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NOTICEBOARD

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  • 11/02/12 - The Rose Trio
  • 17/03/12 - Lendvai String Trio
• Latest Reviews - contributed by members
  • 19/11/11 - Concerto Cristofori
  • 22/10/11 - Atrium String Quartet
  • 17/09/11 - Sarah-Jane Bradley & Christian Wilson
  • 04/06/11 - Laura Tivendale & Helen Kruger
  • 07/05/11 - Sally Pryce & Philippa Davies
  • 26/03/11 - Andrew Booth
  • 19/02/11 - Clare Hammond
  • 27/11/10 - Laura Tivendale & Helen Kruger
  • 30/10/10 - Gemma Rosefield & Simon Lepper
  • 11/09/10 - Wihan Quartet
  • 10/04/10 - William Stafford & Tim Carey
  • 13/03/10 - The Zephyr Ensemble of London
  • 13/02/10 - Katie Stillman & Simon Lane
  • 21/11/09 - Agon Piano Trio
  • 24/10/09 - Chisato Kusunoki
  • 19/09/09 - The Barbirolli Quartet
  • 30/05/09 - Laura Mitchell & Charlotte Forrest
  • 07/03/09 - Morgan Szymanski & Ruth Rogers
  • 07/02/09 - Thomas Carroll & Simon Lepper
• Earlier Reviews - contributed by members
  • Reviews 2005-2008

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Saturday 11 February 2012 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

The Rose Trio
Suzanne Thorn (oboe), Rebecca Thorn (clarinet), Tamsin Thorn (bassoon)

Francaix - Divertissement
Tansman - Suite Pour Trio D'Anches
Mozart - Divertimento No 1 K 439b
Jolliffe - Call Me
Jacob - Trio
Walthew - Triolet in E flat
Mozart - Divertimento No 3 - Allegro
Szalowski - Divertimento
Farkas (arr Thorn) - Serenade
Dring - Polka

Sisters Becky, Suzie and Tammy have been making music together since Tammy, the youngest, was just 5 years old. They formed the Rose Trio in 2006 when they were all studying in London. The Rose Trio were the winners of the ensemble prize at the Royal Overseas League competition in 2010 they were also invited to take part in the Countess of Munster Recital Scheme and now have a busy concert schedule ahead which will take them to Music Clubs all over the UK. Recent performances have included recitals at the Queen Elizabeth hall, The Royal Albert Hall and the Wigmore hall. 

Rebecca Thorn  (Clarinet)
Rebecca was awarded a Major Entrance Scholarship to study at the Royal Northern College of Music. After graduating with a 1st Class Honours Degree she gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Manchester Metropolitan University. She subsequently studied for a Masters Degree at Trinity College of Music where she was awarded a scholarship from the Leverhulme Trust and a Professional Preparation Masters Scheme Award from the Arts and Humanities Research Council.
Rebecca now combines a career as a freelance clarinettist with the post of Assistant Director of Music at Westminster Under School. She is also an Outreach Mentor at the Royal College of Music.

Suzanne Thorn (Oboe)
Suzie was awarded an Elton John Scholarship to study at the Royal Academy of Music where she won both the Janet Craxton and Leila Bull Oboe Prizes and in 2009 the prestigious RAM Club Prize. On graduating she was awarded the HRH Princess Alice’s Prize for exemplary studentship. In 2011 Suzie won the Royal Over-Seas League Wind Solo Prize and was also a Young Classical Artists Trust (YCAT) Finalist.

Suzie has been principal oboe with the National Youth Orchestra of GB, the Britten-Pears Orchestra and the European Union Youth Orchestra. She has also played principal oboe with the CBSO and the Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera. She is a member of the Italian chamber orchestra “Spira Mirabilis”.

Suzie is currently studying for a Masters Degree at the Royal College of Music where her studies are supported by the Richard Carne Trust, the Tillett and Colin Keer Musical Trusts and the Martin Musical Scholarship Fund. She has also been awarded an Ian Fleming Postgraduate Performing Award by the Musicians Benevolent Fund.

Tamsin Thorn (Bassoon)
Tammy is a Foundation Scholar at the Royal College of Music where she is studying with Sarah Burnett and Julie Price. She won the “John Lill Award” at the Ongar Music Club’s “Essex Young Musician Competition” in 2008 and recently reached the finals of the RCM Concerto Competition.  She has played principal bassoon with the National Youth Orchestra of GB, the Britten-Pears Orchestra and the Ulster Orchestra.

Mozart (1756-91) - Divertimento No. 1 from K.439b

K.439b is a collection of 25 movements, usually treated as five 5-movement divertimenti. There has been uncertainty over the instrumentation but recent sources agree on three basset horns – lower pitched relatives of the clarinet used to great effect in the Requiem. One of the champions of the basset horn in Mozart's time was Anton Paul Stadler (1753-1812), clarinettist and great friend of the composer. It is very likely that Stadler, accompanied by two other players, read through Mozart’s Divertimenti, for their own amusement at Mozart's home. During these evening sessions, the musicians tried different instruments, evidently deciding on the three basset horns as the best instrumentation.

Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986) - Suite Pour Trio D’Anches

Born in Poland in 1897, Alexandre Tansman studied in Lodz and Warsaw before moving to Paris in 1919, where he became associated with Les Six: the group of French composers led by Poulenc and Milhaud, who cultivated an aggressively modern sound and a cheerfully revolutionary attitude towards the past. Tansman was perhaps even more affected by his friendship with Igor Stravinsky; he published a Stravinsky biography in 1948, and his scores show his mentor's influence.

Although Tansman was mainly noted as a pianist and conductor, his list of compositions is long and varied; it includes several film scores, dating from the World War II years he spent in the United States. His Suite for Wind Trio, in common with many Stravinsky pieces, puts major emphasis on the element of rhythm. Scored for oboe, clarinet, and bassoon, laid out in four short movements with self-descriptive titles, the suite features frequent ostinatos (repeated rhythmic figures). The Aria is the most lyrical portion, with its wandering and mournful melody for the oboe.

