Saffron Walden & District Music Club

NOTICEBOARD

Previews
- 13/03/10 - The Zephyr Ensemble of London
Reviews - contributed by members

Saturday 13 March 2010 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

The Zephyr Ensemble of London

Mozart - Overture The Magic Flute
Debussy (arr Gordon Davies) - Suite No 2 (from Suites Bergamasque and Pour le Piano)
Hindemith - Kleine Kammermusik for Wind Quintet Op 24 No 2
Berio - Opus Number Zoo
Rimsky-Korsakov (arr David Walter) - Flight of the Bumblebee
Ibert - Trois Pieces Breves
Holst - Quintet in A flat
Patterson - Westerly Winds

The Zephyr Ensemble of London was formed in 1997 at the Royal College of Music, winning the RCM Ensemble Prize two years in a row. From 2002 to 2004 they held the Leverhulme Group Junior Fellowship at the Royal College of Music and are still invited back to give concerts there from time to time. Since then the group has enjoyed much success and has performed at music clubs, festivals and many of the most prestigious venues around the country, including The Wigmore Hall, The Purcell Room and the Royal Festival Hall. Zephyr has also broadcast on BBC Radio 3.

The ensemble won the Philharmonia Orchestra/Martin Fund Ensemble Award sponsored by Total, reached the ensemble final of the Royal Overseas League competition and made their Purcell Room debut as part of the Park Lane Group Artists Series, where they gave the world premiere of Huw Watkins’ ‘Five Miniatures for Wind Quintet’. A Tunnell award gave them tours in Scotland. Other competition successes include a Maisie Lewis Award, a Tillett Trust Award, second place in the Anglo-Czech Trust Competition and a place on the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme. The group was also ‘Ensemble in Residence’ at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and from 2003-2006 they were members of Yehudi Menuhin’s ‘Live Music Now!’ scheme, which involved giving performances at schools, day centres and care homes across the country.

The members are now busy musicians playing with many of the nation’s leading orchestras. We last heard them in Saffron Walden in 2002 with their regular pianist Martin Cousin.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791) - Overture to the Magic Flute
The Magic Flute is one of Mozart’s last works. It was composed between March and July 1791 and received its first performance in September of the same year, two months before his death. The overture begins in solemn mood, before abruptly changing to the exciting theme which then dominates. This transcription is one of many for wind quintet by the German musician Joachim Linkelmann.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) - Suite (arr. Gordon Davies)
Claude Debussy’s compositional style has been described as “impressionist”, though it is a term he personally detested. Much of Debussy’s writing was for piano – he wrote nothing for wind quintet – and these three movements, brilliantly arranged by the clarinettist and musicologist Gordon Davies, are taken from two of these. The Sarabande is taken from the Suite Pour le piano, written between 1896 and 1901, and is marked “avec une elegance grave et lente”. The final two movements are dances taken from his Suite Bergamasque, written when Debussy was a student in 1890 and then revised and finally published as a set in 1905. Harmonically, however, the Menuet is unlike anything written by Haydn or Mozart. The final Passepied, more overtly neo-classical in style, has very unusual textures created by flowing melodies over a continuous staccato in the bassoon and clarinet.

Paul Hindemith (1895-1963) - Kleine Kammermusik Op 24 No 2
Paul Hindemith, born in 1895 in Hanau, Germany, developed into one of the most versatile musicians of the twentieth century. He enjoyed a successful career as a composer, conductor, violist, musicologist and teacher. Hindemith’s compositional style is very much neo-baroque, drawing on the linear counterpoint of Bach, but also with influences from Brahms and Debussy. Characteristically, his music is mildly dissonant with a mix of tonality and chromaticism.

Kleine Kammermusik was written in 1922 – and is one of the modern masterpieces for quintet. It is full of humour and wit, yet with a typical undercurrent of bitterness and irony. The clarinet introduces a lively opening movement, while the second highlights the piccolo in a sprightly waltz. The third movement is more solemn in tone with a plaintive melody in the oboe. The fourth is very short, and contains a brief cadenza for each instrument, which leads, without pause in to the boisterous, march-like finale.

Luciano Berio (1925-2003) - Opus Number Zoo
The Italian Berio wrote this piece in 1951 for the Dorian Quintet, and revised it nearly twenty years later. It is a setting of four texts by Rhoda Levine where the five performers have dual roles, both playing their own instruments, and reciting Levine’s words. Berio sometimes dictates the rhythm of the speech, sometimes just specifying a time frame during which the musician must “say their lines”. The score shows the influence of Stravinsky, neo-classical in style, and it is worth noting that the music stands very well on its own, without the text. There is fine word-painting in each movement, particularly in the last. The writing is not typical of the composer – fanciful and charming – despite characteristically angular rhythms, transparent textures and emotional coolness. Although the work is subtitled “Child’s Play” there is a rather unpleasant undercurrent to all the poetry Berio has chosen.

1. Barn Dance

The fox took a chicken out on the floor.
Poor silly chick didn’t know the score.
And as they whirled in their joyous dance
Oh, she admired how the fox could prance.
She never noticed when the light went out…

She skipped to the beat with her head held high,
She bowed to the fox as he circled by.
He winked at her with a high-dee-ho.
And then they engaged in a doessee doe.
She never noticed when the lights went out.

He swung her to the left,
He swung her to the right,
He swung her around with all his might.
The air grew heavy, the lights grew dim
But she felt no fear as she smiled at him;

He turned her again and she held him tight
As she smiled and whirled in the fading light,
She felt no fear, she knew no doubt
And she never noticed when the lights went out.
That’s all, folks.

2. The Fawn

Listening to a cry of bombs,
Listening to the scream of a distant field,
Listening, this is what the fawn thought,
Standing by a stream.

What madness, what madness of men…
To diminish the earth, to blast all that is lively,
Lively, proud and gentle.
What can be the reason?

The fawn thought,
Listening to a cry of bombs,
Standing by a stream.
What can be the reason?

3. The Grey Mouse

By herself, by herself,
Watching the party,
This small mouse upon a shelf.
Very old, very old,
She felt no cheer
At the dawn of the New Year,
New Year, New Year.

Friends, she said, young friends, she said,
Dance, dance, my young friends, dance,
But do beware, beware,
I warn you, I warn you, I warn you.

For I too have danced and sung like you.
I too have been young, so young,
But alas, alas, wst!, wst!,
Time came to join in the dancing,
Time came to join in the fun.

4. Tom Cats

In the jungle of the city
Two tom-cats chanced to meet.
Omar and Bartholomew,
Tip-toeing round their beat.

Their chest swelled up with envy
(Oh and envy most intense),
As each spotted his new rival,
Beside a back-yard fence.

Bartholomew’s great tail
(A tail of wide renown)
Made Omar stare insanely,
That tail he’d love to own.

Bartholomew stared also,
He envied what he saw.
He yearned to own the whiskers
That Omar proudly wore.

A howl soon broke the silence
Of that midsummer night.
Like David and Goliath,
Both cast aside all fright
As cat met cat in battle.

Oh! It was a beastly fight.
Oh! Both limped home forlorn.
All tails all whiskers gone. Oh!

Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908) - Flight of the Bumblebee
Despite having music as a hobby from an early age, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov began his career in the navy. As a result, when he was offered the post of professor of composition at the St. Petersburg Conservatory of Music, he was quite shocked! Many of his compositions are based on Russian folk tales and history. The Flight of the Bumble Bee, is taken from the opera “The Tale of Tsar Sultan”, a fantastic tale based on a poem by Pushkin. This particular part of the opera describes how Prince Guidon, magically transformed into a bumblebee, flies back to the court of his father the Tsar. Originally scored for full symphony orchestra, it has now been arranged for almost every combination of instruments.

Jacques Ibert (1890-1962) - Trois Pièces Brèves
Jacques Ibert’s Three Short Pieces were written in 1930. This light hearted work, a favourite among the quintet repertoire, shows his versatility as a composer, moving from jazz one moment to dissonance the next. The first piece is a cheerful folk tune setting, based on a simple, yet effective melody. The second, largely a flute and clarinet duet, is slow and reflective. The finale, the most sophisticated of the three movements, has a short, dramatic introduction leading to a lively clarinet theme. This turns into a waltz, and the two sections alternate until the happy conclusion.

Gustav Holst (1874-1934) - Wind Quintet in A Flat Major Op 14
Gustav Holst was born in 1874, and the wind quintet in A Flat Major was written in 1903, although it did not receive its premiere until 1982. This is because the original manuscript was lost until 1978, when it was discovered at an antiques fair in a pile of papers! The first performance was eventually given in September 1982 by the Nash Ensemble. Very little therefore, is known about the circumstances of the work’s composition. However, before Holst took up his teaching post at St Paul’s School in 1905, he was paying his bills by playing the trombone for Carl Rosa Opera.

The Quintet is a fluent and tuneful piece from what his daughter Imogen called his ‘long and painful’ apprenticeship. It is in four movements, all very calm and lyrical in nature. The allegro moderato and adagio has flowing pastoral melodies, whilst the final two movements are perhaps slightly more aggressive in style particularly in the horn and bassoon parts and give more than a hint of English folksong. The Air and Variations brings the quintet to a quiet and tranquil close.

