The Gildas Quartet bring music by three of the great composers of string quartets when Bath Recitals resumes its 2021 season on 3 July… 

Gildas Quartet: String Quartet Classics
Saturday 3 July 7.30pm
St. Michael’s Church, Broad Street, Bath BA1 5LJ

Mozart String Quartet in C Major K465 The Dissonance
Britten String Quartet No 2 in C Major Op 36
Dvořák String Quartet in F major, Op 96 The American Quartet

This concert spans three centuries, each defined by the life and work of a distinctive composer. Each one pushed the musical boundaries of their time whilst bringing their own unique voice to this timeless and versatile ensemble of two violins, viola and cello in this dynamic and hugely enjoyable programme.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
String Quartet in C Major K465 The Dissonance

Quintessentially 18th century yet streets ahead of his time with the dark and mysterious opening soon dispelled by the sunny C major brightness of the Allegro, possibly one of the most joyous moments of the string quartet repertoire.

Antonín Dvořák
String Quartet in F major, Op 96 The American Quartet

This Czech composer was one of the first to achieve worldwide recognition by the end of the 19th century. Inspired by the tradition of folk music from his native Bohemia and Moravia he developed a truly national idiom which continues to captivate to the present day. 

Benjamin Britten
String Quartet No 2 in C Major Op 36

Evocative of the composers home turf of Suffolk, Britten’s music opens up a landscape of sound evocative of the open skies and seas of that unique landscape. This quartet also looks back 250 years to honour the music of another British composer, Henry Purcell.

‘Stunning, exquisite playing, beautiful…we’re running out of superlatives.’

The Strad

PLEASE NOTE: This event will be run in compliance with government guidelines. This will be a socially distanced event for both performers and audience. Audience capacity is therefore limited and tickets are only available in advance online.

Please check our website for the latest updates.

This concert is kindly supported by:

Bath Recitals’ 2021 season resumes on 3 July celebrating the classical String Quartet with the Gildas String Quartet… 

The Bath Recitals team look forward to welcoming you back to St Michael’s with this fantastic summer evening concert. Featuring music spanning three centuries by three of the great composers of string quartets – Mozart, Britten and Dvořák – this concert promises to be a feast of some of the most exciting music for this genre:

Mozart String Quartet in C Major K465 The Dissonance
Britten String Quartet No 2 in C Major Op 36
Dvořák String Quartet in F major, Op 96 The American Quartet

‘Stunning, exquisite playing, beautiful…we’re running out of superlatives.’

The Strad

The video below is introduced by second violinist Gemma Sharples as part of one of their ‘Surround Sound’ sessions. As winners of the Special Prize for Audience Engagement at the 10th International Chamber Music Competition, this really does convey the Quartet’s passion for performing this wonderful music:

PLEASE NOTE:This event will be run in compliance with government guidelines. This will be a socially distanced event for both performers and audience. Audience capacity is therefore limited and tickets are only available in advance online.

Please check our website for the latest updates.

This concert is kindly supported by:

In advance of restarting our concert series later this year, we look back at how artists who performed in the early years of Bath Recitals have gone on to develop successful international musical careers.

This month we take a look at the amazing Japanese concert pianist and Steinway artist Aisa Ijiri…

Watch Aisa talk about a day in her life as a Steinway Artist:

‘A special talent whose European sophistication, fierce passion and poetic sentiment create an artistic atmosphere’

The Record Geijutsu, Tokyo

Aisa appeared with Bath Recitals in 2010 and again in 2011 – then the Bath Recitals Artists’ Trust. Her recital at the Pump Room included music by Schumann Chopin, Beethoven Debussy and Liszt.

Ten years on and Aisa is now an established and award-winning pianist. Her sensational debuts such as at the Carnegie Hall, New York in 2017 is just one of the high profile performances she now gives regularly across the globe including the USA, UK, Korea, China, Europe and working with some of the world’s greatest orchestras and conductors.

Now based in Sweden, Aisa’s diverse repertoire includes recordings and premieres such as commissions by Llywelyn ap Myrddin  featured on BBC Radio 3, and the 2019 world premiere of a new single ‘Until We Meet Again’ by Hollywood film composer Martin Tillman.

