Stanford Centenary Series

A series of three chamber concerts, curated by pianist Finghin Collins, marking the centenary of the death of the Irish composer Sir Charles Villiers Stanford

Benjamin Russell baritone 
Finghin Collins piano 
Sharon Carty mezzo-soprano  
John Finucane clarinet 

Stanford A Fire of Turf (seven songs)  
Rebecca Clarke / Muriel Herbert Songs (*list below)  
Stanford Clarinet Sonata op. 129 (1911)  

*Clarke and Herbert song group 
Clarke The Seal Man (Masefield)  
Clarke June Twilight (Masefield)  
Herbert  Tewkesbury Road (Masefield)  
Herbert I hear an army charging (Joyce)  
Herbert Lean out of the Window (Joyce)   
Herbert To Daffodils (Herrick)  
Clarke Sally Gardens (Yeats) 
Clarke Greeting (Ella Young)  
Herbert The Lake Isle of Innisfree (Yeats)  
Clarke Shy One (Yeats)  
Clarke The Cloths of Heaven (Yeats)      

Song settings are at the heart of the second concert in the series; we commence with a largely unknown cycle of songs, “A Fire of Turf”, to texts by the Irish poet Winifred Letts, celebrating the passing seasons of the year, the changing winds, the supremacy of nature and (in true Hardyesque fashion) its oblivion to man. We also hear settings of Joyce and Masefield texts by two of Stanford’s pupils Rebecca Clarke and Muriel Herbert. Finally, we hear one of Stanford’s finest mature works – the sonata for clarinet and piano.  

Presented by NCH