Two new works by leading British composers received their world premieres at Aysgarth church as this year’s Wensleydale Concert Series drew to a close.
Young cellist Inez Karlsson and pianist Ayaka Shigeno performed the pieces by David Blake and Cheryl Frances-Hoad during the final concert of the series, with both composers in attendance.
Blake, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, wrote Envoi for Karlsson after being approached by former London Symphony Orchestra principal cellist Moray Welsh.
Blake said: “I was intrigued to be composing for a talented musician some 72 years younger than me.”
Welsh told the audience he first heard Karlsson when she was just 16 during a lesson in London and immediately recognised her talent.
He subsequently suggested she should perform in Wensleydale after becoming familiar with the concert series following his move to Yorkshire.
Welsh said the performance also had personal significance as it was 60 years since he became a student of Blake.
He added: “When we realised that David’s 90th birthday almost coincided with this concert I approached him and I said, ‘Come on David – write another piece for the cello. You have done two, do another one.’
“Luckily he agreed.”
The concert also featured the first performance of Cheryl Frances-Hoad’s Three Supplications, which had been commissioned by Wensleydale Concert Series organiser Carol Haynes in 2019 but had never previously been performed.
Frances-Hoad, a multiple British Composer Award winner, said the work unfolds in three connected movements which are each “prayer-like in character” and loosely inspired by short phrases from Bach’s music.
Blake said Envoi, written earlier this year, took its name from a poem by Ezra Pound and consisted of “a series of rather enigmatic, improvisatory ideas, not entirely tuneless”.
Alan George, recently retired conductor, violist and founding member of the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, paid tribute to Blake following the performance.
He said it had been a “pleasure and a privilege” to work with the composer over the years, including as a member of the quartet for which Blake wrote two works.
Karlsson and Shigeno also performed music by Luigi Boccherini, Frank Bridge, Claude Debussy and Johannes Brahms.
Welsh said opportunities for young musicians to work directly with composers remained important.
“We need them as much as they need us,” he added.
The Wensleydale Concert Series returns on May 15 next year with pianist Tom Hicks, followed by tenor Thomas Guthrie and pianist Daniel Grimwood on June 19.
Full Wensleydale Concert Series programme