Richard Walthew (1872–1951) - Triolet in Eb

The pianist and composer Richard Walthew was born in London and studied with Parry at the Royal College of Music. Although his music is rarely heard today he produced a significant amount of chamber music which was regularly performed in the “South Place Sunday Concert series” held in the Conway Hall in Red Lion Square, London.

Edmund Jolliffe (b. 1976) - Call Me

This piece was written for the Rose Trio with funding from the Ralph Vaughan Williams Trust and was first performed on 30th October 2011.

The whole piece centres around communication. “Call Me” explores the idea of being rung by different people- sometimes they are people we want to talk to, sometimes they are not people we wish to speak to. The music represents those phone calls – the interruptions they make in our lives and the different conversations we might have, depending on who the person is.

Jean Françaix (1912-97) - Divertissement

Françaix, like Poulenc and Ibert, belongs to that second generation of French composers who benefited from the deliberately fostered renaissance of wind chamber music from the 1880s onwards. By the time of this new generation’s rise in the 1920s the prevailing aesthetic in France was neo-classical and not ashamed to be entertaining. Françaix was a pupil of Nadia Boulanger and absorbed the ethos of Stravinsky - in his own lightly playful, rhythmically piquant vein. The Divertissement for oboe, clarinet in Bb and bassoon dates from 1947.

Ferenc Farkas (1905-2000) - Serenade

Ferenc Farkas was a Hungarian composer whose life neatly spanned the 20th century.  He was one of the longest-lived members of the wave of Hungarian nationalist composers, which began with the rise of Bartók and Kodály and ended with his own students Ligeti and Kurtag.

Zoltán Jeney, the flautist of the Budapest Wind Quintet, was always commissioning new works for his ensemble and the Serenade was dedicated to this ensemble in 1951. The “Andante espressivo” shows Farkas’s use of Hungarian folk tunes with a pleasant oboe melody soaring above the clarinet accompaniment. In the third movement, the “Saltarello”, Farkas  made use of a rhythm he was particularly fond of: 9/8 quasi “tarantella”.

Antoni Szalowski (1907-1973) - Divertimento

Antoni Szalowski was born in Warsaw in 1907 and died in Paris in 1973. He studied the violin before becoming interested in piano, conducting and composition. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatoire until 1930 when he received a grant which enabled him to travel to Paris where he studied composition with Nadia Boulanger.

Although many of his works were written for strings Szalowski is probably best known today for his Sonatina for Clarinet, written in 1936, and for a small number of wind chamber pieces.

Gordon Jacob (1895-1984) - Trio

Gordon Jacob was a pupil of (among others) Charles Stanford, Herbert Howells and Vaughan Williams, and a teacher of (among others) Malcolm Arnold and Imogen Holst. He was an outstanding authority on instrumentation, on which he wrote three books. His expertise was such that he was challenged to write a piece for one of the most unwieldy ensembles ever imagined, for the 1956 Hoffnung  Music Festival. That this ensemble largely consisted of ten wind instruments from the extreme ends of the spectrum (piccolos down to subcontrabass tuba) aptly reflected the composer’s special affection for the wind department. His published output was of around four hundred works including two symphonies and numerous concertos.

Madeleine Dring (1923-1977) - Polka

This multi-talented English composer was also a violinist, pianist, singer and actress. She was a composition pupil of Herbert Howells, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Gordon Jacob. Her compositions include a short opera (Cupboard Love), a suite for harmonica and piano, and several trios. She also composed for radio and television. Madeleine Dring’s undemanding chamber and instrumental works include many written for her husband, the oboist Roger Lord.

Programme notes supplied by The Rose Trio

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Saturday 17 March 2012 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Lendvai String Trio

Photograph by Sarah Wijzenbeek

Dohnanyi - Serenade in C for String Trio Op 10
Reger - String Trio in A minor Op 77b
Beethoven - String Trio in E flat Op 3

Lendvai String Trio
Since their Wigmore Hall debut in 2006, the Lendvai String Trio has had a busy schedule of concerts at major venues throughout Europe, including several re- invitations to Wigmore Hall, recitals at King's Place, the Barbican and Purcell Room in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, and Berwaldhallen and Nybrokajen 11 in Sweden. 

In 2011 the trio was awarded the prestigious Kersjes Ensemble Prize in Holland, as well as being selected for the Concertgebouw's Young Artist Series in Amsterdam; other previous successes include winning awards from the Kirckman Concert Society, the Worshipful Company of Musicians, Musician's Benevolent Fund, the Park Lane Group, and the Concert Promoters Network in the UK. In 2005 they were selected for the Holland Music Sessions 'New Masters on Tour', resulting in a series of concerts across Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and the Netherlands. The trio regularly perform at festivals in Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Sweden and their concerts have been broadcast by Dutch Radio 4, Swedish Radio P2 and BBC Radio 3.

The trio enjoys regular collaborations with other artists, and recent highlights have included concerts with oboists Alexei Ogrintchouk and Nicholas Daniel, and pianists Paolo Giacometti, Charles Owen, Alasdair Beatson and Martin Sturfält.

The String Trio as a Musical Form

In the hands of Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven and their successors the standard string quartet became so well established that relatively few composers attempted to write for the arguably more challenging medium of the string trio, consisting of a single violin, viola and 'cello. Of all the instrumental groupings commonly used in chamber music, it is easy to see why the string quartet has received such attention from composers and enjoyed such popularity with audiences and players. The combination of two violins, viola and 'cello achieves – with a minimum number of players – an ideal blend of sonorities, without the problems of balance that can apply to mixed wind and string ensembles; and the fact that it can sound as four separate voices means that (even without the added potential of double-stopping) it readily fits the harmonic structure of all classical and romantic music, and much twentieth century music too.

In the mid-eighteenth century the string trio usually consisted of two violins and a 'cello – a combination which went back to earlier forms of instrumental writing (e.g. by Corelli or Vivaldi), with the violins enjoying equal status as soloists and the 'cello performing an essentially accompanying or continuo role. Haydn wrote some twenty works for this type of trio. Later in the century, however, the combination of violin, viola and 'cello came to be accepted as the norm for string trios. Perhaps the most important early example of this form is Mozart's E flat Serenade K 563 – a fine work of his maturity (and unique in his output) – written in 1788.