Paul Patterson (born 1947) - Westerly Winds
1. Scrumpy Giles (Somerset) – to the tune Farmer Giles
2. Widecombe Jan (Devon) – to the tune Widecombe Fair
3. Lazy Lawrence (Dorset) – to the tune Linden Lea
4. The Looe Bar Lady (Cornwall) – to the tune Helston Floral Dance

Paul Patterson has written, to date, three wind quintets, all of which are popular works in the repertoire. This is the latest of the three, the first of which was composed in 1967 whilst he was still a student at the Royal Academy of Music where he is now a professor of composition. Westerly Winds is a rewritten orchestral piece, Four Rustic Sketches (1980), a suite of four fantasias based on English West country folk tunes.

Although Westerly Winds is not as abrasive in style as his first two compositions for this combination, it is a striking work, which extends the technical difficulties for the instruments to their limits. Despite reducing the scoring from full symphony orchestra to just five wind instruments, the sounds and timbres Patterson achieves from the different combinations of the five players are remarkable. The Looe Bar Lady brings the work to an end with an extravagant flourish.

Programme Notes supplied by The Zephyr Ensemble

Saturday 13 February 2010 - Saffron Walden County High School

Katie Stillman (violin) & Simon Lane (piano)

Katie Stillma Simon Lane

The fourth concert of the 2009/10 season was given by Katie Stillman (violin) and Simon Lane (piano) in Saffron Walden County High School, before an audience of 103. This was the Club’s first visit to this venue since March 2006, and occasioned by access to the school’s beautiful Blüthner piano.

The concert commenced with Schubert’s Violin Sonata in G minor D 408, one of a set of three published eight year’s after his death. The publisher, Anton Diabelli, renamed them Sonatinas to maximise appeal to amateur performers, and their popularity has endured to this day. Katie and Simon played this exquisitely, with great charm and a bel canto tone well suited to the work and the Blüthner piano.

The major work before the interval was Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No 9 in A Op 47 (The Kreutzer Sonata). This was new repertoire for both Katie and Simon, and it was so pleasing to see their huge investment rewarded by such a fine performance. The first movement, with its fiendishly difficult opening, was played with spirit and technical assurance but, above all, with such good ensemble, the players modulating effortlessly between major and minor, in and out of synch, from presto to adagio, and all the while maintaining the obligato edginess. The brilliant variations of the andante second movement were well realised and fully integrated, providing exactly the right contrast and bridge to the finale. And what a finale, the intellectual triumph of Beethoven over adversity expressed as a glorious sparkling rondo, and so well played!

The first work in the second half comprised three movements from Britten’s Suite for Violin and Piano Op 6 (March, Lullaby, Waltz). This early youthful parody has Britten surveying the musical scene in the dark years shortly before the second world war. The broken march, surreal lullaby, and subversive waltz, all linked by a leitmotif, was Britten’s response to the noise around him. Katie and Simon invested the extracts with a lot of fun and considerable virtuosity.

The final work was Richard Strauss’ Violin Sonata in E flat Op 18. This glittering and early work of 1887 was not well realised, lacking much in the way of tenderness, and with an ensemble in which the instruments crowded each other out – the piano being too dominant, the violin developing an unsympathetic intonation, the tempos too brisk, and the performance often lacking in character and shape.

This was an absorbing concert, brilliant for the most part, with the extraordinary potential of the young professionals never in doubt.

David Erdman
16/2/2009

Saturday 21 November 2009 - Linton Village College

Agon Piano Trio

Victoria Sutherland Violin
Tim Wells Cello
James Cheung Piano

The third concert of the 2009/10 season was given by the Agon Piano Trio in Linton Village College, before an audience of 86. This was the Club’s first visit to this pleasant venue with its Art Deco interiors, and occasioned by access to Linton Music Society’s excellent Yamaha C7 piano.

The concert commenced with Pleyel’s Piano Trio in F, Op 40 No 2 (1784). Pleyel, a pupil of Haydn, was an Austro-French composer whose output was both prolific and very popular during the years of the French Revolution (1789-1799), but was probably past his best after 1792, concentrating from 1795 on his music publishing business, and from 1807 on piano manufacturing. His output included 49 keyboard trios, usually consisting of three movements and published in sets of three. The work, stylishly performed by the Agon Piano Trio, came from the very first set, which had proved worthy enough to be plagiarised and published by Haydn as his own, probably attracted by its contrasting melodic Mozartian lightness, baroque base-lined cello, and rumbustious rondo finale.

The last work before the interval was Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No 1 in D minor, Op 49 (1839), an elegant salon masterpiece, designed to be playable by talented amateurs, but also to be part of the repertoire of professional ensembles, a parallel in concept and quality to Schubert’s Trout Quintet. The ensemble playing of the Agon Piano Trio was truly delightful, and they were equally masterful with rapid figurations and stormy transitions, as with the magically ethereal scherzo, arguably the greatest of Mendelssohn’s inventions.

The first work in the second half was Haydn’s Piano Trio No 22 in D, Hob XV 24 (1794/5). Haydn wrote 45 piano trios, mostly between 1784-1795, and this late work from his London period is seminal in its emancipation of all instruments within the genre, anticipating the brilliant works of Beethoven and Schubert. Freed from the need to accommodate amateur grand pianists, it presented the perfect platform for the marvellous professionalism of the Agon Piano Trio.

The final work was Dvorak’s popular Piano Trio No 4 in E minor, Op 90 “Dumky”(1891), its popularity not infrequently a cause of resentment amongst professional musicians. There was no sign of this from the Agon Piano Trio, who invested it with terrific energy, making the hall resound to the driving rhythm of Ukrainian Dumky, with their evocative and contrasting lament. No sign, either, of prolixity from Dvorak, or subordination of the cello, which he even gave its own cantilena. What a wonderful piece of music to finish any chamber concert.

This was a first class concert, and although nearly out on his feet at the end, James Cheung played throughout with great power and finesse...and with the piano lid fully propped. There were only two complaints about the piano sounding too loud, one from a member of the audience sitting directly opposite the open lid, and the other from Tim Wells, the ensemble’s cellist!

David Erdman
1/12/2009

Saturday 24 October 2009 - Friends' School, Saffron Walden

Chisato Kusunoki (piano)
The Marion and Haley Hogwood Concert

Photograph by Alex Sedgwick

The second concert of the 2009/10 season was given by Chisato Kusunoki (piano) in the Friends’ School, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 149, including Christopher Hogwood, the Club’s president and benefactor.

The recital was the first one for the Club requiring a hired piano, due to the venue’s own Bechstein currently not being at concert standard. In consequence there was some nervousness about how the replacement, a Yamaha C7, might sound, given the venue’s constrained acoustic. Members of the Club’s selection panel attending rehearsal were therefore delighted to hear the pianist delicately coaxing tonal colour from this bright and powerful instrument.

The concert itself commenced with Schubert’s Piano Sonata in A D 664 and, in the light of rehearsal, it came as quite a shock to hear the volume at which this was played, even though lyrical throughout and with a truly slow andante second movement. In this work, and throughout the concert, Chisato appeared to use only one pedal…the loud one.

The next three works were Chopin Polonaises, the proud Op 53 in A flat (Heroic) and Op 40 No 1 in A (Military), and the profound late Op 61 in A. The first two were played with a Godowskian swagger that eclipsed their polonaise rhythms, and so loudly that it became apparent that the intimate seating arrangement would need to be replaced by a more conventional concert hall format in future. The tremendous power generated by Chisato in the bass arpeggios of the Military was truly amazing. The Op 61 Polonaise was most appreciated by members of the audience seated well away from the piano, several of whom commented on the brilliance of Chisato’s interpretation and playing.

The first work in the second half was Medtner’s Piano Sonata in G minor Op 22. It was very well played and the least affected by inappropriate volume. Chisato has a special relationship with this music – resulting in an intellectually satisfying performance from the first dark chord to the great coda that ends its only movement. There was so much virtuosity to admire, too, including the contrasting rhythms played simultaneously by each hand. No wonder Prokofiev, Moiseiwitsch, Gilels, and Horowitz regularly included this piece in their concert repertoire!

Next was Anton Rubinstein’s charming Melodie in F, a short and simple piece that has ever been popular.

The final work was Rachmaninov’s Moments Musicaux Op 16, from which Chisato selected Nos 1,3,4 & 6. These variations originate from the Nocturne theme of the Morceaux de Salon Op 10. Chisato played them all at high volume, which obscured many of their magical qualities, but apparently to a lesser degree for those seated well back from the piano. Even so, the grandeur of No 6, the Maestoso in C, shone through, despite the piano now beginning to lose some tonality.

This was an interesting concert, with moments of breathtaking brilliance, but issues with piano management (volume) and audience proximity (too close) spoilt enjoyment for many. After the recital, the audience was invited to join Christopher Hogwood, and Chisato Kusunoki for a glass of wine, courtesy of the Club’s Trustees.

David Erdman
2/11/2009

Saturday 19 September 2009 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

The Barbirolli Quartet
The Saffron Building Society Concert

Photograph by Michael Robert Williams

Beethoven - String Quartet No 5 in A Op 18
Britten - String Quartet No 2 in C Op 36
Debussy - String Quartet in G minor Op 10

The first concert of the Club’s 2009/10 season was given by the Barbirolli Quartet in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 141, including ten guests from its sponsor, The Saffron Building Society.

