A Dickens Christmas Concert presented by Noctifer Trio

Ticket price:

£25 - Standard Ticket

£22 - Access Ticket (with free Companion Ticket available)

How to book tickets:

• On our website
• In person at the ticket desk

Bookings will close one day before / when sold out, whichever happens soonest.

Option to donate: 

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Inclusions:

• Admits one adult to the concert
• Free drink during interval.
  

PLEASE NOTE: This concert does not take place at the Charles Dickens Museum. No admission to the Museum before, during, or after, the concert. Please proceed directly to the concert location (see below).

Dates and time:

Friday 27th November at 7pm 

Doors open at 6.30pm.

Duration: 

120 minutes (including interval)

Content:

Suitable for 18+ years (due to the service of alcohol during the event)

Location: 

Large Common Room, William Goodenough House, Goodenough College, WC1N

Doors will open 30 minutes prior to the concert start time. No advance seating reservations. Please arrive prior to the concert start time.

Terms and conditions:

By purchasing a ticket you agree that your first name and surname will be shared with the location staff at Goodenough College to manage the admission, safety and security of all.

Please note that all event tickets are non-refundable. More here.

Queries:

Please email the Events team; events@dickensmuseum.com

Embark on a festive journey with the Noctifer piano trio as they perform little-known gems from the Charles Dickens Museum’s musical archive

This concert will kindly be hosted by Goodenough College. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Charles Dickens Museum. 

Experience the ghosts of A Christmas Carol, the festive cheer of the Pickwick Papers, and more - all just a few steps away from the great author’s home.

It may be surprising to some that the Museum collection contains an extensive range of music. Charles Dickens greatly enjoyed all kinds of performance and members of his family, notably his sister, were highly-accomplished performers. Over the years Dickens's literary works have inspired a great many musical works, particularly for piano and voice.

When the Noctifer Trio began to research the archive, the material they discovered relating to Christmas afforded them the opportunity to create unique arrangements for violin, cello, and piano. These are what you will hear at the Christmas Concert.

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 More about the works to be performed:

At the heart of the Christmas Concert are two works by British composers, where the Noctifer Trio will be joined by a narrator reciting Charles Dicken’s words along with the music.

In ‘Christmas Eve at Dingly Dell’, a setting of scenes from The Pickwick Papers by British composer Ezra Read (1862–1922), the trio and narrator bring to life the image of a festive party with musicians in the corner playing for the dances and games. When an old lady takes to the dance floor, the violin begins to play with a creaky voice; when a little boy creeps to steal a mince pie, the strings accompany him with almost cartoonish pizzicato.

Meanwhile, Ealing-born composer Alec Rowley (1892–1958) depicts Scrooge’s journey from a sour miser to a man of kindness and generosity in ‘A Christmas Carol’. Listeners will experience the scowl of ‘Bah! Humbug!’ and the rattling chains of Marley’s ghost through the dissonance of the piano part, the merriment of the violin’s dancing tune at Fezziwig’s Ball, the grim visage of the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in the rumbling low tones of the cello part, and the joy of awakening on Christmas morning.

Perhaps surprisingly, however, Scrooge is not the character most featured in the Christmas music archive — that honour goes to none other than Tiny Tim. A selection of his character pieces will be performed, including works by Idris Lewis, W. Knowles, and John Rogers Thomas.

Other gems from the archive include two variations of ‘Mr Wardle’s Carol’, by Leslie Curzon and Sir Frederick Bridge respectively, and Edward Merriott’s ‘Christmas Quadrilles’ which evoke a toasty Victorian ballroom on a cold winter night.

The Noctifer Trio have taken an imaginative and creative approach to the Christmas Concert, offering an enjoyable and entertaining evening for all. You neither need to be Dickens expert nor a musical aficionado - join us to discover more.

About Noctifer Trio:

The Noctifer Trio is a young ensemble committed to playing new and underperformed works - especially those with a literary twist.

It comprises Italian violinist Simone Ciccarelli, South African cellist Lauren Wesley-Smith, and Macanese pianist Sin Iong Li, and was established in 2023 while all of its members were completing postgraduate degrees at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London.

Since then, the trio has been a semi-finalist in the 2024 Carne Trust Chamber Competition, and was selected to perform as part of the Trinity Laban String Department’s day at Wigmore Hall. 

noctifertrio.co.uk