JOHN HOSKING OLIVIA HUNT Organ of St Asaph Cathedral Marcel Dupré Soprano Jo ha nn S eb g a in st sk ia o n H B a n c h h o J ST ASAPH EXPERIENCE SAMUEL SEBASTIAN WESLEY (1810-1876) Choral Song and Fugue
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An d t ré ler HERBERT HOWELLS (1892-1983)Fleu g-E ry Sigfrid Kar BETHANPERCY WHITLOCKGRIFFITHS (1903-1946) XANDER CROFT Harp violin Plymouth Suite St Asaph Experience JOHN HOSKING (organ of St Asaph Cathedral) * OLIVIA HUNT (soprano) † BETHAN GRIFFITHS (harp) § XANDER CROFT (violin) ‡
JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Prelude and Fugue in C major, BWV547 * 10:52 SAMUEL1. I. Prelude SEBASTIAN WESLEY (1810-1876) 5:17 Choral2. II. FugueSong and Fugue 5:35 CRAIG SELLAR LANG (1891-1971) 3. Introduction & Passacaglia in A minor * 9:16 JOHANNANDRÉ SEBASTIAN FLEURY (1903-1995) BACH (1685-1750) 4. Variations sur un Noël Bourguignon * 7:35 LOUISLÉON MARCHAND BOELLMANN (1669-1732) (1862-1897) 5. Ave Maria † ‡ § * 3:58 NICOLAUSJOHN HOSKING BRUHNS ((1665-1697)b. 1976) 6. Toccata in F sharp minor * 4:56 GUILLAUME CONNESSON (b. 1970) 7. Toccata for solo harp § 4:48 LÉON BOELLMANN (1862-1897) FELIX8. Ave MENDELSSOHN verum corpus (1809-1847) † * 3:04 LILI BOULANGER (1893-1918) 9. Pie Jesu † § * 4:19 JOHN HOSKING (b. 1976) 10. In the halls of our patronage † § 3:08 SIGFRID KARG-ELERT (1877-1933) 11. Symphonic Chorale, Op.87 No.3 'Nun ruhen alle Wälder' † ‡ * 19:31 MARCEL DUPRÉ (1886-1971) HERBERT12. Toccata HOWELLS (Symphony (1892-1983) No.2, Op.26) * 6:57 TOTAL TIME: 78:24 PERCY WHITLOCK (1903-1946) Plymouth Suite Music has always played an important role at St Asaph Cathedral, with records of the Cathedral Choir dating back to the 13th century. The composer, Paul Mealor, was a chorister here, as was Felix Powel, who wrote the famous war-time song Pack up your troubles.
William Mathias founded the North Wales International Music Festival at the Cathedral in 1972, which still runs to this day and has attracted some of the biggest names in the classical music industry over the years.
It is wonderful to have four musicians taking part in this recording, who have been associated with the life of the Cathedral in recent years. John Hosking was Assistant Director of Music for 14 years, Olivia Hunt has joined with our choirs for services and concerts as well as performing in our music festival as a soloist, Xander Croft has played in Civic and Rotary concerts, and Bethan Griffiths regularly performs with the NWIMF's resident orchestra, NEW Sinfonia. SAMUEL SEBASTIAN WESLEY (1810-1876) I hope that this recording gives a flavour of the variety of music making that happens within St. AsaphChoral Cathedral. Song and Fugue The Very Revd. Nigel Williams, Dean of St. Asaph
The compositionJOHANN of SEBASTIAN organ music BACH blossomed (1685-1750) in the sixteenth century, and it drew on three traditions: idiomatic keyboard arrangements of existing vocal music (intabulations), dance forms and improvisation, including variations on pre-existing melodies. What was new was the creationLOUIS of MARCHAND abstract pieces, (1669-1732) free from other forms or materials, but again building on the practice of improvisation – the skill of fantasia. There were two basic strands: one built on keyboard figuration and bravura over a harmonic frame; the other based on contrapuntal writing.NICOLAUS Among a range BRUHNS of classifications (1665-1697) and titles, the first strand may be entitled toccata, preludium or intonazione; and the second may be ricercar, tiento or by the later seventeenth century fuga. Either strand may be headed fantasia, for fantasy, the composer’s or player’s imagination is the primary source. These idioms and compositional methods still current, not least in the highly sophisticated art of improvisation that has been a constant in the French organ-playing tradition. FELIX MENDELSSOHN (1809-1847) Improvisation (in a high art tradition, not in the sense of ‘making do’) is part of the skill of any performer, even when the composer has written a highly annotated score. Any musical performance requires the creative integration of the musical material, the player’s skills and temperament, the instrument, and the space and acoustic in which the performance takes place. The process of integration relies on the player’s judgement; and it not only changes from place to place (and in the case of the organ, instruments are very often significantly different), but even in the same place according to a whole series of interacting variables, including the size and character of the audience and the nature of the occasion. This disc represents, in one sense, a frozen moment recorded at one time in one place with one principalHERBERT instrument. HOWELLS It is also the (1892-1983) result of a series of subsequent ‘improvisations’ by recording engineers, editors and CD manufacturers; and it enters a new phase of improvisation wheneverPERCY it is played WHITLOCK – depending (1903-1946) on the person, the equipment, the space and the context. The challenge for John Hosking has been to integrate his reading of a range of contrasting Plymouth Suite scores with the characteristics of a specific organ in a small cathedral, and in some cases with other performers. The challenge for the listener is to accompany him on that exploratory journey and to bring their own imagination into play whatever the circumstances and location.
