Fand IncWessex Press

Gary Higginson has recorded a handful of movements (with optional spoken introductions) from his recently published work, Gallery. The recordings may be found on the product page as usual.

Unfortunately, in these difficult times of the pandemic, Gary’s piano is sounding a little worse for wear! We hope to re-record the current selection, and expand it in future, once it has been possible to get the piano tuned!

John Mitchell has contributed a performance of Peter Thompson’s Three November Poems:

	Pieces by Peter Thompson
	Three November Poems: I
	Three November Poems: II
	Three November Poems: III

Following the publication of Fand’s first Poster Poem, Dog rose, its author, Damaris West, has provided a recitation. This has been turned into a video, and is available to view both here on the Fand site and on the Fand YouTube channel.

John Mitchell has recently contributed performances of four movements from Peter Thompson’s Sketches & Fancies:

	Pieces by Peter Thompson
	Sketches & Fancies: Naiad Music II
	Sketches & Fancies: Winter Pastoral
	Sketches & Fancies: Spring Bagatelle
	Sketches & Fancies: Russian Fragment

Additions to Fand’s YouTube channel

(Click the YouTube button at the top-right of this site to visit the Fand YouTube channel home page.)

Following all the recent recordings of his piano works by John Mitchell, Peter Thompson has himself been trying his hand at video creation and has added YouTube videos with static images, based on the new recordings, to the Fand channel. Videos now exist for Three Pieces, Ballad and June Tune (plus John Mitchell’s Joss Sticks.

Richard Hallas has also created a new video of Peter Thompson’s Sidlesham Quay in the animated style used by other previous Fand videos.

With the single exception of Ballad (which is a recording by Stephen Robbings from 1991), all these new videos are based on the recent recordings of John Mitchell.

A couple of examples…

Cradle Song (from Three Pieces for Piano):

and Sidlesham Quay:

PLEASE NOTE: The collection of audio recordings can be found all together on John Mitchell’s own information page.

John Mitchell has been continuing his efforts to provide excellent new recordings of previously unrecorded piano works from Fand, and has now supplied a selection of works by Peter Thompson (Three Pieces, Two Wildflowers, Sidlesham Quay and June Tune) and a complete recording of Roger Eno’s Ten Venerable Dilemmas.

	Pieces by Peter Thompson
	Three Pieces: May Tree
	Three Pieces: Cradle Song
	Three Pieces: December Rose
	Two Wildflowers: I
	Two Wildflowers: II
	Sidlesham Quay
	June Tune
	Roger Eno’s Ten Venerable Dilemmas
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: I
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: II
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: III
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: IV
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: V
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: VI
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: VII
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: VIII
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: IX
	Ten Venerable Dilemmas: X

John Mitchell has added to the recordings he provided for us last month, and has now recorded his own Clodhopper! (from The Fand Left-Hand Piano Album) and completed the entire collection of Peter Warlock arrangements from Songs Without the Words, Volume 1 and Volume 2. Finally, he has also recorded Frank Bayford’s Theydon Bois (from The Fand Left-Hand Piano Album).

	John Mitchell original composition
	Clodhopper!
	Peter Warlock (arr. Mitchell): ‘Songs Without the Words’
	The Bachelor
	Late Summer
	The Night
	Adam lay ybounden
	The Lover Mourns for the Loss of Love
	Sweet Content
	A Sad Song
	Lullaby
	Captain Stratton’s Fancy
	The Birds
	Thou Gav’st Me Leave to Kiss
	Piggesnie
	The Fox
	Sweet-and-Twenty
	Sleep
	Rest, Sweet Nymphs
	Mourn No Moe
	Fill the Cup, Philip
	Piece by Frank Bayford
	Theydon Bois (left hand only)

Peter Thompson’s Sonnet

Don Bousted, for whom Peter Thompson wrote his Sonnet for solo guitar, has recently taken the trouble to make a video of himself playing the piece. We express our appreciation to him, and commend you to watch his performance, which is available on the score’s information page on this site and on the Fand YouTube channel.

