Peter Davis (St Mary’s, Nottingham)
Johann Sebastian Bach (arr. Dupré): Sinfonia from Cantata 29 Wir danken dir, Gott
Camille Saint-Saëns: Fantaisie in E flat
César Franck: Choral 1 in E major
Judith Weir: The Tree of Peace (2016)
Georges Bizet (arr. Lemare): Fantasia on Carmen
Peter Davis, soon to take up his appointment as Director of Music at St Mary’s Nottingham, begins the autumn season on the Binns organ with Bach’s exuberant Sinfonia to Cantata 29, a work designed to welcome newly-elected councillors in Leipzig and one well suited to celebrate new beginnings, the start of our autumn season and the new academic year among them. Former Master of the King’s Musick, and before that the Queen’s Musick, Dame Judith Weir, is heard in a commemorative piece described by Stephen Farr as “elegant and unassuming” but which “carries all the hallmarks of Weir’s unmistakably refined idiom.”
We cross the Channel for the rest of this programme. Saint-Saëns’s first Fantaisie begins in his own refined style before becoming more lively, while Franck’s farewell to his art comes in the shape of the first of his three Chorals, quite ecclesiastical: contemplative and exploring the softer colours of the Binns organ at first, and then becoming sonorously triumphant. Edwin Lemare opened the Albert Hall organ in October 1910, and appropriately therefore we hear from him in the fantasia he composed on melodies from Bizet’s ever-popular opera Carmen, two extremely familiar melodies particularly making their presence felt here.
The concert runs from 1.10pm to 1.55pm. Admission £5 at the door, or book online. Feel free to bring your own lunch.
Peter Davis is a freelance organist, conductor, composer and teacher based in Rutland. He began his musical education as a chorister at Salisbury Cathedral, and as top music scholar at Lancing College, West Sussex. He gained his ARCO diploma at the age of 17, winning two performance prizes, and after a year as cathedral organ scholar in Salisbury, he spent three years as organ scholar at St John’s College, Cambridge. He graduated with a first-class degree in music, gaining the highest performance mark in his year on any instrument. He has toured and broadcast extensively as an accompanist and soloist, including international performances throughout Europe, North America, Australia and South Africa with St John’s College Choir. He worked as a full-time teacher in independent schools for 27 years, culminating in 19 years as Director of Music at Oakham School from 2005-2024. His chamber choirs at both Oakham and Haileybury College achieved a national reputation under his direction. Peter’s compositions include major works for both choirs and orchestras, as well as a number of shorter instrumental pieces that are published by Saxtet Publications and Warwick Music. He will be taking up the position of Director of Music at St Mary’s Church in Nottingham from this September.