THE great nephew of English writer and eccentric Edith Sitwell will present an unconventional composition on which she collaborated with Sir William Walton to conclude the North York Moors Chamber Music Festival.
On August 25, food writer and critic William Sitwell will be joined by BBC Radio 4 newsreader and presenter Zeb Soanes to perform Façade: an entertainment that incorporates Edith Sitwell’s verses set to Walton’s music. William Sitwell will introduce the 5pm recital at St Hilda’s Church, West Cliff, Whitby, with a talk about his great aunt.
This Suites & Scenes concert also will feature Eggs Or Anarchy, a companion piece to Façade by Ben Palmer, artistic director of Covent Garden Sinfonia, based on William Sitwell's account of how Minister of Food Lord Woolton fed the nation during the Second World War.
William Sitwell is the grandson of Edith Sitwell’s brother, Sacheverell. Together with their brother Osbert, the pair spent many summers at the Sitwell family’s home in Scarborough, Woodend, where Edith was born in 1887.
Cellist Jamie Walton, the festival's artistic director, says: "We’re absolutely thrilled to be welcoming William Sitwell and Zeb Soanes to this year’s festival. Façade is a truly unique and highly original work, which was written to complement Edith Sitwell’s remarkable and experimental verse.
"This is bellowed into a Sengerphone alongside the jazz band behind a large painted screen, which we commissioned from artist Catriona Stewart. If you think that sounds off the wall, then it has to be seen to be believed! I can’t think of a more extraordinary way to celebrate the festival's tenth anniversary."
The fortnight-long North York Moors Chamber Music Festival invites world-class musicians to perform in 11 concerts in churches across the North York Moors. This year, the focus falls entirely on British composers, such as Walton, Michael Tippett, Kenneth Leighton, Edward Elgar, Frank Bridge and Henry Purcell.
Among the musicians taking part are The Oculi Ensemble, led by violinist Charlotte Scott; violinist Roman Mints, founder of the Homecoming Chamber Music Festival in Moscow; Swiss violinist Rachel Kolly d’Alba; rising young pianist Luca Buratto and international pianist Katya Apekisheva.
Performing too are English National Opera mezzo-soprano Anna Huntley, who was born in Yarm, on the edge of the North York Moors National Park, and lute virtuoso Matthew Wadsworth, the first sightless student to attend the Royal Academy of Music.
Upcoming concerts include Illumination at St Aidan's Church, Boosbeck, tomorrow at 7pm, featuring Tippett's Overture to Robin Hood, Britten's Les llluminations, Walton Sonata for Strings, Dowland's Go Crystal Tears, Flow My Tears and Purcell's Music For A While; When I Am Laid In Earth.
North York Moors Chamber Music Festival founder and artistic director Jamie Walton
Tippett's piece will be receiving its first performance in more than 80 years. “I’ve chosen all British composers this year, as people often ask me to feature more British music,” says Walton. "We’re particularly thrilled to be presenting Tippett’s overture to his opera, Robin Hood, in the village where it was written in 1934, Boosbeck, near Saltburn.
“Tippett lived in Boosbeck with his partner in the summers of 1933 and 1934, providing musical activities at work camps for unemployed ironstone miners set up by a local family, the Pennymans.
“In 1933 he arranged an abridged version of The Beggar’s Opera for the miners to perform. It was hugely successful, so the following year he wrote the music for a new folk opera for them, Robin Hood, based on the traditional stories but with a subtext commenting on the difficulties faced by the unemployed miners.
“It’s a little-known episode in the life of a great British musical pioneer, who was nearly as passionate about politics as he was about music, and we’re delighted to be reviving part of it this year."
Saturday's Polyphony concert at 7pm at St Hedda's RC Church, Egton Bridge, will present works by Tippett, Goss and Vaughan Williams, and Sunday's Ayres programme at St Hilda's Church, Danby, at 2pm will comprise songs for lute, theorbo and soprano by Dowland, Johnson, Campion and Purcell.
On Monday, the Nightfall concert at St Stephen's Church, Fylingdales, at 7pm will bring together Tippett's String Quartet No 1, Adès' The Four Quarters, Vaughan Williams' Nocturne and Phantasy quintet and Imogen Holst's String Quintet.
Wednesday's 2pm programme, Silent Noon at St Hilda's Priory, Sneaton Castle, will combine Tippett's Piano Sonata No 1 and Caliban’s Song with Vaughan Williams' The House Of Life. That evening, at 7pm at the same location, At The River will turn the spotlight on Bax's Piano Quintet in G minor, Leighton's Fantasy On An American Hymn Tune, Clarke's Dumka and Bridge's Phantasy Trio No 1 in C minor.
Refrains & Choruses, at St Oswald's Church, Lythe, on August 24 at 7pm, will feature works by Knussen, Imogen Holst, Melinda Maxwell, Gustav Holst and Arnold, as well as Birtwistle's Refrains and Choruses.
Tickets can be booked at bookings@northyorkmoorsfestival.com, on 07722 038990 or via northyorkmoorsfestival.com
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