Today it gives me great pleasure to send you the link to the complete series of recitals and concerts we have planned for the summer. With lockdowns, curfews and the closing of borders spreading out across Europe, I like to think our Festival programme is a sign of hope for the future. Nonetheless this is not a propitious moment to open booking so we will step back from selling Festival tickets until the outlook is clearer.

The number of recitals is now over 130 with attendance at individual concerts restricted to between twenty and fifty music lovers. We originally thought that there would be a large number of repeat recitals but the musicians were so lavish with their programmes that there are hardly any repeats. However some works do appear twice played by different musicians, an unusual luxury. I hope you enjoy prospecting for your own favourites and exploring unfamiliar repertoire. One solution to the impossible choices on offer might be simply to spend alternate days at either the House or the Church.

And as a reminder of times past and a hint at time future, I have picked out a recording of Prokofiev’s F minor Violin Sonata from our 2013 Festival by the illustrious Vadim Gluzman and his wife, Angela Yoffe (who return to us this summer). It is a startlingly beautiful if sombre work composed during what the Soviets called the Great Patriotic War, here in the hands of Masters. Listen here.

Francis Humphrys

Festival Director