Guitarist Morgan Szymanski performs La Caterina for solo guitar at Kent’s foremost autumn festival

Ray Picot said in May 2019 in his CD review in the Iberian and Latin American Music Society:

“Stephen McNeff contributed a wonderful atmospheric trilogy of pieces to 2015’s Nuevo Mundo and does so once again with the cleverly atmospheric La Catrina which explores the mythology behind the emblem of The Day of the Dead. ‘Catrina’ originally referred to a well dressed and perhaps rich woman which transmuted into the famous engraving of a skeleton wearing a large elegant floral and feathered hat. No mere ’danse macabre’, this piece is a strongly felt mediation on a subject close to the heart of Mexican culture.”

Listen to Morgan’s recording on Sarabande Records via Apple Music at this link.

The British Clarinet Ensemble will play ‘The Darkling Serenade’ in Dublin on 2nd August as part of Clarinetfest 2024 https://clarinet.org/clarinetfest-2024-dublin-ireland/

https://www.britishclarinetensemble.co.uk/bce-live

Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.

This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.

See Gavan’s Twitter entry with a rehearsal excerpt here.

Stephen McNeff - Sinfonia.

Rhondda Symphony Orchestra - A Celebration Of Welsh Composers

Stephen McNeff

• Sinfonia (2007)

• Peters Edition Limited (World)
  

First performance on 20th March 2007 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop at the Anvil, Basingstoke and on BBC Radio

• ORCHESTRATION

  2[II:pic].2.2[II:bcl].2[II:cbn]/4.2.1.1/timp.2perc/hp/str

• DURATION15 min

• CATEGORYOrchestra

• COMPOSER

  Stephen McNeff

• PERFORMANCES

  • 4th May 2024, All Saints Church, Oystermouth, Swansea, United Kingdom

The Celestial Stranger - A Song Cycle for Tenor and Orchestra

The Celestial Stranger was inspired by the rediscovery in 1997 in the library of Lambeth Palace in London of texts by the Seventeenth Century cleric and mystic, Thomas Traherne. In these Traherne imagins a person from another world discovering earth and being enchanted by its beauty: “this little star, so wide and so full of mysteries."  In this cycle of songs our Stranger goes on to marvel at natural wonders and recounts how his (or her) brother imagines that in jumping over a stream in the moonlight he falls into a reverse world and ‘leaps over the moon’.   Drawing on other poets like Walt Whitman and Dylan Thomas, the cycle describes a broad narrative arc. In 'As Time Draws Nigh'', the realities of the earth wake the Stranger up to the warlike industrialisation of society, and the prophetic fear of a totalitarian regime are expressed in 'The Hand that Signed the Paper’.  Understanding the imperfections of the word, our traveller takes their regretful leave – perhaps one day to return.  

https://www.bbc.co.uk/events/ej9n5v

For further details please see News pages

Stephen McNeff - Sinfonia.

Rhondda Symphony Orchestra - A Celebration Of Welsh Composers

Stephen McNeff

• Sinfonia (2007)

• Peters Edition Limited (World)
  

First performance on 20th March 2007 by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marin Alsop at the Anvil, Basingstoke and on BBC Radio

• ORCHESTRATION

  2[II:pic].2.2[II:bcl].2[II:cbn]/4.2.1.1/timp.2perc/hp/str

• DURATION15 min

• CATEGORYOrchestra

• COMPOSER

  Stephen McNeff

• PERFORMANCES

  • 4th May 2024, All Saints Church, Oystermouth, Swansea, United Kingdom

Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.

This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.

Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.

This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.

Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.

This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.

Chamber Choir Ireland presents a small, yet perfectly formed, quartet of part-songs and miniatures, spanning the centuries. Paring back the full choral sound to its most basic form, an intimate experience of hearing four exquisite voices perform everything from Palestrina to Gershwin including new works by Rhona Clarke, Stephen McNeff and Eoghan Desmond.

This concert features Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, my arrangement of the well known nursery song which takes the music in unexpectedly delightful directions. And who knew the others verses…?

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star is part of The Starlight Night set of a cappella four-part songs. The score is published by Edition Peters and is available here.

Stephen McNeff’s latest opera, A Star Next to the Moon, receives its world premiere at Guildhall School. Based on Juan Rulfo’s iconic novel Pedro Páramo, with a libretto by Aoife Mannix, the piece explores how love and belonging struggle under a tyrannical regime.

