August PREVIEW
Musical anniversaries galore
BURTON BRADSTOCK BURTON Bradstock Music Festival celebrates its 40th festival, from 16th to 21st August, with the annual art exhibition at the village hall al week, and three days of outstanding classical and jazz music. Before lockdown, the festival director, violinist David Juritz, had planned to mark two anniversaries: the centenary of the legendary Dave Brubeck and the 90th birthday of the Dorset-based composer Peter Hope. These two milestones will still be celebrated, in 2022, with the added attraction of another major jazz centenary. Jake McMurchie, one of the UK’s most exciting saxophonists, will join David Gordon and other musicians for an evening of Brubeck and Charles Mingus (born 1922). The festival programmes also include two works by Peter Hope—his string trio and his Divertimento for guitar and strings featuring Craig Ogden. This year brings the anniversaries of two great French writers, both with deep musical associations: Molière (born 1622), several of whose plays were set to music by Lully, and Marcel Proust (died 1922), who actually created his
own composer, Vintueil, in À la Recherche du Temps Perdu. Lully and his Baroque contemporaries will be the theme of the late-night Thursday concert led by pianist David Gordon. There is another Proust connection, with harpist Eluned Pierce playing music by the novelist’s lover Reynaldo Hahn. Striking a more immediately contemporary note, David Juritz has programmed two works to reflect on the ongoing war in Ukraine: a virtuoso string trio by the father of Ukrainian music, Mykola Lysenko; and Igor Shamo’s accordion concerto with the virtuoso Milos Milivojevic as the soloist in the final evening’s gala concert. Sadly, Mary Ryan, who founded the festival with her husband Ronald Gilham, passed away in April this year. David Juritz says: “I feel a great debt of gratitude to Mary, not least for handing her festival on to me. David Gordon will be playing the second movement of Beethoven’s Emperor concerto in Mary’s memory at the gala concert.” This year’s musicians include clarinettist Anna Hashimoto, Miloš Milivojević, accordion, David Juritz and Fiona McCapra, violins, Yuri Zhislin ,viola, Adrian Bradbury, cello, Sandy Burnet, bass, and David Gordon, piano. All the concerts take place at St Mary’s Church.
Tel. 01308 423031 The Marshwood Vale Magazine August 2022 43
