LANGTON CONCERT Saturday 27 June 2026
| Type of post: | Society news item |
| Sub-type: | No sub-type |
| Posted By: | Jon Savage |
| Status: | Current |
| Date Posted: | Mon, 9 Mar 2026 |
Saturday 27 June 2026 – 6:30 pm
Langton Church, Langton by Spilsby, PE23 4PU
Con Anima Trio
Katherine Spencer (clarinet)
Fergus Butt (bassoon)
Sam Haywood (fortepiano)
Programme
Louise Farrenc (1804 – 1875) ---- Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano in E-flat major, Op. 45
Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739 – 1813) ---- Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in B flat major
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1875) ---- Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 “Moonlight”
Ludwig van Beethoven ---- Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano in B-flat major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer”
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After the concert canapés and refreshments will be served in the candlelit church
*******************************
Suggested donations – £25 (£28 if paid on the door)
Payment by BACS available (and preferred - please ask for details) or by cheque in favour of
“Langton with Sutterby Parochial Church Council” c/o Langton Cottage, Langton, Spilsby, PE23 4PU.
Email: webmaster@langton-by-spilsby.org.uk
Tel: 01790 753649; 01790 753561; 07809 619401
********************************
The Programme
We bring two masterly but not so well known composers to the Langton Concerts to share the programme with Beethoven.
For a long time Louise Farrenc was the only woman to hold a prominent position at the Paris conservatoire in the 19th century. Her students thrived, winning numerous prizes and awards. She was an inspiration as a teacher and a composer with great influence.
Her own music is immediately recognisable: on hearing just a few bars you are in no confusion over her fast moving harmony and edgy classical poise.
In the Trio at this concert Farrenc pushes the boundaries on what was possible on the instruments of the time. Perhaps her own career as a stunning concert pianist pushed her writing to an often wild virtuosity. The trio follows classical form in its use of a first movement in sonata form, a second movement of slow melodic persuasion, followed by a scherzo and finale using fugues and free counterpoint. But she takes this structure and explores her own Romanticism causing Schumann and the great Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim (1831 – 1907) – amongst many others – to admire her hugely and push for the same equality of fame and monetary reward as her male counterparts.
Johann Baptist Vanhal was born into a poor family in Bohemia but through his extraordinary musical talent and training he became the first composer to live as a freelancer, choosing not to be associated with any patronage or musical institution for the last 30 years of his life in Vienna.
He was great friends with Mozart and there is a charming account by Michael Kelly, a critic of the time, recounting the regular meetings of Mozart, Haydn, Dittersdorf and Vanhal to read through quartets together in a domestic setting.
Vanhal wrote a number of works for woodwind, writing a fiendishly difficult double bassoon concerto but it is in his works involving the emerging new star of the classical period, the clarinet, that he finds a particularly lyrical and charming voice.
The Con Anima Trio
Katherine 'Waffy’ Spencer, the newly appointed principal clarinet of the Handel and Haydn Society (the oldest orchestra in America), is also the principal of The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Players, The Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the City of London Sinfonia: she also appears with many of Europe’s leading period and modern orchestras. Katherine played for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and at a private performance for the Emperor of Japan.
The New York Times says Katherine delivers “a knockout performance”, Opera Wire said her performance with Handel and Haydn Orchestra was “so exquisite her solo should have been repeated as an encore” and The Independent has acclaimed her “brilliant clarinet solos”.
Katherine made her concerto debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall aged 14. She has played as a soloist in all of the UK’s major concert venues with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She has made numerous BBC Radio 3 solo broadcasts, performs at the BBC Proms, and has presented BBC radio programmes. She also performs regularly on Classic FM and many European radio stations, on both modern and period instruments. A believer that music is for everyone, Katherine leads the education and outreach departments of most of her orchestras.
Katherine studied at Chetham’s School of Music (Manchester), The Royal Academy of Music (London), Hannover Hochschule für Musik and is completing a doctorate at Stony Brook University, New York. This season Katherine will work with Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and tour the Mozart Clarinet Concerto as part of OAEs 40th birthday celebrations. When on tour, she misses her Persian cat instagram.com/dailymidge.
