This programme highlights the depth, vitality and variety of English chamber music at the beginning of the 20th century. For two centuries after the death of Purcell in 1695, England had not produced a single composer of international standing, but the appearance of the Enigma Variations by Elgar in 1899 heralded a glorious period of "English Renaissance", the other major figures of which where Delius, Vaughan Williams and Holst.  These were followed by a whole group of younger composers, and among them the most prominent were Bax, Bridge and Ireland.

Elgar wrote the String Quartet in 1918, at the same time as the Piano Quintet and the Violin Sonata, and just before the Cello Concerto, his last major work. The Quartet, which was first performed by the  Brodsky Quartet at the Wigmore Hall in May 1919, is in  three movements: Allegro Moderato, Piacevole (Poco  Andante), and Allegro moderato. 

Frank Bridge (1879-1941): Phantasy Piano Quartet in F sharp minor (1911)

This programme highlights the depth, vitality and variety of English chamber music at the beginning of the 20th century. For two centuries after the death of Purcell in 1695, England had not produced a single composer of international standing, but the appearance of the Enigma Variations by Elgar in 1899 heralded a glorious period of "English Renaissance", the other major figures of which where Delius, Vaughan Williams and Holst.  These were followed by a whole group of younger composers, and among them the most prominent were Bax, Bridge and Ireland.

Frank Bridge wrote a large quantity of chamber music, and the Phantasy Piano Quartet is one of three works which he wrote for W.W.Cobbett.  A rich amateur musician who wished to revive English composers' interest in chamber music, Cobbett championed the musical form of Phantasy, (or Fantasy, or Phantasie) as a single movement composition capable of embracing the variety of moods and the structural elements of a traditional three or four-movement work.  The Quartet is concise and of symmetrical constructions, in four sections marked as Andante con moto, Allegro vivace, L'istesso tempo, Andante con moto.

Vaughan Williams (1872-1958): ‘Four Hymns’ for Tenor, Piano and Viola (1914)

This programme highlights the depth, vitality and variety of English chamber music at the beginning of the 20th century. For two centuries after the death of Purcell in 1695, England had not produced a single composer of international standing, but the appearance of the Enigma Variations by Elgar in 1899 heralded a glorious period of "English Renaissance", the other major figures of which where Delius, Vaughan Williams and Holst.  These were followed by a whole group of younger composers, and among them the most prominent were Bax, Bridge and Ireland.

Four Hymns for Tenor, Piano and Viola, are the result of the composer's continuing interest in traditional English church music (in 1906 he had edited The English Hymnal).  It was written in 1914, but war cause the cancellation of its first performance at that year's Worcester Festival, and the work was eventually premiered in 1920. 

The four hymns are: ‘Lord! come away!’, words by Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667); ‘Who is this fair one’, by Isaac Watts (1674-1748); ‘Come Love, come Lord’, by Richard Crashaw (1612-1649); ‘Evening Hymn’, translated and adapted from the Greek by Robert Bridges (1844-1930).

Vaughan Williams: ‘On Wenlock Edge’ for Tenor, Piano and String Quartet (1909)

This programme highlights the depth, vitality and variety of English chamber music at the beginning of the 20th century. For two centuries after the death of Purcell in 1695, England had not produced a single composer of international standing, but the appearance of the Enigma Variations by Elgar in 1899 heralded a glorious period of "English Renaissance", the other major figures of which where Delius, Vaughan Williams and Holst.  These were followed by a whole group of younger composers, and among them the most prominent were Bax, Bridge and Ireland.

For the song-cycle On Wenlock Edge Vaughan Williams selected six poems from A Shropshire Lad, by A.E.Housman, published in 1896.  The songs were completed in 1909, soon after a period of three months in which Vaughan Williams had been studying in Paris with Maurice Ravel.  Although the influence of the French composer can be heard in the somewhat "atmospheric" quality of the string writing, the vocal line, with its simplicity and directness, is already typical of Vaughan Williams' maturity.  The work was first performed in the same year, and immediately established the composer as a significant new figure in English music. 

The titles of the songs are:

1. On Wenlock Edge 
2. From far, from eve and morning 
3. Is my team ploughing? 
4. Oh, when I was in love with you 
5. Bredon Hill 
6. Clun