String Quartets and Poetry

The villiers quartetwith Lucy Cox, soprano and Jaysol Doy, readerAn afternoon recital celebrating the mutual influence of music and poetry, with a programme of works for string quartet and soprano interspersed with readings.Tea and cake will be served
After the concertBeginning with the first Razumovsky quartet (op.59 no.1) by Beethoven, whose music inspired a sequence of tender lyrical poems by Ruth Padel, the concert will include rediscovered works by Ailsa Dixon and William Alwyn's String Quartet no.9, an intimate, expressive tone poem inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Introducing highlights from their recent recording of Ailsa Dixon's chamber music, the Villiers Quartet will be showcasing works including the atmospheric string quartet Sohrab and Rustum, inspired by Matthew Arnold's narrative poem, and The Spirit of Love: 3 songs for soprano and string quartet featuring settings of A E Housman's 'From far, from eve and morning' and F W Bourdillon's 'The night has a thousand eyes'. Described as 'a stunning find', the songs have become a favourite with audiences since they were premiered after the composer's death in 2020, when a review for the British Music Society concluded 'at the end of the concert there was a feeling that something special had just occurred'.Tickets 20 in advance online or 25 on the doorThis concert is generously supported by the Vaughan Williams Foundation.The Villiers Quartet, founded in 2011, have established a reputation as outstanding interpreters and champions of British music. Hailed for their extraordinary 'commitment and virtuosity' (The Sunday Times) and 'exquisite ensemble playing' (Seen and Heard International), they are the quartet in residence at the Jacqueline du Pre concert hall in the University of Oxford. In addition to live broadcasts on BBC Radio 3 and on Netherlands public radio from the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, international appearances include masterclasses in the USA, and a tour of California with programmes of music by British composers. Their innovative recordings include revivals of music by William Sterndale Bennett, William Alwyn and Ailsa Dixon, and in 2020 they premiered rediscovered movements from the 1888 quartet by Delius to great acclaim.Lucy Cox (soprano) read music at Oxford University before winning a scholarship for postgraduate studies at the Schola Cantorum in Basel, Switzerland. A former Brighton Early Music Festival Young Artist and finalist in the John Kerr Award for English Song, she has appeared as a soloist in venues from London's Wigmore Hall to the Konzerthaus in Vienna, and sung title roles in Baroque operas from Handel's Semele and Acis and Galatea to Scarlatti's La Giuditta.Jaysol Doy (reader) is a Cambridge graduate whose acting credits include Abdullah Khan's 2022 film Find the Light, Antony in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, and principal roles in Larry Kramer's A Normal Heart and Robert Holman's two-handers, Being Friends and A Breakfast of Eels. As a reader he took part in the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Lord Byron's death at Trinity College Cambridge, and a concert performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream combining Shakespeare's drama with Mendelssohn's music under internationally renowned conductor Jac van Steen.