Psappha is an ensemble of contemporary classical musicians based in Manchester in the North West of England, specialised in the performance of works by living composers. Founded in 1991 by artistic director Tim Williams, the ensemble moved into a new home in 2015, St Michael's,

Ancoats Ancoats is an area of Manchester in Greater Manchester, England. It is located next to the Northern Quarter, the northern part of Manchester city centre. Historically in Lancashire, Ancoats became a cradle of the Industrial Revolution and has ...

, Manchester. The ensemble has a core instrumentation of flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, viola and cello.

Association with Peter Maxwell Davies

Their patron until his death in March 2016 was Sir

Peter Maxwell Davies Sir Peter Maxwell Davies (8 September 1934 – 14 March 2016) was an English composer and conductor, who in 2004 was made Master of the Queen's Music. As a student at both the University of Manchester and the Royal Manchester College of Music ...

. Davies was earlier associated with the

Fires of London The Fires of London, founded as the Pierrot Players, was a British chamber music ensemble which was active from 1965 to 1987. The Pierrot Players was founded by Harrison Birtwistle, Alan Hacker, and Stephen Pruslin.''Who’s Who 1975'', page 13 ...

, a group which disbanded in 1987. The Fires formed in the 1960s to play

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

's ''

Pierrot lunaire ''Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds "Pierrot lunaire"'' ("Three times Seven Poems from Albert Giraud's 'Pierrot lunaire), commonly known simply as ''Pierrot lunaire'', Op. 21 ("Moonstruck Pierrot" or "Pierrot in the Moonlight"), is a me ...

'' (1912) and new works with a similar scoring. Psappha has performed Davies' works for

Pierrot ensemble A Pierrot ensemble is a musical ensemble comprising flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano. This ensemble is named after 20th-century composer Arnold Schoenberg’s seminal work ''Pierrot Lunaire'', which includes the quintet of instruments abo ...

, such as ''Missa super l'homme armé'' (1968, rev. 1971) and ''

Eight Songs for a Mad King ''Eight Songs for a Mad King'' is a monodrama by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies with a libretto by Randolph Stow, based on words of George III. The work was written for the South-African actor Roy Hart and the composer's ensemble, the Pierrot Player ...

'' (1969), which were premiered by the Fires. Psappha also premiered later compositions by Davies, including '' Mr Emmet Takes a Walk'' (2000).

Discography

A CD of ''Eight Songs for a Mad King'' and ''Miss Donnithorne's Maggot'' was described in the ''Guardian'' as possessing "wonderful clarity and dramatic immediacy".Clements, Andrew
"CD: Davies: ''Eight Songs for a Mad King''; ''Miss Donnithorne's Maggot'': Psappha"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 27 August 2004.

References

External links

* Contemporary classical music ensembles Chamber music groups Musical groups established in 1991 1991 establishments in England {{Classical-ensemble-stub