John Mitchell’s December Spring

As well as providing a very nice recording of his newly published The Rambling Sailor, John Mitchell has also recorded for us a delightful performance of his own highly atmospheric December Spring, which Fand published last year. The performance can be played from the score’s product page, but the playback control is also reproduced below for convenience. Indulge yourself for the next four minutes by listening to this evocative little gem:

More performances from John Mitchell (New!)

Since providing us with live recordings of The Rambling Sailor and December Spring, John Mitchell has kindly filled some other gaps in our catalogue with new recordings of (mostly) his own compositions and arrangements. He has supplied new performances of his In Oxford City… and Joss Sticks (from The Fand Grade 5 Piano Album), and a selection of five Peter Warlock arrangements from Songs Without the Words, Volume 1 and Volume 2. Finally, he has also recorded Frank Bayford’s Invention no 3 (from The Fand Grade 5 Piano Album).

Here’s a handy summary where you can access all of John’s recent performances easily in one place:

	John Mitchell original compositions
	In Oxford City…
	Joss Sticks
	December Spring
	The Rambling Sailor
	Also from The Fand Grade 5 Piano Album…
	Frank Bayford: Invention no 3
	Peter Warlock ‘Songs Without the Words’
	The Bachelor
	Lullaby
	The Birds
	Mourn No Moe
	Fill the Cup, Philip

Many thanks to John for providing these delightful recordings.

Fand composer Gary Higginson has created a video about his Minuet à Fauré, one of the movements of his Shadows suite for solo piano.

In the video, Gary discusses how his piece was written and structured to recall the music not only of Gabriel Fauré but also of John Dowland, and explains the piece in straightforward terms for students of music and interested amateurs. The new video can be seen below or, as usual, viewed on the Fand YouTube channel. It may also be found on the Shadows product page.

Two stories from Carey Blyton’s The Doggy Tales of Arnold have just been published by Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

After a long history, full of turns and about-turns, books about the ‘little dog with an enormous bark’, together with his friends, are now landing upon the shelves of a wider public. Good luck to him—and them! And let’s hope the remaining eight stories can speedily follow.

Both stories contain all the original drawings by Maurice Stevens, who has been involved with the conception of Arnold from the early days. His skill in marrying Carey’s charming text to pictorial representation cannot be overemphasised, and readers cannot fail to find delight in these innocent doggy tales!

The book is available in hardback, paperback and Kindle ebook formats, and can be ordered via the publisher’s page.

Further information may be found on the official Carey Blyton website.

Last year, Fand published a new arrangement of Suo Gân by Richard Hallas. The very first performance of the piece was given by the St Augustine’s Singers, conducted by Philip Mead, in a concert entitled Love Songs for Summer at St Mary the Virgin Parish Church, Fen Ditton, Cambridge on Saturday, 23rd June at 6 pm.

Further performances of the piece are coming up later in the year:

The Lake District

Suo Gân will be included in a concert in Brathay Church on 22nd September given by the Company of Voyces, conducted by Robin Stopford:

Venue:	Holy Trinity Church Bog Lane Brathay (near Ambleside) LA22 9NE (See on a map…)
Date:	Saturday, 22nd September
Time:	7:30 pm
Price:	£5

Cambridge

In December, the St Augustine’s Singers, conducted by Philip Mead, will perform the piece again in three further concerts:

Title:	Round and Round: Percy Grainger and Friends
Venue:	West Road Concert Hall 11 West Road Cambridge CB3 9DP (See on a map…)
Date:	Wednesday, 5th December
Time:	7:30 pm
Price:	£10 (£7 concessions; £5 students)
Info:	Full concert details and bookings

Title:	An International Christmas
Venue:	St Augustine’s Church Richmond Road Cambridge CB4 3PS (See on a map…)
Date:	Saturday, 8th December

Title:	An International Christmas [repeat]
Venue:	Michaelhouse Centre St Michael’s Church Trinity Street Cambridge CB2 1SU (See on a map…)
Date:	Saturday, 15th December