Martin Owen is regarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, appearing as soloist and chamber musician all around the world. His playing has been described by the Sunday Times as ‘a luxury for the ear’. Accompanied by Miranda Dale violin and Paul Turner piano the Owen Horn Trio will present an innovative programme of compositions with links to each other.
The programme opens with Beethoven’s piano sonata ‘Les Adieux’ (the farewells). Written in 1809 as Napoleon’s army invaded Vienna this piece was dedicated by Beethoven to his sponsor – also his student in composition and piano – Archduke Rudolf, who was forced to flee the city.
The opening theme of Beethoven’s piece influenced Brahms’ gorgeous Horn Trio in four movements, composed in 1865 in commemoration of his mother’s death earlier that year.
More than a century later Brahms’ Horn Trio was the inspiration for Ligeti’s Hommage á Brahms. Although a modern composer, some of whose pieces were used by Stanley Kubrick in a number of films, including 2001: a Space Odyssey, in this composition Ligeti evokes a variety of more traditional features typical of Brahms, including a four movement layout.
This innovative programme will be presented at the Swindon Arts Centre on Sunday March 29th at 3pm. Tickets are £15 (£12.50 concession), students £2.50, accompanied children (14 and under) free.
Martin Owen is widely regarded as one of Europe’s leading horn players, appearing as guest Principal Horn both with the major London orchestras and those further afield, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Chamber Orchestra of Europe. He also appears as soloist and chamber musician in some of the leading music festivals around the world.
Since making his Wigmore Hall debut in 1997, Martin has performed a variety of recitals and concertos at home and abroad, including the USA, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan. In 1998, he was appointed Principal Horn of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, relinquishing the post in 2008 after ten years of service.
Martin currently holds the position of Principal Horn at both the BBC Symphony Orchestra and the Britten Sinfonia, but still enjoys a busy and varied solo career, including an appearance at the 2019 Proms when he was the horn soloist in a performance of Olivier Messiaen’s mighty Des canyons aux étoiles … (‘From the Canyons to the Stars …’). Martin has been awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Academy of Music.
Miranda Dale gained a scholarship at sixteen to study with Howard Davis at the Royal Academy of Music in London before furthering her studies in Canada and the USA. She is Principal Second Violin and plays as soloist with the Britten Sinfonia and is in demand as a Guest Principal with the Philharmonia Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, English National Opera and English Chamber Orchestra. Miranda is frequently invited to the Royal Academy of Music to take sectional rehearsals, performance classes, adjudicate Prizes and act as an external examiner. She is grateful to the RAM for making her an Associate in recognition of her contribution to the music profession.
Paul Turner is an Honours graduate and an elected Associate of the Royal Academy of Music where his many prizes and awards culminated in the Queen’s Commendation for Excellence and the Peter Pears Accompaniment Prize. An experienced recitalist he has appeared at London’s leading venues and major UK festivals. He has given concerts in Europe and South America and worked with eminent singers and instrumentalists.
