Author: Carol Middleton

Concert given on 15 November 2022

The second concert of the season was given by the Calderón Duo who are Florence Hill classical guitar and Holly Melia flute and piccolo; what a splendid evening of music it was. The concert began with Jaques Ibert’s Entr’acte and Florence and Holly played this Spanish style music beautifully with the guitar and flute weaving in an out, this was a lovely beginning to the concert.

Then we had Edward McGuire’s Improvisations on Calderón. Pedro de la Barca Calderón was a Spanish poet and playwright, born in Madrid in 1600 and died in 1681. Florence confirmed that the Duo are named after him. Keith Osborne’s splendid programme notes say that the music commentates on elements of comedy and tragedy in the playwright’s work. This was evident in the music which began with a sad melodic tune followed by rapid trills from the flute echoed by the guitar, both instruments being played with wit and verve. Holly changed to the piccolo and the music speeded up then it was back to the flute.

Next we heard Siciliane by Pergolese, a lyrical, lilting piece beautifully played. This was followed by Piazzola’s Histoire du Tango – Bordel and Cafė these two pieces were very enjoyable, we were tangoed!

Florence has the makings of a very good composer indeed, as shown by her guitar solo of her own Reflections, this was played with great feeling and delicacy and was a highlight of the evening.

The first half ended with Faurė’s Pavane. Faurė never disappoints and this familiar piece sounded fresh played on the flute and guitar. A real delight to listen to.

After the interval Holly paced into the hall playing Debussy’s Syrinx on the flute, this was a dramatic beginning to the second half. Syrinx was a nymph in Greek mythology and known for her chastity, pursued by the god Pan, she ran to the river’s edge and asked the river nymphs for help. They transformed her into hollow water reeds that made a haunting sound when the god’s frustrated breath blew across them. Pan cut the reeds to fashion the first set of panpipes, which were thenceforth known as syrinx. The flute was the perfect instrument for this work.

This was followed by another piece by Edward McGuire – Passing Seasons: Summer Murmur, Autumn Leaves, Winter Thoughts and Spring Awakening. I thought that Winter Thoughts were quite melancholic but Spring Awakening was more cheerful with the flute singing away like a whole flock of birds.

We then heard a collection of ten folk songs collected by Cecil Sharpe and Ralph Vaughan Williams. The guitar and flute are well suited to play folk tunes and these were so enjoyable to listen to. The piccolo was much in evidence doing duty as a penny whistle. Holly told me that the piccolo is the loudest instrument in the orchestra! I believed her.

The Folk Songs were followed by Enrique Granados’ Danza Espaňola No 5. This was beautifully played and I was certainly in Spain for a while.The concert ended with Piazzola’s Libertango and such was the warm applause at the end that Florence and Holly gave us an encore. Florence said that this was another of her compositions but that she hasn’t yet given it a name and so she proposed to call it “Boston Groove” in our honour. We were honoured as this is a wonderful piece of music and deserves to be firmly in the repertoire. The audience had a thoroughly good, musical evening.

Our next concert is the Christmas one on 20 December.

CM

Appearing with the kind permission of The Royal Northern College of Music, Laurel Saunders (clarinet) and Angharad Huw (harp) gave the first concert of the Season on Tuesday evening 18 October. It was good to see so many old friends and new faces at the concert, and what a concert it was – full of colour, life and interest. Your reviewer has never come across any of the composers in the programme – except for that Dave Brubeck classic Take Five.

The combination of clarinet and harp is new to the Club, I think, but on checking online I find that numerous composers have written for this combination, Schubert and Schumann to mention just two of them. Others will be mentioned later on in this Review.

The concert began with a piece by Paul Reade “The Victorian Kitchen Garden Suite”. This was a very good beginning and I particularly enjoyed the Prelude and Summer, these were delightful and very evocative of a well doing kitchen garden. Next we heard a short lyrical and peaceful Aria by Aaron Breeze. This was followed by “The Coastal Suite” by Roma Cafolla and was composed especially for clarinet and harp. I found myself on the coast and listening to the sea and the wind in all their varied moods.

Carlos Salzedo wrote “Chanson dans la Nuit” for solo harp and Angharad played this short piece with wit and feeling and it came with some percussive elements.

Béla Kovács’ “Hommage á J S Bach” and “Homage á De Falla” are both works for a solo clarinet, Laurel played these superbly well.

Paul Desmond composed “Take Five” and of course this was familiar to all of us from the Dave Brubeck Quartet. This was most enjoyable and who knew that the harp made a good bass? I didn’t. The first half ended with a Jazz Improvisation by Laurel and Angharad proving once again that harp and clarinet make an ace jazz duo.

