Récréation de Musique

Récréation de Musique: Music from 18th Century Paris by Rameau, Leclair, Forqueray and Telemann.
Saturday 14 June, 7:30pm

This concert by Baroque group Follia commemorates the 250th anniversary of the deaths of Jean-Philippe Rameau and Jean-Marie Leclair.

William Summers: Baroque Flute
Diane Moore: Baroque Violin
Ibrahim Aziz: Viola da Gamba
Yeo Yat-Soon: Harpsichord

Tickets: £12.50 (£10 in advance) available by emailing kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk or online via
http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/date/109190.

FOLLIA is a baroque ensemble with a flexible combination of instrumental and/or vocal musicians as appropriate to the repertoire being performed. It is made up of experienced specialists in their respective fields. Programmes are based on specific themes drawing on the fascinating links between the music of each period and the historical context of contemporary thoughts, events and developments in the other arts. The music performed ranges from the early 17th century to the late 18th century.

Yeo Yat-Soon studied at King’s College London and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he won the prestigious Raymond Russell Prize for Harpsichord. Yat-Soon has specialised in baroque opera and has conducted major productions for London Baroque Opera, the City of London Festival and Opéra de Baugé. Yat-Soon works widely as a harpsichordist, performing regularly at the South Bank, Handel House Museum and the Philharmonie in Berlin. He is a member of Follia, The Lovekyn Consort and the Berlin-based Camerata Berolinensis and has broadcast for BBC Radio 3 and Classic FM. Yat-Soon also has a long association with education, having been Director of Music at The Lady Eleanor Holles School and St Paul’s Girls’ School, during which time he conducted orchestras of national repute which toured China and the USA and broadcast for BBC and Channel 4 television.

Pentagon Ensemble 26 April

Saturday 26 April, 7:30pm

Mozart: Divertimento No 4 in D
Martinu: Duo No 1 for Violin and Cello
Bridge: Three Idylls
Haydn: Duo for 2 cellos
Arensky: Quartet for violin, viola and 2 cellos

This tremendous programme is presented by the Pentagon String Ensemble, a flexible string group consisting of players who have performed together for many years. This is their second visit to King Charles.

TICKETS: £12.50 on the door, £10 in advance email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk (no charge for under-18s)

Individually the members have performed as Principal players with orchestras including London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Philharmonia Orchestra, Northern Sinfonia, Halle Orchestra and Strasbourg Philharmonic Orchestra.

As chamber musicians they have collaborated with such artists as Alfred Brendel, Thomas Zehetmair, Ruth Killius, Heinz Holliger, Christian Zacharias, the Soloists of the Philharmonia and the Soloists of the LPO. Previous programmes have consisted of performances from solo repertoire through to String Sextets and they can collaborate with colleagues of the highest calibre to perform larger works or repertoire with piano.

Polychoral masterpieces by Bach, Schutz and Schein

The Temenos Chamber Choir, with the English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble, present Polychoral masterpieces by Bach, Schutz and Schein, directed by Charles Vignoles.

Saturday 1st March 2014, 7:30pm

Following the huge success of their Gabrieli concert in 2012, Temenos and the superb English Cornett and Sackbut ensemble join forces once again to perform double choir masterpieces by Baroque genius Heinrich Schutz. The extraordinary 14-voice motet 'Saul, Saul' and the moving 'Nunc Dimittis' from the 'Deutsches Exequien' are perfectly suited to the lovely galleried interior of the church. At the heart of the programme will be Bach's majestic motet 'Komm Jesu, Komm'.

Tickets: £12.50 (£6 students) from 01959 523765, or visit Hall's Bookshop, or Sevenoaks Bookshop

www.temenos-chamberchoir.org.uk

Series finale 2013

Sunday 24 November 5:30pm
King Charles' organist Michael Bacon ends his journey through the complete Bach organ music - over 300 pieces - with a short recital including the great Passacaglia in C minor.
This is a short recital of around 35 minutes.
Free admission: retiring collection towards the new fund for renovation of the church's Walker organ

Read on

See details of other concerts we have presented this series here

Information about concerts in 2014 will be available soon!

Photos and programme from 26 Oct

Click here to download programme notes from the Stravinsky / Messiaen concert on 26 October

Many thanks to all the performers for a thrilling evening!

"It was wonderful to play the Messiaen in such a special setting, with such an attentive audience" (Tim Gill, cellist)

Audience comments: "Absolutely fantastic concert. Still buzzing from it all"; "we felt privileged to be able to attend such a performance, literally down the road from where we live"; "the best yet at King Charles, and so moving".

The Rite and the End of Time

On Saturday 26 October, at 7:30pm, we provide a rare opportunity to hear two of the most famous and ground-breaking works of the Twentieth Century. This is a concert that has to be experienced!

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for piano duet, played by Anthony Zerpa-Falcon and Jong-Gyung Park

Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time played by Thomas Bowes (violin), Tim Lines (clarinet), Eleanor Alberga (piano) and Tim Gill (cello).

