Mansel Thomas News
British composer
- opera
- United Kingdom, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
- conductor, composer
Last update
2024-04-23
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2024-04-22 09:09:00
The Celestial Stranger: new song cycle inspired by Thomas Traherne's recently discovered manuscript
Joana Carneiro & Gavan RingThomas Traherne was a Herefordshire clergyman who died in 1674 aged 38. Known now as a poet to equal his great contemporary religious writers John Donne, George Herbert and Henry Vaughan, his works had been substantially lost and are only recently being rediscovered. His Centuries of Meditation was only rediscovered in 1898, other volumes turned up but the biggest cache of his work was found only as recently as 1997 at Lambeth Palace Library where they were catalogued as anonymous. Amongst these works is a 42-chapter treatise entitled The Kingdom of God which includes The Celestial Stranger, where Traherne imagines a visitor from a distant universe visiting earth and being held in wonder by its riches and beauty.Musically, Traherne is perhaps best known as the poet for Gerald Finzi's Dies Natalis which draws on three Traherne poems plus text from Centuries of Meditation.Traherne's The Celestial Stranger is now the inspiration for a song-cycle by […]
2024-04-20 09:51:00
A Leeds Songbook and a showcase performance: Leeds Lieder Young Artists 2024
[…] mixed spare, edgy piano with a more lyric, expressionist voice creating an intriguing sound world but raising the suspicion that more interest was in the piano with Shapes Tickle being over careful in the vocal writing. The Birdman of Adel Woods by Huw Mears (music) and Susan Darlington (words), performed by Felicitas Wrede (soprano) and Abhisri Chaudhuri (piano), was dark an expressionist in tone, conjuring real atmosphere.Richard's Song by Dawn Walters (music) and Laura Strickland (words), performed by Thomas McGowan (baritone) and Benjamin Collyer (piano), felt very mid-20th century English, attractively lyric and well-written for voice with discreet yet atmospheric piano writing, creating something touching. The Changeling Moss by David Palmer (music) and Lizzie Nolan (words), performed by Laura Coppinger (soprano) accompanied by the composer, featured athletic, quasi-instrumental writing for the voice, impressively performed by Coppinger. The very distinct atmosphere of the piece reflected the poem's tone, but lacked the intriguing sense of irony Lizzie […]
2024-04-18 15:31:59
Dr. Thomas Zwieg on The New Il Cannone Direct & Focused Violin Strings
2024-04-18 09:15:00
Engaging the audience: James Newby and Joseph Middleton in a folk-inspired programme at a cool Leeds café/bar
Leeds Lieder 2024 - Joseph Middleton, James Newby - Through the Noise at Hyde Park Book ClubMatyas Seiber, John Jacob Niles, Thomas Traill, Joseph Suder, Percy Grainger, Vaughan Williams, Britten, Ravel: Cinq Mélodies populaires grecques, Mahler: Lieder eines Fahrenden Gesellen; James Newby, Joseph Middleton; Leeds Lieder & Through the Noise at Hyde Park Book Club17 April 2024A new collaboration sees Leeds Lieder at a cool café/bar with an engaging and beautifully sung programme of songs inspired by folk-musicA former fuel storage tank is not the usual venue for a song recital, but Hyde Park Book Club is no usual venue and last night's recital there (17 April 2024) by baritone James Newby and pianist Joseph Middleton was a collaboration between Leeds Lieder (of which Middleton is the artistic director) and Through the Noise, the organisation that promotes its concerts, noisenights, via a distinctive crowdfunding model. The recital was all of folk-inspired music, from Matyas […]
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