Compared with the four-instrument quartet, the string trio has an obviously much sparer texture. Effective string trio writing requires much skill on the part of the composer, to avoid the balance becoming bottom-heavy, since the robuster tones of the viola and 'cello can outweigh the treble tone of the violin. Both composers and players have found it a difficult, even intractable, medium.

This programme note was written by Thomas Radice (February 2011) and supplied through Making Music’s programme note service.

Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877-1960) - Serenade in C Op 10 (1902)

Ernö Dohnanyi was born in Pozsony, Hungary (now Bratislava, Slovakia), later changing his name as an act of humorous self-aggrandisement during his sojourn as a Professor of Piano at the Berlin Hochschule (1905-1915). Dohnanyi was one of the greatest piano virtuosi and a master of both chamber music composition and performance. His compositional style can best be described as a neo-classical Romanticism, and his pupils included George Solti, Geza Anda, and Annie Fischer. His reputation was besmirched as he tried to combat the effects of indigenous fascism in Hungary, where he returned in 1915, and later, while resisting the Nazification of his country. One of his sons was executed for his part in the abortive attempt to assassinate Hitler, and the other died on active service. Dohnanyi fled Hungary for Austria in late 1944 and eventually settled in Florida(1949). He died in New York while recording.

The 5 movement Serenade for String Trio looks back to eighteenth century practice. The marches of the opening and closing movements give the work an antique cast which is further enhanced by the contrapuntal and fugal Scherzo. The wonderful slow movements - the lovely, sinuous Romanza, and the beautiful Schubertian G minor Theme and Variations - combine with these to produce a multi layered masterpiece, its antiquity spurious, but its pedigree unquestionable.

This programme note was written and compiled by David Erdman

Max Reger (1873-1916) - String Trio in A minor Op 77b (1904)

Reger was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor. Although musically conservative he was thought to be progressive in his day, which meant, sadly, that he was rejected by many of his colleagues. His music is clearly based on classical structural traditions, showing the influence of Bach in his mastery of counterpoint.

His harmonic style is very much in the late Romantic idiom, splendid and striking at its best, but sometimes heavy and difficult to grasp. Greater discipline began to appear in his later works, but unfortunately he did not live to develop this. His frequent repetitions in compositional material, occasional deviations and seemingly exploratory passages have been attributed to his predilection for the bottle. However, the endearing nature of his writing, and a number of attractive and credible compositions such as the two String Trios, bring him redemption.

Each of the two String Trios is paired with a Serenade for flute, violin and viola: an unusual combination of instruments, but one Beethoven had used in his Serenade, Op 8. There are four movements. Reger later used some of the material, including a complete transcription of the third movement scherzo in his collection of piano pieces called Aus meinem Tagebuch (From My Diary).

In the first movement, the chromatic theme of the introduction appears elusively played in unison on the three instruments as a musical question mark. This is harmonised to become the clear answer in the allegro section.

The second movement, in E major, is tender, warm and expressive with a lilting accompaniment.

The third movement, marked scherzo vivace, with its mixture of splendour, humour and mercurial character is typical of Reger. It is all over in the twinkling of an eye.

The finale provides a tuneful and lighthearted finish.

This programme note was written by S-J Bradley (April 2011) and supplied through Making Music's programme note service.

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) - String Trio in E flat Op 3

The String Trio in E flat was the first of five works which Beethoven wrote as a young man for the combination of violin, viola and 'cello. The exact date of the Trio's composition has never been conclusively established, but it seems that he wrote it not long before his departure from Bonn to Vienna in the summer of 1794 or possibly soon after his arrival there.

Beethoven's Trio comes more within the tradition of the eighteenth-century divertimento and other forms of multi-movement entertainment music (serenades, cassations, etc) than of the classic four-movement string quartet, as it had been evolving in the hands of Haydn and Mozart himself.

Beethoven's writing is urbane, relaxed and makes no serious demands of the listener. The Trio is quintessentially a work of the eighteenth century, with hardly a hint of the young firebrand who was shortly to take Vienna by storm. It is an important reminder of the enormous debt he owed to the older Viennese masters and represents a strand of his musical thinking which can still be traced in later works, even in the most revolutionary and experimental of them.

This programme note was written by Thomas Radice (February 2011) and supplied through Making Music’s programme note service.

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Saturday 19 November 2011 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Concerto Cristofori
Sharona Joshua (pleyel piano) & Thomas Guthrie (baritone)
The Marion and Haley Hogwood Concert

The third concert of the Club’s 2011/12 season was given by Concerto Cristofori, their ensemble this time comprising Sharona Joshua (1853 Pleyel piano) and Tom Guthrie (baritone), in a reconstruction of the concert performed by Clara Schumann and baritone Julius Stockhausen in Guebwiller,Alsace, France in 1862. The recital took place in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 100, of whom 66 were our members, and was made possible by the generous sponsorship of Christopher Hogwood, the Club’s President, who attended with family and friends.

The programme began with the first 12 songs of Schubert’s song cycle Die schöne Müllerin D 795, followed by a performance of Chopin’s Ballade No 1 in G minor Op 23, the remaining 8 songs making up the second half of the concert. Interspersed with the songs were readings, in English translation, of the prologue, 4 verses, and epilogue of Wilhelm Müller’s narrative poem that were omitted by Schubert in his setting of this work.

Schubert’s gift for translating lyric poetry into song remains unmatched, but modern live performance usually does him few favours. When written, song cycles like Die schöne Müllerin were intimately sung, accompanied by a wooden framed fortepiano, which was well suited to chamber recitals. Performance in larger halls may suit modern forte pianos, but not lieder recitals, their use probably being best confined to recording studios with voice and instrument carefully balanced – the voice unforced, and the piano commentary picturesque.

What of period performance then? When given in a public hall, the volume of sound is so important that without amplification, the nuances by which Schubert magically recreates poetry in music are often unheard. Stepping up the volume by using a later, iron framed fortepiano, especially in re-creating a concert given by Clara Schumann on a contemporary Pleyel piano, was highly imaginative and, in the small Baptist Church with its beautiful acoustic, outstandingly successful.

