Events

Johann Sebastian Bach! A towering genius of western music who continues to inspire composers and performers in many genres. He in turn was inspired by his forebears: as a young man he made a 300-mile round trip on foot across north Germany to hear and study the music of the leading composer of his time, Dietrich Buxtehude. The fruits of this famous pilgrimage can be found in the large body of Bach’s organ works which, in their scale, range and profundity, provide an inexhaustible treasure trove of technical fascination and musical delight. This first Festival recital on the Minster’s fine Quire organ will be given by Rector Chori (Director of Music) Paul Provost. The organ was designed by his predecessor Paul Hale.

Johann Sebastian Bach
Prelude and Fugue in D major BWV 532
Trio super ‘Allein Gott in der Höh sei Ehr’ BWV 662
Concerto in A minor after Vivaldi BWV 593
Schmücke dich, o liebe Seele BWV 654
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor BWV 582

Tickets £5
18 years and under £2.50

Book online at TRCH site

Supported by a private sponsor

The Mass in B minor is the summation of its composer’s work, the ultimate expression of his faith, and one of the supreme creations of western classical music. This monumental setting of the Ordinary of the Catholic Mass reached its final form towards the end of Bach’s life: in it he reworks earlier compositions and draws on many musical styles, old and new.

The Mass is also remarkable in being a Catholic Mass written by a Lutheran composer: in a work of infinite variety Bach combines the glory of the former with the austerity of the latter to create a work of profound spiritual and emotional impact. In this chamber performance on period instruments the solo and chorus parts will be sung by nine members of the Festival Voices and Artistic Director Marcus Farnsworth.

Festival Voices
Festival Sinfonia
Marcus Farnsworth director

Tickets £30 £20 £10
18 years and under £15 £10 £5

Book online at TRCH site

The spiritual is a unique expression of the faith and suffering of the victims of slavery. The intense emotion of spirituals has permeated much other music and is an essential element in Michael Tippett’s oratorio A Child of our Time which is performed on Saturday 25th August. Festival trumpeter Graham South has written new material based on the five spirituals which Tippett used in his oratorio. He will be joined by regular collaborators from the thriving Manchester jazz scene in a group drawn together specifically for this first Festival jazz concert.

Graham South trumpet
Richard Jones piano
Seth Bennett bass
Johnny Hunter drums

RETURNS ONLY - waiting list held by the Cathedral Shop

The Festival continues its fruitful association with the biennial Nottingham Young Musician of the Year competition and with the remarkable Kanneh-Mason family – hosting a recital by the most recent competition winner and the third member of the family to appear at the Festival. 17-year-old Konya attends Trinity Catholic School in Nottingham and The Royal Academy of Music Junior Academy in London where she studies piano and violin. Konya achieved Grade 8 Distinction on the piano at 11, and Grade 8 Distinction on violin at 12.

Johann Sebastian Bach Prelude & Fugue in C# minor
Ludwig van Beethoven Sonata, Op. 10 no. 2
Franz Schubert Impromptu, Op. 142 no. 1 in F minor
Maurice Ravel Jeux d’eau
Johannes Brahms Rhapsody in B minor
Frédéric Chopin Etude, Op. 10 no. 12 “Revolutionary”

RETURNS ONLY - waiting list held by the Cathedral Shop

Jointly sponsored by Barbara Barker and Dan & Gill Bardsley

Informality, intimacy, wit and good humour are the hallmarks of our concerts in this 18th century theatre. One audience member has said: “We really valued the introduction to each piece and enjoyed being able to witness the interaction between players”. The programme showcases our virtuoso players and singers, including a chance to get ‘up close and personal’ with the Principal Flute of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Trombone of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Close harmony after the interval comes courtesy of one of the UK’s leading arrangers, and Festival regular, Jim Clements.

