Lennox in Paris Emmanuel Bach & Jenny Stern

• Lennox Berkeley (1903 - 1989): Violin Sonatina in A Major, Op. 17:
• 1 Berkeley: Violin Sonatina in A Major, Op. 17: I. Moderato 04:33
• 2 Berkeley: Violin Sonatina in A Major, Op. 17: II. Lento 02:55
• 3 Berkeley: Violin Sonatina in A Major, Op. 17: III. Allegretto 05:29
• Violin Sonata No. 1:
• 4 Berkeley: Violin Sonata No. 1: I. Lento, ma non troppo 07:22
• 5 Berkeley: Violin Sonata No. 1: II. Adagio 05:29
• 6 Berkeley: Violin Sonata No. 1: III. Allegro con brio 04:49
• Elegy & Toccata, Op. 33 (Excerpts):
• 7 Berkeley: Elegy & Toccata, Op. 33 (Excerpts): II. Elegy 03:06
• 8 Berkeley: Elegy & Toccata, Op. 33 (Excerpts): III. Toccata 02:14
• Lili Boulanger (1893 - 1918): D'un matin de printemps:
• 9 Boulanger: D'un matin de printemps 05:10
• 2 Pieces for Violin & Piano:
• 10 Boulanger: 2 Pieces for Violin & Piano: No. 1, Nocturne 02:45
• 11 Boulanger: 2 Pieces for Violin & Piano: No. 2, Cortège 01:50
• Francis Poulenc (1899 - 1963): Sonata for Violin & Piano, FP 119:
• 12 Poulenc: Sonata for Violin & Piano, FP 119: I. Allegro con fuoco 07:20
• 13 Poulenc: Sonata for Violin & Piano, FP 119: II. Intermezzo 06:48
• 14 Poulenc: Sonata for Violin & Piano, FP 119: III. Presto tragico 06:32
• Mouvements perpétuels, FP 14 (Excerpts):
• 15 Poulenc: Mouvements perpétuels, FP 14 (Excerpts): I. Assez modéré 01:30
• 16 Poulenc: Mouvements perpétuels, FP 14 (Excerpts): III. Alerte 03:12
• Presto in B-Flat Major, FP 70:
• 17 Poulenc: Presto in B-Flat Major, FP 70 02:18
• Total Runtime 01:13:22

Info for Lennox in Paris

British composer Sir Lennox Berkeley still needs to be more widely appreciated, and this recording puts his music into a wider context of the environment that shaped him. France played a vital part in Berkeley’s development: apart from being a Francophile, circumstances brought him into contact with Nadia Boulanger, with whom he studied formally during the years 1926–1932, which Berkeley spent in Paris. While there he also met Francis Poulenc, among other artistic figures.

This album is designed both to pay homage to Lennox and to acknowledge the pivotal role played by Paris in his life and development as a composer. It combines works by Berkeley with his Parisian near-contemporaries Poulenc and Lili Boulanger, the younger sister of Nadia.

Emmanuel Bach, violin
Jenny Stern, piano

Emmanuel Bach
won the 2018 Royal Over-Seas League String Competition and was an Artist on the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme, 2017–20. ​

He has performed as a soloist and chamber musician at venues such as Wigmore Hall, St George’s Bristol, St Martin-in-the Fields, St James’s Piccadilly and Queen Elizabeth Hall. Emmanuel has played concertos including Brahms, Mendelssohn, Paganini No.1 and Tchaikovsky. In 2017, he played in a live-streamed masterclass conducted by Maxim Vengerov, on the Brahms Concerto. He was invited to play as a co-soloist with Anne-Sophie Mutter in Bach’s Double Concerto. ​

As a chamber musician, he was a Fellow on the Yale Summer School 2016, USA, working with the Artis, Brentano and Emerson String Quartets. From 2013-15, he held a Leverhulme Fellowship at Pro Corda Chamber Music Academy, coaching young musicians. He also lead the Bach Quartet, whose performances include playing on Radio 3 Music Day 2017. ​

He has benefitted from masterclasses with musicians including Miriam Fried, Dong-Suk Kang, Shlomo Mintz, Cho-Liang Lin and Hugh Maguire. He also attended the Academié Riviera 2018 with Pierre Amoyal. ​

Emmanuel read Music at Magdalen College, Oxford, gaining a double First. He studied with Natasha Boyarsky, receiving his Masters from the Royal College of Music. He completed an Artist Diploma in 2018 at the RCM with Radu Blidar. Alongside solo and chamber playing, he played on orchestral schemes with the BBC and London Symphony Orchestras. He is grateful for support from the RCM, HR Taylor Trust, Drapers’ Company, Countess of Munster Musical Trust, English-Speaking Union and Tompkins Tate Trust.

Booklet for Lennox in Paris