Third Annual Youth Music Showcase

Saturday 10 November sees Music at King Charles' third annual Youth Music Showcase, in which talented youngsters from the area have an opportunity to perform in the concert series. It's especially for those who might be considering taking their studies further than school, or those who are just moving on to university or music college. The event has proved most rewarding for all concerned, and inevitably involves an entertainingly diverse programme.

The concert starts at 7:30pm, tickets costing just £10 on the door.

Our final concert of the season is then the organ recital given by Jonathan Hagger, on 25 November at 5:30pm (free, with a retiring collection).

Duruflé's Requiem: Sunday 4 November

These notes are provided by Michael Bacon, who is the organist for a performance of Duruflé's Requiem at King Charles for All Soul's, this Sunday at 6:30pm. This is a devotional performance in the church's calendar, with no entry charge.

Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986) gained his love of organ music and Gregorian chant while he was a boy in the Cathedral Choir at Rouen. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire before becoming Charles Tournemire’s Assistant Organist at S. Clotilde and he also deputised for Louis Vierne at Notre Dame. In 1930 he was appointed Organist at S. Etienne-du-Mont in Paris, where he remained until his health was ruined in a serious car accident in 1975. Duruflé was Professor of Harmony of the Conservatoire from 1942-1969 and  in great demand as a solo virtuoso, touring Europe and the USA many times. As a composer he was highly self-critical and published very few pieces, every one a superbly written model of its kind.

Although he admired his more progressive contemporaries, such as Olivier Messiaen, Duruflé was an ‘innovative traditionalist’, using old forms and ideas and relatively conventional harmonies. Like most French organists, plainsong was the foundation of his style, and he would have spent many hours improvising on it during Mass.

The Requiem was written over three long holidays, while Duruflé spent time with his mother in Louvier after his father’s death in 1945. He had for many years been working on an idea for a set of pieces based on the plainsong for the Mass of the Dead, and it was while working on these that he gradually heard the vocal lines above them. The piece was published in 1947 in two versions: one using full orchestra and another with organ accompaniment (there is also a later version for smaller orchestra).

There are striking similarities with Fauré’s Requiem – a meditative piece which plays down more wrathful aspects (unlike Verdi, and his cataclysmic Dies Irae) – and both end with a very beautiful setting of the In Paradisum from the Burial Service.

‘My Requiem … is entirely composed on Gregorian themes from the Mass of the Dead. At times I have entirely followed the text, with the orchestral part only coming in to support or comment. At other places I have only used it as a guide, or even left it out altogether – as for example in the Domine Jesu Christe, the Sanctus and the Libera Me. As a general rule, I have above all tried to feel deeply the particular style of the Gregorian themes: and I have done my best to reconcile as far as possible the Gregorian rhythmic patterns, as fixed by the Benedictines of Solesmes, with the demands of the modern bar structure. As for the musical form of each of these pieces, it is generally inspired by the relevant liturgical form.

The Ensemble playing Schubert is The Schubert

On Saturday 13 October, in association with the Tunbridge Wells International Music Festival, we are thrilled to welcome the renowned Schubert Ensemble to King Charles.

Programme:
Butler: American Rounds
Schumann: Piano Quartet
Schubert: Piano Quintet "The Trout"

"To say they play with seasoned eloquence, a unanimity of feeling born of deep communal consideration, is an understatement, for they demand superlatives."

Sunday Times Feb 2011

Tickets: £12.50 in advance from Hall's Bookshop, or box office 01342 851 168 (£15 on the door)

See details of Organ recitals, and all this season's concerts

Rosenkavalier waltzes at King Charles

In a change to the programme for tomorrow night's concert, Nathaniel Vallois and Charles Wiffen will now perform the following:

Sonata in G for violin and piano, op. 96 - Beethoven
Sonata in E flat, op. 81a, Les Adieux - Beethoven
Sonata in G minor - Claude Debussy
Walzer from Der Rosenkavalier - Richard Strauss (arr. Vasa Prihoda)
Spanish Songs - Joaquin Nin

This is a reprise of a recent concert they have staged, and it promises to be great fun!

7:30pm at King Charles the Martyr, TN1 1YX, Tickets £12 on the door or £10 from kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk

Organ series 2012

Three organ recitals by some of the best local players, arranged by Michael Bacon. Each concert starts at 5:30pm and lasts 30-35 minutes. (The evening service follows at 6:30, for those wishing to stay on.)
There will be a retiring collection.

Sunday 23 September, 5:30pm
Andrew Hanley
Andrew Hanley studied music at Bristol University, specializing in 17th-century English music and organ performance. As an academic his work has appeared in several publications, including Dictionary of National Biography and New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. For his MA (Mus) he specialised in the music of a rather obscure 17th-century English composer, Richard Mico. Andrew has been a church organist since the age of 14, and is currently Director of Music at All Saints, Langton Green. By profession, he is a music publisher, currently head of publishing at Edition Peters - before this he worked for the publishing division of Boosey & Hawkes.
His programme will feature baroque, and baroque-influenced music, ranging from Bach to Langlais.

