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Performances in 2014

25/01 - 09/02/2014  --  Amsterdam Sinfonietta European Tour with Thomas Hampson

Performances feature four arrangements by David commissioned by Amsterdam Sinfonietta.

Thomas Hampson, baritone | Amsterdam Sinfonietta | Candida Thompson, artistic director and lead violin

Work details: Four Wolf Songs (Wolf arr. Matthews) | Rheinlegendchen (Mahler arr. Matthews) | Three Songs (Schubert arr. Matthews) | Vier ernste Gesange (Brahms arr. Matthews)

02/02/2014, 7.30pm  --  Piano Trio No.3

Book tickets via Michael Rawling on 020 8959 3866 or online. Thanks to the generosity of the CAVATINA Music Trust, under 25s are admitted free.

Leonore Trio | Mill Hill Music Club

Work details: Piano Trio No.3, Op.97

06/02/2014, 7.30pm  --  String Quartet No.3

Kreutzer Quartet | Great Hall, Goldsmith's College | Free tickets for all

Work details: String Quartet No.3, Op.18

15/02/2014, 7.30pm  --  Music for Movies (Copland arr. Matthews)

Nash Ensemble | Wigmore Hall, London

Work details: Music for Movies (Aaron Copland arr. Matthews)

26/02/2014, 7.30pm  --  Love Songs (Dvorak arr. Matthews)

The Scottish Ensemble will be touring David's arrangement of Dvorak's Love Songs around Scotland in the week preceding the Wigmore Hall date as part of their 'Love and War in Bohemia' programme.

Scottish Ensemble | Sophie Harmsen, mezzo-soprano | Jonathan Morton, violin | Wigmore Hall, London

Work details: Love Songs (Dvorak arr. Matthews)

16/03/2014, 3pm  --  Four Portraits

William Howard, piano | Iffley Music Society Festival | St Mary's Church, Iffley, Oxford

Work details: Four Portraits, Op.124

23/03/2014, 6pm  --  Sonata for Strings (Arnold arr. Matthews)

Orchestra of St Paul's | Conducted by Ben Palmer | St Paul's Church, Bedford Street, London, WC2E 9ED | More details and booking

Work details: Sonata for Strings (Arnold arr. Matthews)

25/03/2014  --  Swedish premiere: Aubade

Boras Symphony Orchestra | Sweden

Work details: Aubade, Op.83

08/05/2014, 7.30pm  --  Four Portraits

William Howard, piano | Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham | More details and booking

Work details: Four Portraits, Op.124

07/06/2014, 7.30pm  --  World premiere: Chorale Prelude

William Whitehead, organ | Clifton Cathedral, Bristol | More details and booking

Work details: Two Chorale Preludes, Op.135

11/06/2014, 7.30pm  --  One Foot in Eden

Part of the London English Song Festival.

Allan Clayton, tenor | William Vann, piano | Navarra String Quartet | St James's, Piccadilly | More details and booking

Work details: One Foot in Eden, Op.107

13/06/2014  --  Owen Wingrave at the Aldeburgh Festival

Britten-Pears Festival Orchestra | Conducted by Mark Wigglesworth | Aldeburgh Festival, Snape Maltings Concert Hall, Suffolk | More details and booking

Work details: Owen Wingrave, Op.85 (Britten arr. Matthews)

14/07/2014, 6pm  --  Clarinet Quartet, Duo Sonata, Three Roman Miniatures

King's Lynn Festival Contemporary Consort | Town Hall, King's Lynn | King's Lynn Festival

Work details: Clarinet Quartet, Op.35 | Duo Sonata, Op.123 | Three Roman Miniatures, Op.81

21/07/2014, 9pm  --  Three Roman Miniatures

Jack McNeill, clarinet | Abbey Church of Saint Mary, Abbey Dore, Herefordshire

Work details: Three Roman Miniatures, Op.81

04/08/2014  --  To what God shall we chant our songs of battle?

David has been commissioned to write an anthem for the commemorative WWI Centenary service at Westminster Abbey on 4 August. It will be televised live on BBC Two from 10pm and David's new work will conclude the service.

Work details: To what God shall we chant our songs of battle?, Op.130

04 - 11/08/2014  --  WWI Centenary service at Westminster Abbey on BBC iPlayer

The service, which concluded with David's anthem 'To what God shall we chant our songs of battle?', is available to view and download on BBC iPlayer until 11th August. You can also listen to the anthem here.

Work details: To what God shall we chant our songs of battle?, Op.130

22/08/2014, 2pm  --  Piano Trio No.3

Leonore Trio | St Andrew's Church, Presteigne, Powys LD8 2AF | Presteigne Festival

Work details: Piano Trio No.3, Op.97

07/10/2014  --  Introit

St Augustin Church, Brno, Czech Republic | More details (in Czech)

Work details: Introit, Op.28

18/10/2014  --  Nash 50th Anniversary Concert

6pm -- Performances of Nash commissions in the presence of the composers. Includes David's Horn Quintet with Richard Watkins on horn.

