We are delighted that current legislation means that the 2021 May EMF will be able to take place over the Spring Bank Holiday, albeit with smaller ensembles due to the continued need for physical distancing. We regret that, for financial reasons, we are unable to hold this Festival in Dorchester Abbey as usual, but are delighted to be returning to the lovely St Mary’s Church in Horsham and to the historic 1920s Drill Hall, a short distance away.
Should the date for re-starting live events be pushed back by the Government beyond the start-date of the Festival for any reason, the events will be filmed in the same venues and with the same programmes and artists, and we will put the entire Festival online instead. Under these circumstances, any tickets purchased for a live event will be valid for the equivalent event online.
The full programme for the 2021 EMF is given below. Booking is now open to all — the online Box Office may be found on this page.
TALK: Gustav Holst and a Story of Thematic Transformation
DR JOSEPH FORT
PETER WARLOCK: Capriol Suite
HENRY PURCELL (arr. BRITTEN): Chaconne
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Concerto accademico
WALTER LEIGH: Music for Strings
GUSTAV HOLST: St Paul’s Suite
JOHN IRELAND: A Downland Suite
ORCHESTRA OF THE SWAN
DAVID LE PAGE | conductor
ARTHUR BLISS: Sonata for Violin and Piano
HERBERT HOWELLS: Sonata for Violin and Piano no.3 in E minor, op.38
FREDERICK DELIUS: Sonata for Violin and Piano no.3
GERALD FINZI (arr. HOWARD FERGUSON): Introit
EDGAR BAINTON: Willows
EDGAR BAINTON: The Making of the Nightingale
EDGAR BAINTON: Variations and Fugue in B minor
WORLD PREMIÈRE PERFORMANCE
JOHN IRELAND: Sonata for Violin and Piano no.2 in A minor
RUPERT MARSHALL-LUCK | violin
DUNCAN HONEYBOURNE | piano
SHAKESPEARE IN SONG AND VERSE
TRADITIONAL ENGLISH: Tomorrow is St Valentine’s Day
HENRY PURCELL: If Music be the Food of Love
ROGER QUILTER: O Mistress Mine
MADELEINE DRING: Under the Greenwood Tree
MICHAEL TIPPETT: Full Fathom Five
MICHAEL TIPPETT: Where the Bee Sucks
JOHN CHRISTOPHER SMITH: You Spotted Snakes
ERIC COATES: Who is Sylvia?
BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Fancie
HUBERT PARRY: Blow, blow, thou Winter Wind
ROGER QUILTER: Come away, Death
JOSEPH HOROVITZ: Lady Macbeth: A Scena
MADELEINE DRING: Take, O take those lips away
ARTHUR SULLIVAN: The Willow Song
TRADITIONAL ENGLISH: The Song of the Willow
TRADITIONAL ENGLISH: And will a’ not come again?
GERALD FINZI: Fear no more the heat o’ the Sun
LUCY STEVENS | singer & actor
ELIZABETH MARCUS | piano
TALK: Percy Sherwood, Musician: An Englishman in Dresden; a Foreigner in London
DR JOSEPH SPOONER
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Caro! Bella! più amabile beltà
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Ombra mai fu
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: No, no, ch’io non apprezzo
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Welcome as the Dawn of Day
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Dove sei?
HENRY PURCELL: When I am laid in Earth
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Streams of Pleasure
ARMONICO CONSORT
CHRISTOPHER MONKS | conductor
EDWARD GERMAN: Bourrée
STANFORD ROBINSON: Valse Serenade
SHERMAN MYERS: Chasing Moonbeams
CYRIL SCOTT: Vesperale
IVOR NOVELLO: In the Clouds
RICHARD ADDINSELL: Invocation
ROGER QUILTER: English Dance no.3
EDWARD GERMAN: Graceful Dance
HAYDN WOOD: A Bell for Adano
BILLY MAYERL: English Dance
BILLY MAYERL: Fireside Fusiliers
REGINALD FORESYTHE: Serenade for a Wealthy Widow
IRIS TAYLOR: Dreamy Afternoon
BILLY MAYERL: Sussex Downs
PAUL GUINERY | piano
ARNOLD BAX: Elegaic Trio
YORK BOWEN: Soliloquy and Frolic
WILLIAM ALWYN: Two Folk Songs (arr. viola & harp)
ALAN RAWSTHORNE: Trio
RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Suite de Ballet (arr. flute & harp)
WILLIAM ALWYN: Crépuscule
MALCOLM LIPKIN: Trio
PAUL LEWIS: Divertimento
AURORA TRIO
TALK: Memoirs of a Media Composer
PAUL LEWIS
TONY HATCH: Downtown
NOEL GAY: Leaning on a Lamppost
SANDY WILSON: I could be happy with you
IVOR NOVELLO: We’ll gather lilacs
NOËL COWARD: Could you please oblige us with a Bren gun?
