02. Brahms, Britten and Purcell: Katie Bray, William Vann & Hélène Clément
10 October 2020, 13:15 - 14:15
Concert
This event will be broadcast from Holywell Music Room

Katie Bray was the winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at the BBC Cardiff Singer of the World Competition in 2019. Her programme today with the acclaimed pianist William Vann and violist Hélène Clément is a perfect and carefully devised complement to our study day on ‘Brahms’s Circle and the Musical Past’, and the concert given later today by James Gilchrist and Elizabeth Kenny.
They perform Brahms songs that reflect his interest in musical history, as well as his two songs with viola that were dedicated to Amalie and Joseph Joachim (see study event part one). Connecting the baroque to the 20th century, we hear Henry Purcell’s ‘Mad Bess’ and ‘Morning Hymn’, arranged by Benjamin Britten. In anticipation of the Dowland songs we will hear performed by James Gilchrist and Elizabeth Kenny, they also include Britten’s Lachrymae for viola and piano, a set of variations on Dowland’s ‘If my complaints could passions move’. Violist Hélène Clément is well known to Oxford audiences as a member of the Doric String Quartet: it is particularly special to hear her play Britten’s Lachrymae as she plays on Britten’s old viola
This concert will be streamed completely live from the Holywell Music Room. Shortly afterwards, it will also be available to watch again (using the same ticket and link) until 1 November 2020. Click here for further information on how tickets will work this year.
This event will be presented by Hannah French.
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
Programme
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Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
Mad Bess (Z370) -
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Frühlingslied (Op. 85 no.5) - Mit vierzig Jahren (Op. 94)
- Der Jäger (Op. 95 no.4)
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Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
Lachrymae (for viola and piano) (Op. 48) -
Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Sapphische Ode (Op. 94 no.4) - Vergebliches Ständchen (Niederrheinisches Volkslied) (Op. 84 no.4)
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Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976)
A morning hymn (Z198) Johannes Brahms (1833 - 1897)
Zwei Gesänge (Op. 91)

Katie Bray
Katie Bray
Mezzo-soprano
Winner of the Dame Joan Sutherland Audience Prize at Cardiff Singer of the World 2019, British mezzo-soprano Katie Bray has become known for her magnetic stage presence and gleaming, expressive tone. Recent roles for Opera North include Hansel Hansel and Gretel, Rosina Il Barbiere di Siviglia, Varvara Katya Kabanova, Louis XV Chair/Female Cat/Owl L’enfant et les sortilèges, Lola Cavalleria Rusticana, and Nancy Albert Herring and she has also sung for English National Opera (Daughter Akhnaten and The Way Back Home), Scottish O... Read Full Biography
William Vann
William Vann
Pianist
A multiple-prize winning and critically acclaimed conductor and accompanist, William Vann is equally at home on the podium or at the piano. Gramophone, reviewing Purer than Pearl, Albion Records’ 2016 disc of Vaughan Williams song, reserved “a special word of praise for William Vann’s deft pianism”; his recent revival of Hubert Parry’s oratorio Judith at Royal Festival Hall “was an unalloyed triumph for William Vann…he had complete command of the score and evident belief in the music” (Seen an... Read Full Biography
Hélène Clément
Hélène Clément
Viola
Festival Passes
This event is part of a series:
Connections Across Time - A Brief History of Song
Over a packed eight days, world-class artists including Benjamin Appl, Ian Bostridge, Sarah Connolly and Roderick Williams will present some 40 concerts and events, from venues across Oxford and completely live. From the comfort of your own home, you will be able to enjoy these concerts live-streamed in the highest quality. We’ll be exploring every possible advantage of this temporary ...