PROGRAMME

We are delighted to announce the programme for the 2024 May EMF. This year, for the first time, all our events will be held in Dorchester-on-Thames, with the concerts taking place in the glorious surroundings of Dorchester Abbey; the talks in the historic Village Hall.

 

The full programme, with details of venues, works and artists, is given below. Booking is now open to all: tickets are available by post or through our online Box Office.

 

If you are not already a member of the EMF Friends’ Scheme and would like to know more about how you can support the work of the Festival in this way, please visit this page for a description of the tiers and their benefits, together with information about how to join.

Friday 24 May
5.15pm
Dorchester Village Hall
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HR

Stanford: The Complete Musician

JOHN COVELL

£8.00
7.30pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

DOREEN CARWITHEN: Suffolk Suite

FREDERICK DELIUS: Idyll de Printemps

SIR CHARLES VILLERS STANFORD: Clarinet Concerto

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Richard II: A Concert Fantasy
WORLD PREMIÈRE PERFORMANCE

GUSTAV HOLST: Cotswold Symphony

BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA

MARTIN YATES | conductor

MICHAEL COLLINS | clarinet

£29.00
Saturday 25 May
10.30am
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

GUSTAV HOLST: A Song of the Night

SIR ARTHUR BLISS: Theme and Cadenza

HERBERT HOWELLS: Sonata no. 1 for Violin and Piano

ERNEST FARRAR: A Celtic Suite

SIR CHARLES VILLERS STANFORD: Sonata in A major for Violin and Piano

RUPERT MARSHALL-LUCK | violin

PETER CARTWRIGHT | piano

£24.00
1.30pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

GERALD FINZI: Oh Fair to See

JOHN IRELAND: Piano Sonata

FRANK E. TOURS: From the Valley

FRANK E. TOURS: Mother o’ Mine

FRANK E. TOURS: West o’ the Sun

SIR ARTHUR SOMERVELL: Maud

BRIAN THORSETT | tenor

RICHARD MASTERS | piano

£24.00
4.45pm
Dorchester Village Hall
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HR

Farrar: The Beloved Vagabond

MALCOLM RILEY

£8.00
7.15pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

PATRICK HADLEY: My Beloved Spake

EDGAR BAINTON: Open Thy Gates

EDGAR BAINTON: I Love the Jocund Dance

HERBERT HOWELLS: Magnificat from Collegium Regale

HAVERGAL BRIAN: The Dream

HAVERGAL BRIAN: Sweet Solitude

MALCOLM HAWKINS: Rosamundi

SIR CHARLES VILLERS STANFORD: Three Latin Motets

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: O Clap Your Hands

JOHN GARDNER: O Clap Your Hands

CECIL ARMSTRONG GIBBS: She Walks in Beauty

GUSTAV HOLST: Hymns from the Rig Veda, 3rd Group

ROBIN MILFORD: Easter Meditation no. 1: He Is Not Here but Risen

ROBIN MILFORD: Easter Meditation no. 6: For Thou, O Lord, Art with Me Still

HAVERGAL BRIAN: Lullaby of an Infant Chief

SIR THOMAS ARMSTRONG: Sweet Day

SIR EDWARD ELGAR: Give Unto the Lord

GODWINE CHOIR

HILARY DAVAN WETTON | conductor

DAVID GOODE | organ

£29.00
9.30pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

ROBERT WHITE: Christe qui jux es et dies III

TOBIAS HUME: Lamentations

HENRY PURCELL: When I Am Laid in Earth

JOHN ECCLES: Air from The Mad Lover

HENRY ECCLES: Sonata Quinta in E minor

JOHN STANLEY: Sonata no. 2

JOHN HENRY MAUNDER: Espagnola

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Orpheus with His Lute

JOHN IRELAND: Cavatina

HERBERT HOWELLS: Luchinushka

JOHN W. DUARTE: English Suite no. 1

TRAD.: The Bonnie Banks o’ Loch Lomond

TRAD.: Wild Mountain Thyme

TRAD: The Bucks of Oranmore

THE FLUTES AND FRETS DUO

BETH STONE | flute; historical flutes

DANIEL MURPHY | lute; theorbo; guitar

£19.00
Sunday 26 May
1.30pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

ALAN RAWSTHORNE: Sonatina

JOHN IRELAND: Sarnia: An Island Sequence

YORK BOWEN: Toccata

ALAN RAWSTHORNE: Theme and Four Studies

SIR GEORGE DYSON: Four Twilight Preludes

KENNETH LEIGHTON: Six Studies (Study Variations)

PHILLIP LESLIE | piano

£24.00
4.45pm
Dorchester Village Hall
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HR