The background of the emergence of idiomatic keyboard instrumental music (and some Spanish composers advertised their music as suitable for harp or keyboard) is relevant to the repertory heard here. Three pieces are dependent on the principle of variation on existing music material – those composed by Sigfried Karg-Elert, C. S. Lang and André Fleury. All three composers chose genres established in the seventeenth century: chorale prelude, passacaglia and French Noël. The idiom in which they composed was inevitably conditioned by the organs with which they were familiar.
SAMUELAs an assistant SEBASTIAN music masterWESLEY at (1810-1876)Clifton College in Bristol, C. S. Lang was entirely familiar with the richly voiced, four-manual organ by Harrison and Harrison (1911), played daily at the Choralshort morning Song andservice Fugue to accompany the hearty singing of hymns by around 600 boys. It was for this instrument that he wrote his famous Tuba Tune – a piece he was reputedly banned from playing after the service, since the boys rollicked out of chapel when they heard it. JOHANNLater, as SEBASTIAN director of music BACH at Christ’s(1685-1750) Hospital, Horsham, he commissioned a five-manual organ by Rushworth and Dreaper for the school chapel (1929). Finally, he must have taken account of the rather hybrid organ and the acoustic of Worcester Cathedral, where the LOUISdedicatee MARCHAND of the Introduction (1669-1732) and Passacaglia (1952) (Track 3) – David Willcocks – was organist.
NICOLAUSThe core of BRUHNSthe organ (1665-1697)of Dijon Cathedral at which Andre Fleury presided from was built from 1740 – 45 by the Riepp brothers from Ottobeuren in Bavaria, though in a French style. After successive rebuildings in 1787, 1846–48 and 1860, it was remodelled with three (rather than four) manuals and pedal, and with pneumatic action in 1953. His Variations sur un Noël Bourguignon (1959/60) (Track 4) were conceived for an organ that retained some of its French Classical identity, but whose new action allowed complex passagework that would FELIXhave MENDELSSOHN been tough work with(1809-1847) an old and no doubt heavy mechanical action.
Sigfrid Karg-Elert never held a major post as a church organist; rather, it was on the harmonium that he broadcast from his home weekly from 1924. The large German Kunstharmonium engaged his attention from about 1904 in preference to the piano, and his earliest organ works were arrangements from harmonium compositions. He wrote, ‘the Kunstharmonium, with its capacity for expressiveness, its wealth of differentiation of tone and its technical perfection became the instrument which met my highly-strung artistic demands.’ Although the influence of J. S. Bach and Max Reger are present, it is the expressive Kunstharmonium that may most have influenced Karg-Elert’s approach to the composition of the three HERBERTSinfonische HOWELLS Chorale ,(1892-1983) Op. 87 (1911), of which Nun ruhen alle Wälder (Track 11) is the last.
PERCYThe task WHITLOCK facing John (1903-1946) Hosking is to re-imagine these works not only in relation to his own personality but to the single organ on which they are recorded, and the space in which it is Plymouth Suite located. At its core is an English nineteenth-century organ, much changed to achieve the eclectic aspirations of the twentieth century.
