Programme

Franz Schubert
Ganymed
Die junge Nonne
An die Musik

Robert Schumann
Widmung  (Myrthen)

Clara Schumann
Liebst du um Schönheit (Zwölf Gedichte aus „Liebesfrühling“)

Johannes Brahms
Von waldbekränzter höhe
Unbewegte laue Luft
Wie Melodien (Fünf Lieder)
Verzagen
Von ewiger Liebe

INTERVAL

David Matthews
Three Hopkins Sonnets
The Windhover
The Candle Indoors
As Kingfishers Catch Fire

Henri Duparc
Extase
L’invitation au voyage
Chanson triste

Frank Bridge
Come to Me in my Dreams

Ernest John Moeran
Twilight

Ivor Bertie Gurney
Thou didst delight my eyes
Sleep (Five Elizabethan Songs)

Benjamin Britten
Sephestia’s Lullaby (A Charm of Lullabies)

Gustav Mahler
Urlicht (Des Knaben Wunderhorn)
Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen (Rückert-Lieder)

 

Programme notes

Franz Schubert 1797-1828

An die Musik

Ganymed
Der junge Nonne

Schubert composed ‘An die Musik’ in March 1817 to a poem by his friend Franz von Schober. It was published in 1827 and only then was dedicated to the Viennese piano virtuoso Albert Sowinsky. It is one of Schubert’s best-known songs, due to its harmonic simplicity and subtle interaction between the voice and the lower part of the piano accompaniment. ‘Ganymed’ was written in the same year. Goethe’s poem tells the story, originating in Homer, of Ganymede, a Trojan shepherd abducted by Zeus to become his cupbearer. Homer does not go into Zeus’s motivation, but later writers suggested it was either sexual or admiration for Ganymede’s mind (Zeus does not have a strong record for the latter option). Goethe writes from the point of view of Ganymed himself. Throughout the piece, Schubert’s harmonies shift between major and minor, with varied textures evoking Ganymede’s impatience. The poem ‘Der junge Nonne’ is by the impressively named Jakob Nikolaus, Reichsfreiherr von Craigher de Jachelutta (1797-1855). Around 1820 Craigher had moved to Vienna, where he joined a circle of romantic poets. His poem includes many familiar romantic topics like the forest, the storm, and the grave, and these external phenomena are linked with the narrator’s own state of mind – except that the storm is happening now, and she sees her stormy emotions as something in the past, that she will escape in the convent. The orchestral character of the piano writing led to versions with orchestra made by Liszt and the conductor Weingartner – even a version by Schubert’s brother Ferdinand for orchestra and female chorus. Musically, the storm continues even as she anticipates union with Christ, her bridegroom – the patter of semiquavers in the accompaniment suggesting falling snow, the piano tremolando, the low octaves, the ringing bell, all persist to the end – so she may not find the peace she seeks. The soprano Sophie Müller described in her diary singing ‘Die junge Nonne’ to Schubert and his friend the singer Johann Vogl: ‘After lunch Schubert came and brought a new song, Die junge Nonne; later Vogl came, and I sang it to him; it is splendidly composed.’

Robert Schumann 1810-1856

Widmung

‘Widmung’ is the opening song from Schumann’s Myrthen cycle, composed in 1840, and it was one of Clara Schumann’s favourite Schumann songs – Myrthen was dedicated to Clara as a wedding gift. It was later arranged as an instrumental piece and was particularly famous as a piano solo by Liszt. The key change from A flat to E at ‘Du bist die Ruh’ is particularly effective, while the return to A flat is seamless.

Clara Schumann 1819-1896

Liebst du um Schönheit

Clara Schumann was one of the most distinguished pianists of the 19th century in a career that lasted over sixty years, and one who strongly influenced the piano recital format away from virtuoso displays to more serious content. She was a considerable composer of piano music, chamber music, and songs. ‘Liebst du um Schönheit’ comes from her three songs opus 12, first published as part of Robert Schumann’s 12 Lieder op. 37 – there was no indication in the first edition as to which songs were Clara’s, but Robert noted the details in his own copy. Compared with Mahler’s later setting, Clara Schumann’s is more intimate and the piano part is fuller, supporting a simpler vocal line.

Johannes Brahms 1833-1897

Von waldbekränzter Höhe
Wie Melodien
Unbewegte laue Luft
Verzagen
Von ewiger Liebe

‘Von waldbekränzter Höhe’ is the first of Brahms’s 8 Lieder und Gesänge op. 57 from 1871. The poet wants everything in nature to bring him back to his beloved. The overall mood of the song is consistent, but Brahms subtly creates a return to the opening music at the end. ‘Wie Melodien’, from Brahms’s op. 105 set (1888), opens with a striking phrase that recurs at each stanza – however this is not quite a strophic setting as Brahms varies the melody each time it returns. The voice ends the song with the opening melody reversed. ‘Unbewegte laue Luft’ is the last song in the op. 57 collection. The still atmosphere at the beginning is partly created by the slow tempo and the lack of a clear rhythmic pulse. This changes dramatically when the poet’s blood begins to race. ‘Verzagen’, from op. 72 (1877) is in three stanzas and set in the German ‘Bar form’, A-A-B (but the piano ends the song as it began). The piano creates the waves of the sea, and refuses the singer any rest. ‘Von ewiger Liebe’ (op. 43, 1869), by contrast, is almost folk-like at the start, rising to the girl’s emphatic declaration, and almost returning to the folk simplicity at the end – but the couple have deepened their relationship.

 

Dame Sarah Connolly, mezzo-soprano

Sarah Connolly was made a DBE in the 2017 Birthday Honours, having previously been awarded a CBE in the 2010 New Year Honours. In 2020 she was made an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society in recognition of her outstanding services to music.