Programme to include:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Flute Quartet in D Major K.285
Luciano Berio Sequenza V for Trombone
A selection of close harmony arrangements

Festival Chamber Soloists including
Charlotte Ashton flute
Matthew Gee trombone
Festival Voices Unleashed

RETURNS ONLY - waiting list held by the Cathedral Shop

Sponsored by Doug & Vicki Black

In the appeasement crisis of the late 1930s Neville Chamberlain infamously described Czechoslovakia as ‘a far away country of which we know nothing’. Happily the wonders of Czech culture are better known to us now, and this concert celebrates it in music by two of the country’s greatest composers. Dvořák’s easy-going lyricism is in marked contrast to the spirit of the dramatic song cycle The Diary of One who Disappeared – a musical setting of anonymous poems published in a local paper about a farmer who falls for and runs off with a gypsy girl. Janáček’s passionate music expresses his feelings for his muse Kamila Stösslová – a much younger woman and another man’s wife: in quasi-operatic fashion the cycle captures all the drama of the text.

Antonín Dvořák String Sextet in A major, Op. 48
Antonín Dvořák Gypsy Songs, Op. 55
Leoš Janáček The Diary of One who Disappeared

Alison Rose soprano
Madeleine Shaw mezzo soprano
Andrew Tortise tenor
Festival Chamber Soloists

Tickets £25
18 years and under £10

Book online at TRCH site

Supported by a private sponsor

The Quire is the perfect setting in which to enjoy the Festival’s outstanding string players. Elgar’s Serenade is one of his earliest and most popular works, while Bartók’s Divertimento conjures the spirit of his Hungarian homeland, especially in its gypsy-inspired tunes and rhythms. Tippett’s Lament, based on the famous number from Dido and Aeneas, evokes the music of Tudor and Elizabethan England and is prefaced by Purcell’s original. Tippett’s brilliant Sonata for Four Horns is the sorbet in this feast of string sonority.

Edward Elgar Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20
Henry Purcell Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas
Michael Tippett A Lament from Variations on an Elizabethan Theme
Michael Tippett Sonata for Four Horns
Béla Bartók Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz.113 BB.118

Festival Chamber Soloists
Festival Sinfonia Strings
Jessica Gillingwater mezzo soprano
Jamie Campbell director

Tickets £22
18 years and under £10

Book online at TRCH site

Supported by a private sponsor

This year’s late night sequence of choral music and spoken text reflects the theme of commemoration: Tavener’s Song for Athene found a wider audience when performed at the funeral of Princess Diana; A Child’s Prayer is an extremely touching tribute piece composed following the slaughter of primary school children at Dunblane. Immortal Bach is a timeless reworking of a simple Bach chorale ‘Komm, süßer Tod’ (‘Come, sweet Death’) to provide a glimpse of eternity. The Minster’s late night atmosphere and the Festival’s outstanding professional choir will combine to provide an occasion of powerful emotional impact.

Herbert Howells Requiem
Knut Nystedt Immortal Bach
James MacMillan A Child’s Prayer
John Tavener Song for Athene

Festival Voices
Marcus Farnsworth conductor
Clive Mantle reader

Tickets £15
18 years and under £5

Book online at TRCH site

Supported by a private sponsor

Part of the ‘Friday lunchtime in the Cathedral’ series

Last year the Festival began a project to support the development of emerging singers and players, and this concert will be a showcase for the youngest members of the 2018 ensemble. The young string players will be some of the most talented undergraduates from leading UK conservatoires while the singers will be graduates of The Sixteen’s Genesis programme: this opportunity to sing alongside some of the UK’s most experienced consort singers is the result of an initiative with our Patron Harry Christophers. Mendelssohn’s sublime Octet was the first work to be played at the inaugural Festival. This performance to mark the Festival’s fifth anniversary will be given by four string apprentices and four professional players.

Programme to include:
Felix Mendelssohn Octet in E flat, Op. 20

Composer and conductor Martin Bussey will examine this seminal piece of 20th century chamber music.

Admission free
No advance booking or tickets
Entry subject to availability

In the appeasement crisis of the late 1930s Neville Chamberlain infamously described Czechoslovakia as ‘a far away country of which we know nothing’. Happily the wonders of Czech culture are better known to us now, and this concert celebrates it in music by two of the country’s greatest composers. Dvořák’s easy-going lyricism is in marked contrast to the spirit of the dramatic song cycle The Diary of One who Disappeared – a musical setting of anonymous poems published in a local paper about a farmer who falls for and runs off with a gypsy girl. Janáček’s passionate music expresses his feelings for his muse Kamila Stösslová – a much younger woman and another man’s wife: in quasi-operatic fashion the cycle captures all the drama of the text.

