Listening to the music of Ralph Vaughan Williams (RVW) delivered by world class artists was the weekend treat in Leamington! 

Once again, this May Bank Holiday Leamington Music Festival attracted the musicians and singers to help celebrate 150 years since the birth of the great English composer. 

Thanks to diligent and creative programming, the small Leamington Music team delivered previously unpublished works, premières were given an airing, local composers explored and in recognition of Ukraine bravery, some of their folk songs were arranged were played.

With the dedicated theme "to explore the breadth of musical vision of Ralph Vaughan Williams", the festival was given a mesmerising opening night last Thursday with Sacconi String Quartet offering a programme of quintessential works associated with RVW. 

His String Quartet No 1 in G minor preceded the work by his one time tutor, Ravel, the String Quartet in F – a rare chance to hear these works together.

A further treat followed when Emma Abbate (piano) joined the quartet to play Elgar's Piano Quintet in A minor, and thus bring one of the finest festival first nights to a close. 

Friday's lunchtime concert brought firm favourites, Tim Horton (piano) and Gemma Rosefield (cello), together to make a significant contribution to the Festival theme with works by Max Bruch with whom RVW studied in 1897 in Leipzig and Edward Grieg who was awarded an honorary degree at Cambridge during RVW studies there!

The festival celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of Ralph Vaughan Williams

Gemma's exceptional bowing technique, together with her ability to convey the emotions explored, left an audience with many a tear in their eyes.

Tenor, James Gilchrist described his concert with Ensemble 360 as "a celebration of the power of music to bring the world together".

He clearly enjoys the work of Leamington composer, Howard Skempton and his The Moon is Flashing, was very much at home with RVW's On Wenlock Edge,  and illustrated Beethoven's huge song output with the charming six songs, "to the distant beloved" from 1816.

As the weekend developed, Lana Trotovšek (violin) and Maria Canyigueral (piano) stole the hearts of a Saturday lunchtime audience with a concert of works by Tartini, Prokofiev, RVW and Ravel whose Violin Sonata in G successfully exhibited the "incompatibility of piano and violin", just as the composer had hoped!

RVW's 5th Symphony with Sinfonia of Birmingham, Christopher Cromer (organ) and Rachel Mahon (organ) with technically demanding works by Robert Simpson and Gerald Bales, took over All Saints' Church before LynnArnold and Charles Matthews - "four hands, one piano" - shared their enthusiasm for the exploration of the theme having unearthed RVW's Suite for Four Hands and an unpublished piece by one of RVW's outsatanding pupils, Elizabeth Maconchy. Super stuff!

The festival simply gets better with Emma Johnson (clarinet) and Raphael Wallfisch (cello) combining, and Roderick Williams leading a brilliantly executed 'experiment' to mix Schubert song cycles with more contemporary works, whilst the audience is asked to "sit on their hands". 

The experiment worked!

And another extraordinary festival ended with a touching moment as Ukraine born Sasha Grynyuk and Russian born Roman Kosyakov embraced at the end of their Schubert and Dvoák duets.

(Image by David Dixon via geograph.org)