Stephen Dodgson: Cadilly
programme
Ralph Vaughan Williams Ten Blake Songs
Stephen Dodgson Gypsy Songs
Stephen Dodgson Cadilly
notes / bio
Stephen Dodgson’s short opera Cadilly is based on a story from W. H. Barrett’s Tales from the Fens, with libretto by David Reynolds. The story tells the tale of the promiscuous protagonist Anna Marie Cadilly’s escape from the gaol with the help of her crafty family and simpleton Silly Billy, the finest skater in the fens. Originally set for the unusual forces of six soloists, chorus and wind quintet, this concert version of the piece is performed by four singers and wind quintet.
Cadilly is preceded by two sets of English songs for voice and winds. Gypsy Songs are settings of four Jacobean poems by Ben Johnson, commissioned as a wedding gift by George Villiers, First Duke of Buckingham. Written for the 1958 film “The Vision of William Blake”, and hailed by Grove Music as “a masterpiece of economy and precision”, Ten Blake Songs was one of the last compositions of Vaughan Williams.
Since 2012 the Magnard Ensemble has built a reputation for delivering both high quality concert performances and dynamic educational projects. The Ensemble made their international debut at the Culture & Convention Centre Lucerne, Switzerland in January 2017 and have appeared at venues such as Wigmore Hall and St Martin-in-the-Fields, as well as festivals and concert societies nationwide.
The players all follow their own professional performing careers, appearing as soloists, chamber musicians and with orchestras including London Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, the BBC orchestras, and major UK opera orchestras.