Fergus Butt, from Helensburgh, Scotland, is a bassoonist who began his studies in 2022 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, generously supported by an ABRSM scholarship. Fergus has since played professionally with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Knussen Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has performed in festivals such as the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Following a passion for historical performance grounded in his first years at the Royal Academy of Music, Fergus was recently Guest Principal Bassoon with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, playing programmes of Beethoven’s 4th and 5th symphonies and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Fergus will be in the same position at Glyndebourne this Summer, playing Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
At the RAM, Fergus studied with Robin O’Neill, Angharad Thomas, Jonathan Davies, Fraser Gordon, Peter Whelan and Simon Estell. In his first year at RAM, Fergus won the Academy’s Bassoon Prize and soon began a second study in historical performance on both Baroque and Classical bassoons, alongside a related study in Contrabassoon.
Fergus took up the bassoon in secondary school and was at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior department, going on to playing in the Symphony Orchestra there and gaining orchestral experience from courses such as the National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.
Australian-born British pianist Sam Haywood has appeared in many of the world’s leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus. The New York Times praised his “passionate flair and sparkling clarity,” and The Washington Post his “dazzling, evocative playing.” A versatile recitalist and concerto soloist, Sam has worked with chamber and symphony orchestras across Europe and beyond. Highlights include the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Athens Symphony Orchestra alongside Steven Isserlis and Jannis Georgiadis, and appearances with the Odessa Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, Belmont Ensemble and his own Solent Music Festival Orchestra. He recently completed a duo tour of China with Joshua Bell and has performed frequently with cellist Steven Isserlis and clarinettist Katherine Spencer.
Sam’s discography includes recordings for Hyperion, Sony, Deux-Elles and Toccata Classics. His project “Chopin’s Own Piano” was recorded on the composer’s 1848 Pleyel from the Cobbe Collection. He also composes chamber miniatures; The Other Side was premiered at the Vienna Konzerthaus and his Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano is published by Emerson Editions.
Private audiences have included the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the then Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, Hillary Clinton, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Sir David Attenborough. He is Artistic Director and co-founder of the Solent Music Festival in Lymington, which presents artists such as Steven Isserlis, The Sixteen and The King’s Singers and administers the annual Lawson-May Award for Composition. Sam has guest-curated series including the Leeds International Chamber Music Series, serves on the faculty at Finchcocks, and is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
***************************
Langton Church, Langton by Spilsby, PE23 4PU
Con Anima Trio
Katherine Spencer (clarinet)
Fergus Butt (bassoon)
Sam Haywood (fortepiano)
Programme
Louise Farrenc (1804 – 1875) ---- Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano in E-flat major, Op. 45
Johann Baptist Vanhal (1739 – 1813) ---- Sonata for Clarinet and Piano in B flat major
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1875) ---- Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27 No. 2 “Moonlight”
Ludwig van Beethoven ---- Trio for Clarinet, Bassoon and Piano in B-flat major, Op. 11 “Gassenhauer”
*******************************
After the concert canapés and refreshments will be served in the candlelit church
*******************************
Suggested donations – £25 (£28 if paid on the door)
Payment by BACS available (and preferred - please ask for details) or by cheque in favour of
“Langton with Sutterby Parochial Church Council” c/o Langton Cottage, Langton, Spilsby, PE23 4PU.
Email: webmaster@langton-by-spilsby.org.uk
Tel: 01790 753649; 01790 753561; 07809 619401
********************************
The Programme
We bring two masterly but not so well known composers to the Langton Concerts to share the programme with Beethoven.
For a long time Louise Farrenc was the only woman to hold a prominent position at the Paris conservatoire in the 19th century. Her students thrived, winning numerous prizes and awards. She was an inspiration as a teacher and a composer with great influence.
Her own music is immediately recognisable: on hearing just a few bars you are in no confusion over her fast moving harmony and edgy classical poise.
In the Trio at this concert Farrenc pushes the boundaries on what was possible on the instruments of the time. Perhaps her own career as a stunning concert pianist pushed her writing to an often wild virtuosity. The trio follows classical form in its use of a first movement in sonata form, a second movement of slow melodic persuasion, followed by a scherzo and finale using fugues and free counterpoint. But she takes this structure and explores her own Romanticism causing Schumann and the great Hungarian violinist Joseph Joachim (1831 – 1907) – amongst many others – to admire her hugely and push for the same equality of fame and monetary reward as her male counterparts.
Johann Baptist Vanhal was born into a poor family in Bohemia but through his extraordinary musical talent and training he became the first composer to live as a freelancer, choosing not to be associated with any patronage or musical institution for the last 30 years of his life in Vienna.
He was great friends with Mozart and there is a charming account by Michael Kelly, a critic of the time, recounting the regular meetings of Mozart, Haydn, Dittersdorf and Vanhal to read through quartets together in a domestic setting.
