The bodies of most of the millions of animal species on the planet have three clear ‘axes’ of organisation, with a top and a bottom, a front and a back, and left and right sides. Not all animals are organised like this though, with some animals like jellyfish and corals seemingly organised in simpler ways. Fossils and evolutionary trees tell us roughly when these body forms evolved, but not how. All animal bodies have two histories. One is evolutionary: how the processes of mutation and selection have shaped their bodies through the evolutionary process. The other is embryological: each generation, the body it is built anew from a single fertilised egg cell by the process of embryonic development. Understanding how the adult body has been shaped by evolution requires understanding of how embryonic development works, and how it has changed through time. In this talk I will explore what we know about how this happened, bringing together evidence from fossils, embryos, developmental mechanisms, genes and genomes to show how animal axes evolved.

Sally Beamish: Carnival Samba (2003) for Piano Trio

J. Brahms: Piano Trio No. 1 in B major, Op. 8

Interval

A. Schoenberg: “Verklärte Nacht” for String Sextet, Op. 4

J. Liebeck - violin ]
T. Carroll - cello ] The Salieca Piano Trio
A. Savary - piano ]
C. Saluste-Bridoux - violin
S. Oswell - viola
B. Roskams - viola
C. Miles - cello

We open the music side of the Festival with a bang - a big-boned samba by well known British composer and violist Sally Beamish. The remainder of the programme appears to consist of two early works. Brahms is represented by his sparkling first piano trio. However, he substantially revised it in 1889, smoothing off some of his youthful excesses. Schoenberg’s “Verklärte Nacht” is gorgeously romantic, a style he soon dropped in favour of the intricacies of twelve-tone technique.

R. Schumann: Adagio and Allegro, Op. 70

B. Britten: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 65

G. Fauré: Cello Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op. 117 

F. Chopin: Introduction and Polonaise Brillante, Op. 3 arr. Rose/Gendron/Jacobs-Perkins

N. Boulanger: Trois Pièces pour violoncelle et piano

S. Prokofiev: Cello Sonata in C Major, Op. 119

Annie Jacobs-Perkins - cello
Lili Bogdanova - piano

Our partnership with the Pierre Fournier Award always produces a memorable concert. Two years ago we were treated to the sublime artistry of the previous winner, Rainer Crossett. This year’s winner, Annie Jacobs-Perkins continues this tradition with a programme from composers ranging across all of Europe and across classical, romantic and modern styles.

For many physicists, astronomers, and cosmologists, the biggest mystery to be understood is the nature of dark matter. Five times more abundant than the matter made of atoms we are familiar with, the gravitational effect of dark matter has shaped the galaxies and larger structures of our universe. Understanding dark matter can help to answer what our universe is made of, how our universe evolved to its current state, and what can happen billions of years into the future. 

In this talk we’ll see what astronomers can tell us about dark matter, the list of candidates for dark matter that theorists provide, and how teams of physicists around the world are looking for dark matter.  We’ll focus on direct searches for dark matter, where large detectors are placed in deep underground laboratories to filter out potential interactions from cosmic ray particles, and we wait for a signal indicating that our target material has been bumped into by a dark matter particle. The LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) experiment is one such experiment with a liquid xenon target operating right now. 

F. Berwald: Grand Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello & double bass in B-flat major

R. Vaughan Williams: Piano Quintet in C minor

Interval

J. Brahms: Piano Quartet No. 2 in A major, Op. 26

J. Bliss - clarinet
G. Eckersley - bassoon
M. Owen - horn
J. Liebeck - violin
B. Roskams - viola
C. Miles - cello
S. Watton - double bass
A. Savary - piano
C. Saluste-Bridoux - violin
S. Oswell - viola
T. Carroll - cello
K. Apekisheva - piano

The stage, very full for the delightful and undeservedly neglected septet by Franz Berwald, gradually empties as our second evening concert progresses. The Vaughan-Williams piano quintet is also a newcomer to the Festival. Composed between 1903-5, it was greatly influenced by our final composer, Brahms. His A major quartet is one of his finest works, infrequently programmed because of its length. It too is a first at the Festival, completing our survey of Brahms’ wonderful piano quartets.