Antonín Dvořák String Sextet in A major, Op. 48
Antonín Dvořák Gypsy Songs, Op. 55
Leoš Janáček The Diary of One who Disappeared

Alison Rose soprano
Madeleine Shaw mezzo soprano
Andrew Tortise tenor
Festival Chamber Soloists

Tickets £25
18 years and under £10

Book online at TRCH site

Informality, intimacy, wit and good humour are the hallmarks of our concerts in this 18th century theatre. One audience member has said: “We really valued the introduction to each piece and enjoyed being able to witness the interaction between players”. The programme showcases our virtuoso players and singers, including a chance to get ‘up close and personal’ with the Principal Flute of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Trombone of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Close harmony after the interval comes courtesy of one of the UK’s leading arrangers, and Festival regular, Jim Clements.

Programme to include:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Flute Quartet in D Major K.285
Luciano Berio Sequenza V for Trombone
A selection of close harmony arrangements

Festival Chamber Soloists including
Charlotte Ashton flute
Matthew Gee trombone
Festival Voices Unleashed

RETURNS ONLY - waiting list held by the Cathedral Shop

Sponsored by Jenny Farr

The Quire is the perfect setting in which to enjoy the Festival’s outstanding string players. Elgar’s Serenade is one of his earliest and most popular works, while Bartók’s Divertimento conjures the spirit of his Hungarian homeland, especially in its gypsy-inspired tunes and rhythms. Tippett’s Lament, based on the famous number from Dido and Aeneas, evokes the music of Tudor and Elizabethan England and is prefaced by Purcell’s original. Tippett’s brilliant Sonata for Four Horns is the sorbet in this feast of string sonority.

Edward Elgar Serenade for Strings in E minor, Op. 20
Henry Purcell Dido’s Lament from Dido and Aeneas
Michael Tippett A Lament from Variations on an Elizabethan Theme
Michael Tippett Sonata for Four Horns
Béla Bartók Divertimento for String Orchestra Sz.113 BB.118

Festival Chamber Soloists
Festival Sinfonia Strings
Jessica Gillingwater mezzo soprano
Jamie Campbell director

Tickets £22
18 years and under £10

Book online at TRCH site

The 31-year-old French composer Olivier Messiaen was captured and imprisoned by the German army in June 1940. Among his fellow prisoners were three other professional musicians – clarinettist Henri Akoka, violinist Jean le Boulaire and cellist Étienne Pasquier. A passage in chapter 10 of the Book of Revelation provides the inspiration for Quatuor pour la fin du temps: “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever ... that there should be time no longer.” Messiaen wrote what has become one of his most important works while in prison and it was first performed with the composer at the piano to an audience of about 400 fellow prisoners and guards. The premiere took place outdoors in the rain in January 1941. Messiaen later recalled: “Never was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension”

Tickets £15
18 years and under £5

Book online at TRCH site

Supported by a private sponsor

The Family Concert, suitable for all children of primary school age, is based on Vivaldi’s popular Four Seasons violin concertos. Members of the Southwell Festival Sinfonia will take you on a journey through some of the most famous and best-loved music of all time. Come early to meet the musicians before the concert starts and take part in a banner-making workshop to create the backdrop for the orchestra. The concert is devised and presented by Ruth Rosales, who runs family concerts with leading orchestras and venues across the UK.

Festival Chamber Soloists
Ruth Rosales presenter

Tickets Free for people aged 12 and under. Everyone else £8
All tickets may be booked in advance. Seats booked on free tickets and not claimed by 10.30 on the day of the performance may be released. Unaccompanied adults are welcome to attend this concert

No further tickets available online, but there are still some at the Southwell Cathedral Shop. Call 01636 812933 or visit in person.