The concert commenced with Beethoven’s early String Quartet in A of 1801, Op 18 No 5, his homage to Mozart, specifically the String Quartet in A of 1785, K 464, with which it shares the same key, movements, structural forms, and position, as well as some of the monothematic material. Mozart himself dedicated the set of six quartets that includes K 464 to Haydn, whose Op 33 collection of 1782 directly inspired them. The long gestation period is indicative of how revolutionary was the work of Haydn and how sophisticated its adaptation by Mozart; it is not until the Razumovsky Quartets of 1805-06 that Beethoven begins to make his unique contribution to the genre. In consequence there are some difficulties, particularly for the cello, in switching between the lovely lilting Ländler of the second movement and the uncomfortable mix of variations in the third, where Beethoven couldn’t resist punctuating Mozart’s classical restraint with some outré liveliness of his own! Although the handling of these changes was not always inspired, there was much to be admired in the ensemble playing and leadership.

The last work before the interval was the remarkable String Quartet No 2 in C, Op 36 by Britten, written in 1945 following a tour of Nazi death camps with Yehudi Menuhin. Arguably one of the greatest masterpieces of the genre, it conjures not so much the sound world of Peter Grimes, although there are plenty of resonant orchestral clarions, but more the ethereal hollow world of T S Eliot, some of whose poetry Britten would later set in the 1970s. The playing by all members of the quartet, and their ensemble, was superb throughout – the cadenzas of the third movement Chacony, a homage to Purcell, were strikingly beautiful, although hard to relate to his musical style, even with the ground base provided. It is impossible to praise this performance too highly, and one hopes that it will be recorded and repeated until all remaining homophobic reaction to Britten’s music disappears…for ever. One wonders what Beethoven would have made of this strange but magnificent music – although he surely would have approved of the dramatic chordal ending with its reaffirmation of the tonic tonality!

The only work in the second half was Debussy’s String Quartet in G minor, Op 10 of 1893. A groundbreaking impressionistic work of the utmost beauty, presaging such other wonderful pieces as the Prelude a l’Apres-midi d’un Faune and Pelleas et Melisande, the rich full sound of the Barbirollis emphasised that we had now entered a world far removed from either Beethoven or Britten. The music, full of colours, textures, and marvellous melody, was played with virtuosity and style, at times it was as though there were two lead violins, the solo passages for viola and cello in the slow third movement were exquisitely played, and the entire ensemble embroidered the delicate pizzicato of the second, recreating the incredible virtual Javanese gamelan for which this work is so justly famous.

This was one of the most enjoyable concerts ever presented by the Club.

David Erdman
22/9/2009

Saturday 30 May 2009 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Laura Mitchell (soprano) & Charlotte Forrest (piano)

The final concert of the Club’s 2008/09 season was given by Laura Mitchell (soprano) and Charlotte Forrest (piano) in the Friends’ School, Saffron Walden, before an audience of just 71, possibly our smallest ever.

The concert commenced with Britten’s Let the florid music praise, one of 5 settings made in 1937 of poems by W.H. Auden from the 37 in his collection On this Island. Auden was at this time the poet of ironic disillusion on an island of disenchantment, practising his linguistic skills prior to emigrating to the USA. Britten, young and in thrall, contributed his trade mark diction in an orthodox word setting but with modern baroque style ornamentation. The cycle was written for soprano Sophie Wyss and proved ideal for Laura’s strong and beautifully expressive voice.

This was followed by a traditional one verse setting of Under the Greenwood Tree, then Purcell’s Fairest Isle, from his semi-opera King Arthur of 1691, in one of Brtitten’s 40 Purcell Realisations. It was Britten who rediscovered Purcell, and most fitting that it should be played on the Bechstein he once owned – although nostalgia had to be tempered by growing problems with the piano’s damping mechanism, which unfortunately caused Charlotte some difficulty throughout the recital.

Next was a solo performance by Laura of The Willow Song, a traditional air derived from Desdemona’s song in Othello. This was sung with a captivating sweetness and integrity, after which we heard Dunhill’s popular setting of Yeats’ immortal poem He wishes for the Cloths of Heaven, and Armstrong Gibbs’ setting of The fields are full by E. Shanks. Laura’s impeccable diction and phrasing, and Charlotte’s understated sensitivity, made these songs sound so fresh and engaging.

Finally, before the interval, Laura and Charlotte gave a haunting performance of two of Rachmaninov’s most evocative songs, The Little Island, and Oh, never sing to me again, followed by Laura singing the wordless Vocalise with more verve than one would normally expect, but that’s why audiences love her so!

The second half commenced with three early songs by Strauss, Zueignung, Die Nacht, and Allerseelen. Never surpassed, the rich melodies and heartfelt emotion of these popular songs brought an inspirational response from Laura - no composer better understood the female voice, and few sopranos invest this lieder with more of an emotional charge.

One of the highlights of the concert was the 5 Canciones Populares Espanolas of Manuel de Falla, from the series of 7, in which he set Spanish regional folk songs to his own piano accompaniments. Laura’s Spanish persona is truly remarkable, and her rapport with the audience no less so; both were exploited to the full as she explained the mundanities and violence of peasant life, before she and Charlotte became tempestuous!

Another was the selection of three songs from Duparc’s tiny but exquisite oeuvre, Au pays ou se fait la guerre, Soupir, and Chanson Triste. These were beautifully sung and played, such superb diction and atmosphere.

The concert ended with more Strauss – his famous Morgen, a wedding gift to his wife of 50 years, the soprano Paulide de Ahna, and finally Im Abendrot, last of the Vier Letzte Lieder, written at the end of their lives together. The superb cantilenas in these songs underlining the beauties of the female voice.

Laura and Charlotte offered a generous and unexpected encore, Gershwin’s Summertime in a virtuosic arrangement that put Flott in the shade.

David Erdman
11/6/2009

Saturday 7 March 2009 - Newport Free Grammar School, Newport, Saffron Walden

Morgan Szymanski (guitar) and Ruth Rogers (violin)

The fifth concert of the Club’s 2008/09 season was given by Morgan Szymanski (guitar) and Ruth Rogers (violin) in Newport Free Grammar School before an audience of 124, of whom half were our members and half primarily school students and their parents.

The concert commenced with two handsome sets of arrangements for guitar and violin of pieces originally written for voice and piano around 1914/15. The first, Estrellita, by the Mexican composer Manuel Ponce, has proved so popular that it has seen numerous transcriptions for different instruments and vocal accompaniments; the second, from 7 Spanish Folk Songs, by the Spanish composer Manuel de Falla, not much less popular or transcribed.

After which, by way of contrast, Ruth performed three movements from Bach’s formidable Partita No 3 in E BWV 1006. Written in 1720 as one of Six solos for violin, this is the kind of music that electrifies and spellbinds listeners, a great masterpiece transcending the baroque style and period in which it was written, but foreshortened here lest it should prove too austere for student sensibilities!

Then back to guitar and violin, with some rare Iannarelli, his Omaggio a Fellini, a short but evocative modern piece, followed by Bartok’s most popular work, his set of six Romanian Folk Dances (1915) in one of the myriad transcriptions from the solo piano original. These were beautifully played, with the wild charm of the violin arching the softer guitar.

Ruth and Morgan had generously given a 90 minute workshop to 15 NFGS students during the afternoon and, after the interval, led a reprise of the Argentine tango the group had prepared. The audience was truly appreciative of the level of engagement and warm encouragement offered to the students – Ruth was a star!

Next up was Paganini’s Sonata Concertata in A Op 61 for guitar and violin. Paganini did much of his composing on guitar, but also wrote ensemble works for it. These are totally unlike the brilliantly virtuosic violin caprices and concertos, and look back to the age of Haydn and Mozart. This lovely melodic and intimate music from 1804 was delicately played with not too much modern embellishment.

It was now Morgan’s turn to play solos, and he offered two great classics from the golden age of the guitar, Tarrega’s tremolo study Recuerdos de la Alhambra and Albeniz’ Asturias (Leyenda). Both incredibly virtuosic, the Recuerdos – Memories of the Alhambra palace in Granados – was magically evocative, while the famous transcription of Asturias, from piano to guitar, was magnificent.

The concert concluded with Piazzolla’s L’Histoire du Tango, a remarkable work covering more than 80 years in the development of Tango. Ruth and Morgan chose to play the first three movements Bordell 1900; Café 1930; Nightclub 1960, which evoke the transition from the deliciously seedy to the emergence of Tango Nuevo. The music was brilliantly played with a sad but surreal eroticism, the violin slides as visceral as any Dali melting clocks! After a long and busy day, the duo generously offered an encore – the short Piazzolla tango in memory of Che Guevara.

David Erdman
9/3/2009

Saturday 7 February 2009 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Thomas Carroll (cello) and Simon Lepper (piano)

The Marion and Haley Hogwood Concert

photograph by Hanya Chlala

The fourth concert of the Club’s 2008/09 season was given by Thomas Carroll (cello) and Simon Lepper (piano) in the Friends’ School before an appreciative audience of 74, who, like the artists, had braved the snow and ice to indulge their passion for live classical music.

