Crickhowell Music Festival, 2025
NEW BEGINNINGS -A festival of music bursting with life!
May 2nd – 5th
Clarence Hall and St Edmund’s Church, Crickhowell
Welcome to our musical celebration of fresh ideas and the soul’s creative spark. Our high-octane choral programme covers everything from the genius of J.S. Bach and the sublimness of Mozart to the intoxicating subtleties of Delalande, the infectious rhythms of Vivaldi, and the inexhaustible invention of Haydn.
We will also celebrate the Festival’s impressive record of performing neglected masterpieces. Amongst these lost treasures are a Magnificat by Kuhnau, Bach’s predecessor at Leipzig; a Psalm setting by Louis XIVth’s favourite court composer, Delalande, and an exciting soprano duet by Vivaldi. Furthermore we feature an epic chorus by C.P.E. Bach, an original ode to Apollo by Restoration composer Matthew Locke, and a rarely heard Haydn mass that many have acclaimed as his very best.
We are indebted to three eminent musicologists – Jeffrey Skidmore, Robert King, and Peter Holman – for supplying us with their editions of these exceptional pieces and also to our dream team of soloists who specialise in the vocal styles required.
And how delighted we are to welcome the return of tenor James Gilchrist for our Bank Holiday recital. James played a key role in the early years of the festival and is now one of the most celebrated British tenors of his generation. With a mellifluous voice, full of subtle nuance, his recital of songs old and new will undoubtedly form a Festival highlight.
But our opening folk night should also see us all enjoying something of a musical reincarnation courtesy of Welsh supergroup Avanc. Taking their name from the legendary Mabinogion water monster they will wow us with their energised take on traditional song and dance.
Tickets are now on sale!
Click here for the link to online ticket sales for all events.
Tickets are also available at Webbs of Crickhowell, by emailing crickchoral2018@gmail.com, or you can call 07980 270449.
WELSH FOLK NIGHT
Friday 2nd May at 7.30pm, Clarence Hall , Crickhowell
With Avanc, a powerful lineup of harps, bagpipes and clog dancers – a sight and sound to behold!
Avanc is a band of young, traditional musicians from across Wales who specialise in unearthing forgotten musical gems from ancient manuscripts in dusty library vaults, and reworking them in their own energetic image. The results are electrifying! Understandably the group was recently chosen to represent Wales at the Lorient InterCeltic Festival in Brittany and we are indeed fortunate to have them make such a memorable “new beginning” to this year’s Festival.
Click here for the link to online ticket sales. £15, free to students and U18s
SING A NEW SONG
Saturday 3rd May at 7.30pm, St. Edmund’s Church, Crickhowell
J.S. Bach: Cantata BWV 190 Singet dem Herrn Vivaldi: Laudate Pueri RV 602* Delalande: Cantate Domino S72*
Kuhnau: Magnificat* Matthew Locke: Oxford Ode* (*1st performance in Wales)
With the Festival Baroque Orchestra and soloists Áine Smith and Carys Davies (soprano); Matthew Farrell (countertenor); Daniel Marles (tenor); Matthew Brook (bass)
Tonight’s new songs include two contrasting responses to the psalmist’s exhortation to “sing a a new song” courtesy of J.S. Bach and Delalande. Both are flamboyant works full of innovation.
The words of Mary in her song, the Magnificat, also proclaim a new world order. Kuhnau’s exuberant setting will make for an intriguing comparison with that of his illustrious successor at Leipzig, J.S. Bach, whilst Vivaldi’s Laudate Pueri, a psalm with values that echo those of the Magnificat, features vocal pyrotechnics from duetting sopranos.
Matthew Locke is a pioneering Restoration composer whose own restoration to the musical pantheon is long overdue. His 1670 Oxford Ode makes for a perfect festival opener with its pleas to Apollo, the god of song itself, to inspire our musical proceedings.
Click here for the link to online ticket sales. £20, free to students and U18s
FESTIVAL SERVICE
Sunday 4th May at 10am, St. Catwg’s Church, Llangattock
Buxtehude Motets: Jesu meine Freude BuxWV 60 and Was frag ich nach der Welt BuxWV 104 (All the Troubles of this World)
With baroque ensemble, choir and Choral Scholars
To celebrate the Easter message of rebirth we welcome our Choral Scholars and choir to perform pieces by Dietrich Buxtehude as part of a church service, as originally intended. This composer is enjoying something of a revival and his music, which once had a major influence on Bach, is full of lyrical expression and vitality.
AWAKENINGS
Sunday 4th May at 7.30pm, St. Edmund’s Church, Crickhowell
Joseph Haydn: Schöpfungsmesse (Creation Mass) Hob.xxii:13 Mozart: Sacramental Litany (de venerabili altaris) K125 C.P.E. Bach: Chorus: God Ascends with Rejoicing (from the Ascension oratorio) Michael Haydn: Easter Motet: Hallelujah in die Resurrectionis
With the Festival Classical Orchestra and soloists Áine Smith (soprano), Matthew Farrell (countertenor), Daniel Marles (tenor) and Matthew Brook (bass)
Yet more fresh starts await us tonight as we experience the miracles of Easter, Ascension, communion and the creation itself!
Haydn’s Creation Mass is one of his last masterpieces, written soon after his more famous Creation oratorio. As well as quoting from this work, the mass is full of the composer’s life affirming spirit. It will be heard alongside a poignant set of Litanies by Mozart; reflections on the rejuvenating power of the Eucharist.
An Easter Motet by Haydn’s brother, Michael, and an epic grand Ascension Day chorus by C.P.E. Bach will further enhance the musical calls for renewal and rebirth.
Click here for the link to online ticket sales. £20, free to students and U18s
MUSIC’S ALCHEMY
Monday 5th May at 3pm, Clarence Hall, Crickhowell
Recital with James Gilchrist (tenor) and Anna Tilbrook (piano)
The much anticipated return of this acclaimed tenor is not to be missed. This multifaceted recital explores music’s unique chemistry with transformations of evergreen songs by Dowland and Purcell, reimagined by Tippett, Finzi and Britten. There are also intriguing settings of Dylan Thomas by Rhian Samuel, alongside some classic Schubert and concluding with Beethoven’s glorious song cycle (the world’s first), An die ferne Geliebte, celebrating music’s power to unite us.
Click here for the link to online ticket sales. £15, free to students and U18s