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Our tutors will be performing at this year’s Summer School and we look forward to their varied programmes, some reflecting the 150th anniversary of Ravel’s birth. Tickets are available on the door, £10 for adults (cash only, please) and children free.

Saturday August 9th, the Auditorium, Stowe School 7.45pm
Christine Stevenson will perform Ravel’s Prélude, his À la manière de Borodine and À la manière de Chabrier, as well the Serenade from Petite Suite Op1 No 6 by Borodin and Ballabile by Chabrier, followed by Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which Ravel orchestrated.

Sunday August 10th, the Auditorium, Stowe School 7.45pm
Karl Lutchmayer will perform Grieg’s Notturno, Op 54 no 4, Brahms’s Intermezzi, Op 117, Liszt’s Bénédiction de Dieu dans la Solitude and Ravel’s Gaspard de la Nuit.

Monday August 11th, the Auditorium, Stowe School 7.45pm
Complementing his presentation on Schumann, Daniel Hill will play Brahms Op 116 Nos. 1 and 4, Schoenberg Sechs kleine Klavierstücke Op 19, Beethoven Op 10 No.1, 1st movt, Beethoven/Liszt An die ferne geliebte No 6 and Schumann Fantasie Op 17.

Tuesday August 12th, the Auditorium, Stowe School 11am
From Jill Morton we’ll have Ravel’s Jeux d’eau and his Valses nobles et sentimentales, Fauré’s Barcarolle in G flat major, Op 43, Variations on an old Scottish song by Geraldine Mucha and Jennifer Margaret Barker’s BuMian.

Tuesday August 12th, the Auditorium at 7.45pm
Pianist Graham Fitch and baritone Brian White will perform Schubert’s song cycle, Winterreise.

Cheers! A very Happy New Year to all piano-lovers, and here’s to a great year ahead, full of music-making, new discoveries and new piano friends.

What are your piano New Year’s Resolutions?! If they include enriching your love of music, exploring repertoire and sharing it with like-minded friends, come and join us at Stowe in August for a fabulous week, from Saturday 10th until Friday 16th.

You’ll have three opportunities to play in a masterclass for soloists, you can observe other classes, and there’s a class for accompanists, too. Play in a student concert, be inspired by presentations on subjects such as Effective Practice Processes, plus a ‘Walkthrough’ of a piece, highlighting its background, form, structure and interpretative choices. Our tutors will be performing music by Byrd, Chopin, Liszt, Busoni, Prokofiev and William Bolcom among others, as well as a selection of songs by Fauré, marking the centenary of this composer’s passing, and there will be presentations on ‘Composers under Stalin’s Shadow’, ‘Chopin and Liszt – the Patriot and the Pilgrim’, and ‘Busoni: the Reluctant Revolutionary’.

Can there be anywhere more beautiful than the Stowe landscape for an evening stroll, taking in its temples, follies and its beautiful lake … we don’t think so. Renew, refresh and unwind in Capability Brown’s gardens, enjoy a recital, then join your friends for a drink in the bar. Our Gala Dinner, held in Stowe House’s magnificent State Music Room, completes the week in splendid style

Any questions? Do get in touch with Brian our administrator, whose contact details are at the foot of the page. But please don’t wait – there are only a few remaining places. One of them is for you.

We’re delighted to announce our 2023 staff recitals, always an eagerly anticipated part of the Summer School.

Saturday August 12th, 7.45pm

Karl Lutchmayer

Recital will include:

Chopin – Barcarolle

Medtner – Sonata Reminiscenza

Beethoven – Sonata Op 90

Ravel – Ondine

Bardazewsja-Baranowska – Maiden’s Prayer

Sunday August 13th, 7.45pm

Christine Stevenson

Schubert – Klavierstück in E flat Major, No 2 of Drei Klavierstücke, D 946

Mendelssohn – Variations sérieuses, Op. 54

Tchaikovsky – Dumka, Op 59

Debussy – Les soirs illuminés par l’ardeur du charbon

Rachmaninoff – Lilacs, Op 21 No 5

Rachmaninoff – Moment Musical in D Flat Major, Op 16 No 5

Rachmaninoff – Etude-tableau in E flat Minor, Op 39 No 5

Monday August 14th, 7.45pm

Ann Martin-Davis, with Graham Fitch

Recital to include:

Scriabin – Sonata No 4

Ravel – Ma mère l’Oye – Piano duet with Graham Fitch

Ravel – La vallée des cloches

Messiaen – Noël

Debussy – La cathédrale engloutie

Ireland – Equinox and Soliloquy

Tuesday August 15th, 11am

Daniel Hill

Schubert – Sonata In A Major D959

Tuesday August 15th, 7.45pm

Graham Fitch piano, with Brian White, baritone

Beethoven – An die Ferne Geliebte Op 98 for Piano and Voice

Beethoven – Bagatelles Op 33

Beethoven – Sonata Op 90

2022 was a bumper Summer School for Pianists – with full classes, staff recitals featuring solo music from Schubert to Sorabji as well as the song cycle Die schöne Müllerin, presentations on Performance Anxiety, Rhythm, and Walking the Walk to Chopin’s Grave, student concerts featuring repertoire linked to Landscape, Water and Architecture, Platforms, Mozart’s Lacrimosa from scratch, accompaniment, Harmonic Cocktails at 6pm and a Gala Dinner on the final evening.  We rang the gastronomic changes with a Hog Roast one night, followed by late-night fireworks in the grounds of Stowe, courtesy of a wedding celebration in Stowe House.

And what news of 2023? The optional theme will be ‘Forgotten Melodies’ – those pieces hidden away in the piano stool perhaps played by parents or indeed ourselves.  Staff recitals promise to be as varied as ever, with repertoire by Beethoven, Schubert, Mendelssohn, Scriabin, Rachmaninov, Ravel and Messaien being planned, including Beethoven’s song cycle ‘An die ferne Geliebte’. Ann Martin-Davis will speak about ‘Bach Bits’ – articulation, ornaments etc; Christine Stevenson will be looking at ‘Rachmaninov’s Revolutions’. Karl Lutchmayer will continue his fascinating exploration of Classical ‘Covers’ and Graham Fitch will be ‘Embracing the New – How to Learn a New Piece.’  Class members each play in three masterclasses and have the option of performing in a concert or giving a short recital for a modest charge; private lessons with tutors can be arranged for a separate fee. Above all, though, is the glorious setting of Stowe and the camaraderie of a music-loving community, delighting in music and in one another’s company. Join us – but hurry; places are going quickly and we are already over 80% full. Contact our administrator today to check on availability –  and apply!

 

Here’s to another great course in 2023 – cheers!

It will be marvellous to be back at Stowe soon, and our tutors have now announced their recitals.

First we’ll hear from Karl Lutchmayer, who will play Mendelssohn’s Variations sérieuses, Op.54, Alkan’s Le Festin d’Esope Op 39 No 12, Busoni’s  Variations on a Chopin Prelude,  and Liszt’s Totentanz.

Christine Stevenson will be next, performing Beethoven – 6 Variations on the aria “Nel cor più non mi sento”   WoO 70, Schubert – Sonata in A Minor D784, Liszt – Chapelle de Guillaume Tell from Années de pèlerinage – Première année – Suisse, J S Bach – Andante from Sonata in D minor, BWV 964, Brahms – Sarabande WoO 5 No 1, Felix Mendelssohn – Fantasie Op 16 No 2 and three Liszt transcriptions –

Schubert/Liszt – Wohin? No 5 From Müllerlieder von Franz Schubert, S.565, Schumann/Liszt – Widmung No 1 from Myrthen, S. 566 and  Wagner/Liszt – Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde.

Daniel Hill starts his recital with Schumann’s Papillons Op 2, and then will be joined  by baritone Brian White in Schumann’s wonderful song cycle, Dichterliebe.  He’ll conclude his programme with Liszt’s  Funérailles.

Finally – a Poulenc bonanza! Ann Martin-Davis is joined by Brian White in Poulenc’s Le Bestiaire for voice and piano, and then she joins forces with Graham Fitch in a performance of  Poulenc’s Piano Sonata for Four Hands. And she has other Poulenc treats in store ….

 

 

Pictured above – Poulenc at the piano.