The concert commenced with Beethoven’s Seven Variations in E flat on the duet Bei Männern, welche Liebe fühlen WoO 46 from The Magic Flute by Mozart. Although these variations can be considered more expansive and brilliant than the contemporary set of 12 on Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen, from the same opera, published as Op 66, and require equal virtuosity from both players, this short work was uninspired by the very high standards of both the composer and distinguished performing artists. There was considerable empathy between the two instruments with their contrasting rich bass and pale upper registers.

The main work before the interval was Schubert’s very fine Arpeggione Sonata D 821, composed in 1824, but not published until 1871, long after his death and the extinction of the strange six-stringed guitar violoncello for which it was written. The published version has arrangements for both violin and cello, the one for cello being notoriously difficult to play. This agreeably melodic and rhythmical work was given an exciting and generous performance with full repeats, Thomas Carroll taking his tonality to the edge, reminiscent in style of Yehudi Menuhin, both in this and in his individualistic bowing, and Simon Lepper exquisitely cradling the cello part with fine piano phrasing, extracting tonal colour from every key with his strong finger work and great artistry. A truly splendid performance, free from Schubertiad gemütlichkeit!

The major work after the interval was Brahms E minor Cello Sonata, last heard by the Club in 2005, when played by Paul & Huw Watkins. This work is contemporary with Ein deutsches Requiem and shares some of its melancholy, grandeur, and melodic beauty. Wonderfully constructed, the piano part is a masterpiece of classical restraint, allowing the cello every opportunity to play cantabile, almost entirely in its lower and middle range. How well suited then to Thomas Carroll’s velvety rich tone, but forget cantabile or bel canto, this was a modern, powerful, passionate performance, testing tonality, equally exciting and nerve-wracking throughout. Simon Lepper was majestic as he coaxed beautiful tonal colours, and dug a sweet resonance, out of this normally reticent piano, the power and control of his fingers enabling the Bechstein to be played fully open without the excessive reverberation produced by more declamatory styles of playing. We are unlikely to hear such virtuosity very often, and never a lovelier piece of music.

The last work was Martinu’s charming but crazy Variations on a theme from Rossini’s Moses in Egypt. Probably best considered a satire, this virtuosic romp, with its challenging bowing, discord and mayhem, was amusing, not to mention astoundingly well played.

Continuing the generous nature and warm rapport of this concert, the artists offered two encores as a finale.

David Erdman
11/2/2009

Saturday 29 November 2008 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Sophia Lisovskaya (piano)

The third concert of the Club’s 2008/09 season was given by Sophia Lisovskaya (piano) in the Friends’ School before an audience of 114. Sophia had been plagued by flu in the days leading up to the concert, and unable to practise much; her late arrival at the venue by train, though planned, left little time for acclimatisation to either the freezing weather outdoors or the Bechstein indoors. In the event, the piano, which Sophia judged Horowitzian, proved quite a handful with its light touch response, rich bass and weak upper treble.

The concert commenced with Beethoven’s Piano Sonata No 8 in C minor, Op 13, the magnificent Grande Sonate Pathetique of 1797/98. The title of the work implies both the orchestral nature of the scoring and the emotional struggle to overcome adversity, a characteristic of Beethoven C minor compositions. It shows some influences of Mozart (Piano Sonata K547 of 1784) and affinities with Dussek (Piano Sonata Op 35 No 3 of 1797). All Beethoven piano sonatas are seminal, and Op 13 is notable for the slow meditative introduction of its famous theme, followed by defiant tremolando octaves, indicative of an intense intellectual struggle. The sublime and sad adagio cantabile second movement has an equally beautiful theme, its melancholy nature and noble simplicity disguising the fact that it is structurally a rondo. The final movement, an overt rondo allegro, with brilliant arpeggiated configuration, is less tinged with melancholy, but ends in the style of Haydn, returning to the stark home key at the last possible moment.

Sophia agreed to play this powerful work with the lid on a short prop, which proved to be only half open for pianists in the audience, but also only half closed for many of the others. There was much poetry in the performance, particularly in the slow second movement, but uncertain playing of arpeggios, combined with some memory lapses and inaccuracies, made for nervous listening.

The first half concluded with four Nocturnes by Chopin, played with an unusually strong left hand, really quite attractive, making us rethink the origins of this essentially East European music.

The concert re-commenced with the piano lid fully propped, and more Chopin, starting with two etudes, one each from Op 10 and Op 25. The first informed how the composer handled difficulties with phrasing and accidentals, the second, with playing in octaves. Neither Chopin nor Sophia actually seemed to experience these difficulties! This was followed by the Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor Op 66. Although one of the composer’s most popular pieces, it was only published after his death, Chopin having had sufficient doubts about its merits to prohibit publishing during his lifetime. The work shows influences of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and plays well to modern romantic tastes, however, quality of performance is everything. The playing was touched with beauty and had remarkable Russian stylistic qualities, but it was not always free flowing or totally convincing.

The remainder of the concert was devoted to Scriabin and given an authentic interpretation by a pianist imbued with the music through a direct line of teaching from the composer himself. The programme covered the last twenty years of his output and tracked his chosen path from influences of Chopin to increasingly dissonant music, always meticulously crafted and cerebral, but ever more unearthly, with warmth and sometimes colour, draining away. Not all of it easy listening for first time audiences then, especially with some pieces showing his trademark strong left hand and chordal playing, their effects magnified by Sophia’s compensating for the Bechstein’s perceived lack of dynamic range. Some of the music was truly inspirational, the Two Pieces Op 57 were masterpieces of impressionism and so beautifully played, and Vers la Flamme Op 72 was at its most chilling.

An enjoyable if slightly disappointing concert.

David Erdman
4/12/2008

Saturday 25 October 2008 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Agon Piano Trio

Beethoven - Piano Trio No 5 in D Op 70 No 1 "Ghost"
Piazzolla - Le Grand Tango
Rachmaninov - Trio elegiaque No 2 in D minor Op 9

Victoria Sutherland - (violin)
Tim Wells - (cello)
James Cheung - (piano)

The second concert of the Club’s 2008/09 season was given by the Agon Piano Trio in the Friends’ School assembly hall before an audience of 106.

The concert commenced with Beethoven’s Piano Trio in D, Op 70 No 1, popularly known as The Ghost, a soubriquet derived from the repeated use of a shade like figure in the second movement, a motif once destined for Macbeth, his stillborn opera setting of Shakespeare. The ensemble played this work with well practised ease, capturing the explosive lyricism of the first movement, the chilling other worldliness of the second, and the elegance and good humour of the splendid Scherzo finale, so reminiscent of the Cello Sonata in A Op 69. There was much to be admired in this performance, from the carefully balanced dynamic of the piano, and the full throated virtuosic cello, to the drive and energy of the violin.

The last work before the interval was Piazzolla’s Le Grand Tango, one of his few pieces in the classical idiom, written originally for cello and piano, and dedicated to Mstislav Rostropovich. It was therefore entirely appropriate that this version for piano trio was created by Tim Wells, the ensemble’s cellist. By turn languorous, passionate, jazzy, and dissonant, both the music and performance were finely crafted, no more so than in the final erotic upsurging glissando.

The one work in the second half, Rachmaninov’s Trio elegiaque No 2 in D minor, was written when the composer was a young man, and is dedicated to The memory of a great artist, as a homage to Tchaikovsky on the evening of his death. It is based on the maestro’s own elegiac trio, which commemorated the death of his lifelong friend Nikolay Rubinstein, sharing a similar structure, thematic material, and deeply felt loss. The opening sombre but magnificent motif, an expression full of tragic lament, was beautifully captured and developed by the ensemble, the grief being only too real. The second movement, a folkloric theme and variations, a rambling reminiscence primarily for virtuoso piano with the support of strings, makes it difficult at times for both ensemble and audience to stay fully focused. But the final allegro risoluto, a tragic and dramatic celebration of Tchaikovsky’s artistry, with its descent into funeral lament and reappearance of the opening motif, was given such an emotional charge that it left the audience quite numbed.

After such an emotionally draining concert, the ensemble very generously gave an encore of Piazzolla’s tango Oblivion, a short, dark and sultry piece…disgustingly decadent and delightfully seedy!

David Erdman
29/10/2008

Saturday 20 September 2008 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Solstice String Quartet

The first concert of the Club’s 2008/09 season was given by the Solstice String Quartet in the friendly chapel of the Baptist Church before an audience of 134.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the young musicians of this ensemble for agreeing to be late replacements for the recently disbanded Cappa String Quartet. In the event, their programme contained two works they had not performed in public before, Haydn’s Op 76 No 6 (last of the 6 Erdödys) and Beethoven’s Op 59 No 2 (second of the 3 Razumovskys), as well as a superbly prepared and more familiar Bartok String Quartet No 3.

The concert commenced with Haydn, whose quartets are as difficult to master and play well as any of those by Beethoven or Bartok. The monothematic first movement with its fantastic quasi variations, the intimacy of the second movement approaching that of Schubert’s great String Quartet D 956, the extrovert brilliance of the third movement’s menuet and alternativo (pre-cursor of the Trio), and the ever shifting keys of the final allegro spirituoso, require respectively a driving leadership, the highest order of ensemble, brilliance of tone, and complete confidence. There were elements of all these things and comprehension of Haydn’s achievement, however, interpretation can only mature with familiarity…and listening to great performances from the past.