Juan Preciado, as a deathbed promise to his mother, sets out to find his estranged father, Pedro Páramo. But the town of his birth, Comala, is not as he expected. Strange and disturbing encounters with the mysterious inhabitants start to build a picture of a town drowning in its own past.

The details of how Pedro Páramo ruthlessly rose to power as a cruel and tyrannical landowner begin to emerge. Pedro’s one glimpse of humanity is Susana, the young woman he has loved since childhood. However, her decline into sickness and death drive Pedro to despair, and to commit his ultimate act of malice.

Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director

Stephen McNeff’s latest opera, A Star Next to the Moon, receives its world premiere at Guildhall School. Based on Juan Rulfo’s iconic novel Pedro Páramo, with a libretto by Aoife Mannix, the piece explores how love and belonging struggle under a tyrannical regime.

Juan Preciado, as a deathbed promise to his mother, sets out to find his estranged father, Pedro Páramo. But the town of his birth, Comala, is not as he expected. Strange and disturbing encounters with the mysterious inhabitants start to build a picture of a town drowning in its own past.

The details of how Pedro Páramo ruthlessly rose to power as a cruel and tyrannical landowner begin to emerge. Pedro’s one glimpse of humanity is Susana, the young woman he has loved since childhood. However, her decline into sickness and death drive Pedro to despair, and to commit his ultimate act of malice.

Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director

Stephen McNeff’s latest opera, A Star Next to the Moon, receives its world premiere at Guildhall School. Based on Juan Rulfo’s iconic novel Pedro Páramo, with a libretto by Aoife Mannix, the piece explores how love and belonging struggle under a tyrannical regime.

Juan Preciado, as a deathbed promise to his mother, sets out to find his estranged father, Pedro Páramo. But the town of his birth, Comala, is not as he expected. Strange and disturbing encounters with the mysterious inhabitants start to build a picture of a town drowning in its own past.

The details of how Pedro Páramo ruthlessly rose to power as a cruel and tyrannical landowner begin to emerge. Pedro’s one glimpse of humanity is Susana, the young woman he has loved since childhood. However, her decline into sickness and death drive Pedro to despair, and to commit his ultimate act of malice.

Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director

Stephen McNeff’s latest opera, A Star Next to the Moon, receives its world premiere at Guildhall School. Based on Juan Rulfo’s iconic novel Pedro Páramo, with a libretto by Aoife Mannix, the piece explores how love and belonging struggle under a tyrannical regime.

Juan Preciado, as a deathbed promise to his mother, sets out to find his estranged father, Pedro Páramo. But the town of his birth, Comala, is not as he expected. Strange and disturbing encounters with the mysterious inhabitants start to build a picture of a town drowning in its own past.

The details of how Pedro Páramo ruthlessly rose to power as a cruel and tyrannical landowner begin to emerge. Pedro’s one glimpse of humanity is Susana, the young woman he has loved since childhood. However, her decline into sickness and death drive Pedro to despair, and to commit his ultimate act of malice.

Martin Lloyd-Evans director
Dominic Wheeler conductor
Anna Reid designer
Anthony Doran lighting designer
Jonathan Waller fight director
Raniah Al-Sayed intimacy director

RTÉ Lyric FM broadcast Stephen McNeff’s Ballads of a Bogman - the Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle

This recording of Ballads of a Bogman: The Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle will be broadcast on RTÉ lyric fm LIVE, on 14 July at 7pm. Listen online here.

Recorded live on 16 October 2022 at the Daniel O’Connell Memorial Church Cahersiveen.

Gavan Ring, tenor
Louise Thomas, piano
Recording Engineer: Paul Ashe-Browne

Acclaimed Irish tenor Gavan Ring and pianist Louise Thomas present the ‘homecoming’ performance in this recording of Ballads of a Bogman - a cycle of nine songs by CMC Composer Stephen McNeff based on the evocative poetry of the bard of Iveragh, Sigerson Clifford.

The song cycle was devised during 2021 as part of the Contemporary Music Centre's Contemporary Artists Network (formerly CMC Colleagues), where Stephen, Gavan and Louise began their collaboration. On this subject, Stephen McNeff who is Professor of Composition at the Guildhall School of Music in London says, ‘I had been a big fan of Gavan’s voice and I approached him in late 2020 to collaborate as part of ‘CMC Colleagues’ a Contemporary Music Centre initiative to partner composers and artists together. Gavan had no hesitation in recommending that I look at Clifford’s poetry. I was instantly bowled over by his texts; Clifford possesses a clear voice and a technical mastery which made them perfect for the medium of art song’.