Read more about this concert here.

"The phenomenon of music is given to us with the sole purpose of establishing an order in things, including, and particularly, the co-ordination between man and time." Igor Stravinsky

Tickets: £15 (£12.50 in advance, from Hall's Bookshop or by emailing kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk). No charge for under-18s.

The venue: King Charles the Martyr church is in the heart of the old town in Tunbridge Wells, post code TN1 1YX.

Bach Organ Finale

Sunday 24 November 5:30pm
King Charles' organist Michael Bacon ends his journey through the complete Bach organ music - over 300 pieces - with a short recital including the great Passacaglia in C minor.
This is a short recital of around 35 minutes.
Free admission: retiring collection towards the new fund for renovation of the church's Walker organ

Michael Bacon writes:
"At the beginning of 2006, inspired by my work on Radio 3’s week-long broadcast of the complete works of Bach, I decided to play all his organ music. Why? Because it is the most incredible collection of pieces in the repertoire, not only for the organ, but any instrument. 300 works in all, filling between 19 and 22 CDs, depending on the player.
I have written before of my passion for Bach’s music – not only is it hugely inspired, written with a level of mathematical skill which is comparable to the most complex nuclear physics, it is full of joy and humanity. If you think it is dry, or dull, blame the performer. In fact, that’s why, until that point, I’d avoided playing Bach, knowing I’m not worthy of it. Discussing it with a friend, he said that it was a silly reason not to get to know, close up, some of the very greatest art. So, I took up the challenge, giving myself 10 years to play every piece, in public.
Almost all of this has been at KCM, and I’ve tried to play music appropriate for the liturgical season, and the mood of the occasion. Every single one has needed at least a few days’ work – some several weeks, so I’m glad I gave myself a decade to do it. I’d always planned to finish with the great Passacaglia and Fugue and that is what I’m going to do, just over two years before my deadline.
It’s been wonderful to do, getting to know many pieces that I’m not sure I’d even heard of. The music is so complete, and I enjoyed the challenge of the Trio Sonatas (three independent lines, one for each hand and one for the feet, like three friends playing together)so much that I have (almost) kept my 2013 New Year’s Resolution to play one every day.
I still don’t think I’m worthy, but I do think I’m a better player because of the discipline of having to keep everything clear and controlled. I’ve also been grateful for the interest and support shown by members of the congregation, friends, and colleagues at work and I hope that some of you will be able to share the end of this journey by coming along on 24 November. Admission free. What am I going to do next? No question – do it all again."

Autumn 2013 season

Booking for concerts this season is now open. There's a distinct 20th century flavour to the series, as we celebrate a number of anniversaries. Follow the links for more information. To book tickets, email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk or pop in to Hall's Bookshop on Chapel Place.

Saturday 7 September, 7:30pm Celebration Organ concert to celebrate the church organ’s 75th anniversary.

Sunday 15 September, 3:30pm Babar and the Animal Kingdom - with BBC Radio presenters Peter Barker (narrator) and Paul Guinery (piano)

Saturday 12 October, 7:30pm Rejoice in the Lamb - a Britten anniversary celebration

Saturday 26 October, 7:30pm Messiaen and Stravinsky: The Rite of Spring for piano duet, played by Anthony Zerpa-Falcon and Jong-Gyung Park Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time played by Thomas Bowes (violin), Tim Lines (clarinet), Eleanor Alberga (piano) and Tim Gill (cello).

Sunday 24 November, 5:30pm Organ recital, by Michael Bacon.

Music at King Charles is currently not supported by any grants or sponsorship. Your support by attending these concerts and telling others about them is warmly appreciated.

Messiaen and Stravinsky

Saturday 26 October, 7:30pm

Stravinsky's Rite of Spring for piano duet, played by Anthony Zerpa-Falcon and Jong-Gyung Park

Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time played by Thomas Bowes (violin), Tim Lines (clarinet), Eleanor Alberga (piano) and Tim Gill (cello).  (Tim Gill plays an extract from the Messiaen in this BBC clip.)

As well as being one of the most ambitious programmes put together by Music at King Charles, this is a rare and exciting opportunity to hear two of the most famous and influential works of the last hundred years. While the first performance of Stravinsky's ballet famously started a riot at its first performance, in Paris, Messiaen recalled that at the first performance of the Quartet, "never was I listened to with such rapt attention and comprehension". The circumstances of these two events could hardly have been more different, however. While Stravinsky's work was provocative for a wealthy Parisian audience at the Opera, Messiaen's work was first heard by his fellow prisoners at Stalag VIII-A, the Nazi concentration camp where it was composed.

Messian writes that the Quartet was inspired by words from the Book or Revelation: And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire ... and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth .... 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: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished ....

Tickets: £15 (£12.50 in advance, from Hall's Bookshop or by emailing kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk). No charge for under-18s.

The venue: King Charles the Martyr church is in the heart of the old town in Tunbridge Wells, post code TN1 1YX.