FOR the first time in more than 100 years, a work by a little-known Dundee composer is to be performed in public.
The University of Dundee Music Society are to perform ‘King Arthur’, a dramatic cantata composed by John More Smieton, at the Caird Hall on 25 March.
Smieton lived at Panumare Villa, most recently known as Armistead House and currently an at-risk building, at a time when Broughty Ferry was benefitting economically from Dundee’s "jute boom".
The Smietons’ wealth allowed John and his brother James, a poet, to pursue passions for arts.
He composed songs and piano solos as well as choral setting, a string quartet and an orchestral overture.
Smieton was best known for his four dramatic cantatas, an extremely popular form in late Victorian times.
Graeme Stevenson, director of music at the Uuniversity, said, “King Arthur, which was written in 1889, was the most successful of John More Smieton’s cantatas. It received 100 performances across the UK and there were a dozen editions of the score published by the time of his death in 1904.
"These were big numbers, which show us that John’s work was highly popular in his day but, unfortunately, cantatas fell from popularity and his name fell from prominence over the years."
www.dundeebox.co.uk
A PAINTING belonging to the National Trust for Scotland is being displayed in Amsterdam, as part of an exhibition which showcases the work of some of the great masters of art.
Normally at Fyvie Castle, Ellon, the life-size Pompeo Batoni portrait of Colonel William Gordon (1736-1816) – wearing the uniform of the 105th Regiment of Foot and Huntly Tartan – is currently on show at the Rijksmuseum.
It is one of thirty-five historic paintings being displayed at the museum’s High Society exhibition, which runs until 3 June this year.
Painted in Rome during his “grand tour” of Europe in 1766, the portrait depicts William Gordon as a Scotsman in the guise of a Roman hero – a style preferred by the aristocracy of the time – standing before the ruins of the Colosseum, swathed in toga-like tartan.
The Colonel is holding his sword, which he used to quash a revolt in the Houses of Parliament in 1780, and is seen receiving the orb of authority and laurel wreath of victory from the figure of Roma.
www.nts.org.uk
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