Wednesday 9th November 2022, 7.00pm
St. Michael & All Angels, Pond Road, Blackheath SE3 9JL
The Brook Street Band
The 2022 LIFEM commission, composed by Nitin Sawhney, is kindly supported by nkoda.
The Brook Street Band is named after the London Street where George Frideric Handel lived from 1723–59. It was formed in 1997 by baroque cellist Tatty Theo, rapidly establishing itself amongst the UK’s leading Handel specialists, winning grants, awards, and broadcasting opportunities from organisations including Radio 3 and the Handel Institute. Violinist Rachel Harris and harpsichordist Carolyn Gibley have been core band members with Tatty for over 20 years, with Kathryn Parry joining more recently; this longevity has enabled them to develop a style of performing and music-making that is precise and spontaneous, musicians able to react instinctively to each other and play as one.
The Band currently performs and teaches throughout the UK and Europe, and has established love: Handel, its own critically-acclaimed biennial music festival. It regularly broadcasts for Radio 3 and Classic FM, and its extensive discography has been singled out for critical acclaim, accolades including Gramophone Magazine Editor’s Choice and inclusion in the chamber music/small ensemble selection category at the Grammy Awards.
The Band recently completed the world premiere recording of Dragon of Wantley, an English opera by Handel’s bassoonist J F Lampe, for release June 2022. The Band featured at the world’s first ever ‘Handeliade’, an immersive four-day event of concerts, masterclasses and talks given by world-renowned Handel experts.
About Nitin Sawhney
Nitin Sawhney CBE recipient of the Ivor Novello 2017 Lifetime Achievement award, is one of the most distinctive and versatile musical voices around today.
Sawhney has recorded multiple albums, film soundtracks and compilations, encompassing over 60 film and TV scores and is established as a world-class producer, songwriter, touring artist, BBC Radio and club DJ, multi-instrumentalist, theatrical, dance, videogame and orchestral composer and cultural/political commentator. Holding 7 honorary doctorates from UK universities along with 3 fellowships he works as an Ivor’s Academy Director as well as sitting on the boards of multiple charities. He has received over 20 major national and international awards and is a member of Oscars, BAFTA and Grammys.
Sawhney is the Chair of the PRS Foundation, the UK’s funding body for new music and talent development. His last album, ‘Immigrants’ for Sony Masterworks, was released in March 2021. Sawhney is currently working on a new album along with several TV & film projects.
Photo: Suki Dhanda
Programme - Wednesday 9th November 2022, 7.00pm
“as steals the morn upon the night”
Baroque specialists The Brook Street Band explore music taking us from the darkness and shadows of deepest night, gaining restorative strength and comfort and delivering hope at the dawn of a new day. The BSB has chosen some of the most beautiful, poignant and uplifting music from the Baroque era to take us through the night, and central to the programme is Early Transitions (world premiere) by Nitin Sawhney. This has inspired BSB to draw on the Indian classical music tradition, our programme a focal lens on two different musical traditions, a bridge between East and West, past and present, traditional and contemporary.
Tarquinio Merula (1595–1665)
Ciaccona in C major op. 12 no. 20
Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber (1644–1704)
Ciacona in C major from Der Nachtwächer
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767)
‘Modéré’ from Paris Quartet no. 12 in E minor TWV:43e4
Michel Pignolet de Montéclair (1667–1737)
Suite ‘Airs tendres’ from Sérénade Ou Concert Sommeil; Songes agréables (Sarabande; Gavotte; Bourée; Menuet); Sommeil
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Trio Sonata in C minor BWV 526
Vivace; Largo; Allegro
Nitin Sawhney b. 1964
Early Transitions (world premiere)
George Frideric Handel (1685–1759)
Larghetto; Allegro; [from Organ Concerto in F major HWV 296 The Cuckoo and the Nightingale]; Adagio; Allegro; Minuet [from Trio Sonata in F major op. 5 no. 6 HWV 401]
François Couperin (1668–1733)
Le Réveil-Matin (‘The Alarm Clock’)
Tarquinio Merula (1595–1665)
Ciaccona in C major op. 12 no. 20
Rachel Harris and Kathryn Parry, baroque violins
Tatty Theo, baroque cello
Carolyn Gibley, harpsichord
Approx. finish time 9.30pm (with interval).