The starting point for C. S. Lang’s Introduction and Passacaglia in A minor (Track 3) is Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor. This includes the length and underlying harmonic implications of the theme, and some of the compositional approaches, albeit in the context of a post- Romantic idiom. He will have been used to shaping performances of Bach’s Passacaglia on the Harrison at Clifton and the Rushworth & Dreaper at Christ’s Hospital. Similarly, Fleury’s Noël variations hark back to eighteenth-century models, especially in the initial statement of the Noël, and the texture and registration of the first and fourth variations. The other variations are drawn on the nineteenth-century idioms familiar to his teacher, Eugène Gigout (1844–1925), while the fugal finale demonstrates the panache of the experienced French organist as improviser. SAMUEL SEBASTIAN WESLEY (1810-1876) All three of Karg-Elert’s symphonic chorales are extended, highly chromatic variations. But, unlike theChoral sectional Song registrations and Fugue found in Lang and Fleury, there are constant changes of colour, texture and dynamic within each variation. Unlike his beloved Kunstharmonium with its expressive pedalling, such contrasts require frequent changes of manuals and registration,JOHANN and assume SEBASTIAN the availability BACH (1685-1750)of a Rollschweller (general crescendo pedal). This is not available at St Asaph, though capturing its effect is made easier in a digital age by adjustable piston memory schemes. LOUIS MARCHAND (1669-1732) Nun ruhen alle Wälder (‘Now all the woods are resting’) (Track 11) is a text for nightfall by Paul Gerhardt (1657), using Heinrich Isaac’s melody Innsbruck ich muss dich lassen (1490, adaptedNICOLAUS in 1539 to BRUHNSthe chorale (1665-1697) O Welt, ich muss dich lassen.) Karg-Elert uses only five and two halves of the original nine stanzas. There are six sections with the chorale melody (each with text set out in the score), the second followed by a dramatic, free fantasia section. In the third statement, the work takes on a new dimension (not found in the first two symphonic chorales): the melody is given to a solo violin; then in the fourth the melody is sung by a soprano voice. The fifth and sixth statements combine all three musicians, sharing the choraleFELIX melody MENDELSSOHN between them, (1809-1847) in some cases in combination.
Set against these three variation works are three toccatas – two for organ and one for harp. Two are by French composers; the third, by John Hosking in F sharp minor, (Track 6) belongs in the French tradition, reflecting in part the finale toccata-style found in works like Vierne’s First Symphony, and in its middle section recalling something of César Franck’s three fantasia works entitled Chorale, albeit with an English tinge reminiscent of the best of Percy Whitlock. Marcel Dupré presents a driving, aggressive finale of his Symphony No. 2 in C sharp minor (1929) (Track 12). As Felix Aprahamian has written, ‘The toccata is one of Dupré’s most fiery and telling movements. Its principal theme is hammered out at the start under bare fifths. A featureHERBERT of the movement, HOWELLS and (1892-1983) indeed of the entire work [i.e. symphony], is the chromatic alteration of various degrees of the scale. The resultant augmented intervals give an almost orientalPERCY twist to WHITLOCKsome of the melodic(1903-1946) shapes.’ Although the symphony was conceived for a French organ with ventils to make block changes of registration, Dupré was a regular Plymouth Suite performer in Britain. He gave the first English performance in 1930 on the fine concert organ made by Henry Willis (1875) in Alexandra Palace, south London.
The third of the toccatas, composed by Guillaume Connesson (2003) (Track 7), is a far more delicate and lyrical work filled with harp bravura and engaging cross rhythms. It highlights a particular feature of this anthology: the inclusion of works which set voice, violin, harp and organ in a variety of combinations. Voice and harp alone are required for John Hosking’s In the halls of our patronage (Track 10) (2018), a Welsh englyn written by Hywel Griffiths, but here in an English version by Eurwen Hulmston – a setting whose widely spaced melodic lines give translucence to the text. Voice and organ are heard in the setting of the Corpus Christi text, Ave verum corpus (Track 8). This is the first of the Six Motets that Léon Boëllmann composed in his mid 20s (c. 1877). The apparently simple lyricism belies the compositional subtleties by which Boëllmann (a far earlier pupil of Gigout than Fleury, and his son-in-law) SAMUELavoids the SEBASTIAN sentimentalism WESLEY that might (1810-1876) accompany such a devotional text. Ave Maria (one of Choraltwo settings Song in and the collection) Fugue (Track 5) is the only work in which all four musicians combine. It is characterised by a luxuriant restraint – from the spare texture of the duet between violin and voice after the introduction, to the climax of the petition Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis. JOHANNThe final SEBASTIANensemble piece BACH is the (1685-1750) setting ofPie Jesu (Track 9), a text from the rite of the dead, composed by the young Lili Boulanger in March 1918. It was her last work, dictated to her sister Nadia Boulanger shortly before her death from tuberculosis at the age of 24. It is a LOUISremarkable MARCHAND synthesis (1669-1732)of the French chanson tradition, an exploration of polytonality that went beyond the musical language of Debussy and his contemporaries, and the sacred. NICOLAUSThe original BRUHNS was scored (1665-1697) for voice, string quartet, harp, and organ; in this version for voice, organ and harp: for the most part quartet and organ share the same material.
