Category: Reviews

An enthusiastic audience welcomed Katy Smith playing violin and Amy Butler playing the piano at the first concert of the 2025/2026 season. These young musicians gave a wonderful concert to celebrate the 150^th Anniversary of Ravel’s birth. There was a theme to the concert, all of the composers were linked to Ravel. For me there was also a sub-theme that caught my imagination and this was Elgar’s bow, more of which later in this Review.

The concert began with Romance opus 28 by Gabriel Fauré and he was Ravel’s teacher of composition from 1897 to 1903. The Romance is a very romantic and tuneful piece of music, Katy’s 18^th century violin made by Nathaniel Cross has a lovely warm tone; Amy’s accompaniment on the piano was a delight.

The Violin Sonata No 2 by Ravel was next and it was influenced by the American jazz and blues. The first movement began in a smooth and lyrical way and then suddenly in the second movement there was dissonance on the violin and a heavy beat on the piano and this beat reminded me strongly of The Cold Song from Purcell’s King Arthur. Who knew that the violin could make sounds like that? In the third movement the piano was speaking and the violin replying and then at a speed, rather like a mad bumble bee. But I do have to admit that, whilst I admired the skill and virtuosity of both Amy and Katy, I did not warm to this sonata.

Next there was Vaughan Williams’, The Lark Ascending, this was composed in 1914 for violin and piano (according to Keith Osborne’s splendid Programme Notes). This was perfection! I cannot understand why this version is never heard. The link between Ravel and Vaughan Williams is that for three months in 1908 they were master and pupil and became lifelong friends.

After the interval we heard Edward Elgar’s Sonata for Violin and Piano in E minor, this was sheer magic and is where Elgar’s bow comes in, for it was used in this music. The tone on the violin became so all embracing; whilst Vaughan Williams takes you into the heavens, Elgar keeps you on the ground and so comfortable, I enjoyed also the serene virtuosity of Amy’s playing on the piano. I absolutely loved the sound made by the 18^th century violin and Elgar’s bow – they complemented each other so perfectly.

The final piece in the concert was Ravel’s Tzigane (Gipsey) and what an exciting piece this was, a real wild ride and an equal music between piano and violin. What a great partnership we enjoyed this evening.

There was more to come. We had an encore and it was Elgar’s Capriccio and Katy used Elgar’s bow again and this beautiful music that was played so well and elegantly, finished off a concert that was enjoyed by us all. In fact, one of our members commented that this concert out of all those he had been to at the Club was by far the best. Praise indeed.

To end, just a bit more about Elgar’s bow. I was privileged to have a good look at it and Katy told me a little about it and I looked it up on line afterwards as well. The bow was made by Tubbs of London and presented to Elgar as a 21^st birthday gift. It is inscribed EWE on the ferule and “presented by the Worcester Amateur Instrumental Society June 1878” on the adjuster.

CM

Pianist Sofia Sacco gave a concert that was a wonderful end to the 75^th Season of the Boston Concert Club. Sofia has an engaging personality and she mingled with us before the concert, at the interval and afterwards and this was appreciated by an enthusiastic audience.

Sofia began the concert with three of Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues op. 87, well-chosen to reflect the scope and breadth of these pieces written in 1951 and premiered by Tatiana Nikolayeva. Sofia showed her great technical ability and also her feeling for the music. Sofia has just recorded the whole set and her CD will be released later this year.

Sofia then played pieces by the twentieth century Italian composer, Respighi, better known for his orchestral Roman trilogy, and the baroque composer Clementi. Respighi’s Nocturne was one of the few pieces he wrote for piano – on the evidence of this one, what a pity there are so few – then Sofia played an exquisite Sonata by Clementi.

During the interval there was a buzz of pleasure as the audience enthused about Sofia’s playing.

After the interval we heard Couperin’s Les Barricades Mystérieuses and followed by the delightful Le Coucou by Daquin, I loved this piece, it felt very springlike. Sofia then played for us Rameau’s Les Cyclops and followed with the magnificent Toccata in E minor by J.S. Bach, before three more of Shostakovich’s Preludes and Fugues.

As one of our members said “it isn’t often we get the audience on their feet” and he felt that this concert was the highlight of the season. Sofia gave an encore of Bach’s transcription of Marcello’s Adagio and again this brought some of the audience to their feet.

There were lots of positive comments afterwards, the most common being “what an amazing talent!”

This was a fine end to what has been a wonderful series of concerts and our thanks must go to Steve Boycott, our Chairman and Concert Secretary, for his imaginative programming. Hope to see you all next season.

CM

This was the fifth concert of the season given at the Boston Grammar School. Eira told us that the title of her programme is “Mosaics” and that the title means a pattern of small pieces of music and the mortar is her journey as a musician. Together Eira and the audience went on that journey – and what a great journey it was.

Eira is a very talented and accomplished harpist and this evening she had brought two harps a pedal harp and a Clarsach. All of the music was new to me and our journey began with “Au Jardin – Venise-Ping Pong” from “Pour les Enfants by Alexandre Tansman. This was followed by Debussy’s “La fille aux cheveux de lin”. Then followed “Lindsey Dances” by Martin Ellerby and this piece really resonated with the audience. It is in five parts and these are Steep Hill; Bolingbroke; Gibralter Point; Tattershall; The Stump and I am sure that everyone saw in their mind’s eye (as I did) each part of our County. There then followed the Interlude from Britten’s “A Ceremony of Carols”.

Then Eira played Esther Swift’s “Time Spinner”. This was commissioned by Eira in memory of one her students, Helen MacLeod.