7.30pm -- Includes David's arrangement of Berlioz Les nuits d'ete with soprano Kate Royal.

Nash Ensemble | Wigmore Hall | More details

Work details: Horn Quintet, Op.115 | Summer Nights, Op.7 (Berlioz arr. Matthews)

18/11/2014, 1pm  --  Cap Gris-Nez

Clare Hammond, piano | St David's Hall, Cardiff

Work details: Cap Gris-Nez

22/11/2014, 6pm  --  String Trio No.1

Nash Ensemble | Wigmore Hall | More details

Work details: String Trio No.1, Op.48

04/12/2014, 7.30pm  --  Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev arr. Matthews)

Nash Ensemble | Eleanor Bron, narrator | Wigmore Hall | More details

Work details: Peter and the Wolf, Op.67 (Prokofiev arr. Matthews)

05 - 11/12/2014  --  Two Nocturnes (Chopin arr. Matthews)

Part of Scottish Ensemble's Night and Day Scottish tour - more details

5th December, 7.30pm -- Queen's Cross Church, Aberdeen -- Premiere
6th December, 7.30pm -- Inverness Cathedral
7th December, 7.30pm -- Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh
9th December, 7.30pm -- Caird Hall, Dundee
10th December, 7.30pm -- St John's Kirk, Perth
11th December, 7.30pm -- Wellington Church, Glasgow

Work details: Two Nocturnes (Chopin arr. Matthews)

19/12/2014, 1.10pm  --  Darkness Draws In, Winter Journey

Diana Mathews, viola | St James's Church, Piccadilly, London

Work details: Darkness Draws In, Op.102 | Winter Journey (viola), Op.32a

Other News from 2014

07/01/2014  --  CD out now: Symphony No.7 & Vespers

Available on the Dutton Vocalion record label.

Work details: Symphony No.7, Op.109 | Vespers, Op.66

07/01/2014  --  CD out now: Tangissimo Plays Tangos

Work details: Tango di Boda (chamber ensemble)

24/01/2014  --  Forthcoming recordings

The Kreutzer Quartet will be recording David's String Quartet No. 2 and No. 3 on 29 January for Volume 3 of the Toccata Classics complete string quartets project. String Quartet No. 1 has already been recorded for this CD.

William Howard will be recording Four Portraits for piano and The Shorter Ring on 24 February for a Nimbus Alliance CD.

In March, the Orchestra of St Pauls conducted by Ben Palmer will record David's arrangements for string orchestra of the Elgar String Quartet and Malcolm Arnold's Second String Quartet for SOMM Recordings.

05/04/2014  --  CD review: Symphony No.7 & Vespers

'Probably as important a British choral release as we'll see this year. David Matthews's Vespers... is a work both of great beauty and of genuine spiritual force... I was moved and rather awed by the mastery of large forces to such humane, celebratory goals...
'In both the Symphony and the Vespers, it's the cumulative power of Matthews's music that impresses, the ability to build huge purposeful paragraphs that actually go somewhere and deliver on arrival - a rare faculty these days. Blazingly committed performances do full justice to, yes, one of our greatest living composers.'

Calum MacDonald, BBC Music Magazine, April 2014 | Read more

Work details: Symphony No.7, Op.109 | Vespers, Op.66

01/05/2014  --  CD out now: William Howard (piano)

Work details: Four Portraits, Op.124 | The Shorter Ring (Wagner arr. Matthews)

06/08/2014  --  Forthcoming recordings

The Kreutzer Quartet have now recorded David's first three string quartets for Volume Three of the Toccata Classics Complete String Quartets project which will be released in the Autumn. Volume Four will have arrangements of Beethoven's Piano Sonata Op.101, 11 Bagatelles Op.119, and the slow movement of the sonata Op.22, which were recorded in July. It will also contain David's String Quartet No.11 to be recorded shortly.

In March, the Orchestra of St Pauls, conducted by Ben Palmer, recorded David's arrangements for string orchestra of the Elgar String Quartet and Malcolm Arnold's Second String Quartet for SOMM Recordings to be released in March 2015.

19/09/2014  --  David Matthews: Essays, Tributes and Criticism

Full news item details

Following David's 70th birthday in 2013, Thomas Hyde has edited a book including David's key writings, tributes and essays examing David's output. It is published by Plumbago Books and can be purchased from the distributor Boydell and Brewer or via Amazon.

Read more about the book content and a review by Richard Whitehouse for Gramophone.

03/11/2014  --  CD out now: David Matthews - Complete String Quartets, Volume Three

Work details: Prelude No.4, Op.74 (Scriabin arr. Matthews) | String Quartet No.1, Op.4 | String Quartet No.2, Op.16 | String Quartet No.3, Op.18