Chamber Music

Violin and harp

Trio Sospiroso

Flute and harp

Other combinations

Jenny is an enthusiastic chamber music player working with various ensembles. She plays music for violin and harp with Frances Mason, for flute and harp with various flautists including Clare Mellor, Rachel Smith (www.rachelsmithflute.co.uk) and Gabrielle Byam-Grounds (www.englishserenata.com), for flute, viola and harp with Trio Sospiroso (www.triosospiroso.com) and the Hilser Ensemble and for miscellaneous combinations with West Forest Sinfonia (www.westforestsinfonia.org).

Frances Mason, violin,
and Jenny Broome, harp.

Frances and Jenny met when they were both invited to perform for a charity concert in Old Heathfield, Sussex where they discovered a mutual interest in the music of Spohr for violin and harp. Subsequently they have appeared twice at the Buckingham Festival for which they were delighted to commission Edward Lambert’s piece Speed Matters. They are now working towards a recording of Spohr’s violin and harp repertoire as originally conceived with the instruments tuned a semitone apart and using the harp as a transposing instrument. In their recitals Frances and Jenny combine Spohr’s music with original compositions and arrangements from all ages.

Frances Mason was born in Hampshire and was taught as a child by Albert Sammons. She was a scholar at the Royal College of Music where she was awarded the Violin Prize, the Worshipful Company of Musicians’ Silver Medal and the Tagore Gold Medal. She was a prizewinner in the Carl Flesch International Violin Competition and the BBC Violin Competition and received the National Federation of Music Societies’ Award for Young Musicians. Frances has appeared as soloist at several BBC Proms and broadcast as a soloist many times. She has also broadcast and performed most of the repertoire for violin and piano and has always been involved performing, recording and teaching chamber music with the Music Group of London, the Tagore String Trio, the Rasumovsky Quartet, the Beethoven Broadwood Trio and the Dartington Trio. She has been a Professor at the Royal College of Music since 1971.

Repertoire for violin and harp:

Bax Cavatina
Boieldieu Sonata
Corelli La Follia
Damase Sonata
Donizetti Sonata
Gorb Liebeslied
Handel Sonatas
Kreisler Alt-Wiener Tansweisen
Lambert Speed Matters
Lewis Rhapsody
Marin Duo Op 8
Marson Excursions
Mendelssohn Songs without words
Naderman Sonata Op 47 no 1
Natra Music for Violin and Harp
Paganini Six Sonatas
Rossini Andante con variazione
Saint-Saens Fantaisie Op 124
Spohr Sonata Concertante Op 113
Spohr Sonata Concertante Op 114
Spohr Sonata Concertante Op 115
Spohr Fantasie Op 118
Spohr Sonata Op 16
Spohr Sonata C minor
Stravinsky Chanson Russe
Vaughan Williams Studies in English Folksong
Vaughan Williams The Lark Ascending
Viotti Sonata
J. Williams Themes from Schindler’s List

 

‘Much appreciated…the audience were delighted with the concert which I myself enjoyed tremendously’ Buckingham Festival Committee

‘Frances Mason, évidemment très sollicité, fait valoir un style plein d’élégance et une sonorité bien charnue.’ Répertoire [“Frances Mason, clearly very persuasive, presents a style full of elegance and a full-bodied tone."]

‘The work could not have had a more persuasive soloist than Frances Mason whose graduation of tone colour and sensitive phrasing enhanced her reputation as an outstanding interpreter of 20C music.’ ( V Irkanda IV Sculthorpe.) Glasgow Herald.

‘Frances Mason played with wonderful intensity and beauty of tone.’ Guardian

‘Frances Mason is a violinist whose notes were as pure as silk against the orchestral texture. Most of all it was the cadenzas that revealed her talent,there was no hint of roughness nor of mere exhibitionism but a smooth flow of sound that effectively concealed the difficulties with which they abound.’ (Beethoven Concerto) Scotsman.

Sample Programmes      A        B        C  

A : Early Nineteenth Century
Donizetti Sonata
Viotti Sonata in B flat
Marin Duo Op 8
Parish-Alvars (solo harp)
Mendelssohn Songs without words
Paganini Sonata
Spohr Sonata
Rossini Andante con variazione

Trio Sospiroso

Trio Sospiroso (www.triosospiroso.com) have been working together for many years, performing all the major repertoire for flute, viola and harp. They have played at Grimsby St Hugh’s Festival, Hungerford Festival, Pangbourne College Arts Society, Didcot Festival, South Hill Park, Bracknell, Winchester Cathedral, Chichester Music on Sundays and at Marlborough Festival. The members of the trio are Clare Mellor, flute, Sue Black, viola and Jenny Broome, harp.