Sharona Joshua, a master of early piano, and Thomas Guthrie, no less a master of lieder, gave a spellbinding and natural performance of this glorious music. From the jaunty opening songs, so evocative of naïve youthful idealism, to the later ones, in which Tom’s voice floated and became one with the timeless stream, it was a totally absorbing performance. The ensemble playing of the piano was at times so tender, and the range of its tonal palette ever fascinating. Even the creaking stage seemed inspired to contribute grist to Schubert’s millwork!

It was equally interesting to hear Chopin’s Ballade played on a Pleyel piano producing the quality of sound that both he and Clara Schumann would have recognised and appreciated. There is a case to be made for both modern and period performance of Chopin, the listening experience being so very different, not least of all in response to damping – the brakes on the Pleyel were not nearly as effective as those on their modern counterparts, assuming that all have passed their M.O.T!

This was a truly lovely entertainment – bravo Tom & Sharona, encore!!

David Erdman
22/11/2011

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Saturday 22 October 2011 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Atrium String Quartet

Photograph by Anastasia Adamenko

The second concert of the Club’s 2011/12 season was given by the Russian Atrium String Quartet in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 113, of whom 78 were our members.

The programme began with Smetana’s String Quartet No 1 in E minor “From My Life”. This seminal autobiographic quartet is symphonic in texture, highly virtuosic in its demands, and stretches quartet ensemble to the limit. It was written in 1876, two years after the composer became totally deaf as a consequence of having contracted syphilis which, like Schumann before him, eventually led to his death in an asylum. Smetana left behind a well-known thematic commentary on the work, and it was very interesting to hear the Atrium’s unique interpretation. They were truly masterful in handling the tricky finger work, modal and rhythmic shifts, off-beat double-stopped chords, and demanding ensemble. They were also most eloquent in their interpretation of the composer’s poignant suffering. Only the ubiquitous Polka was subject to some uncharacteristic classical restraint, but this detracted little from a brilliant performance of a masterpiece filled with Bohemian melody and rhythm.

The last work before the interval was Shostakovich’s String Quartet No 11 in F minor Op 122 dating from 1966, the year in which he was 60, and awarded the Order of Lenin, and made a Hero of Socialist Labour. It is an elegy for a close friend, violinist Vasily Shirinsky, but is also the bridge to his late (mainly death laden) quartets, in much the same way that Beethoven’s Quartet No 11 in F minor Op 95 “Serioso” is to his own late, introspective quartets. Also, like Beethoven’s Quartet No 14 Op 131, it is in 7 linked movements, and even manages a reference to the Funeral March of his Eroica Symphony. The Atrium Quartet were very much at home with this music, which is by turn macabre, grotesque, menacing, but strangely sad and beautiful. Shostakovich’s ability to shock and surprise was deliciously presented, as was the most wonderful ensemble playing.

After the interval came Tchaikovsky’s String Quartet No 2 in F Op 22. This was one of the composer’s favourite works although Groves finds it guilty of prolixity, and a little dull. And so it proved to be, although there was still much to admire in the ensemble playing, and Tchaikovsky’s unfailing craftsmanship. The music of the first two movements is much better than Groves would lead you to believe! But that long third movement, so thin on ideas, and the finale “as sterile expressively as it is skilful technically”!

The artists kindly offered a short encore of the amazing finale from Divorce Quartet (2010) by Fazil Say. An exciting end to a marvellous concert. The Club cannot do better than promote concerts of this quality.

David Erdman
30/10/2011

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Saturday 17 September 2011 - St Mary's Church, Saffron Walden

Sarah-Jane Bradley (viola) & Christian Wilson (organ/piano)

The first concert of the Club’s 2011/12 season took place in St Mary’s Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 81, of whom 59 were our members. The programme was a celebration of French organ music from the early 20thC, primarily marking the centenary of composer Jehan Alain, while also providing another opportunity to hear the matchless viola playing of Sarah-Jane Bradley, this time in ensemble with the brilliant keyboard player Christian Wilson, performing contemporary English romantic music written, for the most part, with viola virtuoso Lionel Tertis in mind.

The concert began with Alain’s famous Litanies, composed in 1937 for solo organ and published posthumously by his sister Marie-Claire Alain, with whom Christian had formerly studied. Although the performance of this work was uneven, its spiritual grandeur was apparent for all to hear.

The next item was York Bowen’s unrecorded Fantasia in F for Viola and Organ. Written in 1903 when he was just 19, this is a deeply romantic work whose marvellous exotic colouring was created by a multi-instrumental composer. The music was eminently suited to Sarah-Jane’s rich, emotional tone, and the accomplished ensemble playing made for a stunning performance.

The last work before the interval was Edgar Bainton’s Sonata for Viola and Piano, written in 1922 before the composer emigrated to Australia. The composition is enigmatic, possibly influenced by his civilian prisoner-of-war experiences in Germany from 1914-18, climaxing with the transcendental spirit of youth triumphant over the battlefield. With its varying speed patterns, the work requires virtuosity from the pianist and, compositionally, is not without its own problems and difficulties in separating the instrumental voices. Christian managed the classic Blüthner piano quite brilliantly, keeping the lid closed and sacrificing some projection  in his management of balance; even so, there were occasions when it was difficult to hear Sarah-Jane’s beautiful playing.

 After the interval we heard, Maurice Duruflé’s Prélude et fugue sur le nom d’Alain. Written in 1942 as a memorial to Jehan Alain, who had been killed fighting German invaders in 1940, the composer uses a theme and rhythmic motif from Alain’s Litanies to pay tribute to his late compatriot and fellow student at the Paris Conservatoire. The music represents a triumphant yet ultimately nostalgic reminiscence of Jehan Alain, and Christian’s nuanced playing of the organ was itself a fitting tribute.

More Alain followed, with one of the composer’s favourite compositions, Le Jardin Suspendu. Written in 1934, this impressionistic masterpiece takes the form of three variations on a floating theme, which appears shrouded in mystery. Alain said, “The hanging garden is the ideal which is perpetually pursued yet out of reach of the artist…” It was superbly played on the high register of the organ, and was truly one of the highlights of the evening.

