NATHAN WILLIAMSON IN RECITAL

Former Savilian, pianist and composer Nathan Williamson returns to the club to give a solo recital of late piano works by three of the greatest composers. Beethoven broke new ground in his last piano Sonatas, boldly experimenting with the form, whereas Schubert’s Impromptus, by contrast, are full of long-breathed, spontaneous melody. Both of them in turn influenced Brahms, who also turned to the piano in more reflective mode towards the end of his creative life, his op.117 Intermezzi looking back to simpler, classical ideas.

Nathan Williamson is a pianist, composer, and artistic director, giving solo, chamber and concerto performances and composing for a variety of artists both at home and abroad. He stages and facilitates projects at local and national level, ranging from collaborations on new repertoire, performances for the concert hall and theatre, and music-making for musicians of all ages and abilities. He also directs the Southwold Music Trust, which seeks to make music a central part of his hometown of Southwold, on the Suffolk coast.

June 2021 will see the release of the second volume of ‘100 Years of British Song’ on SOMM Recordings, a three CD project of British music with the tenor James Gilchrist, featuring a total of fourteen composers and six world premieres, including Nathan’s own song-cycle, The little that was once a man, setting texts by Bryan Heiser. These recordings are the first fruits of a larger project founded by Nathan in 2020, ‘The Art of British Song’, which celebrates British song, its legacy, and its future, advocating the work of British composers through performances, recordings, and the development and funding of new music. 

Nathan’s enthusiasm for British music is reflected in two substantial solo projects running throughout 2021 and 2022 – recording Sonatas and Nocturnes by Malcolm Lipkin and Christopher Brown’s 24 Preludes and Fugues, both for Lyrita Recorded Edition. 

Programme:

SCHUBERT Impromptu in C minor, D899 no.1
BRAHMS Three Intermezzi op.117
SCHUBERT Impromptu in G flat, D899 no.3

BEETHOVEN Sonata in E major op.109