and evergreen response to a three-year residence in America.
Supported by the Making Music Concert Promoters’ Network Scheme.
Thursday 4 December 2008 (at 7.45pm)
Rose Consort of Viols with Catherine King (mezzo-soprano)
Lullaby, my sweet little baby – Elizabethan & Jacobean Music for Christmas
Try something a little different this Christmas! One of Britain’s longest-established and internationally respected viol consorts, together with well-known early-music specialist Catherine King, offer an insight into the seasonal concerns of another age in the elegant form of songs and ensemble compositions for Christmas and New Year by Byrd, Tomkins, Holborne and others.
Supported by the Making Music Concert Promoters’ Network Scheme.
Thursday 8 January 2009 (at 7.45pm)
Bunyan Free Meeting Church
Carolyn Sampson (soprano), Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano)
Bedford-born Carolyn Sampson is one of Britain’s favourite sopranos from the young generation, with a string of highly acclaimed recordings and concert appearances to her credit. Here she is joined by the brilliant South African pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout, playing a copy of an 1820s piano, for an evening of Romantic song featuring works by Mendelssohn and others.
Thursday 12 February 2009 (at 7.45pm)
Bedford High School for Girls
Martin Helmchen (piano)
Bach: Partita No. 6
Messiaen: Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus (excerpts)
Schumann: Arabeske
Schumann: Etudes Symphoniques
German pianist Martin Helmchen is one of the rising stars on the international scene, his recent engagements including concerto performances with the London and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras, among others. For us he will put his fastidious musicality and technical refinement to good use in works by Bach and Schumann, and a selection of dazzlingly virtuosic soundscapes by French composer Olivier Messiaen.
Thursday 5 March 2009 (at 7.45pm)
Bedford High School for Girls
James Barralet (cello), Sophia Rahman (piano)
Debussy: Cello Sonata
Barber: Cello Sonata
Piazzolla: Le Grand Tango
Shostakovich: Cello Sonata
Tagore arr. Barralet: The Boatman Song
At 29 James Barralet is one of the hot young talents of British cello-playing, with a host of prizes, world premieres and prestigous concert engagements already behind him. He is joined by pianist Sophia Rahman in sonatas by three contrasting 20th-century masters, each with his own distinctive lyrical gift, and adds to the mix his own take on the musical traditions of Argentina and India.
This appearance made possible by support from the Philip and Dorothy Green Award for Young Artists.