L. van Beethoven: Sonata for four hands in D major, Op. 6

M. Ravel: “Mother Goose” Suite

G. Fauré. “Dolly” Suite, Op. 56

G. Holst: A selection from “The Planets” Suite, Op. 32

K. Apekisheva

C. Owen

Katya and Charles are old friends of the Festival, both in the guise of solo pianists and in their renowned duo. Their matinee concert starts with one of Beethoven’s earliest works and then moves onto suites: three of the most famous in the repertoire, two from French composers, one English. “Mother Goose” and “Dolly” are a great deal of fun; “The Planets”, more serious!

Many bacteria make tiny pores with diameters more than ten-thousand times smaller than a human hair. They use these pores to attack their victims' cells, including our own. The properties of these noxious proteins have been turned to good in several quite different areas of biotechnology, where they are known as nanopores. First, they have been used for various aspects of sensing in which individual molecules are detected. A prominent aspect of this application has been the development of a portable device to sequence DNA by the spin-out company Oxford Nanopore Technologies. Second, nanopores have been used to build tissues, both synthetic and living, by 3D printing, with anticipated medical applications including the screening of therapeutic agents and the repair of damaged organs. The talk will describe both the history of these developments and recent advances, and how the disparate applications of nanopores are connected by the haphazard advances of science.  

H. Parry: “My heart is like a singing bird”

L. Bernstein: “I Hate Music”

F. Schubert: “An die Musik”, D547

H. Wolf: “Mörike” Lieder - An eine Äolsharfe

J. Brahms: “An ein Veilchen” Op. 49 No. 2

J. Marx: Nocturne

C. Franck: Nocturne

Rita Strohl: 12 chants de Bilitis: Bilitis–La nuit–Berceuse

F. Poulenc: 2 poèmes de Louis Aragon

Interval

Cheryl Frances-Hoad: “Something More Than Mortal”

Emile Paladilhe: “Psyché”

Henri Duparc: “L'invitation au voyage”

Kaija Saariaho: 4 Instants - “Parfum de l'instant”

Deborah Pritchard: “Everyone Sang”

S. Barber: “A slumber song of the Madonna”

I. Gurney: “Sleep”

Errollyn Wallen: “Peace on Earth”

C. Sampson - Soprano

J. Middleton - piano

The album by which this recital is inspired is Carolyn’s 100th! An electric mixture of classics including pieces from Schubert and Brahms and new compositions from Pritchard, Frances-Hoad and Wallen make this a concert not to be missed.

J.S. Bach - “Goldberg” variations, BWV988

Danny Driver - piano

Arguably the most towering work for solo keyboard, certainly in the Baroque, is played for us by an old friend of the Festival, Danny Driver. This is the first keyboard performance of this seminal work at the Festival; a few years ago we had the arrangement for string trio by Dimitry Sitkovetsky. The original keyboard version is however incomparable.

Drug addiction is a chronic, relapsing brain disorder which is characterised by uncontrollable drug use despite the known harmful consequences. What makes some people more susceptible to developing substance use disorders than others? How do neutral environmental cues become imbued with and maintain the power to produce cravings and promote drug-seeking even after decades of abstinence? I will discuss recent preclinical research which answers these questions by investigating how individual differences in neural activity contribute to addiction-related behaviours.

F. Mendelssohn: String Sinfonia No. 1 in C major

L. Spohr: Nonet for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet, Horn, Bassoon, Violin, Viola, Cello, and Double Bass in F major, Op. 31

Interval

L. van Beethoven: String Quintet in C major, Op. 29

C. Saluste-Bridoux - violin
J. Liebeck - violin
B. Roskams - viola
S. Oswell - viola
T. Carroll - cello
C. Miles - cello
S. Watton - double bass
Daniel Pailthorpe - flute
Emily Pailthorpe - oboe
J. Bliss - clarinet
Nicholas Korth - horn
G. Eckersley - bassoon

As usual, the finale crowds the stage with most of our Festival players. A nonet is pretty much the largest chamber grouping short of a string orchestra and we have a wonderful example from Spohr, known both for his violin virtuosity as well as his compositions. A very early work by Mendelssohn is indeed for string orchestra and, although young, he demonstrates astonishing musical talent. We conclude with a work new to the Festival, Beethoven’s only string quintet, often given the soubriquet “Storm” from its turbulent last movement. It is a transitional work between his early and middle periods and a little known and fascinating work from the great master.