Sponsored by Hockerwood Park

A fun and relaxed event for all the family. Bring cushions.

A unique opportunity for local young musicians to be tutored by visiting professionals of national and international standing. As well as benefiting the performers, the Masterclass provides a fascinating insight into the process of classical music making. If you are a young musician aged 19 or under, are at least Grade 8 standard and would be interested in taking part, please contact info@southwellmusicfestival.com by 28th May with details of your instrument/voice type. Places are limited.

Admission free
No advance booking or tickets

Supported by a private sponsor

This is a chance to visit the Minster’s Historic Chapter Library which houses a wide variety of books donated since the 17th century. A selection of books and manuscripts will be on display, including historic musical scores. Access is up a steep staircase (via the North Quire Aisle) and children are admitted over the age of seven.

Acclaimed by The Telegraph as a pianist of “amazing power and panache”, Clare Hammond is recognised for the virtuosity and authority of her performances and has developed a “reputation for brilliantly imaginative concert programmes” (BBC Music Magazine, ‘Rising Star’). In 2016, she won the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award in recognition of her outstanding achievements. Clare was brought up in Nottingham and played the oboe in the Nottingham Youth Orchestra where she met the trumpeter Marcus Farnsworth. In 2015 Clare made her film debut as the younger version of Maggie Smith’s character Miss Shepherd in the Alan Bennett film adaptation The Lady in the Van.

Franz Joseph Haydn Sonata No. 58 in C major, Hob XVI: 48
Felix Mendelssohn The Bee’s Wedding, Op. 67 no. 4
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (arr. Rachmaninov) Flight of the Bumblebee
Ewan Campbell Flight of the Killer Bee
Claude Debussy Selection from Préludes – Voiles, Feuilles mortes, Feux d’artifice, La Cathédrale engloutie, Les Collines d’Anacapri
Igor Stravinsky Petroushka Suite

Tickets £20 £10 £5
18 years and under £5

Book online at TRCH site

Composer, singer and choral conductor Martin Bussey will explain the background to this highly original 20th century oratorio.

Admission free
No advance booking or tickets
Entry subject to availability

Following his sell-out solo recital last year, the Festival is proud to present the brilliant Sheku Kanneh-Mason playing the most famous concerto in the cello repertoire.

Michael Tippett, a confirmed pacifist who was to become one of Britain’s leading composers of the 20th century, began writing A Child of Our Time on 3 September 1939 – the day Britain declared war on Germany. It was a response to fascism and European disunity – an attack on racial prejudice, bigotry and xenophobia whose message is as relevant today as it was nearly 80 years ago. In a work of originality and great beauty, for which the composer wrote both words and music, Tippett uses five spirituals to underline his message: these 19th-century American slave songs transcend time and place to express the two extremes of the human condition – desolation and hope, and remind us of our common humanity.

Edward Elgar Cello Concerto
Michael Tippett A Child of Our Time

Sheku Kanneh-Mason cello
Susanna Hurrell soprano
Madeleine Shaw mezzo soprano
Andrew Tortise tenor
Roland Wood baritone

Festival Voices
Festival Sinfonia
Marcus Farnsworth conductor

RETURNS ONLY - waiting list held by the Cathedral Shop

Missa Salve Regina by Jean Langlais is the setting for Festival Eucharist: the joyful music of this 20th-century French organist and composer expresses his profound religious belief while respecting and reinventing his musical heritage. An appropriate choice for a Festival celebrating J.S. Bach.

Southwell Festival Voices
Festival Sinfonia Brass
Simon Hogan organ
Marcus Farnsworth conductor

Informality, intimacy, wit and good humour are the hallmarks of our concerts in this 18th century theatre. One audience member has said: “We really valued the introduction to each piece and enjoyed being able to witness the interaction between players”. The programme showcases our virtuoso players and singers, including a chance to get ‘up close and personal’ with the Principal Flute of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Principal Trombone of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Close harmony after the interval comes courtesy of one of the UK’s leading arrangers, and Festival regular, Jim Clements.