After the interval Eira changed to the Clarsach harp for the traditional Scottish tune “Glenlivet” and continued with Mary Ann Kennedy’s “Cruit Gun Chéis, Ceall Gun Aba”, this translates as “A harp without a tuning key, a Church without an Abbot” and I think refers to Iona. Mary Ann Kennedy was Eira’s first student at the Royal Northern College of Music.

We were then fortunate to hear the World Premier of Martin Ellerby’s Epitaph XVIII “Aberfan”. The audience for the most part, was of an age to remember the Aberfan disaster and so it had great meaning for us all, I think.

Next, on the concert harp we heard a piece written for the harpist, Sidonie Goossens – “Twilight” from William Alwyn’s “Crépuscle”, this was followed by Anna Appleby’s “Knocking” and yes, we heard knocking!

Reverting to the Clarsach, Eira then played Catriona McKay’s “Swan LK243”. This was a beautiful piece and was, my favourite of the evening. The composer wrote this on a Scottish fishing boat that took part in the Cutty Sark’s Tall Ships’ Race in 1999. LK243 is the fishing boat’s number (Lewis 243), the boat was built in 1900 and Catriona was aboard her as she sailed from Shetland to join the Tall Ships’ Race..

Our journey with Eira ended with Pearl Chertock’s “Harpicide at Midnight” from her “Around the Clock” suite and this was played on the pedal harp. This is a jazzy piece of music with a strong beat and who knew that a harp could sound like this? The dance began and the rhythm grew more and more insistent until the melody was lost and finally all we could hear was the dancing feet.

Judging by the warm comments afterwards this was a concert that was really enjoyed and it is hoped that Eira will come and play for us again.

CM

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

This was the third time that Boston Concert Club had welcomed Laurence Perkins and the first time for John Flinders. They gave us a wonderful concert at the Grammar School on 21 March. This concert was dedicated to the memory of long-standing Concert Club member, Brenda Lane, who passed away on 10 February 2023. Brenda wrote the Reviews for the concerts for many years and she is a very hard act to follow. In his opening remarks Laurence said that he and John were proud to give this concert in memory of Brenda.

The concert began with Gabriel Pierné’s Solo de Concert for bassoon and piano. The piano began and John made it sound very dramatic and then the bassoon joined in and both of these instruments complemented each other perfectly.

Laurence is a wonderful communicator and told us that this programme of music was all about the imagination. In the next piece, Concertino by Michael Haydn, there was lyrical playing by John with the bassoon singing in the lower register and purring away like a huge cat.

In Catalonia by Paul Reade, the imagination really got going; we were at a Festival in the South of France and a very jolly one it was too with a lot of dancing.

Ravel’s Habaňera was originally written as a vocalese for a mezzo and I thought that the bassoon was the perfect instrument for this. At the end there was the lovely silence as we all came back down to earth.

Before the interval Laurence and John played Carl Maria von Weber’s Andante e Rondo Ungarese. The bassoon sang accompanied by the piano. This is a pseudo-Hungarian rondo but it is a lively piece and must be great fun to play. In fact, I loved imagining all those “Hungarians” clumping round and round! It made me laugh.

After the interval, Laurence and John played Gounod’s Funeral March of a Marionette. This was enjoyed by at least two members of the audience who bumped shoulders in time to the music! I was reminded at first of the Teddy Bears’ Picnic and then I thought that this is really “circus like”.

The Romance by Saint-Saens was a huge contrast to the previous piece, I found it very peaceful and soothing.

A further contrast followed and this was Laurence playing Alan Ridout’s Caliban and Arial on the bassoon. First, we hear Caliban, the brutish slave of Prospero, earthbound and full of anger and impotence regarding his lot in life:

“This island’s mine by Sycorax my mother,
Which thou tak’st from me. When thou cam’st first,
Thou strok’st me and made much of me… …and then I loved thee…
Cursed be I that did so…
For I am all the subjects that you have,Which first was mine own king; and here you sty me
In this hard rock, whiles you do keep from me
The rest o’th’island!”
In contrast we heard Arial, that airy spirit, also wanting his freedom but in a lighter way:
“All hail, great master! grave sir, hail! I come
To answer thy best pleasure; be’t to fly,
To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
On the curl’d clouds; to thy strong bidding
task Ariel and all his quality.”
Laurence told us that he had given the first performance of this piece in 1975 in Canterbury.

Then there was the lovely melancholy Romance by Elgar, beautifully played by John and Laurence. Laurence is quoted in the Programme notes as ascribing its sadness as arising from the death of two of Elgar’s close friends who were featured in the Enigma Variations, A J Jaeger (Nimrod) and Basil G Nevison (BGN).

The bassoon is well suited to the three following traditional Hebridean Melodies arranged by Laurence, the beautiful ‘Mountain Shadow’, the lyrical ‘My fair-headed Mary’ and the jolly ‘The Cockle Gatherers’.
The final piece of music was Gilbert Vinter’s, “The Playful Pachyderm”. This is laugh-out loud stuff and the image of a dancing elephant was irresistible.
The audience clapped long and hard and there were bravos and cheers and then an encore. Laurence told us that John works with soloists and choirs but he “nearly fell under the table” when Laurence suggested as an encore Quenton Ashlyn’s “The Bassoon Song”. Ashlyn was a star of the Music Hall in Victorian times. Laurence sang the song and the bassoon did the bassoon bits in the song. It was wonderful. We all enjoyed every part of this final concert of the Season and we were left wanting more.

Laurence and John had earlier today visited Gipsey Bridge Primary School and on Wednesday they were to visit Sutterton Primary School. What a wonderful treat for the children.