Peter Cigleris (clarinet) and Duncan Honeybourne (piano)

This concert is a celebration of some of the best in English music of the Romantic and post-Romantic eras and brings us up to date with a work from the 21st century by Clive Jenkins.

Peter Cigleris is one of Britain’s premier clarinettists and is in considerable demand as a soloist and chamber musician.  An esteemed chamber player, he has performed with such distinguished musicians as Julian Lloyd Webber, Mark Bebbington and the Tippett Quartet and has appeared in festivals up and down the country and at leading venues in many European countries.  His discography, which has attracted the highest praise, is centred on British music with which he is especially associated. See www.petercigleris.com

Duncan Honeybourne, no stranger to the Lion Ballroom, where he has given many recitals, has a high profile among British pianists.  Following concerto debuts at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, he gave solo recital debuts in London and Paris and internationally in Belgium and Switzerland.  He has since toured extensively in the UK, Ireland and Europe as soloist and chamber musician, appearing at many major venues. See www.duncanhoneybourne.com       

The concert opens with one of Gerald Finzi’s most loved works, his Five Bagatelles, followed by William Alwyn’s single-movement Clarinet Sonata with its dramatic contrasts and beguiling harmony.  Next is a set of short pieces by Malcolm Arnold of varied character and mood and the first half ends with a composition by Clive Jenkins consisting of five short pieces with connections to Plymouth.  Arnold’s vibrant Clarinet Sonatina begins the second half, the energy of the outer movements flanking an elegiac central movement.  Three of John Ireland’s most popular piano pieces are then introduced and the penultimate two-part work is by the unjustly neglected female composer Cécile Hartog.  The concert ends with Ireland’s captivating Fantasy Sonata.

Programme:

Finzi                             Five Bagatelles Op 23
Alwyn                         Clarinet Sonata
Arnold                        Children’s Suite Op 16 (piano)
Jenkins                      Five Pieces for Clarinet and Piano
Arnold                        Clarinet Sonatina Op 29
Ireland                        Daydream; The Towing Path; The Darkened Valley (piano)
Cécile Hartog          Chateaux en Espagne Nos 1 and 2
Ireland                        Fantasy Sonata

Tickets £20 (students in full-time education and carers free) from

Leominster TIC on 01568 616460 and The Courtyard, Hereford on 01432 340555 and online at www.courtyard.org.uk            

Concert promoted by Espressivo and supported by The William Alwyn Foundation