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From Sunrise to Nightfall

Add to my Calendar 19-03-2026 13:00 19-03-2026 15:00 36 From Sunrise to Nightfall In a musical journey from earliest dawn to deepest night, the Villiers Quartet, renowned as champions of British music, share their latest discovery in chamber music by Ailsa Dixon (1932-2017) recently recorded for the Resonus Classics label. Haydn's much-loved 'Sunrise' quartet opens the programme, before the concert premiere of Dixon's sunniest work, a charming mercurial Scherzo written in 1955, believed to be lost until the manuscript came to light a few years ago. Beginning at dawn and ending in frosty starlight, Ailsa Dixon's atmospheric quartet 'Sohrab and Rustum' was inspired by Matthew Arnold's poem about the tragic encounter between an estranged father and son, on opposite sides of a battle between the Tatar and Persian armies.  As we progress to Nightfall with Dixon's Nocturnal Scherzo, the programme concludes with her songs for soprano and string quartet, 'The Spirit of Love' sung by Lucy Cox, including settings of Housman's 'From far, from eve and morning' and FW Bourdillon's 'The night has a thousand eyes'.  An exploration of love's transcendence, it was described by an audience member at a recent performance as 'a stunning find... rarely have I heard a new piece which moved me so deeply.' St George's Bristol, Bristol DD/MM/YYYY

Details

St George's Bristol
Great George Street
Bristol
BS1 5RR
England

Programme

Joseph Haydn – String Quartet no.63 in B flat major 'Sunrise', Op.76 no.4, Hob III:78
Ailsa Dixon – The 'lost' Scherzo
Ailsa Dixon – Sohrab and Rustum
Ailsa Dixon – Nocturnal Scherzo
Ailsa Dixon – The Spirit of Love

Performers

Lucy Cox – soprano

Villiers Quartet

Programme Note

In a musical journey from earliest dawn to deepest night, the Villiers Quartet, renowned as champions of British music, share their latest discovery in chamber music by Ailsa Dixon (1932-2017) recently recorded for the Resonus Classics label.

Haydn's much-loved 'Sunrise' quartet opens the programme, before the concert premiere of Dixon's sunniest work, a charming mercurial Scherzo written in 1955, believed to be lost until the manuscript came to light a few years ago.

Beginning at dawn and ending in frosty starlight, Ailsa Dixon's atmospheric quartet 'Sohrab and Rustum' was inspired by Matthew Arnold's poem about the tragic encounter between an estranged father and son, on opposite sides of a battle between the Tatar and Persian armies. 

As we progress to Nightfall with Dixon's Nocturnal Scherzo, the programme concludes with her songs for soprano and string quartet, 'The Spirit of Love' sung by Lucy Cox, including settings of Housman's 'From far, from eve and morning' and FW Bourdillon's 'The night has a thousand eyes'.  An exploration of love's transcendence, it was described by an audience member at a recent performance as 'a stunning find... rarely have I heard a new piece which moved me so deeply.'

Villiers Quartet, photo Charles Gervais

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