18 June, 2014
ESO Chamber Music
Magna Carta Celebrations at Worcester Cathedral
8 College Yard, Worcester WR1 2LA
Samuel Barber-“Dover Beach” for Baritone and String Quartet
Kile Smith- “Plain Truths” for Baritone and String Quartet
Antonín Dvořák- String Quartet in F Major “American”
Matthew Sharp, Baritone
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Our celebrations of Magna Carta continue with a programme looking at the evolution of freedom in the United States. Kile Smith has been regularly hailed as one of the greatest American composers of our time- his song cycle Plain Truths is a richly observed portrait of life in the small town of Newburyport, Massachusetts, from Revolutionary rumblings through the Emancipation movement of the 1850’s-60’s through to the modern day. Dvořák’s beloved “American” Quartet was first published with a different title—a word now considered a racial slur. Dvořák’s inspiration was to highlight the musical riches of African-American culture and the complexities of the Black experience. American cellist Kenneth Woods introduces this fascinating programme featuring the ESO’s newest artist-in-association, Matthew Sharp.
— Music by Kile Smith: “Spectacular, profoundly contemporary”—Gramophone | “Ethereally beautiful, magnificent”—Fanfare | “Breathtaking, spellbinding”—Philadelphia Inquirer | “Profoundly direct emotional appeal”—Audiophile Audition | “Almost preternaturally beautiful”—Philadelphia City Paper