Next was Delius’s Caprice and Elegy. Completed in 1930, and scored for cello and orchestra, the work was arranged for viola and piano by Lionel Tertis shortly afterwards. Dreamy and melancholic, tuneful but unstructured, these two gentle movements were played with great sensitivity and some exquisite ensemble.

The penultimate work was Theodore Holland’s Suite in D for Viola and Piano. Holland was professor of harmony and composition at RAM when he wrote this music in 1938, and it reflects images from a wide knowledge of the romantic musical canon. It is a beautifully crafted, melodic piece, separating the voices and exploiting the full range of both instruments. The artists’ ensemble playing was by turn as passionate as the opening duet, as other worldly as the haunting romance, and as erotic as the virtuosic dance finale. It mattered little that the venerable Blüthner exhibited weakness in its upper treble!

The final work was Louis Vierne’s Carillon de Westminster, the sixth movement of his Op 54 Fantasy Pieces. The blind composer wrote this bravura piece in 1926 and dedicated it to his friend Henry Willis, the London organ builder. Christian gave a virtuoso performance of great power that generated echo static from the columns of great St Mary’s.

The artists kindly offered a short encore of Piece by York Bowen.

David Erdman
21/9/2011

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Laura Tivendale (harpsichord) & Helen Kruger (Baroque violin)
The Marion and Haley Hogwood Concert

The final concert of the Club’s 2010/11 season was given by Laura Tivendale (harpsichord) & Helen Kruger (baroque violin) in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 80, of whom 66 were our members. It was most appropriate that the sponsor of the concert, our patron and eminent harpsichordist Christopher Hogwood, was amongst them.

The concert commenced with Mozart’s wonderfully melodic Sonata in E minor for klavier with violin accompaniment K 304, a product of his youthful journey from Mannheim to Paris. The scoring for klavier permits either harpsichord or fortepiano in period performance. The harpsichord was beautifully played, and the sharp but dolorous tone of the gut stringed Gagliano violin (1784), a marvellous foil in this sad and elegiac work.

The next item was the pairing of Handel’s tiny Aria (Suite in G) HWV 441, and his Chaconne in G HWV 435, both published in 1733, but the latter probably written more than 20 years earlier, before he settled in London. The perfectly formed Aria, and the Chaconne, with its 21 stately variations, were exquisitely played, demonstrating the composer’s gift for variation and his aptitude with harpsichord. This beautifully decorated baroque music was all the more remarkable, emanating as it did from Laura’s large but unprepossessing instrument, hired for the concert.

Then we heard a very short Prelude for the Violin by Baltzar. This largely forgotten composer was writing complex and sophisticated polyphonic music for solo violin some 65 years before Bach published his famous Suite in 1720. The sharp and powerful Gagliano was eminently suited to this stark music.

The last work before the interval was Handel’s Sonata in G minor for Violin and Continuo HWV 364, written in the early 1720s in London. The violin’s intonation suffered in the two slow movements, recovering somewhat in the higher allegros, although the last of these was played at such a tempo that phrasing seemed to lose its shape. However, the baroque and overall folksy character of this work was never lost because of some excellent continuo, and good rhythm from both players.

After the interval we heard Bach’s Sonata in B minor for Violin & Harpsichord BWV 1014, a seminal masterpiece, part of a set of 6 conceived in Cöthen contemporaneously with the solo violin Sonatas and Partitas. These compositions introduced the concept of equality between keyboard and violin in ensemble, with the harpsichord both baseliner and protagonist. How disappointing it was then for the very difficult slow movements to be blurred again by poor intonation, and distorted by some uneven playing of the violin.

More Bach followed with two movements from the Concerto after Vivaldi in D BWV 972. This is one of 21 concertos, largely Italian, that Bach arranged for keyboard, in which the right hand plays the solo violin part on one manual, and the left hand plays the string harmony on another. They were probably done at the behest of his employer in Weimar, Duke Johann Ernst. The harpsichord was played in the brilliant style of Vivaldi with the keyboard virtuosity required by Bach.

Before playing Telemann’s Fantasie in B flat for solo violin, Helen related the tensions of watching the Stradivari Trust bid at auction to purchase her very expensive Gagliano violin. Intonation was not a problem in this work, rather the perception that the scheduled music (80 minutes) was too long, resulting in the programmed final allegro not being played. This brilliant work, reminiscent of those in Bach’s solo violin suite, ingeniously employs false polyphony to create the illusion of concurrent multiple string sounding! The three movements were well realised.

The final work was Biber’s Sonata No 3 in F for Violin & Continuo from the set of 8 published in 1681. This complex, melodic, and sophisticated polyphonic music for solo violin with continuo, pre-dates Bach. It was played with amazing virtuosity and such marvellous ensemble, bringing to a close an absorbing and eventful concert.

The artists kindly offered a short encore from Corelli.

David Erdman
7/6/2011

Saturday 7 May 2011 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Sally Pryce (harp) & Philippa Davies (flute)

The fifth concert of the Club’s 2010/11 season was given by Sally Pryce (harp) and Philippa Davies (flute) in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 101.

The original ensemble engaged for this concert was Sally Pryce with Adam Walker on flute, but when Adam breached his contract with less than a month to go, the Club was very grateful to Sally for being able to recruit Philippa as his replacement.

The concert commenced with J.S. Bach’s Flute Sonata in E minor BWV 1034. This work was originally scored soloistically for flute against a basso continuo (bc) accompaniment (harpsichord and viola da gamba or cello). Unfortunately the transfer of accompaniment from bc to harp produced far less sound and unbalanced the work, while the dominant and highly virtuosic flute part was played without much obvious affection.

The next item was Mozart’s Andante for Flute in C major, K 315. Written as a simpler alternative movement in a concerto for a defaulting and detested client, the arrangement of this short but truly beautiful piece of music was played by the artists with obvious enjoyment: after which Sally and Philippa performed Faure’s Fantaisie in C Op 79;originally for flute and piano, this was a short and charming piece.

