Duncan Honeybourne ~ piano

Howdenshire Music Project

'The heroic Duncan Honeybourne' - Musical Opinion (2017)

Sadie Harrison:  *Portraits from the Place of the Yew Trees

(*a Yorkshire-themed world premiere*)

Schubert:  Sonata in A minor, D784

Portraits from the Place of the Yew Trees

Portraits from the Place of the Yew Trees invites its listeners on a musical journey through ancient and modern Yorkshire. The yew tree theme is heard throughout the piece as the walker travels from one town to the next, encountering the people and places upon which the work’s Portraits are based. The work is dedicated to Duncan Honeybourne with much affection.

The movements are entitled:

• The Yew Trees Yorkshire Path

• Sir George Cayley: weight, lift, drag, thrust, gravity (engineer, inventor, and aviator: Scarborough)

• Blue Man-i-th’-Moss & Auld Wife’s Trod (prehistoric monuments: North York Moors)

• Aelred of Rievaulx (Cistercian abbot)

• Frederick Delius: The Last Cuckoo (composer: Bradford)

• Mary Bateman The Yorkshire Witch: Her Lullaby (murderess: Asenby)

• Flint Willy the Shirtless (archaeological forger: Sleights)

• Amy Johnson: The Lone Girl Flyer (aviator: Kingston upon Hull)

  Duncan Honeybourne enjoys a colourful and diverse career as a pianist and in music education. Commended by International Piano magazine for his "glittering performances", he is best known for his interpretations of 20th and 21st century British piano music.

  Following concerto debuts in 1998 at Symphony Hall, Birmingham and the National Concert Hall, Dublin, he made recital debuts in London, Dublin, Paris, and at international festivals in Belgium and Switzerland. His 2012 debut recital disc was described by Gramophone magazine as “not to be missed by all lovers of English music”, whilst BBC Music Magazine reported: “There are gorgeous things here. Hard to imagine better performances.”