The first performance was really given by Frederick Riddle at the premiere of the original version of the oratorio 'Benedictus' in Worth Abbey in 1980 when he bowed and fingered it and prepared it for concert performance. He played it magnificently on many further occasions and finally edited it as a separate solo work for publication in 1989.
The Prelude is also used as a diploma test piece.
30th November 2016 | A lunchtime programme of solo viola works including Bach and Blake, given by the brilliant young viola player Rosalind Ventris, St.James's Piccadilly 1.00pm
The Prelude comes from the major choral/orchestral work 'Benedictus' ,much championed by Sir David Willcocks during his lifetime,The Prelude acts as both prologue and epilogue to the work,The soloist last performed it live in a large-scale performance in Salisbury Cathedral. |
25th February 2016 | Rivka Golani, |
16th July 2015 | Rivka Golani solo viola, International Bartok Seminar and Festival, Szombathely, Hungary |
17th April 2015 | Madeleine Mitchell (violin), Rivka Golani(viola), Benedict Kloeckner (cello), Sasha Grynyuk (piano), Milton Court, The Barbican, London Concert arranged by Lisa Peacock |
4th December 2014 | Howard Blake piano, Madeleine Mitchell violin, Rosalind Ventris, viola, Peter Adams cello, Gloucester Music Society |
6th June 2005 | Maria Jose, Diploma recital Duke's Hall Royal Academy of Music |
May 1980 | Frederick Riddle, Worth Abbey |