Repertoire for flute, viola and harp trio:

Alexander Orange & Aureolin on Blue
Bach Sonatas in G minor and E flat major
Bax Elegiac Trio
Beamish Between Earth and Sky
Beethoven/Maayami Serenade Op 25
RR Bennett Sonata after Syrinx
Bizet Minuet (L’Arlésienne)
Steve Crowther Shadow’s Dancing
Nathan Currier A Sambuca Sonata
Debussy Sonate
Four Preludes
Children’s Corner Suite
Paul Lewis Divertimento
Jolivet Petite Suite
Elizabeth Poston Trio
Rawsthorne Suite
Ravel/Salzedo Sonatine en Trio
David Snell Lyric Sonata
Tocchi Arie e danze tedesche
Edward Watson Aegean Dances

 

‘Excellent ensemble always prevailed, and there was a marked feeling for style. Close empathy with great care for detail coupled to graceful execution, resulted in an extremely satisfying account.’

‘The achievement of the players and the success of the evening can be judged by the fact that what was perhaps the most familiar piece (‘La fille aux cheveux de lin’) sounded as if it was written precisely for this combination.’ Debussy Preludes

‘…it has clearly become a favourite and they revelled in its wild and syncopated rhythms, delighting both themselves and the audience.’ Watson Aegean Dances

Sample Programmes      A        B        C  

A :
Bach Sonata for Flute
Beethoven arr Maayami Serenade Op 25
Fauré Sicilienne
Debussy arr Salzedo Childrens’ Corner Suite
Watson Aegean Dances

Flute and Harp

Jenny has given flute and harp recitals at various venues including Brighton Festival Fringe and, with Rachel Smith (www.rachelsmithflute.co.uk), has recorded music by Paul Lewis and Hamilton Harty for Cameo (Summer was in August www.dimusic.co.uk)

Repertoire for flute and harp:

Alwyn Naiades
Bach Sonatas in E flat and G minor
Bax Sonata
Damase Sonatas 1 and 2
Debussy Preludes
Francaix Cinque Piccoli Duetti
Hilse Suite
Harty In Ireland
Ibert Entr’acte
Lauber Quatre Danses Médiévales
Paul Lewis Norfolk Idyll
Marson Suite
Maxwell Davies Two Dances from Caroline Mathilde
Mozart Andante
Piazzolla Histoire du Tango
Ravel Pavane pour une Infante Défunte
Saint-Saens Romance Op 37
Watson La Fontaine aux Dauphins

 

‘This is a very good CD. The playing is faultless’ (Summer was in August) John France

Sample Programme

Harty In Ireland
Alwyn Naiades
Caplet Divertissement à l’Espagnole
Piazzolla Histoire du Tango

Other Combinations

Jenny is a member of West Forest Sinfonia (www.westforestsinfonia.org) and has performed with them on several occasions when it is possible to explore repertoire for other combinations. With the Hilser Ensemble Jenny has played chamber music in London, Lewes and Bramber. She has also played with members of the Philharmonia and with English Serenata (www.englishserenata.com).

Repertoire for other combinations:

Bax Sonata for Viola and Harp
Quintet for Harp and Strings
Berlioz Trio from The Childhood of Christ
Caplet Conte Fantastique (harp and string quartet)
ETA Hoffman Quintet (harp and string quartet)
Ibert Two Interludes (fl, vln, hp)
Trio (vln, cello and harp)
Lambert Concerto Cubico (trombone, marimba and harp)
Mozart Adagio and Rondo for Glass Harmonica
Pierné Voyage au pays du tendre (fl, vln, vla, cello, hp)
Ravel Introduction and Allegro
Paul Reade The Kitchen Garden Suite (clarinet and harp)
Ropartz Prelude, Marine et Chansons (fl, vln, vla, cello, hp)
Roussel Serenade (fl, vln, vla, cello, hp)
Tippett Dreaming (viola and harp)
Vaughan Williams Studies in English Folksong (violin, viola, cello or clarinet)

 

‘The harp sparkled….ethereal was a word I heard bandied about’ (Hilser Ensemble)

‘The trio made light of a series of ever faster rhythmic complexities, finally bringing the piece to a brilliant ending’ (Concerto Cubico)

‘Next on the horizon was the harp, in the hands of Jenny Broome…driven by her immense experience and professionalism…the harp was truly orchestral’ (Concerto Cubico)