After the interval we had a rare event at our concerts, so said Keith Osborne in his splendid programme notes, we had the World Premiere of Aaron Breeze’s “Adagio”. This is a piece which ought to be listened to again as on the first hearing it seemed that the clarinet played discordantly at times and the harp was the bass beat. It shouldn’t have worked, but it did. It was followed by Laurel playing Tiberiu Olah’s Sonata for Clarinet and this piece showed very clearly the many different sounds that can be made by the clarinet, particularly by such a fine player as Laurel.

We then came to one of the most enjoyable pieces of music, this was “Six American Sketches” by Skalia Kanga. This is a descriptive and lyrical composition and the harp was very fine in II Running Water, very refreshing! And the clarinet was very grasshopper like in IV and in V Night Stillness the harp was very lovely with the clarinet interjecting. I would have liked to go to No VI the Country Fayre.

The piece of music by Uno Vesje I found fascinating “Life is flashing before my eyes and I realise that it all started with a blackbird”. This was played by Angharad and sure enough there is a real blackbird singing away (a pre-recording), and this was a lovely piece of music to listen to, both blackbird and harp!

We then heard two sections from Armando Ghidoni’s Jazzy-Celtic Suite – III Interlude and IV Celswing. In this the clarinet sounded smooth and the harp lyrical and in Celswing lively with a swing.

The concert ended, with I think my favourite bit. Laurel and Angharad played a folk improvisation and I asked Angharad about the lovely tune they improvised. Angharad wrote it down for me it is a Welsh folk tune “Hen ferchetan”. I looked it up online afterwards and it means old maid.

This was a wonderful beginning to the 2022/23 Season and I very much hope that Laurel and Angharad will be invited to play for us again. I am sure that they both have wonderful careers ahead of them.

CM

REVIEW OF CONCERT GIVEN ON 15th MARCH 2022

The concert given by the Alkyona String Quartet was a wonderful end to this season. The quartet line up was Emma Purslow, violin; Marike Kruup, violin; Claire Newton, viola and Jobine Siekman, cello. This concert was generously sponsored by Steve Boycott.

The concert began with Beethoven’s String Quartet Opus 18 No 3 in D major. What a wonderful mellow sound from the cello in the first movement. All the players showed great musicality and what lyrical playing. In the final movement there was such a rich sound – it was like bathing in music.

Then we heard the String Quartet No 7 Opus 108 by Shostakovich, this was composed in 1960 and dedicated to his first wife who had died in 1954. Their marriage, I understand was volatile. The piece has humorous passages and in part an insistent beat. Was she nagging him I wondered, then there was a dissonance on all instruments and it all sounded like a monstrous quarrel; I felt some relief when that was over! This was a piece excitingly played and very colourful.

After the interval came the highlight of the evening; Schubert’s String Quartet D810 “Death and the Maiden”. This was played by the Quartet for the first time in concert and I understand from Steve Boycott that it had been learned specifically for this concert; it was an opportunity to learn it and play it for real and it’s now gone into their repertoire for the future (Emma Purslow). Death and the Maiden is a very dark subject, written in minor keys. Nevertheless it is quite lively in places, a dance of death and finally the maiden succumbs. The second movement shows Schubert’s genius in writing variations and the final movement asks who can stand against death?

The Quartet has a bright sound and the rapport and communication between the players was very evident throughout. The comments from members of the audience after the concert was very positive and it was felt that the players deserved the sustained applause they received at the end. It is hoped that they will make a return visit to us in another season.

CM

15 FEBRUARY 2022

Antoine Prēat the Franco-Belgian pianist is a Winner of the Philip and Dorothy Green Award 2020 and the Concert Club was delighted to welcome him as the soloist in the fifth concert of our Series on 15 February. This Young Musician shows great musicality in his playing and this was greatly enjoyed by the audience.

This concert was dedicated to the memory of a much loved member of the Club and Committee member, Susan Jennifer Oughton (Jenny) who sadly died last year. Jenny would have loved this concert.

Antoine began with Bach’s Partita No 4 in D major and he coaxed some wonderful sounds from the Grammar School piano and he played with great feeling. Next, he played the dramatic Aprés une Lecture du Dante and what an exciting piece this is and played with such expressive lyricism.

After the interval Antoine played that magical Sonata in A major by Schubert. In Keith Osborne’s splendid Programme Notes, Keith quoted from a letter that Schubert wrote to his parents, “Several people assured me that under my hands the keys become singing voices, which if it is true, pleases me very much.” Under Antoine’s hands in this and indeed in every piece the keys became singing voices.

The concert ended with Albèniz Iberia Primo Cuaderno which is wonderfully evocative of Spain this was beautifully played with sensitivity and colour.