There could be no greater contrast than the juxtaposition of Bartok’s intellectual but eerie third quartet immediately before the interval. The ensemble were very comfortable with this difficult music, which challenges performers and listeners alike, but is so enjoyable when played as brilliantly as it was tonight. The quartet is by far the shortest of the 6 written by Bartok, and is his first fully mature work in the genre. It is continuous but divided into 4 alternatively fast and slow sections. The first is by turns bleak, harsh, and austere, and imbued with such melancholy; the second, with its strident, rhythmic dance like qualities, quite remarkable, culminating in the notorious glissandi that so outraged first audiences; the third, slithering its way through more glissandi to recapitulate the opening theme and its painful austerity; the fourth, a coda, full of menace like a hornets nest about to erupt. Wonderful dramatic music, all gloriously realised.

The only work in the second half was Beethoven’s second Razumovsky Quartet. It was not until he was 29 that Beethoven felt confident enough to commence the series of 16 quartets that arguably demonstrates him to be the finest composer in this genre, and therein lies a message to all aspirant string ensembles! This work, from the composer’s middle period, is contemporary with the 5th Symphony, and the Waldstein and Appassionata piano sonatas, and has a classic 4 movement structure. The first is a towering piece of Beethoven, complete with motif and in sonata form; the second, a long adagio is truly music of the spheres; the third, a scherzo imbued with the tragic retrospection of the Russian liturgical theme “Slavia”; the fourth a typical bravura presto finale. The requirements for successful performance and interpretation are much the same as those needed for mastering Haydn, and here again many of the elements were present, including excellent intonation.

David Erdman
23/9/2008

Saturday 10 May 2008 - St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden

The Orlando Consort

The Orlando Consort
Photograph by Emma Brown

The final concert of the Club’s 2007/08 season was given by The Orlando Consort in St Mary’s Church, before an audience of 115, of whom only 68 were our members.

This was a magical event, taking place on a warm summer evening, with the programme of Renaissance choral music exquisitely performed in the contemporary setting of St Mary’s. Many were the ghosts of choristers past.

It is not easy for modern audiences to appreciate or distinguish the evolution of a capella music from the 15th C, when composers were largely unpaid members of religious orders setting church texts in Latin, through to the 16th C, with the emergence of professional composers writing music in court French and English, in addition to the setting of religious texts in both Latin and English for their principal clients.

For modern ears, variously attuned to expansive classical composition or minimalist modernism, the richness of Renaissance music lies in its scoring for many voice parts rather than for memorable melody or aesthetic artistry. So without English texts to follow, and outside of large churches, Renaissance music is becoming an endangered species, much of it having barely survived the depredations of Henry the VIII’s dissolution.

The Club’s decision to celebrate England’s glorious cultural history in music and great buildings was wonderfully realised through the programme selected by The Orlando Consort, with the music from the early Renaissance by Dunstaple, Pyamour, Forest, Plummer, Trouluffe, Lambe, and anonymous contributions from the Egerton and Ritson Manuscripts, becoming ever more sophisticated into the later Renaissance, represented by Cornysh, Henry the VIII, Taverner, Sheppard, Tallis, Byrd, and Gibbons.

The Orlando Consort were impeccably rehearsed and their musical devotion equal to that of any monks. Their ensemble was near perfect, and the new alto, Matthew Venner, a revelation. Who knows if our ancestral congregation will ever be invoked again in forgetful Saffron Walden.

David Erdman
12/5/2008

Saturday 1 March 2008 - Newport Free Grammar School

Configure 8

Configure8

The fifth concert of the Club’s 2007/08 season was given by members of the wind & string ensemble Configure8, at Newport Free Grammar School, before an audience of 150.

The programme commenced with Berwald’s charming and melodic Septet in B flat. Seldom heard nowadays, this beautiful work was spoiled by an under-rehearsed performance, with some of the lovely harmonies lost through surprisingly weak ensemble playing. Even so, the audience were able to appreciate the marvellous melodies, courtesy of some good individual performances, and a little of the masterly ensemble writing.

The next work was Ravel’s Sonata for Violin & Cello: written in the years immediately following the 1914-18 war, it reflects the composer’s battlefield experience, and explores the nature of conflict. Its austerity is a shocking change from Ravel’s earlier impressionistic compositions, and provided the greatest possible contrast to the Berwald Septet. Its performance benefited hugely from being played by Fenella Barton and Alexei Sarkissov who, as members of the Kandinsky Piano Trio, have such empathy.

During the afternoon, two members of the ensemble had kindly agreed to give a 90 minute workshop for 25 NFGS students ranging in ability from grades 3 to 8, and playing a variety of wind and string instruments. Four groups of these gave short performances, two before and two after the mid-way interval. The audience showed its appreciation for the commitment of students prepared to give up their Saturdays.

The final work, Beethoven’s popular Septet in E flat, was delightfully played and appreciated equally by audience and ensemble. Well lead by Fenella Barton, the ensemble gave a spirited and affectionate performance.

David Erdman
3/3/2008

Saturday 9 February 2008 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Elizabeth Atherton (soprano) & Iain Farrington (piano)

The fourth concert of the Club’s 2007/08 season was given by soprano Elizabeth Atherton and pianist Iain Farrington at the Friend’s School before an audience of 100.

The programme, a celebration of song from baroque to modern times, commenced with 3 famous but disparate examples by Purcell: I attempt from love’s sickness (The Indian Queen) - a love song; Music for a while (Oedipus) - an enchantment; The blessed virgin’s expostulation (Divine Hymns) - a quasi cantata. The keyboard settings by Tippet and Bergmann, dating from the 1940’s, were delightfully rendered by Iain, who managed without a page turner and played the Bechstein piano half open, while Elizabeth sang the early music with great authority, marvellous diction and a subtlety, devoid of all sentimentality.

Schumann was next, represented by 5 songs: Er ist’s (Liederalbum für die Jugend Op 79 No 24); Marienwürmchen (Op 79 No 14); Dein Angesicht (Lieder und Gesänge Op 127 No 2); Kennst du das land (Lieder und Gesänge Op 98 No 1); Frühlingsnacht (Liederkreis Op 39 No 12). As the beneficial heir of the first great Romantic, Franz Schubert, he brilliantly engages the emotional and environmental world from childhood to the grave. The first two songs from a collection composed for the enjoyment of children, have strong nostalgic appeal for parents. The second two are poignant reminiscences, and the fifth conjures similar scents and sounds to those evoked by John Keats in his earlier Ode to a Nightingale. Elizabeth sang, and Iain played, this romantic repertoire with great power, control, and not a little angst; truly appropriate for Schumann in every way.

Then Richard Strauss, whose strange Drei Ophelia Lieder, depicting the madness of Shakespeare’s Ophelia (Hamlet), was occasioned by disaffection with his publishers, the former seeking to deny the latter any possibility of a popular success. The bizarre off-key effects required great control from Elizabeth, while Iain revelled in the display of dissonance, no doubt smiling at the thought of his own compositions to come later. The final work by Strauss was Cäcilie, a wedding gift to his wife, this beautifully melodic love song is as dramatic and evocative as any of the Four Last Songs. Elizabeth and Iain gave it the full romantic treatment.

After the interval, we heard Debussy’s Cinq poemes de Baudelaire. These settings of the Symbolist poet contain his only operatic songs and show youthful Wagnerian influences, but also the transition to impressionism. Equally difficult for audience and recitalists, Elizabeth engaged the full range of her powerful voice, reaching the highest and lowest notes with finesse and subtlety, while Iain imbued his playing with drama and transcendental lightness by turn. How well the Bechstein sounded in his hands.

Iain introduced some jazzy dissonance into the recital with three of his own song settings of American poet Maya Angelou. A black human rights activist, Maya is the literary embodiment of the fight against racism and inequality. Ranging from the erotic to the very sad, the words of They went home will stay with us as potent symbols of this struggle.

The concert concluded with three songs by Gershwin, stylishly arranged by Iain and deliciously sung by Elizabeth. Gershwin wrote his songs as sketches, inviting performers to make their own arrangements, and every genre of musicians has duly obliged. It is rare to find a classically trained singer who can relax sufficiently to crossover to the popular idiom, but Elizabeth had sufficient cool.

David Erdman
11/2/2008

Saturday 24 November 2007 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Clélia Iruzun (piano)

The third concert of the Club’s 2007/08 season was given by the Brazilian pianist Clelia Iruzun, at the Friend’s School before an audience of 120.

The recital commenced with Beethoven’s early sonata in C major, Op 2 No 3. This seminal work, with its concerto-like structure, was well, if not flawlessly played by Clelia, who managed a skilful control of volume with the attack required by its youthful élan. The importance of the 32 piano sonatas published by Beethoven, in popularising solo performance, and their impact on the development of both the piano and musical composition, is too easily dismissed by jaded modern palates.

The second work, Mignone’s 6 Transcendental Studies, was given a definitive performance by Clelia, who knew and collaborated with the composer, even having a composition dedicated to her by him. Much influenced by Debussy, Clelia described this work as impressionistic with a tropical flavour. And so it proved to be, with the Bechstein piano, played with consummate artistry, delivering a beautiful tonal palette.