Sunday 28 October, 5:30pm
Luke Navin
Luke is a very promising young player, currently organ scholar at Worth School, Sussex, where he studies both organ and piano. He began learning the piano when he was seven years old and the organ four years later. He has played various concerts at school and elsewhere on piano and organ - a recent highlight being a performance of the Saint-Saëns Organ Symphony in Worth Abbey. His programme will include music by Bach, Vierne and Howells.

Sunday 25 November, 5:30pm
Jonathan Hagger
Jonathan Hagger, has been playing for services at KCM for more than 20 years, gained his ARCM under Richard Popplewell (St Michael's Cornhill and Chapel Royal). He and his wife Anne met when she joined his church choir when they lived in Essex. He has played organs as far apart as Sydney Town Hall and Washington Anglican Cathedral but his favourite instrument is St Sulpice in Paris where he met the celebrated organist Marcel Dupré on several occasions.
His programme will start with a festive section, which will include the popular March from Scipio by Handel. The second half will be more meditative and feature a Mozart clock piece originally unearthed by Gillian Weir and copied by hand for Jonathan, Messiaen's timeless Banquet Céleste, one of Dupré's vespers and the Pie Jesu from the Requiem by Fauré.

Archaeus Quartet open series

Archaeus Quartet 15 September, 7:30pm

Ann Hooley, Louise Bevan - violins

Elizabeth Turnball - viola, Martin Thomas - cello

“Deeply committed performance by the Archaeus Quartet”

-         The Independent

The Archaeus Quartet will be performing as part of the “Music at King Charles” Autumn Chamber Music Series on Saturday 15^th September. This firmly established group will be playing a late work by Haydn, overflowing with melody and musical invention; a group of “Cypresses” by the youthful and impetuous Dvorak: love songs of the utmost tenderness; and the dramatic and exciting “Rasumovsky” op.59 no.2 by Beethoven. An evening’s music making not to be missed!


For booking information email kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk
Tickets may also be purchased from Hall's Bookshop, Chapel Place
Details of all concerts here

Tickets from Hall's Bookshop

We're very grateful to Peter and all the staff at Hall's Bookshop for being a point of sale for tickets to Music at King Charles. You'll find Hall's right next to the church, so next time you are passing you will be able to pick up some tickets from there.

Otherwise, just email us at kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk to place your order.

The next concert is on 15 September.
See: details of all this season's concerts.

Past performers

Looking back over the past few years, we're very proud of the array of talent involved in Music at King Charles. Here is a list of people who have performed here in the last six years.

Adriano Graziani  | Aiso Quartet  | Anthony Zerpa-Falcon  | Archduke Trio | Barbirolli Quartet | Cambridge Taverner Choir | Cantabile | Cellists of the RPO | Charles Wiffen | David Campbell | Daniel Tong | David Owen-Norris | David Maw | Decimus Consort | English Cornett and Sackbut Ensemble | Gilfillan family | Greg Tassell | Guy Johnstone | Jamie McVinnie | Jane Gomm | Jennifer Snapes | Karina Lucas | Kate Semmens | Katie Stillman | Konevets Quartet | Ken Aiso | London Bridge Ensemble | Michael Bacon | Owen Rees | Paul Clark | Paul Jeffrey | Paul Guinery | Raphael Wallfisch | Richard Egarr | Roselyne Martel-Bonnal | Rose Trio | Sara Lois Cunningham | Sarah Stuart-Pennink | Sasha Grynyuk | Simon Lane | Sophia Lisovskaya | Steven Devine | Temenos Chamber Choir | Teresa Caudle | Unexpected Opera

This year's concerts promise to continue the tradition!

Booking open for Autumn series

Booking is now open for the Autumn concert series, 2012.

Four top chamber music concerts for just £35.
Three organ recitals with free entry and retiring collection.
The first concert is on 15 September.
Full concert details here

After celebrating the 400th anniversary of the death of Giovanni Gabrieli earlier this year, the Autumn series at Music at King Charles features a range of highly acclaimed chamber music specialists.  In 2011, the music series was honoured by the Tunbridge Wells International Music Festival with an award for its contribution to the musical life of the area, and we continue to work with the Festival, hosting their opening concert in October.

In this short season of concerts, we feature every number of performers from one to five: solo organists, duos, a piano trio, a string quartet and a piano quintet. We are very pleased to repeat our very successful Young Musicians' Showcase, for which we welcome the very best of the region’s young talent, providing a genuine performing opportunity for gifted youngsters, especially those who may be considering music as a career.

Booking for all four concerts in advance is £14 cheaper than paying on the door. To order tickets, email us at kcmconcerts@blueyonder.co.uk.