Arcadia 2022 - ‘Cornucopia’

Dear Friends

Eleanor and I are thrilled to bring you a full Arcadia this year, one that is bursting with heart and life.
Perhaps we should call it ‘Cornucopia’ – a horn of plenty, as there are so many riches here.
And we pass an important milestone as we have now become a charity.
To mark this there is a fun Fund-raising event on 3rd Sept. Details here 

We were so moved by the euphoric reaction to last year’s Beethoven Razumovsky project and have felt able to push this idea a step further. Three independent string quartet groups have been working on three of the greatest 20th century works in this medium – Bela Bartok’s quartets 2, 3 and 5 from his six string Quartets. Written at crucial stages across a lifetime of searching and crystalising, these works will not only be performed, but examined and carefully explained.

With so many string players involved we had the obvious opportunity to perform that evergreen of youthful genius, Felix Mendelssohn’s Octet; and there are two chances to catch this work’s most infectious wave of exuberance.

Eleanor’s two works ‘On a Bat’s Back I do Fly’ and ‘Dancing with the Shadow’ will feature large ensemble forces in the biggest space of St Laurence’s in Ludlow. The former is a fantastical Nocturne and inhabits the world of Ariel from Shakespeare’s The Tempest, while the latter is a searching examination of our dual natures and the accommodation of our ‘shadow’ selves.

Add to all of this, four quartets, a quintet and a duo by that talented lad from Salzburg (Mozart) as well as some delights from perhaps history’s most prolific composer (Telemann) and our cup really is overflowing.
And all of this is brought to you with a myriad of star instrumentalists.
Let the festivities commence!

Wednesday 5^th October at 7.00pm

Taster Event  The Sun Inn, Rosemary Lane, Leintwardine, SY7 0LP

Thursday 6th October at 7.00pm

The Parish Church of St. Michael and All Angels, Kingsland, HR6 9QW

Telemann : Sonata for Flute and Violin (7’)
Mozart: ‘Prussian’ Quartet K.589 (25’)
Mozart : Flute Quartet K. 285 (15’)
Bartok: Quartet no 2 (28’)

Friday 7th October at 7.00pm

St. Laurence’s Church, Church Street, Ludlow SY8 1AN

Mozart: Quintet for Horn and strings K. 407 (horn, vln, 2 vlas, cello) (18’)
Alberga: Dancing with the Shadow (fl, cl, vln, cello, piano, perc.) (25’)
Alberga : On a Bat’s Back I do Fly (fl, cl, hn, vln, cello, piano, perc) (14’)
Mendelssohn : Octet  op 20 (4 vlns, 2 vlas, 2 cellos) (32’)

Saturday 8th October at 7.00pm

Church of St. Mary Magdalene, Leintwardine Herefordshire SY7 0LB

Mozart: ‘Prussian’ Quartet K.590 (24’)
Bartok: Quartet no 3 (16’)
Telemann: Concerto for 4 violins in D TWV 40:202 (7’)
Mendelssohn: Octet op. 20 (4 vlns, 2 vlas, 2 cellos) (32’)

Sunday 9th October at 3.00pm

Church of St. Giles, Downton on the Rock, SY8 2HU

Mozart: Duo for violin and viola K 423 (18’)
Mozart: ‘Prussian’ Quartet K. 575 (24’)
Bartok: Quartet no 5 (32’)

This Year's Ensemble Arcadiana:

Artistic Directors: Eleanor Alberga and Thomas Bowes

Flute: Karen Jones
Clarinet: Jon Carnac
Horn: Richard Watkins
Piano: Junyan Chen
Percussion: Julian Warburton
Violin: Thomas Bowes, Magnus Johnston, Patrick Kiernan, Oscar Perks, Jacqueline Shave, Ricky Gore
Viola: Hannah Shaw, Elliott Perks, Ralph de Souza
Cello: Tim Gill, Robert Irvine, Leo Popplewell
Conductor: Thomas Kemp