The last work before the interval was Piazzolla’s L’Histoire du Tango. Originally written for flute and guitar in four movements, the artists were scheduled to play 3 movements: Bordel 1900; Café 1930; Nightclub 1960.This marvellous work tracks the development of Tango from its deliciously seedy origins to the emergence of Tango Nuevo. How disappointing it was then to hear Sally announce that they would only play the first two movements, and in reverse order, especially as the Club does not normally programme extracts.

After the interval Sally explained the workings of the Concert Harp and demonstrated some of its numerous pedals. She related how when one had broken in transit, she was able to contemplate an early night for once!

The first piece in the second half was Rossini’s Andante and Variations in F. Originally for flute, harp and viola, this beautiful theme and 4 variations derives from his opera Tancredi. It tests and explores the technique and abilities of players and instruments to the full, and was delightfully realised.

Next up was Saint-Saens Romance in D flat Op37. Originally written for flute and violin, this wistful and relatively early work was beautifully played with a stunning harp accompaniment transcribed by Catherine Michel.

Then Sally and Philippa played Hilse’s Suite Op 6. Not much is known about the mysterious composer who wrote this 4 movement masterpiece, except that he dedicated it to flautist Justus Gelfius and had it published in Leipzig in 1911. How gorgeous it sounded with a superb balance between flute and harp.

The final work was Alwyn’s Naiades. A fantasy sonata for flute and harp, this impressionistic work of 1971 “exploits to the full the technical resonances of both instruments”. No less a masterpiece in the genre than Hilse’s Suite, it was well realised and warmly received.

The artists kindly offered a short encore from Faure, bringing to an end this modern manifestation of a 3,500 year old ensemble.

David Erdman
8/5/2011

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Saturday 26 March 2011 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Andrew Booth (guitar)

Andrew was described in the programme as “one of the best” – and he fully lived up to his billing when he played to an appreciative audience of 90 at the Baptist Church. The Countess of Munster Trust, which does so much to support young artists as they establish themselves as classical musicians, sponsored this concert. A special delight was the easy and engaging manner with which Andrew introduced what, to many of us, were unfamiliar works. His love of the music and his joy in performing lit up the whole evening.

The six dances from Terpsichore, arranged by John Williams for guitar, gave us a brief glimpse of aristocratic life in the 17th century, and they were delivered with grace, finesse and vitality. Before the concert Andrew talked about his love of music in the Spanish style – and how much he was looking forward to studying this further in Barcelona. In the Five Preludes of Villa-Lobos he captured the soulful lyricism and the Latin American rhythms perfectly. For a few minutes we were all drawn with him onto the streets of Rio de Janeiro – and it was thrilling.  The first half closed with a passionate performance of the Collectici Intimi of Spanish composer Asencio.

Albeniz never composed a single piece for the guitar, but every guitarist plays his music! The Red Tower which began the second half is a case in point, arranged by M. Lobet.  This lovely serenade was followed by a flamenco-inspired Malaguena – and our guitarist was at home in both. The main work after the interval was probably new to all the audience, the Sonatina by Lennox Berkeley. Written for Julian Bream it was full of colour and melody – an unexpected pleasure. Then we returned to Latin America with two contrasting works by Cuban composer and guitarist Leo Brouwer. The hauntingly beautiful Cancion de Cuna was a highlight of the evening.  Andrew brought the concert to a close with two challenging arrangements of Cole Porter’s I Love Paris and Billy Strayhorn’s Take the A-Train. The Baptist Church, with its lovely ambience and clear acoustic, once again was the perfect venue for another inspiring evening of music-making.

Peter Oxley
26/3/2011

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Saturday 19 February 2011 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

Clare Hammond (piano)

The third concert of the Club’s 2010/11 season was given by Clare Hammond (piano) in the Friends School, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 101.

The evening started with Clare playing 5 of the 8 miniatures comprising the Sixième Ordre of Pièces de Clavecin by Couperin. These beautifully melodic character pieces were written for harpsichord, and usually sound best on that instrument, where the baroque ornamentation, particularly the trills, can most readily be incorporated in a perfect legato, with consistently unextended notes – both stipulations of the composer. The 234 pieces in the 27 orders of this seminal work influenced composers from the masters of the high baroque, Bach and Handel, to the impressionists Ravel and Debussy. Clare made the transition to the modern Steinway A with brilliant technique and erudition, capturing the hypnotic charm of the music.

The remaining works before the interval were by Ravel, starting with Jeux d’eau. Dedicated to Fauré, and owing its existence to Liszt’s Les Jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este, this piece is an impressionistic representation of “the sound of water, and the musical sounds produced by fountains, waterfalls and streams…” Clare’s playing was transcendental, and time passed beside a sparkling stream far from the auditorium! The last of the two works by Ravel was Le Tombeau de Couperin, commemorating his fallen comrades, victims of the 1914-18 war. Its 6 movements pay homage to the musical styles of 17thC and 18thC French composers including Couperin, in an introspective reaction against res germanica. Clare’s interpretation of the mix of classical dance and romantic elements was both poignant and heroic, a marvellous performance of some very beautiful music.

The second half of the concert commenced with Debussy’s Images, Book 1. Its three movements share many of the influences present in Ravel’s impressionism - the rejection of res germanica, a retrospection of earlier French music, and a debt to Liszt - but also have the added mysticism of symbolist empathy. Clare’s virtuosic technique and transcendental playing were wonderful, as she seemed to meld with the piano. The shimmering textures of the first and third movements,  Reflets dans l’eau, and Mouvement, were beautifully realised, as was the  reflective poignancy of the middle movement, a dynamic sarabande,  Hommage à Rameau.

The concluding 4 works were from Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage, - Les jeux d’eau à la Villa d’Este (Italie 3); Sposalizio (Italie 2); Au bord d’une source (Suisse1); and Vallée d’Obermann (Suisse 1). The impressionism of Liszt is altogether more structured and percussive, though no less remarkable or influential for that. The two pieces of water music are both incredibly beautiful, and shimmer, without unnecessary pyrotechnics. Sposalizio is a seminal work of noble beauty, grandeur, and elation, inspired by Raphael’s Betrothal of the Virgin. These works were played with authority and considerable affection. The Vallée d’Obermann encapsulates the loneliness and yearnings of isolation in a remote place, and was inspired by Sénancour’s romantic novel Obermann. This was less well realised, seeming to lack clarity, with virtuosic display obscuring the emotive melody at times.

The concert was enthusiastically received, and Clare generously offered an encore of Handel in the French style, sounding just like Couperin!

David Erdman
25/2/2011 

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Laura Tivendale (harpsichord) & Helen Kruger (Baroque violin)
The Marion and Haley Hogwood Concert

CONCERT CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS

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Saturday 30 October 2010 - Friends' School, Saffron Walden

Gemma Rosefield (cello) & Simon Lepper (piano)

The second concert of the Club’s 2010/11 season was given by Gemma Rosefield (cello) and Simon Lepper (piano) in the Friends School, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 95.

The evening started inauspiciously with no heating available, and the artists announcing a change of programme, from Beethoven’s brilliant 12 variations on Mozart’s Magic Flute Op 66 to the less interesting 12 variations on Handel’s Judas Maccabaeus WoO 45. It always seems as though Beethoven’s reverence for the great Baroque master inhibits his scope for inventiveness in these variations, whereas he usually treats Mozart as a popular source, without any such restraint. Nonetheless there was much to admire in the playing.

The major work before the interval was Shostakovich’s Cello Sonata in D minor Op 40 of 1934, written when the composer was 28. Gemma informed us that she had learned to play it when only 15, in a dacha outside Moscow where the composer sometimes worked, which had helped her assimilate the harsh environment permeating much of his music. This work was composed two years after the Soviet decree eschewing new forms of music, and enshrining conformity in the arts, but before his personal denunciation by Stalin. The opening movement is nostalgic and lyrical, written with politically correct simplicity, but managing surreptitious retrospection of pre-Revolutionary days, although tinged with some bitterness and despair; the short second, a lively parody of the folk music beloved of all true Soviets; the third movement, an inconsolable lament; the finale, a rumbustious rondo whose bite and wit is sharpened by its virtuosity. The wonderful rich tone produced by Gemma from her Gagliano cello of 1704 provided an incredible contrast to Shostakovich’s bleak modernism, and Simon’s cool mastery of the slightly brash Yamaha C3 completed an artistic triumph.

After the interval the concert resumed with Strauss’s Cello Sonata in F Op 6. Written in 1880-83, when the composer was not yet 20, it was dedicated to and premiered by the cellist Hans Wihan. Strauss didn’t write much for solo piano, and few chamber works, although he was prodigiously talented at both. At this stage in his development his compositions are melodic, full of youthful vitality, and evidence attempts to escape the classical constraints inherited from Mendelssohn, Beethoven and Schumann. In particular, the Cello Sonata looks to operatic influences from Wagner, and foreshadows his own development in opera and tone poems. The artists played with great virtuosity and enjoyment, their ensemble quite brilliant, avoiding trespassing or pushing, and injecting the dynamism needed to lift this work to the composer’s conceptual plane. It was amazing to see that the 300 year old cello had greater depth and extension than the modern small piano.

The final work was Paganini’s Variations on a theme of Rossini, a virtuosic piece of showmanship on one string, transcribed from the original violin work to the cello’s A string, and requiring unimaginable technique and strength. This was a real show stopper.

Gemma & Simon generously gave an encore, appropriately Mendelssohn’s Song without Words Op 109.

We cannot wait to have them back.

David Erdman
3/11/2010

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Saturday 11 September 2010 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

Wihan String Quartet

The Club’s 2010/11 season was opened by the renowned Wihan Quartet in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 110.

Their programme commenced with Dvorak’s String Quartet in E flat Op 51, the “Slavonic”. The Wihan have a uniquely broad sound, often quite orchestral in character, and their intonation and ensemble are second to none. This Dvorak quartet, his most Czech, was commissioned to satisfy demand following the success of the Slavonic Dances. Composed in 1879, it does not actually contain any recognised Czech folk music, relying instead on the brilliant use of national dance rhythms and Dvorak’s innate gift for melody. The work alternates sadness with joy, and therefore requires contrasting tenderness and elation for successful realisation. The style of playing, while inherently well suited to Dvorak, was never noticeably elated, or joyful.

The last work before the interval was Janacek’s seminal String Quartet No 1, “The Kreutzer Sonata” of 1923. This quartet anticipates Bartok in its use of dazzling sound colour and fractured folk rhythms. It was inspired by Tolstoy’s novella about a tragic love story, both works drawing influences from Beethoven’s famous violin sonata. The dramatic fragmentation of emotion is brilliantly represented by shattered melody and incredibly virtuosic techniques. It abounds in technical and emotional extremes, requiring great passion and virtuosity for successful realisation. It was so pleasing to find the Wihan at home, in every respect.

After the interval the Quartet played 5 of Dvorak’s 12 Cypresses. This work, published posthumously, was the composer’s arrangement for string quartet of his own songs, written when a young man of twenty-four, setting poems by G. Pfleger-Moravsky. The last three of these, numbers IV, XI, and XII were given truly lyrical and memorable performances.

The final work in the programme was Beethoven’s String Quartet in F minor Op 95, “Serioso”. This is the last of the middle period quartets and, in style, can be seen retrospectively as a bridge to the late ones. The epithet is Beethoven’s own, and the work has considerable sadness, some despair, not a little violence, and a final shocking glimmer of hope. To bring out these contrasts, and the work’s inner beauty, requires an elevated performance that releases the power and emotion locked into Beethoven’s score which, like most of his others, is designed to benefit modern recital. Perfectly intoned and with faultless ensemble, the Quartet did not make the most convincing interpretation.

In response to prolonged applause, the Quartet generously offered an encore of Paganini’s 24th Caprice, brilliantly arranged for string quartet by William Zinn, and featured on their new CD. This was given an amazingly virtuosic performance, and brought a smile to every face.

A truly entertaining and memorable concert.