After the interval, we were treated to Chopin’s Polonaise Op 26 No 1 in C sharp minor, the first of the extant 18 to show abstraction from its folkloric origins. Clelia played this in a delightfully Brazilian style, rather how you would expect Elgar to be played by Martha Argerich! This work was closely followed by Chopin’s Barcarolle, Op 60, in F sharp major, where the playing was strong and rhythmical, and utterly enchanting.

The concert concluded with Lecuona’s Suite Andalucia of 1927. This was a show stopper, with members of the audience rapidly exhausting the supply of CDs available, as soon as the concert ended. Lecuona, known as the “Cuban Gershwin”, reached the peak of his abilities with this composition, every one of the 6 pieces it comprises containing scintillating and famous melody, full of passion, rhythms, and the evocation of all things Spanish.

Wow – what a concert!

David Erdman
29/11/2007

Saturday 27 October 2007 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) & Anthony Hewitt (piano)

The second concert of the Club’s 2007/08 season was given by Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) and Anthony Hewitt (piano) at the Friends’ School before an audience of 133.

Originally, Sarah-Jane had been booked with her husband, pianist Jonathan Ayerst, for a concert in the 2006/07 season, but had had to withdraw due to the imminent birth of her second child. In the meantime, although the programme could be preserved, unhappily their partnership could not. There was therefore some inevitable disappointment at the loss of the unique empathy which makes family ensembles, such as the Fujita sisters, and Watkins brothers, so special. An additional sadness was the failure of the venue to supply any heating.

This recital of Eastern European music commenced with Martinu’s “Sonata for viola and piano”. Written in 1955, it has two movements. The first, with a syncopated rhythm and declamatory chords on the piano, allows a more lyrical role for the viola. The second is very virtuosic, with lots of double stopping, extended arpeggios, whole tone scales and pizzicato. Although not easy on the ear, the work is lifted by its folk-like interludes, and really required greater familiarity and better timing than was actually offered. The volume of sound from the piano did not always suit it or the venue, and some members of the audience reported difficulty hearing the viola.

The second work was Kodaly’s evocative “Adagio for viola and piano”, an early piece from 1905, versions of which exist for viola, violin, or cello, with piano. This was beautifully intoned, with the rippling syncopated piano accompaniment, and lilting folk-like melody, both delightful and moving.

The last work before the interval was Dohnanyi’s Sonata in C sharp minor, Op 21 of 1912, originally for violin and piano, but arranged by Lionel Tertis for viola, and toured in that format by him, with the composer playing piano. A marvellously crafted work in three movements, the opening theme, a leitmotif, reminiscent of late Brahms, surges passionately through the work. There is no slow movement but a theme and variations separate the first and last movements. A truly virtuosic composition for both instruments, the passion from the viola was not always matched by the piano which sometimes seemed a little disengaged. There were again some minor occasional difficulties with the volume of sound from the piano.

After the interval Anthony Hewitt played four pieces from Janacek’s hugely neglected masterpiece of 1904 for solo piano, “On an Overgrown Path”. These were delicately, if quietly played, but without introduction, and with only short pauses between, some of the scale and drama, though not their impressionistic character, seemed lost; a result, perhaps, of suggestions made in the interval about playing more quietly or possibly with the lid half closed.

The next work in the recital was Joachim’s “Hebrew Melodies (Impressions of Byron’s Poems)” Op 9 of c1855/60. A romantic fantasy, in concept like a Liszt tone poem, but in execution full of Sturm and Drang, with influences of Brahms and Schumann, the work captures the yearning of the exiled Hebrews for their homeland. Byron published 23 poems in his work the “Hebrew Melodies”, but as these include the famous “She walks in Beauty” and “The Destruction of Sennacherib” it is unlikely that Joachim’s three movement composition represents them all. This was the real highlight of the concert, with Sarah-Jane’s glorious playing of the lovely sad melodies, her beautiful tone, and some excellent ensemble with Anthony.

The short work by Dvorak which followed, his “Waldesruhe”, Op 68 No 5 of 1893, seemed slight in comparison and, on reflection, the programme would have been better balanced with more pieces from the inspired Janacek composition.

The final work was Enescu’s “Concertstuck” of 1906, an etude in all but name, this rhapsodic work covers everything from Romanian folk music, to impressionism, whilst exhibiting a degree of lyricism exceeded in this genre only by Chopin himself. The virtuosic test for both players was of a high order, and they both rose to the occasion quite brilliantly; a stirring finale to a challenging and absorbing concert.

David Erdman
31/10/2007

Saturday 15 September 2007 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

The Heath Quartet

The first concert of the Club’s 2007/08 season was given by The Heath String Quartet in the delightful chapel of the Baptist Church before an audience of 145.

Impeccably rehearsed, they opened their recital with Haydn’s Op 20 No 4 in D, one of his six Sun quartets, which mark the beginning of the composer’s maturity in a genre he pioneered and perfected. The ensemble’s youthful impetuosity, more a sign of modern times than any disrespect to Papa Haydn, for whom they showed obvious and considerable affection, will surely mellow with age. Even now, the maturity of such young musicians is remarkable, and we would like to think they will stay together and become the future Lindsays.

The last work before the interval was Schulhoff’s Five pieces for String Quartet, written in 1923, and dedicated to Milhaud. These received an enthusiastic and rhythmical interpretation, brilliantly picking out the waltz, tango, jazz and impressionist elements. The power and leadership of the first violin, Oliver Heath, was a tremendous asset, as was the beautiful playing of violist Gary Pomeroy, indeed all members of the quartet made splendid ensemble. Possibly the age profile of the audience kept them in their seats, despite the infectious dance rhythms. How cruel and bizarre it now seems that Fascist puritanism should have exterminated Schulhoff and so many other fine composers and musicians, because of their perceived political, religious and artistic decadence!

The final work was Brahms’s String Quartet in C minor Op 51 No 1, a great masterpiece marking the composer’s escape from the shadow, but not the influence, of Beethoven. The first movement, so passionate, full of double-stopping, with intensive development of minimalist thematic material, was made to sound truly orchestral, with some wonderful playing from the lead violin. There were echoes of Beethoven’s C minor piano sonata, but the concise thematic development was pure Brahms. The second movement, so sad, its sobbing middle section recalling the 5th movement of Beethoven’s late Op 130 quartet, was made intensely moving by the sensitive playing of the whole ensemble. The third movement, even harder to bear, was exquisitely played by the lead violin and violist. Again the entire ensemble supported so well; it was difficult to remain dry-eyed. The last movement’s re-introduction of the core motif provides little relief from the overbearing sadness of what has gone before, even though it returns to orchestral scoring, employing a faster tempo…perhaps with a backward glance to Beethoven.

David Erdman
20/9/2007

Saturday 21 April 2007 - Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30 pm

Martin Cousin (piano)

Martin Cousin

Martin Cousin

The seventh and final concert of the Club’s 2006/07 season was given before an audience of 120, in the Friends’ School, by prize winning pianist Martin Cousin.

The concert began with Chopin’s late Fantaisie in F minor Op 49, justly famous for its many difficulties, but which was played by Martin with such facility and virtuosity. We were all a little nervous about how the Bechstein piano would sound, following the recent replacement of its hammers, but we needn’t have worried because, apart from some weakness in the very highest notes, it was back to its septuagenerian best, allowing its previous owner, Benjamin Britten, to rest easily!

The second work was Prokofiev’s Visions Fugitives Op 22, which Martin played from a score with great clarity and a warmth rarely, if ever, heard on CD. These 20 short pieces capture fleeting emotions in a Schumannesque manner but, in the post impressionist era, were configured by Prokofiev as biting neo-Classical compositions. There is an ongoing debate about the use of scores in performance, as to whether the work should be so well known that it can be played without one, or whether severely testing the frailty of ever diminishing adult memory is always best avoided.

To end the first half of the concert, Martin had kindly agreed to learn a selection of some of Medtners’s formidably difficult Fairy Tales. In the event he chose 5 of the 38 available which, perhaps subconsciously, were amongst the most Rachmaninov-like and, he suggested, with some similarities to Greig. But these are not really fairy tales at all – fairies have ever been scarce in Russia – they are tales of the imagination, depicting human experience, mood images, much admired by Prokofiev.

The second half of the concert was devoted entirely to Rachmaninov’s Piano Sonata No 1 in D minor Op 28. By far the longest of his two piano sonatas, this work does not court popularity through romantic largesse, neither has it entered the concert repertory due to its length, extremely virtuosic demands, and perceived outmoded voluptuousness. In introducing it, Martin commented on the great difficulty in shaping the work, and this was reflected in his performance. It is the kind of music that can be given different interpretations according to extempore circumstances. The Bechstein piano being a little muddy in its lower reaches, did not help definition, but there were moments of great beauty, and Martin Cousin, that most intelligent of pianists, presented the work as a tour de force.

David Erdman
23/4/2007

Saturday 24 March 2007 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden 7.30 pm

Sacconi Quartet and Guy Johnston (cello)

The sixth concert of the Club’s 2006/07 season was given before an audience of 165, in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, by the prize winning Sacconi String Quartet, joined in the second half by Guy Johnston, a former BBC Young Musician of the Year.

The concert began with Haydn’s Op 50 No 1 in B flat, the first of his six “Prussian” string quartets composed in 1786/87. The set is characterised by monothematic movements and the composer’s ubiquitous good humour and brilliant inventiveness. This was well played, as the Sacconi warmed to their task, reaching a peak in the Finale vivace, an exquisite example of Haydn’s late sonata rondo form.

