Aylesbury Lunchtime Music presents

Alastair Penman & Jonathan Pease

Print version
19 October 2023

Starts: 12:45pm, Doors: 12:15pm

Duration: 1 hour (approx.)

St Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury

£7 adults on the door (<18s & carers free)

  • Jonathan Penman saxophone
  • Jonathan Pease piano

Programme

  • 1929-2020

    Pequena Czarda (Iturralde)

    Pedro Iturralde was a Spanish saxophonist and composer, who gave his first public performance at the age of just eleven and went on to study at the Royal Conservatory in Madrid. After touring the Middle East and Germany he returned to Spain as the leader of a group of German jazz musicians. His experiments with fusions of flamenco and jazz led him to record several albums, including Flamenco–Jazz. He studied briefly at Berklee College of Music in the United States, and taught the saxophone at the Madrid Conservatory until 1994, while enjoying a career as a performer both in jazz and as a soloist with symphony orchestras. When he was 20 years old he composed the flamboyant Pequeña Czarda for alto saxophone. Originally orchestrated by his brother Javier, it is dedicated to his friend, the saxophonist, Theodore Kerkezos.

  • 1936-2012

    Four Country Dances (Bennett)
    i A New Dance ii Lady Day iii The Mulberry Garden iv Nobody’s Jig

    Sir Richard Rodney Bennett was an English composer well known for his film scores and jazz performances as well as over 200 concert works. This setting of four country dances for soprano saxophone or oboe was written in New York in 2000 and dedicated to saxophonist John Harle and oboist Nicholas Daniel. The dances are arrangements of tunes taken from Playford’s Dancing Master which was a collection of 535 popular tunes for country dancing, published between 1651-1728 and edited by John Playford (1623-1686) amongst others. Richard Rodney Bennett’s arrangements are unmistakably his own, with the piano providing a beautiful accompaniment to these simple English melodies.

  • 1988-

    Soar (Penman)

    Soar is perhaps the first serious composition that I wrote for saxophone and piano. Originally composed for a competition run by the Clarinet and Saxophone Society, Soar also went on to become my first composition published by Saxtet Publications, with whom I now have over twenty publications.

    Soar tells the story of an injured eagle who has been kept in captivity before being released back into the wild. In the opening material we hear the bird lamenting its loss of freedom and voicing its frustration. After this brief introduction, however, we hear the eagle instantly return to its natural state, flying freely and instinctively enjoying dancing in and out of the patterns of the wind whilst it travels on its journey to rejoin its eyrie.

  • 1908-1994

    Prelude et Saltarelle (Planel)
    i Prelude ii Saltarelle

    Robert Planel was a French composer, teacher and violinist and a winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome. After the Second World War he became Inspector General of the City of Paris and in this time he helped to structure the musical training institutes of the city, including co-founding the conservatoires of the Paris Region.

    I believe Prelude et Saltarelle to be one of the most beautiful pieces written for the saxophone and think that it is not as widely recognised as it should be.

  • 1953-

    Light of Sothis (Quate)

    Amy Quate is an American composer who works in a wide variety of musical styles, forms and media and who has published both musical and literary works. Light of Sothis was commissioned for the Seventh World Saxophone Congress held in Nuremberg, Germany, and is dedicated to Debra Richtmeyer, who premiered the work. Light of Sothis has since become a work popular both with professionals and students, setting two beautiful outer movements against the dramatic middle movement.

  • 1862-1918

    Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum, L 113 No. 1 (Debussy)

    Claude Debussy is perhaps one of the most celebrated French composers in history and was one of the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum is taken from Children’s Corner, a set of six solo piano pieces that Debussy wrote between 1906 and 1908 and dedicated to his daughter Claude-Emma.

    I came across Jenni Watson’s wonderful arrangement of Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum when I heard her performing it at the World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb in 2018. I was blown away by both the arrangement and Jenni’s performance and knew that it was an arrangement I wanted to learn and add to my concert repertoire.

  • 1966-

    And Everything is Still (Scott)

    Andy Scott is a British saxophonist and composer equally at home in jazz and classical contexts. And Everything is Still is a beautiful melodic piece showcasing the expressive possibilities of the saxophone. In the words of the composer:

    Inspired by a poem written by Lemn Sissay (taken from his children’s book The Emperor’s Watchmaker), And Everything Is Still… was commissioned by the Royal Northern College of Music & was premiered by Carla Sousa (flute) & Lucy Colquhoun (piano) on 22nd June 2008 in a concert that marked the retirement of the College Principal Edward Gregson. A simple melody unravels alongside delicate harmonic statements, creating a calm and gentle atmosphere.

  • 1833-1866

    Carnival of Venice (Demersseman)

    Jules Demersseman was friends with Adolphe Sax, creator of the saxophone, and wrote some of the first pieces ever written for the saxophone. It was because of his close friendship with Adolphe Sax that Demersseman wrote The Carnival of Venice for one of Sax’s students. Demersseman died at the age of 33 from tuberculosis.

Performers

  • Alastair Penman

    Saxophone

    Hailed as a “pioneering instrumentalist and writer” and praised for his “surpassingly beautiful music” and “undoubtedly brilliant mind”, British saxophonist Alastair Penman is a dynamic and versatile performer and composer, presenting contemporary and classical music in new and exciting ways.

    Read More
  • Jonathan Pease

    Piano

    Jonathan is an accomplished, versatile pianist, who studied with Graham Fitch. He offers particularly developed sight-reading and ensemble skills.

    Read More

Key information for concert goers

When

Every Thursday at 12:45pm (except August & over Christmas). Performances last around 60 minutes. Please enter quietly as there is a noon service in the Lady Chapel.

How much?

Entry is £7 per adult (card or cash), under 18s and carers are free. The price includes a programme. Donations are welcomed to subsidise the larger ensembles.

Where?

Performances are at St Mary’s Church in the heart of Aylesbury Old Town. See directions for further details.

Do I need to book?

No, just turn up. Doors open at 12:15 pm. Make sure you arrive in good time to get a seat.

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