David Erdman
13/9/2010

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Saturday 10 April 2010 - Linton Village College

William Stafford (clarinet) & Tim Cary (piano)

The final concert in the Club’s 2009–2010 season was given by William Stafford (clarinet) and Tim Carey (piano) and was held at Linton Village College, where we were pleased to welcome guests from Linton Music Club. The duo presented an interesting and varied repertoire, ranging from the 18th to the 20th century. A sonata by Devienne (a contemporary of Mozart) showed William Stafford’s formidable technique on the clarinet to great effect, with its rapid scales and arpeggios. The duo delivered beautiful sonorities in the E flat clarinet sonata by Brahms, and followed this with the Rhapsodie by Debussy, with its mellow, pastel-hued passages reminiscent of his “L'Apres-midi d'un Faune”.

Also in the programme were the 5 Bagatelles by Finzi. A composer who seems to have a special affinity for writing for the clarinet, as in his later Concerto for the instrument premiered in 1949, in these pieces Finzi takes the listener on a pastoral journey, with both the central ‘Carol’ section and the dance-like ‘Forlana’ recalling the works of Vaughan Williams, who Finzi regarded as a mentor.

The duo concluded the programme with a Sonata by Saint-Saens, displaying virtuoso passages and wonderful bell-like harmonies, and then presented an encore, a setting of the haunting ‘Vocalise’ by Rachmaninov. Altogether, an uplifting and very rewarding concert to end the current season.

Val Norton
3/5/2010

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Saturday 13 March 2010 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

The Zephyr Ensemble of London

Many must have wondered before the concert what kind of evening they were going to experience. So many unfamiliar composers and unknown works, and nearly all of it written in the last 100 years! It took, however, only a few bars of Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture for the audience to relax, knowing they were in expert hands. Like the Debussy Suite which followed the overture, it was an arrangement for wind quintet and, like the Debussy, it worked wonderfully well. Both left one wondering why neither composer had written anything at all for this grouping of instruments. The Debussy particularly gave us so many different timbres and colours that it will be difficult to listen to the piano originals again. The Hindemith Kleine Kammermusik continued our journey through the 20th century, a work of charm and style. The slow third movement provided moments of pure beauty. Berio’s Opus Number Zoo was a real delight, with all the players doubling as readers of the four rather strange poems. The musicians gave us a poised and witty performance of music,   playful and haunting by turns. The first half closed with a dynamic and seamless Flight of the Bumblebee, as the fingers of flautist and clarinettist flew up and down their instruments.

The second half began in France and finished in England. The Ibert Three Short Pieces were delivered with all the virtuosity and attack we had now come to expect. Emma-Louise, the flautist, described the first movement as girls chattering, and very appropriate it seemed. The Holst Quintet led us into a different world. As the programme notes told us, Holst was trying at this time to find his own voice. It showed influences of English folksong as well as gestures to the Romantic School. Four movements of beautiful melody followed - long sinuous lines and rich harmony. The concert drew to a close with Patterson’s lively Westerly Winds. The quintet played all four movements with energy and élan. Despite being almost breathless they gave us one final treat – the Charleston from Norman Hallam’s Dance Suite, and we went home singing after an inspiring evening. The Quintet so clearly loved playing together – and playing for us – that they drew us into their music, and we felt privileged to share it with them.

Chairman
16/3/2010

The fifth concert of the 2009/10 season was given by The Zepyhr Ensemble of London (wind quintet) in the Baptist Church, Saffron Walden, before an audience of 132.

The first work was a transcription by Joachim Linkelmann of Mozart’s Overture to The Magic Flute. On his website, Herr Linkelmann offers to consider arranging any music for wind quintet and has already been more active in this field than even Lizst! The Zephyr warmed up with this challengingly rapid and popular fugal material.

The second work was the Suite of Debussy’s music remarkably arranged by Gordon Davies from two of the composer’s piano works – Pour le piano and Suite Bergamasque! The brilliance of this arrangement with its transposition to unusual registers on wind instruments is breathtaking, and its realisation by the players, both individually and in ensemble, no less so.

The third work was Hindemith’s early 20th Century masterpiece, his Kleine Kammermusic Op 24 No 2 of 1922. An explicit rejection of expressionism and all things associated with the 2nd Viennese School, its subtle humour, wit and irony were brilliantly realised by some very fine playing, Yvgeny Chebykin, on horn, being in particularly fine form. Even concertgoers stuck in 19th Century mode could not help but respond to its modern sounding tonal/chromaticism...

The final major work before the interval was Luciano Berio’s splendid piece of musical theatre Opus Number Zoo, which sets texts by Rhoda Levine and characteristically requires a recital of both words and music. The macabre nature of the composition, sub-titled Child’s Play, with verse reminiscent of Stevie Smith, added a delicious sense of unreality to the entertainment.

But just in case this proved too much, and need was felt for the players to demonstrate more classical virtuosity, the ensemble finished the first half of the concert with a transcription of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee!

The second half of the concert commenced with Jacques Ibert’s Trois Pièces Brèves of 1930. Comprising three very different movements, the first folk-like, the second a lyrical cantilena, and the third rhapsodic, this work demonstrates the composer as one of the greatest masters of instrumentation. Beautifully played by the ensemble, this lovely melodic music illustrated the pleasure to be had from programming and re-discovering forgotten masters.

This applied even more to the next work, local hero Gustav Holst’s Wind Quintet in A flat Op 14 of 1903, the manuscript of which was re-discovered at an antique fair and, in consequence, not premiered until 1982. This delicate work received a tender and nuanced performance, enhancing its subtle shades and gentle melodies.

The final work was Paul Patterson’s Westerly Winds composed in 1998. Patterson, a professor of composition at RAM, re-wrote an earlier orchestral piece as a suite of fantasias based on 4 well known English west country folk tunes. The ensemble realised this technically demanding piece with all the energy, rhythm, and colour imaginable.

The Zephyr then generously gave an encore of Norman Hallam’s stylish Charleston. This was an absorbing and brilliant concert, one of our best ever.

David Erdman
16/3/2010

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Saturday 13 February 2010 - Saffron Walden County High School

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
16/2/2010

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Saturday 21 November 2009 - Linton Village College

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

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Saturday 24 October 2009 - Friends' School, Saffron Walden

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

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Saturday 19 September 2009 - Baptist Church, Saffron Walden

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

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Saturday 30 May 2009 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

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

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

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

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Saturday 7 February 2009 - Friends School, Saffron Walden

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

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