Ravel: Sonatine
Beethoven: Quartet in Cm, Op. 18, No. 4
Schumann: Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44

Doric String Quartet
Hisako Kawamura, piano

‘how many people are truly capable of playing music with the richness of expression and the humanity of Hisako Kawamura?’ [Citation for Suntory Award].

That is quite a question on which to open ENF 2024 and we are delighted to welcome Kawamura in her ENF debut with her favoured chamber music partners, the Doric Quartet. Born in Japan and raised in Germany, she brings a grounding in the European tradition married to a questing spirit, and her programmes this week combine unusual rarities with familiar masterpieces.

Please note: This event includes an interval.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Margret Köll, baroque triple harp
Stefan Temmingh, recorders

Two remarkable musicians make a rare UK appearance for an hour of mesmerising solos and duos in the lovely setting of St Monans Kirk. Köll’s ‘great joy of playing and technical perfection’ matches the ‘brilliant, spontaneous, playful’ Temmingh superbly in this varied and colourful programme that explores five centuries of dance, song, sonatas and miniatures, including music by Bach and Scarlatti: an enticing tapestry of stories told through sound.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Richard Morrison, speaker

Chief culture writer of The Times, Richard Morrison is better placed than most to look about him and assess how the musical landscape of Britain is faring in some of the most challenging of times for the arts in general. We ask him to reflect on how things are changing for music especially, and where we might find ourselves in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time…

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Beethoven: Sonata in E-flat, Op. 27, No. 1
Boulanger: Vers la vie nouvelle
Akio Yashiro : Sonate pour piano
Beethoven: Sonata in C#m, Op. 27, No. 2 (Moonlight)

Hisako Kawamura, piano

Beethoven’s Op. 27 sonatas are a wonderful pair of left-field pieces, full of unexpected twists and unusual ideas – not for nothing did Beethoven label them ‘quasi una fantasia’ (like a fantasia). One became the most famous of all his sonatas (though he never called it ‘moonlight’) and in both you can readily picture him at the piano improvising and experimenting as we know he did. Between these very special Beethoven pieces, Kawamura offers a fascinating teacher-pupil pairing in Yashiro and Boulanger. She was arguably the most influential music teacher of the 20th century (her students included musicians as different as Gershwin and Glass), while he was a star student from Tokyo who found his musical voice in Paris.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Haas: Quintet, Op. 10
Janáček: Mládí (Youth)
Janáček: Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen
Suk: Meditation on an old Czech hymn (St Wenceslas)
Smetana: Quartet in Em (From my life)

Pavel Haas Quartet
Belfiato Wind Quintet

Česká Noc (Czech Night) offers you two of the finest ensembles from the Czech Republic. Musically, we should perhaps say Moravian, Bohemian and Czechoslovakian Night, as these lands have a complicated history of occupation and independence, and the music on offer takes you from their days as part of the Hapsburg Empire (when Suk’s Meditation was an act of musical rebellion) to the Nazi occupation when a generation of fine musicians (including Haas) were among the many murdered. For all its historical complexity, this music is powerful, distinctive and resilient, and makes for an ebullient, rich and joyful evening.

Please note: This event includes an interval.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Anon: Se io m'accorgo ben mio d'un altro amante
Francesco da Milano: Fantasia No. 30
Fantasia No. 34 (La Compagna)
John McLeod : Three Mythical Pieces
Debussy: La fille aux cheveux de lin
Chaminade: La Morena (Caprice Espanol), Op. 67
José: Sonata para guitarra

Ian Watt, guitar

Watt takes us from Renaissance to 20th century Spain via ancient Greece and Paris. Among many pleasures, Watt includes the sonata by Antonio José. If his name is less than immediately familiar, it is because he was only in his early 30s when a Falangist militia seized and executed him during the Spanish Civil War. Prolific from an early age, he had already created quite a body of work, most of it inspired by the traditional music of the areas of Spain in which he lived and worked – this piece is a melodious delight from start to finish.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Shaw: Entr’acte
Beethoven: Quartet in B-flat, Op. 130 (Grosse Fuge)

