Classical music: Proms at St Jude's | Bobby Lamb Big band | quartet | highlights | Julian Lloyd Webber | David Mathews

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The Review - CLASSICAL & JAZZ
Published: 11 June 2009

David Matthews

Beethoven meets Matthews at St Jude’s

PREVIEW: PROMS AT ST JUDE'S
Church of St Jude-on-the-Hill

NOW in its 17th year, the Proms at St Jude’s music festival gets under way this weekend and, despite the recession, there’s been no cutback in the usual number of 16 concerts over two weeks.
All but two of the concerts take place in the Church of St Jude-on-the-Hill in Hampstead Garden Suburb.
Artists are talented and diverse and include pianist Freddy Kempf, cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain and Bobby Lamb Big Band.
One of the festival’s highlights will undoubtedly be the world premiere of a new work by composer and local resident David Matthews. His 11th string quartet is to be performed next Wednesday evening by the Carducci String Quartet alongside works by Haydn and Schumann.
The starting point for the quartet is a short Bagatelle by Beethoven, one of his late piano pieces.
“I have written a set of variations on this Bagatelle, moving from Beethoven’s language to my own,” Matthews says. “One of the variations, towards the end, is a quite extensive Cavatina. I’ve taken the title from the famous Cavatina in Beethoven’s quartet, opus 130.
“But I’ve also borne in mind the scheme of Bach’s Goldberg variations which has a long, slow variation near the end.”
• The Proms run from June 13-21, St Jude’s Church, Central Square Hampstead Garden Suburb, NW11. Evening concerts 7.45pm, from £8. Lunchtime concerts 12.45pm, free.
www. promsatstjudes.org.uk
box office: 020 8455 8687

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