Looking back on a busy summer at festivals

This summer I had pieces played at five festivals in five countries - Kroměříž in the Czech Republic; Cheltenham, England; Aspen in Colorado, USA; Presteigne, on the Welsh border. The last and in many ways most remarkable of these summer festivals was at Kempten, in the Allgäu in southern Germany, close to the Austrian border. It's a beautiful old town, untouched by the War, but most of the buildings are so immaculately cared for they look as if they had been put up yesterday. A good place and a highly enjoyable festival to visit in September, in perfect Indian summer weather.

Eva Oslzly, Pavel Novak, David and Petr Oslzly in Brno (Czech Republic)

The festival of chamber music was founded six years ago by the pianist Oliver Triendl and Dr Franz Tröger, a remarkable enthusiast with an incredible knowledge of music. The festival concentrates each year on the music of a single country or area: last year it was Russia, this year Britain. Seven concerts over five days provided an astonishing variety of British chamber music from Byrd to Benjamin, including a number of pieces I had never heard of, let alone heard - Rebecca Clarke's Prelude, Allegro and Pastorale for clarinet and viola, Havergal Brian's Legende for violin and piano; Alan Bush's Meditation for double bass and piano. There were rare opportunities to hear Warlock's The Curlew and Bridge's String Sextet, as well as classics such as Elgar's Piano Quintet which ended the festival on the highest possible note.

David with conductor Syd Hodkinson and his wife (Aspen)		From the top of Aspen Mountain

I was delighted to be the composer-in residence, and to have eight of my pieces performed. Oliver had assembled a group of outstanding musicians from all over Europe. Rehearsal time was limited, and nobody had played any of the pieces before, yet every performance was superb. Seventeen musicians from nine countries played my music: the German tenor Markus Schäfer, the Spanish flautist Clara Andrada de la Calle, the French oboist Jérôme Guichard, the Dutch bassoonist Bram van Sambeek and the French hornist Hervé Joulain; violinists from Russia, Norway, Finland and Germany: Natalia Lomeiko, Sølve Sigerland, Antti Tikkanen and Kai Vogler; violists from France, England and Hungary: Lise Berthaud, Philip Dukes and Enikö Magyar; cellists from Germany, England and Finland: Julian Arp, Josephine Knight and Martti Rousi; pianists from Finland and Germany: Juhani Lagerspetz and Oliver Triendl. To all of them I owe a huge debt of gratitude.

Remains of the Forum from the Roman town of Campodunum (Kempten)		Outside the theatre with Edward Clark (Kempten)

The audiences received everything they heard, almost all of which must have been completely new to them, with great enthusiasm and warmth - so much for the reputed incomprehension of Germans towards British music. I have to remind myself that this festival took place in Germany, not in Britain. Do we care enough in this country about our music to have the imagination and determination to do the same?

Markus Schäfer, tenor, David and Oliver Triendl, Artistic Director and pianist, at a rehearsal of Lebensregeln (Kempten)		David giving a pre-concert talk with Annika Täuschel, recorded for Bavarian Radio (Kempten)

David with all the performers at the end of the festival (Kempten)