Vanhal wrote a number of works for woodwind, writing a fiendishly difficult double bassoon concerto but it is in his works involving the emerging new star of the classical period, the clarinet, that he finds a particularly lyrical and charming voice.
The Con Anima Trio
Katherine 'Waffy’ Spencer, the newly appointed principal clarinet of the Handel and Haydn Society (the oldest orchestra in America), is also the principal of The Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, Academy of Ancient Music, Gabrieli Consort and Players, The Irish Chamber Orchestra, and the City of London Sinfonia: she also appears with many of Europe’s leading period and modern orchestras. Katherine played for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace and at a private performance for the Emperor of Japan.
The New York Times says Katherine delivers “a knockout performance”, Opera Wire said her performance with Handel and Haydn Orchestra was “so exquisite her solo should have been repeated as an encore” and The Independent has acclaimed her “brilliant clarinet solos”.
Katherine made her concerto debut at London’s Royal Festival Hall aged 14. She has played as a soloist in all of the UK’s major concert venues with orchestras such as the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields. She has made numerous BBC Radio 3 solo broadcasts, performs at the BBC Proms, and has presented BBC radio programmes. She also performs regularly on Classic FM and many European radio stations, on both modern and period instruments. A believer that music is for everyone, Katherine leads the education and outreach departments of most of her orchestras.
Katherine studied at Chetham’s School of Music (Manchester), The Royal Academy of Music (London), Hannover Hochschule für Musik and is completing a doctorate at Stony Brook University, New York. This season Katherine will work with Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and tour the Mozart Clarinet Concerto as part of OAEs 40th birthday celebrations. When on tour, she misses her Persian cat instagram.com/dailymidge.
Fergus Butt, from Helensburgh, Scotland, is a bassoonist who began his studies in 2022 at the Royal Academy of Music in London, generously supported by an ABRSM scholarship. Fergus has since played professionally with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Philharmonia, the London Symphony Orchestra, the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Knussen Chamber Orchestra and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment. He has performed in festivals such as the BBC Proms, the Edinburgh Festival and the Aldeburgh Festival.
Following a passion for historical performance grounded in his first years at the Royal Academy of Music, Fergus was recently Guest Principal Bassoon with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, playing programmes of Beethoven’s 4th and 5th symphonies and Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto. Fergus will be in the same position at Glyndebourne this Summer, playing Mozart’s Die Entführung aus dem Serail.
At the RAM, Fergus studied with Robin O’Neill, Angharad Thomas, Jonathan Davies, Fraser Gordon, Peter Whelan and Simon Estell. In his first year at RAM, Fergus won the Academy’s Bassoon Prize and soon began a second study in historical performance on both Baroque and Classical bassoons, alongside a related study in Contrabassoon.
Fergus took up the bassoon in secondary school and was at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Junior department, going on to playing in the Symphony Orchestra there and gaining orchestral experience from courses such as the National Youth Orchestra and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.
Australian-born British pianist Sam Haywood has appeared in many of the world’s leading concert halls, including Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Philharmonie de Paris, Wigmore Hall and the Vienna Konzerthaus. The New York Times praised his “passionate flair and sparkling clarity,” and The Washington Post his “dazzling, evocative playing.” A versatile recitalist and concerto soloist, Sam has worked with chamber and symphony orchestras across Europe and beyond. Highlights include the Beethoven Triple Concerto with the Athens Symphony Orchestra alongside Steven Isserlis and Jannis Georgiadis, and appearances with the Odessa Philharmonic, Jakarta Symphony Orchestra, Belmont Ensemble and his own Solent Music Festival Orchestra. He recently completed a duo tour of China with Joshua Bell and has performed frequently with cellist Steven Isserlis and clarinettist Katherine Spencer.
Sam’s discography includes recordings for Hyperion, Sony, Deux-Elles and Toccata Classics. His project “Chopin’s Own Piano” was recorded on the composer’s 1848 Pleyel from the Cobbe Collection. He also composes chamber miniatures; The Other Side was premiered at the Vienna Konzerthaus and his Song of the Penguins for bassoon and piano is published by Emerson Editions.
Private audiences have included the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the then Vice Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping, Hillary Clinton, the Duke and Duchess of Kent, and Sir David Attenborough. He is Artistic Director and co-founder of the Solent Music Festival in Lymington, which presents artists such as Steven Isserlis, The Sixteen and The King’s Singers and administers the annual Lawson-May Award for Composition. Sam has guest-curated series including the Leeds International Chamber Music Series, serves on the faculty at Finchcocks, and is an Associate of the Royal Academy of Music.
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