The second and last work before the interval was Mozart’s string quartet in E flat K 428. This is one of his six “Haydn” quartets composed in 1783/85, and dedicated to his friend and mentor, written in response to the challenge posed by Haydn’s six Op 33 “Russian” quartets of 1782. The dissonant, chromatic character of these quartets is very contemporary, and K 428 proved ideal for the Sacconi, who played it quite brilliantly.

After the interval, and a break from the overheated auditorium, the Sacconi were joined by Guy Johnston, for Schubert’s greatest chamber work, his string quintet in C D 956. This is a work whose striking sonorities, melting melodies, richness of text, and scale, make it the grandest of chamber works, yet the most intimate, and probably the most adored: it also requires the highest level of ensemble playing. It was therefore disappointing that it appeared to be under rehearsed, with the adagio second movement’s limpid cantabile, in particular, spoilt by some uninspired and ineffective ensemble. There was, however, just enough in the performance to touch the soul.

David Erdman

Saturday 3 February 2007 – Newport Free Grammar School, Newport, Essex 7.30 pm

O Duo (percussion)

Oliver Cox and Owen Gunnell (photograph by Hanya Chlala)

The fifth concert of the Club’s 2006/07 season was given by the entertaining young percussion ensemble O Duo, in Newport Free Grammar School, on Saturday evening, before an audience of some 130 including 50 parents, students and family members.

The action commenced with O Duo’s own composition “Bongo Fury” featuring both musicians using sticks for drumming and fencing. After Owen re-assured the audience they would not be in for an evening entirely of drumming, he introduced them to tuned percussion and the ensemble’s two marimbas, which we learned cost £k10 each and, in consequence, were majority owned by high street banks, courtesy of student loans! The deep resonance of their rosewood keys was then clearly demonstrated in a performance of the lively Courante and Gigue from Bach’s French Suite No 6 in E BWV 817 – the slow movements eschewed due to the marimbas’ reduced sustaining capability?

Next up was O Duo’s excellent transcription for two marimbas of the percussive Allegro molto third movement of Bartok’s Suite for Piano Op 14 and this was followed by their transcription of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia” featuring Owen on vibraphone – fully sustainable – plus three assistant percussionists pressed from the audience and conducted by Olly!

The last programmed item in the first half was Chopin’s Fantaisie - Impromptu in C sharp minor, Op 66. Transcribed for marimbas and vibraphone, the truly virtuosic performance of arpeggios and rapid runs was a real eye-opener to the capabilities of both artists and their instruments.

During the afternoon, O Duo gave a workshop for NFGS students and just before the interval they were all invited back to perform a three movement work on drums, percussion, and marimbas, with Olly and Owen. A sort of Samba sandwich, this was hugely enjoyed and much appreciated by the whole audience.

After the interval, O Duo played Wayne Siegel’s “42nd Street Rondo for Percussion Duo”. This work for drums and untuned percussion allowed Olly and Owen to show their great rhythmic synchronisation and improvisation to perfection.

By contrast, Antonio Soler’s single movement Sonata No 90 in F sharp, redolent of his tutor, Domenico Scarlatti in Spain, was an ideal transcription from the harpsichord to marimba duo.

The concert concluded with the magnificent “Marimba Spiritual” by Minoru Miki, although by this time Olly and Owen were beginning to tire a little – no wonder really – the work is written for marimba and three other percussionists, all of them played by Olly!

However, there was enough left in the tank for a hugely entertaining encore – Chopin’s “Minute Waltz” in D flat Op 64 No 1 – played by 4 hands on one marimba, with dazzling virtuosity, and footwork to match.

David Erdman
7/2/2007

Saturday 25 November 2006 – Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30 pm
The Marion and Haley Hogwood Concert

Håkan Vramsmo (baritone) and Clinton Cormany (piano)

Håkan Vramsmo

Clinton Cormany

Christopher Hogwood with Molly Glover

The Saffron Walden and District Music Club said thank you to Molly Glover last Saturday for her 25 years of service on its committee. She was presented with life membership by the club’s honorary president Christopher Hogwood CBE whose parents were for many years members of the club. Mr Hogwood flew back from conducting in Zurich to make the presentation. After the presentation the members enjoyed a concert by the prize-winning young Swedish baritone Håkan Vramsmo and his accompanist Clinton Cormany. Håkan’s commanding presence, his virtuosity and remarkable vocal range held the audience spellbound. In Schwanengesang he brought out all of the passion and longing of the songs, the last Schubert composed before his early death. He brought an equal commitment to Finzi’s song cycle Earth and Air and Rain – and we all left wondering why Finzi was not more often performed in his own country.

The club’s next concert features the percussionists O Duo, fresh from their recent triumph at the Wigmore Hall, at Newport Grammar School on February 3rd 2007.
Peter Oxley

Last Saturday 25th November at Friends School, The Saffron Walden and District Music Club presented song recital by Håkan Vramsmo (baritone) and Clinton Cormany (piano). This duo gave an emotional performance of the group of songs “Schwanengesang” (Swansong), by Schubert. Not often performed in its entirety, the scorching intensity of these songs of lost and forlorn love was wonderfully conveyed by the duo, with the rich voice of Hakan Vramsmo having a particularly haunting quality in the slower songs such as “Am Meer” (On the Sea) and “In die Ferne” (In the Distance). Tension was racked up, culminating in the dark and chilling “Doppelganger”, a tale of a ‘ghostly double’, after which the light airiness of “Taubenpost” (Pigeon Post) came as a relief.

The second half of the concert was the song cycle “Earth and Air and Rain” settings of poems by Thomas Hardy by the British composer Gerald Finzi. The duo gave a fresh and vigorous performance of these pieces, which varies in mood from wistful love songs to boisterous political satire.
Val Norton

Saturday 28th October 2006 – Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30 pm

Dimension (piano trio)

Dimension Trio

The third concert of the Club’s 2006/07 season was given by the brilliant young piano trio Dimension in the Friend’s School on Saturday evening.

Ravel’s Piano Trio requires four degrees of virtuosity, that of each musician and their ensemble. In the event, not only were all these elements present, but the marvellous Richard Hyung-ki Joo kept a lid on the performance by skilfully managing the volume of sound produced by the venue’s powerful Bechstein piano!

Ravel was followed by Hyung-ki’s own Piano Trio, The Triology Dimension, a wonderfully witty piece recalling Milhaud’s “Le boeuf sur le toit”, and programme influences of Schumann’s “Carnaval”. Depicting three of Richard’s infamous friends, this completely original composition illustrated how a single spectrum encompasses all types of music, albeit some more intellectual or enjoyable than others. The first movement required the composer to leave his piano and joke with the audience about a bar room misunderstanding over a request for Stevie Wonder’s “I just called to say I love you”, whilst the last one involved the use of his personal electric fan to produce a drone from inside the piano, followed by all three musicians playing chopsticks on their instruments…with chopsticks. Amusing, diatonic, always accessible, and never atonal.

The second half of the programme featured Suk’s elegant Elegie and Brahm’s wonderful last chamber work, the Piano Trio in B. This, probably his most popular chamber work, was a tour de force by three of the finest musicians it has ever been our privilege to hear.

David Erdman
31/10/2006

Saturday 30th September 2006 – Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30 pm

Concerto Cristofori

Sharona Joshua
Harpsichord, Fortepiano

Peter Hanson
Violin

Nia Harries
Cello

The Saffron Walden and District Music Club was privileged to welcome Concerto Cristofori (keyboards, cello and violin) for the opening concert of the 2006-2007 season. Specialising in period performance, this group gave a lively and uplifting recital of eighteenth century classics, including a Haydn trio, sonatas by Bach and Boccherini, and a suite for solo harpsichord by Handel, the E major which includes the well-known `Harmonious Blacksmith' Air and variations, played with masterly style by keyboard player Sharona Joshua. It was intriguing to observe the difference between the harpsichord, which can only be played at one volume, and the fortepiano, which is capable of changes of volume and tone colour. Both instruments were superbly played, in particular in the final piece of the evening, the C major trio by Mozart. The difficulties inherent in playing authentic period string instruments were overcome with great finesse by cellist Nia Harries in the Boccherini cello sonata, and in violinist Peter Hanson's spirited rendition of the Bach Sonata in A.

Val Norton

Friday 1st September 2006 – High Barn, Great Bardfield 8.00 pm

Iain Farrington (piano)

Iain Farrington

This was the Club’s first visit to High Barn, in Gt Bardfield, where a capacity audience turned out to hear Iain Farrington play a programme of Chopin and Rachmaninov solo piano works.

A remarkable and challenging programme reflected the pianist’s interest in composition, arrangement and variation, comparing and contrasting six preludes by each composer in matching keys. These were divided into two groups by Rachmaninov’s variations on Chopin’s C minor prelude, heard at the beginning of the concert with his own equally famous one. The recital concluded with arrangements of Chopin waltzes by Godowski, Rachmaninov songs by Wild, and two transcriptions of dances by Rachmaninov from his own opera, Aleko.

Remarkable, because the artist played with a badly cut left index finger, and challenging, not only because of the technical demands of both composers, but also for the need to adapt the intimate poetry of Chopin to the bright sound of a Yamaha C6 piano.