In 2023 she was awarded The King’s Medal for Music, an annual award recognising an outstanding individual or group of musicians who has had a major influence on the musical life of the nation.

She has sung at the Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg and Tanglewood Festivals, and at the BBC Proms where, in 2009, she was a soloist in the Last Night of the Proms. Her operatic engagements have taken her to many of the world’s leading houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, the Paris Opera, La Scala Milan, the Vienna and Munich State Operas, and the Bayreuth, Glyndebourne and Aix‑en‑Provence Festivals.

Highlights of her 2025–26 season include Jocasta (Oedipus Rex) for the Norwegian National Opera & Ballet, and Mrs Patrick De Rocher (Dead Man Walking) for English National Opera.

On the concert platform she sings Messiah with the Monteverdi Choir and Orchestra under Christophe Rousset; The Dream of Gerontius with the Tampere Philharmonic Orchestra under Matthew Halls; Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 with the Naples Philharmonic Orchestra under Alexander Shelley and with the Aalborg Symfoniorkester under Joshua Weilerstein; Mahler’s Kindertotenlieder with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra under Joel Sandelson; and Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen with the Symphony Orchestra of India under Martyn Brabbins.

Dame Sarah is a Vocal Professor and Fellow at her alma mater, the Royal College of Music, a Trustee of the Countess of Munster Musical Trust, and an Ambassador for the Monteverdi Choir & Orchestras Apprentices Programme.

 

Joseph Middleton, piano

Imagine that this is a photo of Joseph

Joseph Middleton is widely regarded as one of the most exceptional and creative pianists of his generation, specialising in song accompaniment and chamber music at the highest international level. Hailed by Gramophone as “the absolute king of programming” and by The New York Times as “the perfect accompanist”, he collaborates with many of the world’s foremost singers, performing at venues and festivals across Europe, North America and Asia.

A passionate advocate for the power of song, Joseph is the Artistic Director of Leeds Song, praised by The Guardian for its “world-class” programming and by The Times as a “Northern powerhouse of song”. He also curates series for BBC Radio 3, Wigmore Hall and the University of Cambridge, where he founded and directs their Lieder Scheme. Joseph is Musician in Residence at Pembroke College. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Music, where he is Professor of Ensemble Piano, and was made a Bye-Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge by Lord Chris Smith. Joseph is the first — and to date, only — accompanist to receive the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Young Artist Award, the UK’s most prestigious recognition for a classical musician.

Joseph appears regularly at leading international venues including Wigmore Hall, where he has been a featured artist with series on Ravel, Mahler and Strauss; the Royal Opera House, the Barbican and Southbank Centre; Alice Tully Hall and the Park Avenue Armory in New York; the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; Vienna Konzerthaus and Musikverein; Hamburg Elbphilharmonie; Berlin Pierre Boulez Saal and Philharmonie; Cologne Philharmonie; Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela; Baden-Baden Festspielhaus; Zurich Tonhalle; Paris’s Musée d’Orsay; and Oji Hall, Tokyo. Festival highlights include Aix-en-Provence, Aldeburgh, Edinburgh, Heidelberger Frühling, Munich, San Francisco, Ravinia, the Schubertiade in Hohenems and Schwarzenberg, Seoul, Toronto and Vancouver.

He has enjoyed fruitful partnerships with Sir Thomas Allen, Louise Alder, Mary Bevan, Ian Bostridge, Allan Clayton, Dame Sarah Connolly, Marianne Crebassa, Véronique Gens, Iestyn Davies, Fatma Said, Huw Montague Rendall, Christiane Karg, Sir Simon Keenlyside, Elsa Dreisig, Angelika Kirchschlager, Katharina Konradi, Dame Felicity Lott, Christopher Maltman, John Mark Ainsley, Ann Murray DBE, James Newby, Mark Padmore, Konstantin Krimmel, Mauro Peter, Miah Persson, Sophie Rennert, Dorothea Röschmann, Carolyn Sampson, Nicky Spence and Roderick Williams.

His award-winning discography on Warner, Harmonia Mundi, BIS, Chandos and Signum, amongst others, includes multiple honours: the Diapason d’Or, Edison Award and Prix Caecilia, alongside nominations for Gramophone, Opus Klassik, BBC Music Magazine and the International Classical Music Awards. Committed to expanding the song repertoire, he has commissioned and premiered works by composers including Thomas Adès, Helen Grime, Mark-Anthony Turnage, Hannah Kendall, Errollyn Wallen, Mark Simpson and Nico Muhly. At the 2018 BBC Proms he premièred recently discovered songs by Benjamin Britten alongside Dame Sarah Connolly. He is frequently called upon to give masterclasses, with recent seasons taking him to Toronto Summer Music, Ravinia in Chicago, Britten-Pears in Aldeburgh, deSingel Antwerp, Samling and the Royal Opera House, London.

Highlights of the 2025–26 season include recitals alongside Dorothea Röschmann, Fatma Said, Louise Alder, Elsa Dreisig, Dame Sarah Connolly, Huw Montague Rendall, Hera Hyesang Park, Katharina Konradi, Carolyn Sampson and Hugh Cutting at venues including Wigmore Hall, the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofía, Valencia, the Grand Théâtre de Genève, the Muziekgebouw, Amsterdam, and the Prinzregententheater, Munich. With Vera-Lotte Boecker he performed Schumann’s Frauenliebe und -leben in staged performances at the Staatsoper Hamburg. His recording projects include an ongoing five‑album set of Mahler Lieder for Signum Records.