Music on Thursdays
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Thursday 15th August 2024
12.30 lunchtime
Venue: Leatherhead Methodist Church KT22 8AY
Parking: Swan Centre multi storey KT22 7RH
James Akers
early 19th century guitars
Programme
Lost Treasures: music by women composers for unique antique guitars
Emilia Giuliani (1813-1850)
from Sei Preludi Op 46 (?1841)
Prelude No 1
Athénaïs Paulian (1802-c1872)
from Airs et Variations chantés par Madame Catalini
1 Theme of Mozart + 3 variations, from Zauberflöte: Das klinget so herrlich
The Magic Flute: That sounds so pretty, (c1829)
Dora Jordan (actress, 1761-1816)
arr Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829)
The Bluebells of Scotland
Emilia Giuliani
Prelude No 2
Yelizaveta Wassiljewna Kochubey (1821-1897)
arr Ivan Klinger (b1815, Ukraine d1897)
Fantasia on “Tell Her” Op 21
Emilia Giuliani
Prelude No 3
Catharina Josepha Pratten (1821-1895)
Fantasia on Malbrook
from Guitar School: a Book of Methods (1859)
No 70: Rhapsody Funèbre
Variations on Paganini's “The Carnival of Venice”
Concert duration approx: 45 minutes
Please donate to help fund these concerts at: cafdonate.cafonline.org/14455
James Akers
Critically acclaimed musician James Akers was hailed as ‘the great Scottish guitarist’ by Classical Guitar Magazine and, in a review from Gramophone, his playing was described as, 'containing all the warmth, colour and expressive richness one could hope for.' Throughout a varied career James has explored music from a historical and stylistic perspective, combining diligent research with expressive performances to communicate the continuity of musical endeavour through the centuries.
James was born in Scotland and began playing guitar at the age of 10. He was largely self-taught before having lessons with Robert Mackillop at Napier University, Edinburgh. Whilst at Napier, he turned his attentions to playing period instruments and pursued this as his principal study at the Royal College of Music, with Jakob Lindberg. James completed his studies at Trinity College of Music, studying with Jacob Heringman and David Miller, with additional lessons and advice from Paul O'Dette and Elizabeth Kenny.
As a soloist James has performed throughout Europe, the USA, the Middle East, and Australia. Widely active as a chamber musician, he has accompanied leading singers and vocal groups including Dame Emma Kirkby, Miriam Allan, I Fagiolini, Ex Cathedra, Stile Antico, Solomon’s Knot, the Dunedin Consort and the Marian Consort and instrumental groups such as Fretwork, Chelys Viol Consort and The Rose Consort of Viols.
As a continuo player, James has worked for many major opera companies including, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, and Innsbruck Festival Opera as well as orchestras and ensembles including The Scottish, Irish and English Chamber Orchestras, Northern Sinfonia, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Ulster Orchestra, and The Essen Philharmonie.
James has performed on numerous recordings, film soundtracks, theatrical stages, and broadcast for the BBC, France Musique and RTE Lyric, Ireland.
James lectures in early plucked strings at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
James was born in Scotland and began playing guitar at the age of 10. He was largely self-taught before having lessons with Robert Mackillop at Napier University, Edinburgh. Whilst at Napier, he turned his attentions to playing period instruments and pursued this as his principal study at the Royal College of Music, with Jakob Lindberg. James completed his studies at Trinity College of Music, studying with Jacob Heringman and David Miller, with additional lessons and advice from Paul O'Dette and Elizabeth Kenny.
As a soloist James has performed throughout Europe, the USA, the Middle East, and Australia. Widely active as a chamber musician, he has accompanied leading singers and vocal groups including Dame Emma Kirkby, Miriam Allan, I Fagiolini, Ex Cathedra, Stile Antico, Solomon’s Knot, the Dunedin Consort and the Marian Consort and instrumental groups such as Fretwork, Chelys Viol Consort and The Rose Consort of Viols.
As a continuo player, James has worked for many major opera companies including, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opera North, Glyndebourne, and Innsbruck Festival Opera as well as orchestras and ensembles including The Scottish, Irish and English Chamber Orchestras, Northern Sinfonia, the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, The Ulster Orchestra, and The Essen Philharmonie.
James has performed on numerous recordings, film soundtracks, theatrical stages, and broadcast for the BBC, France Musique and RTE Lyric, Ireland.
James lectures in early plucked strings at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Recordings of the works in today's concert
Emilia Giuliani (1813-1850)
from Sei Preludi Op 46 (?1841)
Prelude No 1 [1:40]
We open with Jon Mendle playing Giuliani's Prelude 1:
from Sei Preludi Op 46 (?1841)
Prelude No 1 [1:40]
We open with Jon Mendle playing Giuliani's Prelude 1:
Athénaïs Paulian (1802-c1872)
from Airs et Variations chantés par Madame Catalini
1 Theme of Mozart + 3 variations, from Zauberflöte: Das klinget so herrlich
The Magic Flute: That sounds so pretty, (c1829) [3:30]
In this piece from Paulian's only published work, our performer is James or Jamie Akers:
Dora Jordan (actress, 1761-1816)
arr Mauro Giuliani (1781-1829)
from Sei Arie nazionale scozzesi
5 The Bluebells of Scotland moderato, con espressione [3:30]
Let's look at a different kind of guitar for this example. The "lyre-guitar" had its moment in the limelight in the early 19th century. Indeed, the one being played here could well have been among the last produced. It was made by F Rhoudloff or Mirecourt, France, around 1829.