To leave the earliest work in this anthology to the last may seem obtuse. However, in many respects Bach’s great Prelude and Fugue in C major (Tracks 1 & 2) demonstrates the high point of the artifice of contrapuntal composition based on the improvisatory traditions of FELIXfantasia MENDELSSOHN, which were so (1809-1847) important to abstract organ music from the sixteenth century. No autograph copy survives of this composition, but this has to be a mature work. Some would argue that it may be his last major organ work, composed in the 1740s. It shows exceptional complementarity between prelude and fugue – indeed a primary source, written on two staves by the organist J. P. Kellner (1705–72), gives it the title Praeludium pro Organo pedal. It is in the large-scale harmonic architecture of the old-style pedal-point toccatas, but the structure owes something to Vivaldi’s ritornello principles. The fugue is no less impressive in its climactic shaping but is a contrapuntal tour-de-force where a subject only a bar long is used more intensely than perhaps any other, appearing in over seventy statements. The organs available to Bach at the Thomaskirche in Leipzig fell short of his ideal, but it does not require an organ built in the North German tradition to convey the stature of this work. HERBERT HOWELLS (1892-1983) © 2019, John Harper PERCY WHITLOCK (1903-1946) Plymouth Suite Ave Maria Ave Maria Ave Maria gratia plena Hail Mary, full of grace, Dominus tecum. the Lord is with thee. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, Blessed art thou among women, Et benedictus fructus ventris tui Jesus. and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei Holy Mary, Mother of God, Ora pro nobis peccatoribus, pray for us sinners, Nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Amen. Ave verum corpus Ave verum corpus Ave verumSAMUEL corpus, SEBASTIAN WESLEY (1810-1876)Hail, true Body, natum Choralde Maria Song Virgine: and Fugue truly born of the Virgin Mary mild. Vere passum, immolatum Truly offered, wracked and torn, in cruce pro homine: on the Cross for all defiled, Cuius latus perforatum, from Whose love-pierced, sacred side flowed unda fluxitJOHANN sanguine: SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750)Thy true Blood's saving tide: Esto nobis prægustatum be a foretaste sweet to me in my death's great in mortis examine. agony. O Jesu LOUISdulcis, oMARCHAND Jesu pie, (1669-1732) O my loving, Gentle One, O Jesu Fili Dei et Mariæ. Sweetest Jesus, Mary's Son. Amen NICOLAUS BRUHNS (1665-1697) Amen. Pie Jesu Pie Jesu Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest; grant them Dona eis requiem sempiternam. eternal rest. Amen. Amen. FELIX MENDELSSOHNIn the halls of (1809-1847) our patronage In the halls of our patronage, we share knowledge, we nurture skills in company, re-creating the renaissance to give back to our Wales. Original Englyn: Dr Hywel Griffiths English Translation: Eurwen Hulmston
HERBERT HOWELLS (1892-1983)
PERCY WHITLOCK (1903-1946) Plymouth Suite Nun ruhen alle Wälder All of the woods are now at rest Nun ruhen alle Wälder, All of the woods are now at rest, Vieh, Menschen, Städt und Felder, Cattle, people, towns and fields, Es schläft die ganze Welt. The whole world is asleep. Wo bist du, Sonne, blieben? Where are you now, sun? Die Nacht hat dich vertrieben, Night has driven you away, Die Nacht, des Tages Feind; Night, the enemy of day. Fahr hin! Ein ander Sonne, Go on your way; another sun, Mein Jesus, meine Wonne, My Jesus, my delight, Gar hell in meinem Herzen scheint. Is shining really brightly in my heart. Der Tag ist nun vergangen, Day has now gone, Die güldnen Sterne prangen The tiny golden stars are on display AmSAMUEL blauen Himmelssaal;SEBASTIAN WESLEY (1810-1876)In the blue hall of the heavens; Also werd ich auch stehen, Similarly I shall also be there WennChoral mich Song wird heißen and Fuguegehen When I am called to go by Mein Gott aus diesem Jammertal. My God, away from this vale of misery.
Herz,JOHANN freu dich, SEBASTIAN du sollst werden BACH (1685-1750) Heart, rejoice, you are going to be released from Vom Elend dieser Erden The suffering of this earth Und von der Sünden Arbeit frei. And free from the work of sin. LOUIS MARCHAND (1669-1732) Mein Augen stehn verdrossen, My eyes are weary, Im Hui sind sie geschlossen, In a moment they are closed. WoNICOLAUS bleibt denn BRUHNS Leib und Seel?(1665-1697) Where are my body and soul, then? Nimm sie zu deinen Gnaden, Take them into your grace, Sei gut für allem Schaden, Repair any damage, Du Aug und Wächter Israel. You who are the eyes and guardian of Israel. Breit aus die Flügel beide, Spread out both your wings O FELIXJesu, meine MENDELSSOHN Freude, (1809-1847) O Jesus, my joy, Und nimm dein Küchlein1 ein! And embrace your chick. Will Satan mich verschlingen, If Satan wants to devour me, So laß die Englein singen: Let the angels sing: Dies Kind soll unverletzet sein. "Let this child not be harmed." Nun geht, ihr matten Glieder, Now, exhausted limbs, Geht hin und legt euch nieder, Go off and lie down, Der Betten ihr begehrt; You are ready for bed. Es kommen Stund und Zeiten, The time and hour will come DaHERBERT man euch HOWELLS wird bereiten (1892-1983) When people will prepare for you Zur Ruh ein Bettlein in der Erd. A little bed where you can rest in the earth. Paul Gerhardt PERCY WHITLOCK (1903-1946) © Malcolm Wren, reprinted with permission Plymouth Suite from the Liedernet Archive JOHN HOSKING is Director of Music at Holy Trinity, Southport, following fourteen years as Assistant Director of Music at St Asaph Cathedral. He is also one of the organists for the BBC's Daily Service.
A student at the Royal College of Music, John became Organ Scholar of Westminster Abbey in 1996 and is the only person to ever hold this post for a period of three years. During this time, John played the organ for many Royal and State occasions, broadcast for the BBC and played twenty solo recitals in the Abbey.
In much demand as a recitalist and accompanist, John appears on several commercially available CDs, the most recent being Musick to Heare for the Willowhayne Records label with his duo partner, soprano Olivia Hunt. John SAMUEL SEBASTIANand Olivia WESLEY specialise (1810-1876) in promoting Italian and English song from the 16th and 17th centuries, with a busy schedule of performances throughout the UK. They have been broadcastChoral seven Song times onand the Fugue BBC's Introducing scheme. As a solo recitalist, John made his debut recital at Notre-Dame Cathedral, Paris in 2015 and has played in most of the UK's major venues.
IncreasinglyJOHANN active SEBASTIAN as a composer, BACH John (1685-1750) has completed commissions for Bangor, Chester and Peel Cathedrals, St Martin-in-the-Fields and the Conwy Music Festival. His Requiem was premiered in the 2013 North Wales International Music Festival and his large-scale work, The Seven Trumpets premieredLOUIS in December MARCHAND 2013. (1669-1732) John's new setting of the Requiem, 'Missa pro defunctis' was premiered on the opening night of the 2016 North Wales International Music Festival. The Choir of Selwyn NICOLAUSCollege Cambridge BRUHNS together (1665-1697) with the Ely Cathedral Girls' Choir have released a complete disc of his choral works for Regent Records to critical acclaim. John's largest work for organ, The 14 Stations of the Cross (commissioned as part of Sebastian Thomson's Angels of Creation series) has been released on the Convivium label; this recording was Editor’s Choice in Organists’ Review magazine. His new Toccata for organ is published by Banks Music, with the remainder of his compositions published by Chichester Music Press.