The pianist’s brilliant technique and phrasing, the use of a score, and his good humoured exposition to the audience, overcame all but the latter challenge. No-one can ever know what Chopin would have made of modern instruments, but his love of Pleyel pianos, for their tone and light touch response, and his exploitation of these qualities in extempore tempo rubato, is well recorded.

The hands on arrangements of these great composers’ compositions by virtuosic pianists Leopold Godowski (1870-1938) and Earl Wild (now over 90), are remarkable, and their appreciation a matter of personal taste. The Godowski arrangements of Chopin waltzes are inspired, voluptuous, and accessible; those by Earl Wild, very Lisztian.

The club looks forward to returning to the elegant High Barn venue, though perhaps with a string quartet.

David Erdman

Back to top

Saturday 3 June 2006 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden 7.30pm

The Triumph of Youth - The Iuventus Quartet

Iuventus Quartet

After a season of high profile international artists, Saffron Walden and District Music Club ended its year, last Saturday, with a thrilling concert given by four outstanding young string players. The Iuventus Quartet, in a substantial programme of Mozart, Brahms and Schubert, gave passionate and committed performances, enhanced by the beautiful acoustic and ambience of the refurbished Baptist Church. The players’ obvious delight in their music making and their sensitivity to the nuances of each composer enthralled all in the audience. It was a privilege, as many commented, to hear playing of such quality in our town. It also provided a taste of the coming year’s programme, which features the cream of Britain’s prize-winning young artists, including two former BBC Young Musicians of the Year.

Peter Oxley

Saturday 29th April 2006 – Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30 pm

Emma Kirkby (soprano) & Anthony Rooley (lute)

Emma Kirkby and Anthony Rooley

The Club’s Marion and Haley Hogwood concert this year was a recital by internationally famous soprano and lute duo Emma Kirkby and Anthony Rooley. They presented a programme entirely of songs by one composer, John Dowland, from the Elizabethan period. This was a challenging but successful venture, due to the glorious quality of the songs, near-perfectly performed by the duo. Anthony Rooley’s explanations between the songs about the system of patronage and the life of the royal court helped to draw the audience in to a feeling of time-travelling through the era - and Emma Kirkby, with her energy, animation and auburn hair reminiscent of Elizabeth herself. The lute solos were delicate and moving.

We heard songs written for patrons the Earl of Essex, the Countess of Bedford (including the famous 'Fine Knacks for Ladies'), and the Queen herself. The latter part of the programme was settings of words by Sir Henry Lee, including the beautiful 'Time's Eldest Sonne' and 'Farre from Triumphing Court' describing the emotions of an older courtier, retired but still pledging loyalty to the Queen.

All these songs take the listener on an emotional voyage, sometimes through dark territory. They required commitment but the audience of almost three hundred people seemed to feel unanimously that it was a worthwhile journey.

Val Johnson

11 March 2006 - Saffron Walden County High School 7.30pm

Jana Novakova (violin) & Petr Novak (piano)

Jana Novakova

Brother and sister Petr Novak (piano) and Jana Novakova (violin) gave the fifth concert of Saffron Walden & District Music Club’s 2005/06 season at the Saffron Walden County High School on Saturday evening before an audience of 160. Jana had flown in from Dusseldorf, where the previous evening she’d performed the Brahms Violin Concerto, and Petr had flown in a couple of hours later from Prague.

There was little time for rehearsal, and this was somewhat evident in the opening work, Mozart’s Sonata in C, K296, an early but seminal piece, marking the composer’s transition to mature sonata form. Schulhoff’s Suite for Violin and Piano, Op 1, followed; written in 1911, it provided the greatest possible contrast. A long and difficult work, particularly for piano, it was played with panache and not inconsiderable virtuosity; by turn austere, erotic and boisterous, it concluded with the amazing “Dance of the little devils” in which Jana managed some of the loudest pizzicato ever heard in Walden.

After the interval, the duo performed Brahms’s spirited F.A.E. Sonata (frei aber einsam – free but alone); originally part of a composite work by Schumann, Dietrich and Brahms, only the latter’s contribution, this driving “gypsy” Scherzo in C minor, is still performed. The final work, Franck’s Sonata in A, was majestic and irresistible. The famous canonic rondeau finale was a triumph for Jana and Petr, the violin melody so beautifully intoned, and the piano part, of Lizstian proportions, made light.

David Erdman
12/3/2006

4 February 2006 - Saffron Walden County High School 7.30pm

Configure 8 (wind & strings)

Configure 8

The fourth concert of the Club’s 2005/06 season was given before an audience of 150, in Saffron Walden County School, by leading UK Octet, Configure 8.

The concert began with Francaix’s Octet, a marvellously inventive, if somewhat subversive piece, beautifully intoned by this very fine ensemble which included clarinettist Fiona Cross and violinist Fenella Barton. The work dates from 1972 and its jazz idiom, marvellous counterpoint, and surreal waltz passages were stylishly performed, capturing the composer’s irreverent humour and influences of Stravinsky.

The second work was Richard Strauss’s tone poem “Till Eulenspiegel’s lustige Streiche” Op 28 (Till Eulenspiegel’s merry pranks). Completed in 1895, this is one of Strauss’s best-loved works, and evokes the Falstaff-like humour associated with a rogue’s progress to the scaffold. The masterly ensemble writing stretches each of the instruments to the limit of its ability and was given a virtuosic performance by these very fine musicians.

During the afternoon, members of the ensemble provided a workshop for SWCHS students who now gave an extended performance of the highest quality, which totally captivated the audience. Unfortunately the concert had then to be abandoned owing to the indisposition of a member of the ensemble and the need of another member to accompany her home.

David Erdman
4/2/2006

26 November 2005 - Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30pm

Huw & Paul Watkins (piano & cello)

Huw & Paul Watkins

Brothers Paul and Huw Watkins gave the third concert of Saffron Walden & District Music Club’s 2005/06 season in the Friends School on Saturday evening before an audience of 165, including many families and junior members. Both are well known and respected musicians, Paul as a cellist and conductor, and Huw as a pianist and composer.

They opened their performance with Beethoven’s variations on a theme from his favourite composer, Handel’s, Oratorio, “Judas Maccabaeus”, following with Schumann’s lyrical Fantaisestucke Op 73, by the end of which it was apparent that we were listening to intimate ensemble of the rarest kind. The first half concluded with a large scale work by Schumann’s friend and fellow teacher at the Leipzig Conservatory, Felix Mendelssohn, his second cello sonata, which was played with such ardour and stunning virtuosity, that it quite captivated the audience.

After the interval, Paul played Bach’s unaccompanied Cello Suite No 1, with a gentle virtuosity that was absolutely appropriate to some of the most attractive and expressive music ever written for cello. But the best was saved until last, with a performance of Brahm’s first Cello Sonata. In this, Huw managed the dynamic balance of a difficult piano, with the classical restraint demanded by the score, allowing his brother to play bel canto, in a performance that will long be remembered.

David Erdman
26/11/2005

22 October 2005 - St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden

Crispian Steele-Perkins (trumpet) & Leslie Pearson (organ)

Crispian Steele-Perkins

World famous baroque trumpeter Crispian Steele-Perkins gave a performance in St Mary’s Church, Saffron Walden on Saturday evening to an audience of 250, including many families and children. He was accompanied by Leslie Pearson who played the magnificent church organ in a programme jointly promoted by Saffron Walden & District Music Club and St Mary’s Music Association. It included music ranging from the 12th Century through the high baroque, with works by masters such as James, Handel, Bach, Stradella, and Clarke, to Mozart, Mendelssohn, Mathias and William Lloyd-Webber (father of Julian and Andrew). Crispian is a great entertainer as well as a virtuoso trumpet player; at one stage he was playing Handel’s water music on a length of garden hose in a demonstration of the development of trumpets from ancient Egyptian times to the modern era! Whether playing from the organ loft or in the nave, Crispian’s bright sound, produced on a range of valveless and modern instruments, rang to the rafters, filling the church in his uniquely brilliant style. In the interval and after the concert, Crispian signed copies of his CDs, engaging all the time with members of the audience. Classical music can never be made more accessible than this.

David Erdman
24/10/2005

24 September 2005 - Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30pm

Idil Biret (piano)

Idil Biret

The international concert pianist Idil Biret gave the opening concert of Saffron Walden & District Music Club’s 2005/06 season in the Friends School on Saturday evening. Idil was the favourite and much loved pupil of Wilhelm Kempff, the great pianist, teacher and humanist, and she began her recital with 4 short transcriptions by him of works by Bach, which were played with a graceful elegance. The first half concluded with the 12 Etudes of Chopin’s Op 25 where, despite the technical perfection in both hands, the opportunity to allow the more lyrical Studies to sing was lost through a surprising harsh tone which neither suited the piano not the acoustic. The second half was inspirational, commencing with the two wonderful Rhapsodies of Brahm’s late Op 79. Here Idil combined power with more gentle lyricism to realise the real beauty and emotion of these Brahmsian masterpieces. The concert concluded with Liszt’s mighty Piano Sonata in B minor, which tested the piano to its limits, even causing loss of tonality in some of the forte and bravura passages, but played with such passion, attack, and flawless technique, as Idil reminded us why she is one of the most enduring and recorded pianists in the world.

David Erdman
26/9/2005