Tippett Quartet play Herrmann & Gunning

The Tippett Quartet performs works by Bernard Herrmann and Christopher Gunning composed outside of the confines of the screen.

Clarinettist Robert Plane joins the Tippett Quartet for a performance of Bernard Herrmann’s beautiful Clarinet Quintet, ‘Souvenirs de Voyage’. Composed in 1965, it was dedicated to Norma Shepherd, who went on to become the composer’s third wife.

Bernard Herrmann (1911-75) remains one for the most legendary figures in film music, having composed some of the screen’s most thrilling scores (from Citizen Kane to Taxi Driver, via Psycho and Jason and the Argonauts). London was special to the composer, who spent the last years of his life in the capital, and St Giles’ Cripplegate is where he recorded his brilliant (and Oscar-nominated) score for Brian de Palma’s Obsession, which was released after Herrmann’s death.

To round off this lunchtime recital, the Tippetts will perform Christopher Gunning’s (1944-2023) rarely heard String Quartet, which was composed in 1997 (revised 2005).

Gunning’s music left an indelible mark on the screen thanks to memorable scores for the big and small screen (from Poirot to La Vie En Rose), but he was equally active in the concert hall. His String Quartet is just the tip of the iceberg, with countless concertos and symphonies to be heard.