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  • 20/09/2008 - Solstice String Quartet
• Reviews
  • 10/05/08 - The Orlando Consort
  • 01/03/08 - Configure 8
  • 09/02/08 - Elizabeth Atherton & Iain Farrington
  • 24/11/07 - Clélia Iruzun
  • 27/10/07 - Sarah-Jane Bradley & Anthony Hewitt
  • 15/09/07 - The Heath Quartet
  • 21/04/07 - Martin Cousin
  • 24/03/07 - Sacconi Quartet and Guy Johnston
  • 03/02/07 - O Duo
  • 25/11/06 - Håkan Vramsmo & Clinton Cormany
  • 28/10/06 - Dimension
  • 30/09/06 - Concerto Cristofori
  • 01/09/06 - Iain Farrington
  • 03/06/06 - Iuventus Quartet
  • 29/04/06 - Emma Kirkby & Anthony Rooley
  • 11/03/06 - Jana Novakova & Petr Novak
  • 04/02/06 - Configure 8
  • 26/11/05 - Huw & Paul Watkins
  • 22/10/05 - Crispian Steele-Perkins & Leslie Pearson
  • 24/09/05 - Idil Biret

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Solstice String Quartet

Haydn - String Quartet No 80 in E flat Op 76 No 6
Bartok - String Quartet No 3
Beethoven - String Quartet No 8 in E minor Op 59 No 2

Jamie Campbell  - Violin
Nicholas Shardlow  - Violin
Meghan Cassidy  - Viola
Gregor Riddell  - Cello

Founded at Cambridge University in 2003, and now based in London, the Solstice Quartet has proven itself to be a vital young ensemble of outstanding talent and musicality, and has enjoyed widespread success with its varied schedule of recitals, collaborations and study.  In February 2008 they won selection for the Tillett Trust Young Artists’ Platform and as a result will make their Wigmore Hall debut in February 2009. 

The quartet has appeared throughout the UK and internationally, performing at major music festivals such as Dartington, Canterbury ‘Sounds New’ Festival and Aberystwyth, and has performed live on BBC Radio 3. Recent appearances include a major recital at the Vale of Glamorgan Festival of New Music, where the quartet presented music by seminal Georgian composer Giya Kancheli, who honoured them with his attendance. Other notable performances include Barber’s Dover Beach with tenor Steven Varcoe, and Mendelssohn’s Octet with the Szymanowski Quartet; the quartet also enjoys ongoing collaboration with distinguished clarinettist David Campbell, with whom they have performed quintets by Brahms, Mozart and Bliss.  Forthcoming plans include concerts in Suffolk and London with pianist Tom Poster.

The Solstice Quartet has been fortunate in its association with many eminent musicians; among others, members of the Endellion, Belcea, Fitzwilliam, Alberni and Wihan quartets, alongside tuition from Hugh Maguire, James Boyd, Simon Rowland Jones and the late Howard Davis. Only a few months after forming they were selected for the 28^th International String Quartet Academy at the Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme, to which they have returned several times and with whom they enjoy a close association.  More recently the quartet has developed close links with members of the internationally renowned Alban Berg Quartet, studying with them at the Chigiana Academy in Siena; they plan to continue their study with members of the ABQ next year in conjunction with  ‘ProQuartet’ the European Centre for Chamber Music.

Interest in new music is a motivating factor for the quartet; it has given performances of music by prominent contemporary composers such as Howard Skempton, Ross Edwards, Ivan Moody, John Tavener and Giles Swayne. Additionally, two of its members are composers; Nick Shardlow, and Gregor Riddell. This is combined with educational work; the quartet has coached players at the Benslow Music Centre. Next year will also see the Solstice Quartet start a series of six concerts of collaborations with other musicians at the Aldeburgh Parish Church.

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

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

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Saturday 1 March 2008 - Newport Free Grammar School

Configure 8

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

Martin Cousin (piano)

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

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

Sacconi Quartet and Guy Johnston (cello)

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

O Duo (percussion)

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

Håkan Vramsmo (baritone) and Clinton Cormany (piano)

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 Vramso 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 Hakan 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

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

Dimension (piano 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

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

Concerto Cristofori

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

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

Iain Farrington (piano)

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

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

The Triumph of Youth - The 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

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

Emma Kirkby (soprano) & Anthony Rooley (lute)

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

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11 March 2006 - Saffron Walden County High School 7.30pm

Jana Novakova (violin) & Petr Novak (piano)

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 theSaffron 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

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4 February 2006 - Saffron Walden County High School 7.30pm

Configure 8 (wind & strings)

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

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26 November 2005 - Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30pm

Huw & Paul Watkins (piano & cello)

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

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

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

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

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24 September 2005 - Friends School, Saffron Walden 7.30pm

Idil Biret (piano)

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

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Saffron Walden & District Music Club - bringing live classical music to the town

If you have any enquiries about the Club please contact:
David Erdman