12 Oct 2023 1230 Khamis & Jones, piano 4 hands

Thursday 12th October 2023
12.30 lunchtime

Khamis & Jones Duo
Gamal Khamis & Belinda Jones
piano 4 hands

Programme

Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Fantasie in F minor D940 Op 103 (1828)
1 Allegro molto moderato
2 Largo
3 Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4 Finale. Allegro molto moderato

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
arr György Kurtág (b1926)
Two arrangements of works by JS Bach (1985)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Suite for four hands on one Pianoforte (1893)
I Prelude
II Minuet
III Sarabande
IV Gigue

Thea Musgrave (b1928)
Excursions (1965)
I Driving in the Highlands moderato
II The Road Hog pesante heavily
III Learner Driver semplice plainly
IV The Drunken Driver con brio with spirit !
V The Sunday Driver piacevole pleasantly
VI Roadside Repairs scherzo lively
VII Fog on the Motorway misterioso
VIII Backseat Driver allegro quick & bright

Concert duration approx: 60 minutes

Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455

Khamis & Jones

Gamal Khamis and Belinda Jones’s piano duo is a musical partnership between two of the UK’s finest pianists who have been described as ‘outstanding’ by The Times and ‘remarkable’ by the Daily Telegraph.

As artists they have performed internationally and throughout the UK including at Wigmore Hall, St John’s Smiths Square, Rachmaninoff Hall Moscow, and Esplanade Singapore. They have collaborated with artists including Guy Johnston, Sol Gabetta, Jarvis Cocker, Elizabeth Watts, Tom Ades, and Kitty Whately.

Between them they have won numerous prizes in competitions such as Royal Overseas League, the Maggie Teyte and Portos International Piano and have been Making Music Recommended Artists, Samling and Park Lane Group Artists.

The pair met as postgraduate scholars at the Royal College of Music in 2010 and and have been developing an extensive repertoire for both four hands and two pianos, performing across the UK and abroad. Their thematic programmes balance well-known and lesser-known works and they are dedicated to representing music from all communities.

Gamal Khamis

Described by The Times as a pianist with "formidable keyboard skills", Gamal Khamis has performed all over the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

He has premiered works by many of Britain's leading composers, and he regularly collaborates with distinguished international soloists on BBC Radio 3 In Tune.

Gamal made his debut at the Wigmore Hall at the age of ten, and he gained a degree in Mathematics from Imperial College London before completing his formal education at the Royal College of Music, where he now teaches.

He has won major prizes at the Royal Over-Seas League Music Competition and the Ferrier Awards, and he has performed concertos by Mozart, Beethoven, R Schumann, Grieg, Fauré, Saint-Saëns, Rachmaninov, Stravinsky and Finzi.

Gamal is a Samling Artist, a member of the award-winning Lipatti Piano Quartet, and a regular performer at the Flatirons Chamber Music Festival in Colorado, USA, and the Marryat Players Chamber Music Festival in London.

He also teaches at Oxenfoord International Summer Academy. Gamal's recording of works by Richard Strauss alongside the actor Christopher Kent was released by SOMM Recordings in 2022, to critical acclaim.

Belinda Jones

Described by The Times as “outstanding” Belinda Jones is a pianist based in London. She has performed at some of the world’s most prestigious venues including the Wigmore Hall, the Moscow Festival, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, St John’s Smiths Square, and Southbank Centre. She has worked and performed with artists including Marin Alsop, Alfred Brendel, Jarvis Cocker, Guy Johnston, BBC Concert Orchestra and the Riot Ensemble.

Past Competition successes include the 2011 Megan Foster prize at the Maggie Teyte competition, prizes at the Porto International Piano, Lies Askonas, Major Van der Pump and RCM Schumann competitions and alongside these she is both a Samling and Making Music Recommended Artist.

She works regularly as a pianist for Southbank Centre and has appeared on BBC Radio 3’s In Tune and Record Review programmes. She is currently a member of teaching and piano staff at the Royal College of Music, Junior Trinity, and South Hampstead High School.

Recordings of the works in today's concert

Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)
Fantasie in F minor D940 Op 103 (1828) [22:00]
1 Allegro molto moderato
2 Largo
3 Scherzo. Allegro vivace
4 Finale. Allegro molto moderato

The plaintive opening theme of this fantasy will be familiar to many. This recording from the Konzerthaus Berlin is by the duo Silver-Garburg - Sivan SIlver and Gil Garburg:

As we are not sure which of the Kurtág arrangements we will hear at the concert, you have the opportunity to listen to four of them here. The performers are the 20 Digitus Duo, Maria Garcia & Momoko Muramatsu. Their beautifully measured performance of these four Bach transcriptions by György Kurtág comes from a house concert in September 2015.

1 BWV 643 Alle menschen müssen sterben
All mankind must die (Johann Georg Albinus, C17 Protestant pastor)

2 BWV 687 Aus Tiefer Not schrei ich zu dir - at (1:30)
Out of deep anguish I call to you (Martin Luther)

3 BWV DEEST O Lamm Gottes unschuldig - at (6:16)
O Lamb of God, innocent (Lutheran Hymn, 1531)

4 BWV 106 Gottes Zeit is die allerbeste zeit (1707/8)- at (9:56)
God's time is the very best time (from an early funeral cantata)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Suite for four hands on one Pianoforte (1893)
I Prelude • II Minuet
III Sarabande • IV gigue

This is an early work of RVW's, from his time studying under Sir Hubert Parry. These audio recordings were recorded by pianists Lynne Arnold and Charles Matthews.

Thea Musgrave (b1928)
Excursions (1965)
I Driving in the Highlands
II The Road Hog
III Learner Driver
IV The Drunken Driver
V The Sunday Driver
VI Roadside Repairs
VII Fog on the Motorway
VIII Backseat Driver

The pianists in these audio recordings are Thea Musgrave and Malcolm Williamson: