Author: Carol Middleton

The Heartwood String Quartet appeared by the kind permission of The Royal Northern College of Music and consists of Audrey Doyle, violin, Bruno Robalo, violin, Michaela Jones, viola and Jasmine Blackshaw-Britton, cello.. The name ‘Heartwood’ comes from the spruce tree from which string instrument sound board tops are crafted.

This fourth concert of the season began with Mozart’s String Quartet No 15; according to Keith Osborne’s splendid programme notes, when this piece was composed by Mozart in one room, his wife, Constanze was giving birth to their first child, Raimund, in another. The second movement, it is said, reflects the sound of Constanze going through the pains of labour. Hmm! This was followed by Jessie Montgomery’s “Strum”, written in 2006. This composer is unknown to me but Strum is a very tuneful piece of music and is, I think, the best modern piece that we have heard this season. I never thought that I would say this – I preferred it to the Mozart!

After the interval the Quartet played Beethoven’s String Quartet Op 59 No 1. What a treat to listen to, composed by the Master. It is technically demanding but the Heartwood rose to the challenge and played it wonderfully well, it sounded ravishing, the Quartet has a clear, transparent sound. It was sheer bliss for the rapt audience.

The concert ended with the Danish String Quartet’s composition “Halling”. This music is based on a rhythmic traditional Norwegian dance, halling, and this is very athletic, the dancer circles around a hat held high on a stick with the aim of kicking it down. (From Keith’s programme notes). The music has a very Scandinavian sound and was quite different from the other pieces of music we heard this evening.

All in all, this was a splendid concert and was very much enjoyed by the audience.

CM

CONCERT HELD AT THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL, BOSTON ON 17^th DECEMBER 2024

The Christmas concert this year was given by the Laiton Trumpet Quartet who have recently graduated from the Royal Northern College of Music. The Quartet is formed of Grace Harman, Erin McLellan, Charlotte Nuta and Isabel Thompson. However this evening Isabel was unable to come and Seb Williman of the Rosamund Brass Ensemble came in her place.

What an amazing concert this was. All of the players are supremely talented and they gave us a most joyful evening. There was a tremendous beginning to the concert with the playing of James Stephenson’s Fanfare for an Angel. Then they played for us Amazing Grace, lovely ensemble playing, with Seb taking the lead in this.

I very much enjoyed Edrich Siebert’s The Lazy Trumpeter with Seb on Trumpet and Charlotte on piano; this was followed by Someday my Prince will come, Intrada and Away in a Manger with Charlotte on Trumpet and Grace on piano. I particularly enjoyed Bach’s Chorale and Fugue, this is usually played on the organ but translated very well to the trumpets.

Before the interval we had Whitacre’s lovely The Seal Lullaby and I could imagine the seals rocking on the ocean.

Then we had the interval and as it was the Christmas concert we enjoyed wine and mincepies very kindly donated by our members.

The second half began with Rockin’ Robin followed seamlessly by Georgia on my mind and Eleanor Rigby. These were followed by Someone to Watch over me (Gershwin) with Charlotte on trumpet and Erin on piano. This was followed by Basin Street Blues (Armstrong arranged by Grace); this was amazing, with Grace playing the piano and the trumpet simultaneously! I was in awe of her virtuosity.

We then had Grace’s arrangement of Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas, Caprice by Bernard Fitzgerald and the concert ended with James Lord Pierpoint’s Jingle Bells.

The concert was throughly enjoyed by the enthusiastic audience and will, I think, be long remembered.

CM

This was a concert that was given in memory of the late Chairman of Boston Concert Club, Rev. Jenny Dumat, who died on 23^rd December 2023.

This was the third concert given by Emma Johnson for the Concert Club, the first was on 16^th December 1986 and the second on 21^st March 1989; one of our members and her daughter were at both concerts and at each of them obtained an autograph from Emma on their programme. Both autographed programmes were brought to this concert and shown to Emma.

The concert began with a set of variations from Mozart’s clarinet concerto, a lovely piece of music and one of my personal favourites and a wonderful beginning. The concert continued with Schumann’s Fantasiestucke Op. 73 and was followed by Rebecca Clarke’s Impetuoso and then Poulenc’s Clarinet Sonata.

After the interval Emma played for us her own composition, ‘Three Perspectives’ – Echoes, Solace and Senegal Spirit, and she explained that each movement reflected a different character of the clarinet.

We then heard the wonderful larghetto from Mozart’s Clarinet concerto followed by the Arthur Bliss piece, ‘Pastoral’, which she played as a dedication in Jenny’s memory Next, we heard Sidney Bechet’s ‘Petite Fleur’ and then a medley of Duke Ellington’s music, including a lovely performance of ‘The Single Petal of a Rose’ from The Queen’s Suite, part of an album he prepared specially in honour of Queen Elizabeth II in 1959. The concert ended with an amazing rendition of the ‘Flight of the Bumble Bee’.

Emma was ably supported by her very talented accompanist Gregory Drott on piano and his playing greatly enhanced the whole experience. This was a concert that Jenny Dumat would have enjoyed enormously; she herself, was an accomplished clarinettist. We were delighted that members of Jenny’s family were able to attend this very special concert.

CM

Thanks to Judith Warnes for this great picture of Emma Johnson and Gregory Drott

Chris Green and Sophie Matthews gave a fast moving and fascinating brief history of Music on Tuesday evening. They had been due to come to us in March but had to cancel. We were delighted to welcome them to the Grammar School.

The instruments that were played were very interesting and some were unusual. For instance, there were two types of mandolin played by Chris, the smallest – a mandolino and a larger mandola. Chris also played a gittern, a lute and a guitar as well as a piano accordion. Sophie’s instruments were equally interesting, recorders, a shawm (the ancestor of the oboe), a crumhorn a very odd-looking reed instrument which is curved at the bottom, a rauschpfeife (this is German for “rush” or “reed” pipe) and the bagpipes. Sophie told us that the UK has ten different kinds of bagpipes! Sophie’s bagpipes looked like the Medieval type.

The concert began in the Middle Ages with “Summer is icumen in, Llyod sing cuccu”, this is the oldest English song and Chris and Sophie accompanied themselves on the mandolino and shawm respectively. There then followed a dance played on the bagpipes and called a Brawl!, this dates from the 15^th century We then travelled in time to the 16th century for Pastime in Good Company written by that famous musician Henry VIII accompanied by the crumhorn and gittern. This was followed by a 16^th/17^th century dance called a Maggot, this seems to be a generic term and the modern equivalent would be an earworm. This was fast and furiously played by Sophie on shawm and Chris on gittern. It was followed by that lovely John Dowland song “Come again sweet love” from his First Book of Airs with Chris accompanying on the lute.

Still in the early 1600s, accompanied by the red pipe – a Waite’s instrument according to Sophie, (the City Waites patrolled the streets at night) – we heard the Boys of Bedlam nonsense song “Who’s the fool now?” We joined in the chorus – Thou hast well drunken man, who’s the fool now?

Into the 18^th Century with bagpipes and gittern and a song Shepherd and Shepherdess from 1799. This was followed by Pills to Purge Melancholy by Thomas Sturgeon and then the Tale of the Sovay, which is about a female highwayman. Into the 19^th century with a moral Ballad, “Billy don’t you speak to me” and of course the Victorian Music Hall “When father papered the parlour”; this brought us to the last two songs from the First World War, Ivor Novello’s “Keep the Home Fires Burning” and the comic song “Goodbye-ee!” The concert ended with an encore, “The Somerset Wassail”.

What a wonderful concert this was and a splendid beginning to the 2024/2025 season.

CM