Fantasy realised at West Meon Music Festival

A musical fantasy will be revisited in the Meon Valley as the works of one of Britain’s greatest composers will be celebrated in a village church.

Expect a classic day of entertainment with three concerts taking place during the West Meon Music Festival on Saturday, September 12.

Festival founders the Primrose Piano Quartet will begin the day by performing works by Benjamin Britten and his mentor, Frank Bridge, to mark the 50th anniversary of the former’s death.

The 10.30am concert in the village church will include a rendition of Bridge’s Phantasy Piano Quartet, described by Britten as “sonorous yet lucid, with clear, clean lines, grateful to listen to and to play.”

Internationally-renowned cellist, Martin Stanzeleit, will also join the celebrations to give a performance of Britten’s first Suite for Solo Cello Op.72, dedicated to the great Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, who premiered the work in 1965.

The festival moves down the Meon Valley to the 12th century Church of Our Lady at Warnford for a 3pm concert by Flute and Frets.

They will provide “Music from Europe's Courts” with works spanning three centuries by Guillaume Dufa , William Byrd, François Couperin and King Frederick the Great with tea and cakes being served afterwards.

The festival finishes in West Meon with a 7.30pm concert of “Romantic Masterpieces”. Expect renditions of some of the best-loved works in the repertoire performed by individual members of the Primrose and includes Brahms’ piano pieces, Franck’s ever-popular Violin Sonata and Schumann’s great Piano Quintet.

The Saturday programme is just one part of the West Meon Music Festival programme as eight concerts will take place during the September 10 to 13 event.

Full details and tickets are available at www.westmeonmusic.co.uk with tickets priced from £13 to £28.