OLIVIA FELIXHUNT beganMENDELSSOHN singing as a(1809-1847) Chorister of Chester Cathedral, culminating her time there as Head Chorister. As a member of the Cathedral Choir, she took part in numerous television and radio broadcasts, both as a soloist (notably the televised Christmas Day Eucharist from the Cathedral in 2009) and as part of the choir. In 2009, Olivia was a finalist at BBC Radio 2’s Young Chorister of the Year competition, singing at St. Paul’s Cathedral. She has studied with Edward Hartwell-Jones, Damian O'Keeffe and has also had a consultation lesson with Dame Emma Kirkby.
Olivia graduated from Manchester Metropolitan University with a First-Class honours degree in Biomedical Science. In 2013 she made her solo debut in the North Wales International Music Festival, returning in 2015 to sing the soprano solos in the Mozart Requiem and 2016 to sing a variety HERBERTof works on HOWELLS the Festival's (1892-1983) opening night. She opened the 2017 Conwy Festival, took the part of Dido in Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, sang the soprano solo parts in Haydn's Nelson Mass and Handel'sPERCY Messiah WHITLOCK and gave a (1903-1946) solo recital in the 2018 Beaumaris Festival. She has also performed solo recitalsPlymouth in Truro Suiteand Bristol Cathedrals. Olivia appears as the soloist in John Hosking's Requiem on the Regent CD All Angels Cry Aloud with the Choir of Selwyn College, Cambridge. She has been broadcast seven times on the BBC's Introducing scheme and interviewed live on the Radio Wales Arts Show.
Olivia was the recipient of the 2018 Worshipful Livery Company of Wales Sickle Foundation Award for services to Welsh music, performing a commissioned work at the Cardiff Senedd in a concert to mark the Diamond Jubilee of the Company. She is also a Verger and Deputy Lay Clerk at Chester Cathedral and sang with the choir for a live broadcast of Choral Evensong on BBC Radio 3 in September 2018.
Olivia has an early music partnership with John Hosking, focusing on Italian SAMUEL SEBASTIANand English WESLEY song (1810-1876) from the 16th and 17th centuries. She has released her first solo disc Musick to Heare with John for the Willowhayne Records label to critical acclaim and they haveChoral recently Song performed and a Fugue concert as part of the London International Exhibition of Early Music.
BETHAN GRIFFITHS is an award winning harpist based in North Wales and London. She gained a First JOHANNClass Honours SEBASTIAN Degree from BACH the Royal(1685-1750) College of Music in 2017, studying with internationally renowned harpist Ieuan Jones. She returned to the RCM for postgraduate studies as an Ashley Family Foundation Scholar and recently graduated with a Master of Performance with Distinction. UponLOUIS completing MARCHAND her studies (1669-1732) she was awarded the prestigious Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother Rosebowl award. NICOLAUS BRUHNS (1665-1697) Bethan's musical training began aged 7 with piano lessons before beginning to play harp aged 10. She later went on to achieve her ABRSM performance diplomas in both harp and piano and since then has performed in various venues across the UK, Europe and the USA both as a soloist and as part of a variety of ensembles. Some of the highlights include performances for HRH The Prince of Wales and making her solo debut in the USA performing in Washington DC, Maryland and live on WCVE NationalFELIX Public MENDELSSOHN Radio, Richmond. (1809-1847) As a keen competitor in Eisteddfods, she has won many awards which includes prizes at the Urdd Eisteddfod instrumental solo, 1st prize in the National Eisteddfod Harp Solo, as well as being chosen as a finalist in the prestigious Blue Riband competition. In 2016 Bethan was awarded the Nansi Richards Scholarship for harpists as well as the RCM Harp Prize. Her most recent success includes receiving 3rd prize in the RCM Concerto Competition in 2019.HERBERT HOWELLS (1892-1983) Bethan has performed with many orchestras across the UK includingPERCY City WHITLOCK of Birmingham (1903-1946) Symphony Orchestra, NEW Plymouth Suite Sinfonia and Young Musicians Symphony Orchestra. This has given Bethan the opportunity to work with world renowned conductors including as Bernard Haitink, Edward Gardner and Rafael Payare. She has performed in many of the UK's most prestigious venues including the Royal Festival Hall, Buckingham Palace, House of Commons, Cadogan Hall, Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, Bridgewater Hall Manchester and Symphony Hall, Birmingham. During her studies Bethan was invited to take part in schemes with the BBC Symphony Orchestra and English National Opera working alongside Sioned Williams, Louise Martin and Alison Martin.