Through Louise Thomas, who is Associate Dean of the College of Performing Arts at Chapman University in Los Angeles, the composition of Ballads of a Bogman had its world premiere at Chapman University last year, followed by a European and Irish premiere in association with Cork Opera House at St Fin Barre’s Cathedral – only a stone’s throw away from Dean Street where Sigerson Clifford was born. This performance, however, was recorded in Clifford’s and Gavan’s hometown of Cahersiveen last October and was made possible by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media’s Local Live Performance Programming Scheme.

1. I am Kerry Intro
2. The Ballad of the Tinker’s Son
3. The Old School
4. The Boy Remembers his Father
5. The Kerry Christmas Carol
6. The County Mayo
7. O drink your porter, tinker man!
8. The Fiddler
9. I am Kerry

Recorded at their March 24th concert at Maida Vale, the BBC Singers broadcast The Starlight Night as part of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Afternoon Concert’.

A digital programme for the whole concert is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/extra/q7etQRBn2a/BBC-Singers-24-March-2023. Aoife Mannix’s text for The Horizons of Doubt is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ficca9nemjxe1l8/The%20Horizons%20of%20Doubt%20Text%20final%20edit.pdf?dl=0

About The Concert

Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.

Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.

At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.

Recorded at their March 24th concert at Maida Vale, the BBC Singers broadcast Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as part of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Afternoon Concert’.

A digital programme for the whole concert is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/extra/q7etQRBn2a/BBC-Singers-24-March-2023. Aoife Mannix’s text for The Horizons of Doubt is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ficca9nemjxe1l8/The%20Horizons%20of%20Doubt%20Text%20final%20edit.pdf?dl=0

About The Concert

Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.

Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.

At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.

Recorded at their March 24th concert at Maida Vale, the BBC Singers broadcast The Horizons of Doubt as part of BBC Radio 3’s ‘Afternoon Concert’.

A digital programme for the whole concert is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/extra/q7etQRBn2a/BBC-Singers-24-March-2023. Aoife Mannix’s text for The Horizons of Doubt is here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ficca9nemjxe1l8/The%20Horizons%20of%20Doubt%20Text%20final%20edit.pdf?dl=0

About The Concert

Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff.

Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.

At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt.

Lambeth Wind Orchestra give the premiere of the new concerto for Saxophone Quartet and Wind Orchestra under the baton of their new musical director Samuel Huston. Full details to come.

Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.

Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.  

Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell

Full details click here.

Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/

A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions

'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh

'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh 

Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.

Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.  

Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell

Full details click here.

Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/

A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions

'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh

'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh 

Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.

Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.  

Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell

Full details click here.

Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/

A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions

'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh

'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh 

Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.

Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.  

Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell

Full details click here.

Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/

A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions

'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh

'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh 

Join us this Easter for The Tales of Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck, a children's concert like no other.. This 'truly charming' (Primary Times) introduction to classical music will leave the little ones mesmerised and the not-so-little ones with the warm nostalgia that only Beatrix Potter and her timeless tales can instill.

Stephen McNeff’s musical settings of The Tales of Beatrix Potter have enchanted audiences in the UK, America and Canada. With brand new orchestrations, Jimmy Jewell brings this 'engaging, magical hour of nostalgia for both adults and children alike' (The Wee Review) to London following an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017.

With storytelling, song, and a lively interactive orchestra of actor-musicians, audiences will find a new love for the stories that have captured the hearts and imaginations of children for generations.  

Music by Stephen McNeff
Adapted by Adrian Mitchell

Full details click here

Visit Michelle Todd’s website at: https://michelletoddsoprano.com/portfolio/the-tales-of-beatrix-potter/

A show that every child and parent should take time to go and see' ★★★★★ Fairy Powered Productions

'One of those hidden gems' ★★★★★ The Southside Advertiser Edinburgh

'A delightful example of storytelling through rhyme and music' ★★★★ Families Edinburgh 

A rescheduling of the concert from 2020. Full details from the BBC Singers website available here.

Join the BBC Singers at the historic Maida Vale Studios for an intimate concert celebrating contemporary composer Stephen McNeff. 
 
Led by guest conductor Grace Rossiter, enjoy a rich choral programme including pieces by Kerry Andrew, Tarik O’Regan, Rhona Clarke, Dobrinka Tabakova, Alan Bullard and Siobhán Cleary, woven between four of Stephen McNeff's works.

At the heart of the concert is the world premiere of McNeff's The Horizons of Doubt. 

