Memorial Concert for Peter Williams (1937-2016)
Peter Fredric Williams, English harpsichordist, organist and musicologist, b. Wolverhampton; d. Cheltenham. In 1962 he joined the Faculty of Music at the University of Edinburgh as a lecturer, becoming a reader in 1972 and in 1982 was appointed to a personal chair in performance practice; the first professor of performance practice in the UK. His inaugural lecture as Hon. Professor of Performance Practice at the University of Edinburgh was entitled "Practice in Search of Theory: Encounters with the Chromatic Fourth" and given in the Reid Concert Hall on Thursday 25 November 1993. In 1985 he left Edinburgh to take up an appointment in the United States at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. He returned to the UK with his wife Rosemary and family, to continue his recital work and teaching, based in Gloucestershire.
Venue:
Jenny Nex - soprano
Christopher Field - violin
Peter Manning - violin
John Butt - harpsichord
Leon Coates - harpsichord
John Kitchen - chamber organ and harpsichord
David Ponsford - chamber organ and harpsichord
Programme
Voluntary 'The Power of Music' ... John Stanley (1712-1786)
Fugue in G major (Six Fugues or Voluntaries, 1735) ... G.F. Handel (1685-1759)
David Ponsford - chamber organ
***
Four Preludes and Fugues from 'Das Wohltemperirte Clavier', book 2 ... J.S. Bach (1685-1750)
BWV 870 in C major
BWV 871 in C minor
BWV 874 in D major
BWV 875 in D minor
John Butt - harpsichord
***
Sonata IV in C minor for harpsichord and violin, BWV 1017 ... J.S. Bach
Siciliano (Largo)
Allegro
Adagio
Allegro
Christopher Field - violin; John Kitchen - harpsichord
***
Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, BWV 903 ... J.S. Bach
David Ponsford - harpsichord
***
Interval - 10 minutes
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Sonata in D for organ, K287 ... Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Sonata in D for organ, K288 ... D. Scarlatti
John Kitchen - chamber organ
***
Prelude and Fugue in F sharp minor, BWV 883 ... J.S. Bach
from 'Das Wohltemperirte Clavier', book 2
Leon Coates - harpsichord
***
Three Songs from the 'Scots Musical Museum' [1787-1803]
The Flowers of the Forest
Braes of Ballenden
The Lass of Peaty's Mill
Jenny Nex - soprano; John Kitchen - harpsichord
***
Chaconne in D minor (Partita no. 2, BWV 1004) ... J.S. Bach
Peter Manning - violin
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Composer(s):
Performer(s):
Performance Type:
Biographies of the performers and details of the keyboard instruments used but no programme notes.
Promoter:
The Ruckers harpsichord was prepared for tonight's concert by Dr Jonathan Santa Maria Bouquet and the organ by Dr Jonathan Santa Maria Bouquet and William Hendry.
Back page of the programme show Peter Williams in an article from the Edinburgh Evening News on 2 May 1983 entitled 'Perfet timing saved hall'. This referred to the rescue from neglect by Edinburgh University of St Cecilia's Hall in the Cowgate, over 20 years earlier when the University had just been donated the Russell Collection of Early Keyboard Instruments. The concert hall was restored and the building became the new home of the Russell Collection.