Ever on the lookout for exceptional young artists, we are very excited to welcome Opus 13 to Fife this year. Prize winners at the Banff International String Quartet Competition 2022, they were awarded the prestigious Equinor Classical Music Award which goes to musical ‘heroes of tomorrow’. Previous winners include Leif Ove Andsnes, Truls Mørk and Vilde Frang. They come for four concerts, opening with one of the titanic masterpieces of the genre. Beethoven’s Grosse Fuge is a work that inspires the greatest minds to superlatives: together with the Hammerklavier sonata (see Saturday 2.30pm) this is Beethoven at his most immense and astonishing. The quartet pair it with one of the most popular quartets of recent years, Shaw’s brief but very memorable ‘Entr’acte’.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

In the dramatic setting of the Zulu Gallery at Scottish Fisheries Museum harpist/composer, Esther Swift creates an atmospheric evocation of the story of the Zulu fishing fleets, once ubiquitous in East Scotland.

The Zulu was invented in 1879 (also the year of the Anglo-Zulu War, hence…) and swiftly became the vessel of choice for fishermen all round Scotland’s coasts. Its dominance was ended by World War I, and by the development of steam, then diesel powered boats. Many of these graceful craft were simply left to rot on the shores – some can still be found.

Esther Swift is creating a piece bringing together community and professional musicians to evoke the boats and the communities that depended on them, the storms they weathered and the lives they led at sea and on land.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

“…this music is layered with emotion, appreciation for style and tradition and the freedom of just playing. The performances by both musicians are stellar, leaving you thinking that this partnership was inevitable and absolutely necessary.” Folk Radio UK

A dazzling duo of wonderful Irish and Welsh musicians famed for their virtuosity and musical freedom, spanning traditional and classical heritage and new musical vistas. They are inspired by the cultures of their home countries. Violinist/fiddler Aoife Ní Bhriain is as at home with Bach as she is with traditional tunes, and harpist Catrin Finch, no stranger to ENF audiences, has spent her life exploring different traditions and musical worlds. Their duo has been called ‘almost otherworldly, like much of this set, which captivates from beginning to end, to the point where you really don’t want an end to come’ (The Arts Desk).

Please note: This event includes an interval.

Rachmaninov: Morceaux de fantaisie, Op. 3, Nos 2 & 3
Tchaikovsky: Quartet in E-flat, Op. 30
Brahms: Piano Quartet in A, Op. 26

Boris Giltburg, piano
Pavel Haas Quartet

Throughout this ENF we have concerts inspired by meetings, links or friendships of great composers. Here Tchaikovsky is the link. Boris Giltburg plays music Tchaikovsky particularly admired by his protégé Rachmaninov , then joins the Pavel Hass Quartet in a wonderful piece by a man whose music he simply could not abide: Brahms. As a critic he did not hold back – ‘[Brahms] is content to just keep on milling the wind with musical ideas that everyone has long since grown tired of’. We beg to differ, and the Op. 26 Quartet makes a magnificent and spirited foil for Tchaikovsky’s own final string quartet, a dramatic, heroic piece.

Please note: This event includes an interval.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Hearing Renaud Garcia Fons play solo is a wonderful revelation: the sheer range of sound he draws from the instrument is magical enough, but his soulful, compelling music draws you right in. Ideal for this late evening performance, solo and unplugged in the intimate space of Anstruther’s Erskine Hall. It’s a small space but has a full and reverberant acoustic to suit Fons’ magnificent artistry perfectly.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Grieg: Quartet in F, EG117
Schubert: Quartet in Dm, D. 810 (Death and the Maiden)

This year’s programme has many performers playing the music of their homelands. Opus 13 include both of Grieg’s quartets, and as Grieg counted Schubert among ‘the noblest natures’ in music, we had no hesitation in pairing his short second quartet with Schubert’s tumultuous Death and the Maiden.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Reicha: Wind Quintet in E-flat, Op. 88, No. 2
Belfiato Wind Quintet

Beethoven: Sonata in B-flat, Op. 106 (Hammerklavier)
Boris Giltburg, piano

Friends from boyhood, Reicha and Beethoven make a fascinating pair. They met in Bonn then Beethoven moved to Vienna and stayed there for the rest of his life, while Reicha moved around war-torn Europe, eventually settling in Paris where he became one of the most distinguished teachers and composers of his time. In this programme we have key works by both men that happen to be published in the same year, 1818. Beethoven’s heroic sonata is his longest and most demanding, while the Reicha is one of the finest of his 25 wind quintets.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

A quartet of musicians from around the Mediterranean – Spain, Turkey, France – meet to bring us this mixing of classical and traditional instruments.

