Category Archives: 1066 News

Prince Regent’s cello heads to Brighton Dome for special concert

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311-year-old instrument to be played at Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra concert.

A cello once owned and played by the Prince Regent, later King George IV, is to feature in Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra’s November concert at Brighton Dome. The instrument, made in Naples in 1704 by Alessandro Gagliano, was allegedly given to George as a gift by the King of Spain. Considered a “very superior” player of the cello, the Prince Regent studied with the leading cellist of the day, John Crosdill, with the instrument itself kept at the Royal Pavilion.

Whilst little is known about Gagliano, the instrument itself was the subject of an article titled ‘Fit for a king’ by John Dilworth in The Strad in 1997. Dilworth wrote that the instrument ‘has a living quality which changes with the light, the season and the time of day’ and describes the wood, workmanship and tone as being of ‘the highest order, a level which Gagliano did not always maintain’.

The cello may have been one of the number of instruments in the possession of the Royal Family that were sold around 1913 as a contribution to the war effort. It came into the possession of Hills of London, who restored the instrument and retained it in their collection until it was bought in 1941 by Boris Rickelman, Principal Cellist with the London Philharmonic. Since then it has been in the hands of a number of players.

The instrument heads back to Brighton courtesy of the exciting young cellist Gemma Rosefield, who joins Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra on Sunday 8 November 2015 to perform Tchaikovsky’s “Variations on a Rococo Theme”. The concert starts at 2.45pm, with a pre-concert interview with Gemma on stage taking place at 1.45pm. In addition to the “Rococo Variations”, the programme includes Elgar’s “Sanguine Fan” and Schubert’s “Symphony No.9 – the Great”.

Sussex University Organ restored

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A Lunchtime recital offers the first opportunity to hear the Meeting House organ after major refurbishment

Sussex Uni organ

A lunchtime recital this week offers the first opportunity for students and staff to hear the iconic Meeting House organ being played after a major refurbishment. It also marks the appointment of D’Arcy Trinkwon, an international concert organist and the organist at Worth Abbey in West Sussex, as the University’s new organist. Mr Trinkwon’s first concert in the Meeting House chapel – a varied programme including Mozart’s Fantasia in F minor – will be on Wednesday (28 October) at 12 noon. Monthly recitals will then take place on the last Wednesday of each month – with the exception of December, of course.

This summer’s overhaul of the organ – the most comprehensive since it was made nearly 50 years ago – involved several months’ work by expert specialists, who painstakingly removed and cleaned each of the 1,546 pipes and replaced the original 1960s wiring and electrical equipment.

Paul Hale, an organ consultant who advised the University on the project, describes the instrument as “a modern organ but inspired by historical sounds”, and adds: “It is one of the leading instruments of its period but now brought up to date.”

A cutting-edge wireless console (one of only two in the country) and MIDI system has been installed, which means, says Mr Hale, that the organ will “deal better with the uses it might be put to as music technology develops”. For example, the organ can now also be used to play any other instrument, so it would be possible to have a piece for organ and other sounds. Even before the latest enhancements to the instrument, it was considered by experts to be an excellent example of the school of neo-classical organ design and construction in Britain. “It is particularly important as the number of completely new organs made in this style was small,” explains Mr Hale.

Some of the organ’s visually striking features (including plate-glass enclosures with a black metal framework, as well as the black finish to the organ console) have been commented on by observers and constitute part of its iconic and now historic significance.

If you would like to see and hear the organ in its resplendent new state, do come along to Wednesday’s debut recital – and feel free to bring your lunch, too. The organ will of course also play a central role in the annual Carols by Candlelight, to be held this year on Sunday 6 December. In addition, a number of organ concerts and other events are being planned for 2016, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Meeting House.

And now that the historic organ has been brought into the 21st century, Mr Hale expects it to require nothing more than routine tuning for a further 30 years. In fact, he predicts that the renovation will “enable the instrument to perform reliably and musically for the next 50 years”.

 

 

Brighton Festival Chorus

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Brighton Festival Chorus is running a Come & Sing Day on Saturday 10th October, where music director James Morgan will lead a day of rehearsing Brahms – A German Requiem followed by a performance in the evening.  The workshop and performance will take place at St George’s Church in Brighton.

Brahms, A German Requiem
10.30 am – 5.00 pm: Workshop
6.00 pm – 7.15 pm: Performance
St George’s Church, 24-25 St George’s Road, Brighton BN2 1ED
Conductor: James Morgan

£10 to attend the workshop and sing in the performance
£10 to watch the performance

Soprano and baritone soloists to be confirmed

For further details, and to book a place, please visit the BFC website at www.bfc.org.uk/forthcoming_performances.htm.

Waterloo Day Celebrations

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WATERLOO DAY     SATURDAY 20 JUNE 2015 

COMMEMORATING THE 200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO AND THE KING’S GERMAN LEGION IN BEXHILL

Manor Barn, De La Warr Road, Bexhill Old Town TN40 2JA

12.00 to 18.00  –   Free Admission

THROUGHOUT THE DAY: –

  • HANDS ON HISTORY – ‘living history’ activity and equipment,
  • Exhibition of military equipment, model of battlefield, information on King’s German Legion and historical context, recorded music.
  • Refreshments

EVENTS IN MANOR BARN

From 12.00    Soldiers Lunch – Soup and roll

13.00   Slide Show   ‘Bexhill and Kings German Legion’ – Peter Cole

14.00   FORMAL OPENING CEREMONY

by Duke of Wellington & Napoleon Bonaparte

From 14.30   Cake and mug of tea

14.45 – 15.15    DVD screening, Part 1: the approach to Waterloo

15.30 – 16.10    CONCERT featuring the NEW SCORPION BAND

‘FROM BEXHILL TO WATERLOO’

Act 1, The Story of the King’s German Legion in Bexhill 1804 – 1814

16.30 – 17.00    DVD screening  Part 2: The Battle of Waterloo

17.20 – 18.00    CONCERT   Act 2, The KGL at Waterloo

Waterloo Day is organised by the Bexhill Hanoverian Study Group.  Manor Barn is sponsored by the Bexhill Old Town Preservation Society; visit their exhibition at nearby Barrack Hall.

Information / Enquiries:  John Dear   jdear@outlook.com

And   www.bexhillhanoveriankgl.co.uk

Brighton Schools & Brighton Festival Chorus celebrate MAGNA CARTA

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On 11th June at Brighton Dome, 125 students from five schools in Brighton & Hove will join Brighton Festival Chorus, Brighton Festival Youth Choir and City of London Sinfonia, in a concert to commemorate the 800thanniversary of the sealing of Magna Carta, and a reminder of its relevance to us today as a landmark and beacon of civilised society.  The first half of the concert will be the world premiere of Invictus – Cantata for Liberty, composed by BFC Music Director James Morgan and Juliette Pochin, which uses poems and texts from Kipling to Emily Dickinson on the themes of justice, liberty and freedom.  To add to the excitement of this unique family-friendly event a dramatically adapted version of Mozart’s Requiem with an excerpt from ‘Amadeus’ will be performed in the second half of the evening’s programme.

James Morgan conductor
Brighton Festival Chorus
City of London Sinfonia
Brighton Festival Youth Choir
Brighton and Hove Community Youth Choir (approximately 125 Year 7 and 8 students from local schools: Hove Park, Woodlands Meed, Cardinal Newman, Brighton Aldridge Community Academy and Varndean)

Thursday 11 June, 7.30 pm
Brighton Dome Concert Hall
Tickets £10 – £20 with a range of discounts
Family Tickets available
More info and buy tickets here