Aylesbury Lunchtime Music presents

Oliver Morrell & Will Sims

Print version
21 November 2024

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

Duration: 1 hour (approx.)

St Mary the Virgin, Aylesbury

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

Oliver Morrell and Will Sims

Programme

  • 1877-1953

    Go, lovely rose (Quilter)

    Roger Cuthbert Quilter was known particularly for his art songs. His songs, which number over a hundred, often set music to text by William Shakespeare and are a mainstay of the English art song tradition.

  • 1901-1956

    Oh Fair to See, Op. 13b (Finzi)
    i I say, ‘I’ll seek her side’, ii O Fair to See, iii As I lay in the early sun, vii Since we loved

    Gerald Raphael Finzi is best known as a choral composer, but also wrote in other genres. Unlike previous publications of Gerald Finzi’s songs, Oh Fair To See contains the poetry of six poets: Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, Edward Shanks, Ivor Gurney, Edmund Blunden and Robert Bridges. Robert Bridges’ poem Since We Loved has the distinction of being Finzi’s last before his death.

  • 1890-1937

    In Flanders (Gurney)

    Gurney’s studies were interrupted by World War I, when he enlisted as a private soldier in the Gloucestershire Regiment in February 1915. At the front, he began writing poetry seriously, sending his efforts to his friend, the musicologist and critic Marion Scott, who worked with Gurney as his editor and business manager. He was in the midst of writing the poems for what would become his first book, Severn and Somme, when he was wounded in the shoulder in April 1917. He recovered and returned to battle, still working on his book and composing music, including the song “In Flanders”.

  • 1903-1959

    Four Hardy Songs, Op. 48 (Milford)
    i The Colour, ii If it’s ever spring again, iii Tolerance

    It has been observed that Milford’s writing shows strongly the influence of Vaughan Williams, as might be expected. His use of diatonic melodies, often harmonised with gentle discords, and with false relations occurring occasionally, led Eric Blom (1942) to crystallise these musical traits (also shown by other English composers of the period) as “musical Englishry”. Vaughan Williams once wrote to Adrian Boult, “If I wanted to show the intelligent foreigner something worth doing which could only possibly come out of England, I think I would show him something of the work of Milford…”.

  • 1903-1959

    Four songs with Piano Accompaniment (Milford)
    i Love on my heart

  • 1885-1916

    Is my team ploughing? (Butterworth)

    In 1911 and 1912, Butterworth wrote eleven settings of Housman’s poems from A Shropshire Lad. This is one of them

  • 1872-1958

    Songs of Travel (Vaughan Williams)
    i The Infinite Shining Heavens, ii Whither must I wander?, iii Bright is the ring of words, iv I have trod the upward and the downward slope

    Songs of Travel is a song cycle of nine songs originally written for baritone voice composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams, with poems drawn from the Robert Louis Stevenson collection Songs of Travel and Other Verses.

  • 1877-1946

    The Cloths of Heaven (Dunhill)

    Thomas Frederick Dunhill was a prolific English composer in many genres, though he is best known today for his light music and educational piano works. The Wind Among the Reeds is a 1904 Yeats cycle which includes Dunhill’s best known song, ‘The Cloths of Heaven’.

Performers

  • Oliver Morrell & Will Sims

    Vocal/Piano Duo

    Oliver Morrell is a versatile young musician with a diverse portfolio of performing and teaching. Will Sims is a prominent figure in classical music, particularly as a collaborative pianist specializing in English Song.
    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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