Aisa is a graduate of the Kungliga Musikhögskolan in Stockholm, the Guildhall School of Music & Drama  and the Royal College of Music, London. In 2018, she was appointed Honorary Representative for the Royal College of Music, London.

She is also now an official Steinway Artist and the Artistic Director of the Tokyo International Piano Association in Japan and Italy’s Montecatini Piano Festival.

Since it was established in 1981, Bath Recitals has staged over 600 concerts and events featuring emerging young professional musicians – many from leading conservatories both from the UK and abroad.

Bath Recitals provides an essential platform in the musical world, enabling the best of our future musicians to rise successfully to the top of their professions. 

PLEASE HELP US TO GIVE A PLATFORM TO TOMORROW’S MUSICAL STARS BY JOINING AS A FRIEND OR MAKING A DONATION

It’s going to be a very different Christmas for us all this year. But if we had lived in the 17th century it could have been a lot worse, as Tamsin Lewis of Passamezzo explains…

Bath Recitals is hugely grateful to all those who have supported us through this difficult year by becoming friends or making donations.

As we enter 2021 we look forward with confidence to an action-packed series of concerts from May onwards with Strings Quartets and Piano Trios, gems of the High Baroque, a Summer Serenadewith violin and piano and culminating in Old Christmas Restored performed by the early music group Passamezzo.

And if you’ve been watching some of Lucy Worsley’s excellent BBC TV history and documentary programmes you may have noticed the musicians from Passamezzo in A Merry Tudor Christmas. It is well worth a look as Lucy explores how Christmas was celebrated during the age of Henry VIII – eating, drinking, singing, dancing and partying.

You can still watch it on BBC iplayer.

Everyone at Bath Recitals wishes you a very happy and peaceful Christmas with a wonderful New Year ahead!

Bath Recitals’ founder and now President Tom Clarke usually marks our September concert with a celebratory concert and a giant cake. The Covid-19 pandemic has changed so much in the Arts – and no concert means no cake which is especially regrettable as it’s Tom’s 70th birthday!

We wish him a very happy day and will defer celebrations until next year which marks the organisation’s 40th anniversary.

What better way to say Happy Birthday Mr President than to show your support for the valuable work of Bath Recitals as a Friend…

Tom has been a colourful and prominent figure in the cultural life of the city for 40 years and since the 1980’s has staged 556 ‘shows’ (as Tom likes to call them). This has had a hugely positive impact on the cultural scene in the city as well as providing a valuable platform for young professional musicians.

The son of a Yorkshire coal miner, Tom studied at the Royal Academy of Music with Michael Head. After being awarded an LRAM and ARAM he gained a fellowship from Trinity College of Music for a research FTCL in 1976. 

“In the midst of the current pandemic it is now harder than ever for young musicians to make a living. I believe that the work we do through Bath Recitals helps support our musicians of tomorrow.”

Tom

Tom came to Bath in 1980 with David Gregory to found Connaught College and the Bath Georgian Festival Society giving a platform to young professional musicians. This evolved into Bath Recitals to focus more on smaller scale chamber events and to give even more support for emerging artists.

More than ever we need your support and from just £30 a year you can help ensure Bath Recitals continues to thrive. By becoming a Friend of Bath Recitals you can enjoy our concerts knowing you are supporting our valuable work with young British musicians.

Why Join?

* BACKING YOUNG BRITISH MUSICIANS
By joining as a Friend you are helping us to give a platform to young British musicians

* FREE PROGRAMME
Enjoy a complimentary programme at each concert

* PRIORITY SEATS
Never worry about where you will be sitting again

* ACKNOWLEDGEMENT IN PRINT/ONLINE
Your support acknowledged (if you wish)

* ANNUAL FRIENDS CONCERT
Enabling us to stage the annual Friends concert for rising young musicians

Support us more?

Would you be able to support us more through an extra donation, sponsoring a concert or remembering us in a legacy? 

You can make a donation online or get in touch if you would like to talk more about how you can support our valuable work.