Arthur Bliss: Standing Out from the Crowd

PAUL SPICER

£8.00
7.15pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

SACRED GODDESS

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Song of Proserpine

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Spring Time of the Year

ROBIN MILFORD: Helen of Kirconnell

HERBERT HOWELLS: The Scribe

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Summer is Gone

 

WHO TO ONE GOD ALL BELONG

GUSTAV HOLST: This Have I Done for My True Love

PETER WARLOCK: Corpus Christi Carol

SIR GEORGE DYSON: Live Forever, Glorious Lord

EDGAR BAINTON: The Wilderness

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Valiant-for-Truth

 

TINGE THE SULLEN WAVE

GUSTAV HOLST: I Love My Love

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: The Lee Shore

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Mermaid

HERBERT HOWELLS: Thee Will I Love

 

BEYOND THE SPHERE OF GRIEF

SIR HENRY WALFORD DAVIES: Magdalen at Michael’s Gate

SIR EDWARD ELGAR: Death on the Hills

SIR CHARLES VILLIERS STANFORD: Heraclitus

CECILIA McDOWALL: I Know That My Redeemer Liveth

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: The Lover’s Ghost

 

EXCALIBUR VOICES

DUNCAN ASPDEN | conductor

£29.00
9.30pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

FINGER PRINTS

HAYDN WOOD: Longing

JACK WILSON: Shadows on the Moon

FRANK BRIDGE: Berceuse

PEGGY COCHRANE: Busy Day

SIR ARTHUR SULLIVAN: Thoughts

BILLY MAYERL: Shy Ballerina

JACK STRACHEY: Anna’s Polka

AMY WOODFORDE-FINDEN: Kashmiri Song

CECIL MACKLIN: The Cockney Crawl

SIR EDWARD GERMAN: Polish Dance

JACK WILSON: Phantom Fingers

RICHARD ADDINSELL: Blithe Spirit Waltz

PAUL GUINERY | piano

£19.00
Monday 27 May
10.30am
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

SIR GEORGE DYSON: Barcarolle

SAMUEL COLERIDGE-TAYLOR: Demande et Reponse

JOHN IRELAND: Bagatelle

RALPH VAUGHAN WILLIAMS: Suite for Viola and Piano

BENJAMIN BRITTEN: Lachrymae

REBECCA CLARKE: Viola Sonata

ROSALIND VENTRIS | viola

RICHARD UTTLEY | piano

£24.00
1.30pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

GUSTAV HOLST: Greeting

FREDERICK DELIUS: Over the Mountains High

FREDERICK DELIUS: Caprice and Elegy

PERCY HILDER MILES: Piano Trio

REBECCA CLARKE: Piano Trio

JOHN IRELAND: Phantasie

ENSEMBLE KOPERNIKUS

£24.00
4.45pm
Dorchester Village Hall
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HR

There’s a Lot More to Holst than The Planets

CHRIS COPE

£8.00
7.15pm
Dorchester Abbey
Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, OX10 7HH

HERBERT HOWELLS: Serenade

SIR GEORGE DYSON: Woodland Suite

GERALD FINZI: Romance

FREDERICK DELIUS: Air and Dance

EDGAR BAINTON: Pavane, Idyll and Bacchanal

ROBIN MILFORD: Elegy: Duke of Monmouth

PETER WARLOCK: Capriol Suite

CECIL ARMSTRONG GIBBS: Shade and Shine

DOREEN CARWITHEN (arr. KENNETH WOODS): Lento for Strings

SIR ARTHUR BLISS: Two Contrasts

JOHN IRELAND: Elegy from The Downland Suite

PETER WARLOCK: Serenade

ALAN RAWSTHORNE: Light Music for Strings

ENGLISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

JOHN ANDREWS | conductor

£29.00

THE EMF RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE THE PROGRAMME DETAILS IN ANY WAY WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.

LATEST NEWS

Booking for the 2024 May EMF is now open to all. As always, discounts are available for residents local to the Festival’s home, Dorchester-on-Thames; and these special prices may be obtained by entering your postcode at the Box Office’s front page. To book your tickets, please follow this link.

We are delighted to announce the programme for the 2024 May EMF. This year, for the first time, all our events will be held in Dorchester-on-Thames, with the concerts taking place in the glorious surroundings of Dorchester Abbey; the talks in the historic Village Hall. The full programme, with details of venues, works and artists, may be seen on this page. Booking for Friends of the Festival will open in early March, with general booking opening two weeks later; tickets will be available by post or through our online Box Office.

We have recently introduced a new tier to our Friends’ Scheme for Corporate Friends — so, if you own, or help to run, a company or a similar organisation, and would like to enjoy the special benefits that this tier offers, please do consider joining at this level. For more details about our Friends’ Scheme, please follow this link for a description of the tiers and their benefits, together with information about how to join.