Bethan was awarded the Chester Music Society Award for Young Musicians which enabled her to attend the Suonarte Masterclasses in Italy with Emanuela Degli Esposti and Ieuan Jones. She has since participated in masterclasses with many acclaimed musicians including Sylvain Blassel, Marisa Robles, Claire Jones, Isabelle Perrin, Catrin Finch and Jana Bouskova.
XANDERSAMUEL CROFT received SEBASTIAN a Music WESLEY and Dance (1810-1876) scheme Scholarship in 2011 to study violin and piano at the JuniorChoral Royal Song Northern and CollegeFugue of Music, where he studied with Ulla Benz and Steven Wilkie, with whom he continues to study.
Xander won the Caerwys Young Musician of the Year competition in JOHANN SEBASTIANboth BACH 2014 (1685-1750) and 2015, before going on to win the Rotary International Great Britain and Ireland Young Musician of the year competition in 2016. He has been awarded the Ian McPherson prize, the Rohi LOUIS MARCHAND Gazder(1669-1732) prize for violin, and the Rotary prize for performance by the JRNCM, before being offered the Albert and Eugene Trust NICOLAUS BRUHNS Scholarship(1665-1697) to attend the RNCM. A keen chamber musician, Xander is a member of the Freeman String Quartet. Formed in October 2017, the group became winners of the RNCM Nossek Prize for chamber music in the same year, before being invited to perform in the RNCM Chamber Festival. The FELIX MENDELSSOHNgroup (1809-1847) has performed across the UK and became the first quartet in residence at the South Downs International Summer Music Festival in 2018.
As an orchestral musician Xander has performed in prestigious venues which include the Berlin Konzerthaus, Bridgewater Hall, and Szczecin Philharmonic Hall. He has led both the National Youth Orchestra of Wales and the JRNCM Symphony Orchestra, and also toured with the International Lutosławski Orchestra.
Xander plays a Italian violin made by Mathias Albani in 1702 which is kindly loaned to him by the RNCM, HERBERTand a bow HOWELLS made by L. (1892-1983) Morizot from the collection of Dr Andrew Winter.
PERCY WHITLOCK (1903-1946) Plymouth Suite THE ORGAN OF ST ASAPH CATHEDRAL 1824: William Hill - 1 manual 1846: William Hill - addition of Choir organ and Pedal Pipes 1859: William Hill - addition of Short Compass Swell 1867: William Hill - relocation of Organ 1897: Thomas Hill - Organ rebuilt with 4 manuals and pneumatic action 1966: Hill, Norman & Beard - Organ rebuilt with electric action, detached console and 3 manuals 1998: Wood of Huddersfield - Organ rebuilt and enlarged with 4 manuals and a new oak case
GREAT Flute 4 Double Open diapason 16 Flautina 2 OpenSAMUEL Diapason SEBASTIAN I 8WESLEYMixture (1810-1876) III CHOIR OpenChoral Diapason Song II and Fugue 8 Oboe 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Double Trumpet 16 Stopped Diapason 8 Principal 4 Cornopean 8 Principal 4 Wald Flute 4 Clarion 4 Nason Flute 4 JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH (1685-1750) Fifteenth 2 Twelfth 3 Tremulant Mixture III Fifteenth 2 Tremulant PiccoloLOUIS MARCHAND (1669-1732)2 PEDAL Glockenspeil II Sub Bass 32 SOLO (ENCLOSED) Full Mixture IV Open Diapason (Wood) 16 Quintaton 16 SharpNICOLAUS Mixture BRUHNS III(1665-1697)Open Diapason (Metal) 16 Gamba 8 Trumpet 8 Violone 16 Celeste 8 Tremulant Bourdon 16 Harmonic Flute 8 Principal 8 Harmonic Flute 4 SWELL (ENCLOSED) Flute 8 Clarionet 8 Bourdon 16 Fifteenth 4 Orchestral Oboe 8 OpenFELIX Diapason MENDELSSOHN 8 (1809-1847)Flute 4 Stopped Diapason 8 Mixture IV Vox Humana 8 Viola di Gamba 8 Sarff 32 Tremulant Vox Angelica 8 Trombone 16 Tuba (unenclosed) 8 Principal 4 Trumpet 8
HERBERT HOWELLSThis recording (1892-1983) was made with the generous financial assistance of Professor J & Dr R Solbe and Mr J. A. Fleming PERCY WHITLOCK (1903-1946) Plymouth Suite