TONY HATCH: Don’t sleep in the subway
NOËL COWARD: A Room with a View
NOËL COWARD: Dance, little lady
NOËL COWARD: Poor little rich girl
NOËL COWARD: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
WORLD WAR I MEDLEY
RAY NOBLE: Cherokee
IVOR NOVELLO: Keep the Home Fires Burning
FLANAGAN AND ALLEN MEDLEY no.2
HAYDN WOOD: Roses of Picardy
SAM KERN: Mary from the Dairy
HARRY PARR-DAVIES: Smile when you say goodbye
FLANAGAN AND ALLEN MEDLEY no.1
HARRY PARR-DAVIES: Wish me luck as you wave me goodbye
RAY NOBLE: Goodnight, Sweetheart
NEW FOXTROT SERENADERS
PETER WARLOCK: A Lake and a Fairy Boat
PETER WARLOCK: Wind from the West
FREDERICK DELIUS: Five Songs from the Norwegian
PETER WARLOCK: Take, O take those lips away
PETER WARLOCK: The Cloths of Heaven
ARNOLD BAX: To Eire
ARNOLD BAX: The White Peach
ARNOLD BAX: Shieling Song
ARNOLD BAX: A Milking Sian
PETER WARLOCK: When as the Rye
PETER WARLOCK: Mourne no more
PETER WARLOCK: There is a Lady
PETER WARLOCK: Sweet Content
E.J. MOERAN: Seven Poems by James Joyce
PETER WARLOCK: The Bachelor
PETER WARLOCK: Rest, sweet Nymphs
PETER WARLOCK: Hey Trolly Lolly
PETER WARLOCK: Ha’nacker Mill
PETER WARLOCK: The Night
PETER WARLOCK: My own Country
PETER WARLOCK: Belloc’s Fancy
PETER WARLOCK: Maltworms
PETER WARLOCK: Captain Stratton’s Fancy
PETER WARLOCK: The Fox
PETER WARLOCK: Sleep
GARETH BRYNMOR JOHN | baritone
CHRISTOPHER GLYNN | piano
GERALD FINZI: I said to Love
GUSTAV HOLST: Phantasy on British Folk Songs
HUBERT PARRY: Scherzo from String Quartet no.3 in G major
HUBERT PARRY: O never say that I was false of heart
HUBERT PARRY: Sleep
HUBERT PARRY: On a time, the amorous Silvy
CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD: Since thou, O fondest
CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD: I praise the tender flower
CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD: Say, O say! saith the music
FREDERICK DELIUS: Late Swallows from String Quartet (1916)
IVOR GURNEY: The Western Playland
RODERICK WILLIAMS | baritone
MICHAEL DUSSEK | piano
THE BRIDGE QUARTET
DRINKS RECEPTION AND LAUNCH OF EMR CD065
with Roderick Williams, Michael Dussek and The Bridge Quartet
JAMES OSWALD: Airs for the Seasons
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Trio Sonata in F major
HENRY PLAYFORD: A Collection of Original Scotch Tunes (Full of the Highland Humours)
FRANCESCO GEMINIANI: Trio Sonata on The last time I came o’er the moor
ABIEL WHICHELLO: Suite no.2 in F major
ANON: Greensleeves
HENRY PURCELL: Sonatas of Three Parts: no.2 in B-flat major
BARNABUS GUNN: Solo IV in B minor
CHARLES AVISON: Trio Sonata op.1 no.4 in D minor
GEORGE FRIDERIC HANDEL: Harpsichord Suite no.3 in D minor
ROBERT BREMNER: Variations on a Scots Theme
ENSEMBLE HESPERI
THE EMF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE PROGRAMME DETAILS IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.
The 2021 May EMF is scheduled for the Spring Bank Holiday weekend (28 to 31 May) and will most certainly be going ahead as a “live” event if public gatherings are permitted. Due to the ongoing restrictions relating to COVID-19, the Festival will be rather different in format to our usual May Festivals, with more of an emphasis on chamber-music and song recitals. The full programme is available at this page.
Booking for the 2021 May Festival is now open to all — the online Box Office may be found here. Day and Full Festival Passes are available in addition to individual tickets to concerts and talks; and tickets can be held for collection at the Box Office or posted to you for a modest additional charge.
Tickets for the drinks reception and CD launch of EMR CD065, ‘Those Blue Remembered Hills’, which will take place as part of the 2021 May EMF, are now on sale to the general public. Please visit our online Box Office to book.
If you would like more details about our Friends’ Scheme, please follow this link to our ‘Friends’ Scheme’ page for a description of the tiers and their benefits, together with information about how to join.