Programme: 
Stephen McNeff The Starlight Night
Kerry Andrew Hevene Quene
Stephen McNeff The Song of Amergin
Siobhán Cleary Storm in Devon
Tarik O’Regan I Listen to the Stillness of You
Stephen McNeff Mandy and Milly and Molly and Me 
Rhona Clarke A Song for St Cecilia’s Day 1687
Stephen McNeff A Half Darkness
Alan Bullard Peace in the World
Dobrinka Tabakova Of the Sun Born 
Stephen McNeff The Horizons of Doubt (world premiere)
Emily Hazrati Drop Down ye Heavens from Above

BBC Singers
Grace Rossiter conductor

Apply for tickets here https://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/bbc-singers-stephen-mcneff-24mar23

RNCM says: “our very own Head of Conducting Mark Heron featured on the original recording, we can’t wait to perform a live rendition of Stephen McNeff’s Image in Stone with Vocal Tutor and renowned mezzo-soprano Hilary Summers. “

https://www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/rncm-wind-orchestra-with-kevin-gowland-flute-hilary-summers-mezzo-soprano/

Also see ‘News’

Tenor Gavan Ring and pianist Louise Thomas will give a further performances of ‘Ballads of a Bogman’ at the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church, in Cahersiveen, Kerry. This is part of an ongoing project initiated by the Contemporary Music Centre in Dublin. Further details, tickets etc at this link.

This performance will be recorded for later broadcast by RTÉ Lyric FM and is supported by the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Kerry County Council, RTÉ Lyric FM and the Daniel O'Connell Summer School.

Based on Ballads of a Bogman by Irish poet Sigerson Clifford, these songs explore the nature of identity and questing. With roots in Kerry in Western Ireland, the poems and songs relate a troubled world of a newly formed Irish state and the Travellers who populated its roads.

In 2023 the project will be expanded and adapted into staged format. The Irish premiere will be at the Wexford Festival.

Watch the fantastic new Promo video, see beautiful arial shots of Cahersiveen and hear Gavan and Louise by following this link.

Gavan Ring writes…

Following the world premiere in Los Angeles and the Irish and European premiere in Cork earlier this year, Cahersiveen tenor Gavan Ring together with acclaimed pianist Louise Thomas present the homecoming of 'Ballads of a Bogman - The Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle' - a terrific new work by composer Stephen McNeff based on the poetry of Cahersiveen's Sigerson Clifford on

16 October 2022 at the Daniel O'Connell Memorial Church at 7pm.

​

Known as 'The Bard of Iveragh', Clifford was born in Cork City and was raised in Cahersiveen, County Kerry. 'Ballads of a Bogman - The Sigerson Clifford Song Cycle' forms a selection of texts from Clifford's seminal 1955 collection of poetry of the same name. Working with themes such as the revolutionary period, emigration, rural decline and the travelling community in Ireland, McNeff has set Clifford's poetry here to the most exquisite and poignant music, capturing beautifully the spiritual, historical and social fabric of early-twentieth-century rural Ireland through the prism of life in South Kerry at the time.

​

Following the successful launch of the 2117/Hedd Wyn CD at the National Eisteddfod of Wales, the Cardiff launch follows where journalist and composer Steph Power interviews Gruff Rhys and Stephen McNeff about the creation of the opera. Excerpts will be performed by Llio Evans and Dafydd Allen with pianist Rhiannon Pritchard.

Stephen McNeff and Gruff Rhys do Hedd Wyn proud. The piece romps along, full of changing moods and orchestral colour. McNeff’s lyrical gifts find affecting outlet, especially in the great choral set pieces and the harp-dominated ending. Fiona Maddocks, The Guardian.

Mark Padmore and Morgan Szymanski perform Eden Rock, the work they premiered in 2016 commissioned by BBC Radio 3. Settings of the Cornish poet, Charles Causley including the exquisite title song, Eden Rock, where Charles imagines his parents alive again in an idyllic golden summer.

Music at Malling writes:

One of the world’s great singers Mark Padmore CBE, performs with guitar virtuoso Morgan Szymanski in the unique setting of All Saint’s Tudelely with its stunning Marc Chagall windows. Songs by Dowland and Schubert performed alongside new works by Stephen McNeff and Alec Roth.

Full programme:

Dowland – Come ye heavy states of night

Dowland – Come again, sweet love

Dowland -Now, O now I needs must part

Stephen McNeff – A Certain Man

Stephen McNeff – Eden Rock

Schubert – Nachstück

Schubert – Nacht und Träume

Alec Roth – A Road Less Travelled