‘That young man has a great future’ was one of the comments from a listener today as Dr Hugh Mather played a programme of Arrau proportions to celebrate the 2000th concert in Ealing since 2004.
Playing of real musicianship from the opening of the Italian Concerto with a clarity, rhythmic energy and ornaments that sparkled like jewels.

An Andante that flowed so beautifully and where the expansive improvised beauty of the melodic line could be revealed with purity and simplicity.
A presto that was as light and gracious as it was rhythmically infectious but with an aristocratic control that never lost sight of the musical line.

There was such beautiful legato in the Chopin Fantasy contrasting with the non legato polonaise like opening.A sense of balance that gave luminosity to the melodic line without ever hardening the texture or slowing the forward movement .The opening arpeggios blossomed with refined beauty and restrained passion before bursting into bloom only to dissolve into a central section of ravishing beauty.The final cadenza after a passionate outpouring of the opening theme came as a gentle relief,bathed in pedal,before the golden stream of notes that took us to the final imperious chords.

Liszt’s great pinnacle of the Romantic piano repertoire was played with remarkable musicianship and amazing technical control.A sense of line and a forward movement that gave great weight to the overall architectural line.

It was in the transition into and out of the Andante sostenuto that showed Dr Mather’s impeccable musicianship as he kept the momentum flowing from below like a great wave that was always present and on which Liszt sailed with such innovative genius.There was passion too ,of course,but always with a sense of balance where the accompaniment never smothered the musical line .Dr Mather’s mature musicianship could oversee the general shape and follow Liszt’s very precise indications with intelligence and remarkable understanding.

Greeted by a standing ovation Hugh still had the strength to offer an encore of Mendelssoh’s Andante and Rondo Capriccioso.It was played with ravishing sound and refined rubato before bursting into the scintillating featherlight fantasy that is so typical of Mendelssohn.
Remarkable performances from a retired physician that would have done any professional pianist proud.
Many comments from the young musicians that Dr Mather and his team have promoted with such tireless dedication.They just show with what esteem we all hold this remarkable man whose still loves music with the same passion of the eighteen year old who stole Felicity’s heart with his first performance of the Liszt Sonata at Cambridge University sixty years ago .
A team indeed Hugh and Felicity,surrounded by a wonderful group of professional admirers and helpers all dedicated to encouraging young musicians to reach their goal in life,on and off stage,as they so obviously have.
If Music be the Food of Love …………play on – what better example could there be than today’s wonderful performances .

Hugh Mather was born in 1945 and was educated at Westminster Abbey Choir School and Clifton College, Bristol. He gained the FRCO diploma with the Limpus and Reid prizes while still at school, and subsequently the ARCM (piano performers) diploma. He studied medicine at Cambridge University and Westminster Medical School, and was Consultant Physician at Ealing Hospital from 1982 to to 2006, before retiring to pursue his musical interests. He continued his piano studies with James Gibb for many years, and gave countless concerts in West London as concerto soloist, recitalist, accompanist and chamber musician. He has performed concerti by Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Mendelssohn, Gershwin, Grieg, and Schumann. He has been Chairman of the Friends of St Mary’s Perivale since 2005, and has organized 2000 concerts in Ealing over the past 20 years, with 657 at St Barnabas Ealing and (as of this recital) 1343 at St Mary’s Perivale. More details re his concert organizing activities are available

Dr Mather writes :’My 2000th Ealing concert is next Sunday. Here is an overview of 19 years (2004 – 2023) fixing 1334 concerts at St Mary’s Perivale and 657 at St Barnabas. https://www.st-marys-perivale.org.uk/2000-concerts.shtml To celebrate, I am playing one final solo performance, with Bach, Chopin and the Liszt B minor on Sunday July 23rd at St Mary’s Perivale at 3 pm. Hope I survive !’

2000 Ealing concerts – 2004 to 2023
A personal statement 
Hugh Mather.

My piano recital at St Mary’s Perivale on July 23rd 2023 marks a personal milestone, namely the organization of 2000 Ealing concerts since 2004, at St Mary’s Perivale and St Barnabas Ealing. I think it is appropriate to give a few more details about this. As a brief overview, I was born in 1945 and studied medicine at Cambridge University and Westminster Medical School, and was Consultant Physician at Ealing Hospital from 1982 to 2006. I am also a pianist and organist, obtaining the FRCO diploma with the Limpus prize while at school, and subsequently the ARCM (piano performers) diploma, and I continued piano studies with James Gibb for many years.

I gave several piano recitals at St Mary’s Perivale from 1985 onwards, and thus became involved with this wonderful church – a tiny 12th-century building which became redundant in 1972 and is now a highly-regarded classical music centre with a magical ambience and excellent acoustics. In 2003 I facilitated the purchase of a new Yamaha grand piano, and commenced concerts there in 2004, becoming Chairman of the Friends of St Mary’s Perivale in 2005. Since then, with an excellent and motivated team we have held 1343 concerts, detailed in our archive section on st Mary’s web site .We held about 50 concerts per year on Sunday afternoons and Wednesday evenings until 2016, when we introduced Tuesday afternoon piano recitals, at the suggestion of Roger Nellist, with the annual total rising to about 120.

I am also organist at St Barnabas Church, Ealing, and in 2007 I bought a Bösendorfer concert grand for the church. That fine instrument was the basis for the 657 concerts held there between 2007 and 2020, raising over £250,000 for church funds, with over 530 Friday Lunchtime Concerts, 13 major weekend piano festivals and 6 series of Summer Proms.

Thus the combined total of concerts at St Mary’s Perivale (1343) and St Barnabas (657) reaches 2000 on July 23rd 2023, and has included performances by over 550 pianists, 250 violinists and 150 cellists etc. A list of all the musicians playing at Perivale is available here. All concerts at St Mary’s Perivale since 2007 have been recorded with equipment installed by Simon Shute. We started to livestream our concerts in December 2018, and since then have broadcast over 400 on YouTube. We were thus able to broadcast ‘live’ concerts throughout the pandemic, with 154 streamed from an empty church, supporting musicians with paid performances, and we received the ‘Lockdown Star’ award from the Critics’ Circle in recognition. Our broadcasts have been viewed almost 400,000 times since 2018, and now attract over 100,000 views annually in nearly 70 countries. We have raised almost £100,000 for our musicians during and since the pandemic. Further details about our livestreaming activities are available on the St . Marys’ web site

None of this would be possible without our team of volunteers, led by Roger Nellist and Simon Shute, with George Auckland, Andrew Whadcoat, Gill Rowley, Rob Jenkins, Truus Bos, Peter Sandison, Sherry White, Felicity Mather, Andrew Goodhart, Richard Norris and David Brown, among many others. We are firm believers in the future of live broadcasts of classical music, and are now one of the foremost UK broadcasters of piano recitals and chamber music.

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