Mauro Giuliani produced a volume of Scottish Airs for the instrument. Mauro was a famed guitarist and composer, and he was the father of Emilia Giuliani, mentioned above. Our player here is the Quebec-based ancient music specialist David Jacques:
Emilia Giuliani
Prelude No 2 [1:30]
Here too is James Akers with the second of the Giuliani Preludes. After this week's samples, we will find a recording of the complete set of these Preludes:
Yelizaveta Kochubey (1821-1897)
arr Ivan Klinger (b1815, Ukraine d1897)
Fantasia on “Tell Her” Op 21 [5:00]
First we have a recording of the song Skazhite Yey, meaning Tell Her. There are but few notes about this recording.
German wikipedia has a short article about Kochubey, under the name Princess Jelisaweta Wassiljewna Kotschubei and there are links from there to Russian and Ukrainian entries. She ended her days in Nice, in a fine mansion (or villa) which is now the city's Musée des Beaux-Arts.
A man of many guitars, we are told, here again we will hear James Akers playing the fantasia, this time on an 8-stringed guitar:
Emilia Giuliani
Prelude No 3 [1:25]
Our performer for the third of these preludes is the Canadian classical guitarist, teacher and luthier (yes, she makes them too!) Emily Alice Shaw. We'll let her tell her own story on her website, meanwhile here's the short Prelude 3:
Catharina Josepha Pratten (1821-1895)
Fantasia on Malbrook [8:05]
Think "For he's a jolly good fellow" - you'll soon hear it in this Fantasia. It is also used as a theme in a Beethoven work (see foot of page). However, both he and Pratten would have known the tune as the French folk song "Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre" - "(The Duke of) Marlborough is off to war". It even caught on in England! It's worth looking up the history of the song on wikipedia. French children were still singing the song in colonies de vacances in the late 1970s.
Catharina Pratten has turned the melody into something far more beautiful than the title implies, and here, Tim Beattie plays the Fantasia on one of the composer's own guitars. It is a Gerard from around 1830, and today it is in the collection of the University of Edinburgh. Tim Beattie is performing in the University's St Cecilia's Hall, Concert Room and Music Museum:
Catharina Josepha Pratten
from Guitar School: a Book of Methods (1859)
No 70 Rhapsody Funebre [2:30]
Performed here by James Akers himself, at the graveside of the composer, in Brompton Cemetery.
Catharina Pratten
Variations on Paganini's “The Carnival of Venice” [5:20]
And so we come to the end of the concert recordings, with a finale from James Akers. playing another of Pratten's guitars (signed by the lady herself). Another tune you will recognise:
Online Extras
Emilia Giuliani
Sei Preludi Op 46 (?1841) [14:55]
Prelude 1 Moderato
Prelude 2 Mosso
Prelude 3 Presto
Prelude 4 Moderato
Prelude 5 Moderato
Prelude 6 Allegro
We did promise you the complete set of Giuliani's Preludes. They are performed here by Maya Lončar, in the Kilbourn Hall of the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, NY.
Sei Preludi Op 46 (?1841) [14:55]
Prelude 1 Moderato
Prelude 2 Mosso
Prelude 3 Presto
Prelude 4 Moderato
Prelude 5 Moderato
Prelude 6 Allegro
We did promise you the complete set of Giuliani's Preludes. They are performed here by Maya Lončar, in the Kilbourn Hall of the Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester, NY.
. . . and if you were puzzled by the reference to Beethoven and "For he's a jolly good fellow" (Malbrough s'en va-t-en guerre), he uses the tune to represent the French forces in this commemoration of Wellington's (eventual) victory over the forces of Napoleon, in the Basque country of Spain: The Battle of Vitoria on 21 June 1813.
The work is a fairly light-hearted representation of the battle, performed here by the Agroria Philharmonic and the Swiss Military's Rekrutenspiel 16-2/2017 (possibly the recruits' band of the 16th Feb intake). You will see the recruits in uniform, separately representing the two sides, although there are recruits in parts of the orchestra too.
There is a similar recording from Horse Guards Parade. The sound quality is pretty variable, which is the reason for selecting this indoor version.
The conductor is Douglas Bostock, in Wellington's Victory Symphony:
Previous concert
8 August 2024 - Ye Bon Jeong, violin & Leon Chen, piano from Royal Academy of Music - click here
Next concert
22 August 2024 - RAM pianist Anson Wong - click here
