Blog Archives

MUSIC FOR THE MOON AND THE TREES LIVE

Morgan Szymanski, guitar
Tommy Perman, electronics and visuals

Midsummer 2019 and childhood friends, guitarist Morgan Szymanski and experimental musician Tommy Perman took time out in a woodland cottage in rural Scotland to record an album – Music for the Moon and the Trees. Taking sounds recorded in the surrounding woodland – trees, birds, bats – Morgan and Tommy improvised and then the album slowly emerged. The result is delicate, softly spoken, atmospheric. For us, Tommy and Morgan come together afresh to perform a live version of their album with visuals.

SU-A & FRIENDS I

Duncan Chisholm, fiddle
Hamish Napier, keyboards
Donald Shaw, accordion
Su-a Lee, cello & saw

When not on stage with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, cellist Su-a Lee is one of Scotland’s most eclectic musicians, in high demand to partner traditional, contemporary, experimental players throughout the land. You’ll find her in multiple gigs at Celtic Connections or on stage at the Royal Opera House. We invited her to bring some friends along to put on a pair of concerts for ENF and here she’s joined by top fiddler, Duncan Chisholm and multi-instrumentalist/composers Donald Shaw and Hamish Napier for an evening of traditional (and not so traditional) tunes.

HARRY DIPLOCK TRIO

We first heard Harry Diplock playing at Ronnie Scott’s and invited him to Anstruther. Django Reinhardt inspires his music making (he comes to us right after playing at Festival Django Reinhardt in France) and he gives us an early evening set of swinging tunes in the intimate Dreel Halls.

A DOOR TO THE PAST

Once, not so very long ago, the skies above the peaceful village of Crail were dominated by the comings and goings of hundreds of aircraft from Crail Airfield, HMS Jackdaw as it was called. At its peak, the airfield staff was greater than the population of the village and had its own cinema – a building that also served as gym, dance hall, party venue and more: a ‘cinasium’, as it was called. We have come together with Crail Airfield Ltd to reopen its long-locked doors again for one day only, giving visitors a chance to explore and experience a specially commissioned soundscape installation by Dundee-based KINBRAE, inspired by the history of the airfield and its cinasium. Drawing on field recordings, archive, stories and newly written music, this is a chance to discover a forgotten place and a neglected history.

WAYWARD JANE

Wayward Jane are a good time, good feeling, old time-inspired, rootsy folk band. This versatile 4-piece includes fiddle, clawhammer banjo, double bass, guitar, wooden flute and close vocal harmony. They bring shed loads of charm, fun and fine musicianship to the party. Their performances range from high-octane, toe-tapping tunes to tender and soulful songs, always aiming to leave audiences with a glow in their hearts.

CLOSING CONCERT

Pärt: Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten
Bach: Fantasia and Fugue for Organ, BWV 542
Britten: Frank Bridge Variations
Glass: Mad Rush for Organ
Glass: American Seasons

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Isabelle van Keulen, violin/director
Tom Wilkinson, organ

For the first time in a decade, ENF returns to the imposing Holy Trinity St Andrews, home to what has been called ‘the finest church organ in Scotland’. Tom Wilkinson unleashes the full magnificent power and colour of the instrument in JS Bach and Philip Glass as he joins the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and violinist Isabelle van Keulen for this spectacular closing concert. Opening in near silence with Arvo Pärt, the concert closes on an exhilarating high with the thrill of Philip Glass’s response to Vivaldi’s 4 Seasons – his ‘American Seasons’ is a gem.

BELCEA QUARTET & FRIENDS 3

Garth Knox: Quartet for 1
Debussy: Quartet in Gm, Op. 10
Franck: Piano Quintet in Fm

Diyang Mei, viola
Bertrand Chamayou, piano
Belcea Quartet

We love the idea of Garth Knox’s quartet in which the viola plays all the parts – a tour de force that’s as serious as it is comic. Then the Belcea Quartet end this year’s residency playing alone in Debussy before joining Bertrand Chamayou for Franck’s Quintet.

BACH AND BEYOND

J. S. Bach: Suite for Solo Cello in D, BWV 1012 (arr. for viola)
Tabakova: Pirin
Bridge: lament
J.S. Bach/A. Marcello: Oboe Concerto in Dm BWV 974 (Adagio & Presto)
Zubitsky: Karpathian Suite (excerpts)

Belcea Quartet:
Corina Belcea, violin
Suyeon Kang, violin
Krzysztof Chorzelski, viola
Antoine Lederlin

Diyang Mei, viola
Sofia Ros, accordion

A proper one-off Festival treat, this, as some of our finest musicians come together to offer an eclectic and spectacular afternoon of music. Bach is at its heart, both in his own music and in the work of later musicians he has influenced. Sadly we cannot present Ysaye’s sonata as planned, but offer instead a poignant duo for two violas by Frank Bridge.

BELCEA QUARTET & FRIENDS 2

Debussy: 2 Preludes: La cathédrale engloutie & La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune

Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit
Ondine
Le Gibet
Scarbo

Bertrand Chamayou, piano

Brahms: Sextet No. 2 in G, Op 36

Belcea Quartet
Diyang Mei, viola
Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello

Brahms may have concealed a sorrowful love story in his second sextet: one motif represents the woman he almost married…and then didn’t. It opens with a tenderly ethereal whisper and ends with some of the most exhilarating music he ever wrote. Chamayou, perhaps the leading French pianist of the moment, offers a selection of Debussy solo piano music before the interval.