Prima Facie Records

Richard Pantcheff: Chamber Music Volume 2 (PFCD237) £12.50/£17.50

Victoria String Quartet; Tom McKinney Narrator; Simon Passmore Piano

1. String Quartet (String Quartet)
2. The Annunciation to Mary (Narrator, Violin & Piano)
3. Introduction and Allegro No. 1 (Violin and Cello)
4-6. “...the field long-slept in pastoral green…” (Cello) I; II; III
7. Introduction and Allegro No. 2 (Two Violins)
8-12. Temples of Orpheus (Narrator, Violin & Piano) Book I/Sonnet 1; Book 1/Sonnet 19; Book 1/Sonnet 4; Book I/Sonnet 22; Book II/Sonnet 19
13. Nocturnus IV (Cello)
14. Introduction and Allegro No. 3 (Violin, Cello & Piano)
Total Time [76:07]

This second disc of the Chamber Music of Richard Pantcheff features works which were either written in the period the composer was living in South Africa, or have connections with that period in some other way. Given that at the time the composer went to live in South Africa his reputation had been built largely upon his by then substantial number of choral and organ works, the South African period was one where, perhaps somewhat surprisingly, instrumental and chamber music came into much greater focus. This was as a result of many of South Africa’s leading musicians commissioning new works from him, and there being ample opportunity at Chamber Music series and Music Festivals for these new works to be performed. Of particular note in this regard were the Rand Club Chamber Music Series, and Music at Northwards, both highly-successful concert series in Johannesburg. The outlier in this respect is the String Quartet (Opus 3) which was written many years before the composer’s time in South Africa. This one movement work is one of the very few that were written without being commissioned.

Musicians

Victoria String Quartet:
Benedict Holland Violin, David Greed Violin Luke Mitchell Viola, Jennifer Langridge Cello
Tom McKinney Narrator
Simon Passmore Piano

Credits

Recorded and produced by Steve Plews
Edited and mastered by Phil Hardman & Simon Crosby Buttle

You can read more about this recording on the Prima Facie blog Recitative

Richard Pantcheff (photo: Liz Isles) is internationally renowned as one of the finest contemporary British composers of Choral, Organ, Chamber and Instrumental music. He was trained in choral music and composition from an early age, starting as a chorister at Ripon Cathedral, and thereafter reading music at Christ Church, Oxford, under Simon Preston and Francis Grier. He was mentored in composition by Benjamin Britten in the last years of Britten’s life. Since then he has been commissioned to write new works for the leading performers in their field, including Stephen Layton, Grayston Ives, David Hill, Jane Parker-Smith, and the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2012-2019 he was Director of Music at St. George’s Anglican Church, Johannesburg, South Africa, where he remains Composer in Residence. He is a Patron of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music. He is currently guest conductor of the Choir of St. Michael at the Northgate, Oxford, and is occasional guest organist for Ripon College, Oxford. His substantial output of compositions has been commissioned, performed, recorded, and broadcast all over the world. His 2013 work for organ, Passacaglia on a Theme of Benjamin Britten, was premiered in Essen Cathedral by Jane Parker-Smith, as part of the Britten 100 Festival. All of his music has been published, and features in major international music festivals, including the Tanglewood Festival (USA); the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music (UK) and the English Music Festival. His works have been broadcast regularly on radio and TV around the world, including by the PBS (North America), Classic FM (UK and South Africa), BBC Radios 3 and 4 (UK), German radio, and TV in South Africa. His compositions are noted by critics and audiences alike for their originality and technical brilliance, combined with intellectual and emotional depth.