Grieg: Quartet in Gm, Op. 27
Tchaikovsky: Dumka in Cm, Op. 59
Brahms: Piano Quartet in Cm, Op. 60

Opus 13
Boris Giltburg, piano
Pavel Haas Quartet

Once, Tchaikovsky unexpectedly found himself in the company of Brahms, whom he thought he detested. In fact, he discovered that he liked the man, even if he couldn’t bear his music. Awkwardly, he was asked what he thought of Brahms’ new trio but was saved from embarrassment when the door opened and in came Mr and Mrs Edvard Grieg. They brought such bonhomie into the room with them that all the musicians got on like a house on fire. This programme brings them together again, performed by both of our resident quartets and Boris Giltburg

Please note: This event includes an interval.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

‘Jazz is one the best things you can find in your life, it can always be your friend’. George Gershwin sure knew how to spin a fine sound bite, but who could disagree with this one. Julian Bliss Septet fields a top notch line-up of bass, piano, rhythm, guitar, trumpet, vibes and – of course – clarinet to celebrate the Gershwin songbook in this their 3rd return visit to ENF. Expect plenty of laughs and quick-fire repartee in addition to superb jazz in a free-flowing, high-spirited swinging evening.

Please note: This event includes an interval.

Andrea Tarrodi: Madárdal (Quartet No. 2)
Tiberiu Olah: Sonata for Clarinet Solo
Mozart: Clarinet Quintet in A, K.581

Here’s a fresh and zesty start to Sunday: Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet makes a superb finale to follow some delightful music by a Swedish-Hungarian and Romanian-Hungarian. Tarrodi’s draws on folk music from both her ‘native’ countries in a sparkling and dancelike quartet; meanwhile, Olah’s short sonata takes inspiration from the exquisite sculpture of his fellow-Romanian Brancusi, and is a proper tour-de-force for a musician as communicative and virtuosic as Julian Bliss.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Neil Brand, piano

Silent movie supremo Neil Brand returns to ENF to provide piano improvisation for an hour of comedy, including some golfing-related japes.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

Improvisation [Maxim Emelyanychev]
Mozart: Piano Concerto No 22 in E-flat K. 482
Beethoven: Symphony No 7 in A, Op. 92

Maxim Emelyanychev, piano/conductor
Scottish Chamber Orchestra

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has performed at every single ENF, and no 20th birthday would be complete without them. We are thrilled that SCO Principal Conductor, Maxim Emelyanychev will close the 2024 Festival in style; he opens the concert at the piano, improvising a solo fantasia on the spot before leading straight into the grandest of Mozart’s piano concertos (very much as Mozart or Beethoven might have done in their own performances). Then, he and the orchestra close with the blaze of energy, light and joy that is Beethoven’s 7th Symphony.

Please note: This event includes an interval.

£5 tickets available for 7-17 yr olds.

THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT

If you prefer to make your own way as much as possible, why not take the train to Leuchars, where you can pick up an ENF coach at 1.30pm to take you to Crail for ‘Meetings with Great Composers’ (events 13 & 15) before returning to Leuchars by 9.30pm to take the train of your choice homewards. Total cost for the coach and best tickets for the concerts will be £80.

A coach will leave central Edinburgh (location to be advised) at midday and arrive in the East Neuk in time for the two ‘Meetings with Great Composers’ concerts (events 13 & 15) in Crail Church. The coach will return at approximately 8.30pm, arriving back in central Edinburgh no later than 10.30pm.

Total cost for the coach and best tickets for the concerts will be £80.