Programme to include:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Flute Quartet in D Major K.285
Luciano Berio Sequenza V for Trombone
A selection of close harmony arrangements

Festival Chamber Soloists including
Charlotte Ashton flute
Matthew Gee trombone
Festival Voices Unleashed

RETURNS ONLY - waiting list held by the Cathedral Shop

Supported by a private sponsor

Evensong provides a further chance to hear the wonderful music of Michael Tippett with a rare performance of his Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis written for St John’s College, Cambridge.

Southwell Festival Voices
Paul Provost organ
Marcus Farnsworth conductor

“Offer the Ram of Pride instead of him.
But the old man would not so, but slew his son,
And half the seed of Europe, one by one.”

The pity, brutality and senselessness of war is summed up in Wilfred Owen’s reworking of the bible story of Abraham and Isaac and provides the theme for the first half of this concert. To mark another centenary the second half comprises a narrated performance of Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale: this prototype of 20th-century music-theatre was first performed in 1918. Accompanied by a septet of instruments, it is based on Russian folk tale The Runaway Soldier and the Devil – the parable of a soldier who sells his fiddle to the devil in return for unlimited financial gain.

Claude Debussy Berceuse héroique
George Butterworth Six Songs from A Shropshire Lad*
Stuart MacRae Parable*
Josef Suk Meditation on the old Czech Hymn “St Wenceslas”
Igor Stravinsky The Soldier’s Tale
Festival Chamber Soloists
Marcus Farnsworth baritone*
Simon Cole narrator

Tickets £25 £17 £10
18 years and under £12.50 £8.50 £5

Book online at TRCH site

The glories of Tudor and Elizabethan church music, alongside music by Southwell’s Rector Chori Paul Provost.

The Minster Lay Clerks
Paul Provost conductor

The theme of spirituals at the 2018 Festival – from Tippett’s A Child of our Time to our late night jazz programme – is extended to the Come and Sing with a focus on John Rutter’s Feel the Spirit. This cycle of seven familiar spirituals comprises ‘Joshua fit the battle of Jericho’, ‘Steal away’, ‘I got a robe’, ‘Sometimes I feel like a motherless child’, ‘Ev’ry time I feel the spirit’, ‘Deep river’, and ‘When the saints go marching in’, all arranged in John Rutter’s approachable and effective style. Come and Sing is the chance for amateur singers to be part of the Festival and to perform in Southwell Minster under the direction of Artistic Director Marcus Farnsworth. The music will be rehearsed in the morning and then given an informal afternoon performance.

Members of the Festival Sinfonia
Marcus Farnsworth conductor

Participant fee £15
18 years and under £5

No further tickets available online, but there are still some at the Southwell Cathedral Shop. Call 01636 812933 or visit in person.

Rehearsal 10.00am-1pm
Informal performance 2.00pm

Copies available at no extra cost
Pre-booking essential: no performer tickets available on the door
Informal performance: free attendance with retiring collection. No advance booking or tickets.

A Centenary Tribute to Hubert Parry

Composer, teacher and music historian Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, 1st Baronet, died in 1918. Today his music, which epitomised late Victorian and Edwardian England, is best known from his setting of Blake’s poem ‘Jerusalem’, the coronation anthem I was glad, the choral and orchestral ode Blest Pair of Sirens, and the tune Repton for the hymn ‘Dear Lord and Father of Mankind’. This recital to mark his centenary comprises music, in addition to Parry’s own, by colleagues, friends and pupils, much of which appeared in A Little Organ Book in Memory of Hubert Parry.

Charles Villiers Stanford Installation March
Herbert Brewer Carillon
Walter Alcock Rather slowly
John Ireland Elegiac Romance
Charles Wood Andante
Henry Ley Improvisation
Charles Hubert Hastings Parry Toccata and Fugue “The Wanderer”

Admission free with retiring collection
No advance booking or tickets

Part of the Southwell Minster Organ Recitals series

The glories of Tudor and Elizabethan church music, alongside music by Southwell’s Rector Chori Paul Provost.

The Minster Girls’ Choir & Lay Clerks
Paul Provost organ
Simon Hogan conductor