This section will contain extracts from the Friends Newsletter, 'Soundboard', and also a selection of past concerts held.
'Soundboard' is published twice-yearly and issued to the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall membership.
'Soundboard' is published twice-yearly and issued to the Friends of St Cecilia's Hall membership.
Sypert Summer Concert review
The concerts in the Sypert Summer Concert Series, generously supported by George and Joy Sypert, were of particularly high quality this year. Moira Landells who organises these for the University of Edinburgh put together a particularly fine line up, which began with a return visit from the duo of Susanne Ehrhardt (early woodwinds) and John Kitchen, then explored the Splendours of the Baroque Mandolin with Ensemble Pizzicar Galante, and concluded with Jean-François Madeuf (natural trumpet) and the Rossetti Players. Daniel Wheeldon, previous bursary awardee and member of the Friends of St Cecilia’s Hall, has written a short review of this last concert which captures the excitement of the evening.
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Music at the Habsburg Court – Rossetti Players
Listening to historically informed musical practice often involves a lot of effort from the audience. I quite frequently feel exhausted after a natural horn ensemble’s attempts at playing Telemann or something, always wondering in the back of my mind whether they’re playing out of tune or if I’m simply used to modern harmony and temperament.
I came to hear the Rossetti Players completely unaware of what I was about to experience. The performance began with a hearty and sophisticated fanfare full of every desirable flourish by Jean-François Madeuf, leaving the hall breathless. This set the tone for the rest of the evening as I settled in to enjoy the musical acrobatics. The Rossetti Players were exceptionally sensitive and interesting in their performance but from my perspective the evening was all about Jean-François Madeuf.
After satisfying the most stringent music critics in the room the trumpeter dismissed his work so far as mere introduction, explaining that now he would begin to use the clarino register and going on to demonstrate his complete mastery of this new palette. The higher clarino register allows the natural trumpet to play in diatonic and even chromatic scales, and of course I knew this in theory but to see it performed so proficiently was truly gratifying.
The harmonic series is notoriously difficult to control and in trumpet clarino playing the technical mastery needed to bring this in line with a desired pitch is staggering.
Madeuf may have adopted a relaxed pose with his left hand on his hip raising the trumpet up with a refined underhand grip, but on closer inspection his body was hard at work. Every muscle in his head and every tendon in his neck were at work like the fingers of a violinist performing music that would be technically challenging to proficient valve trumpet players.
The players were adored by the audience who erupted with rapturous applause at the close of the performance.
Daniel Wheeldon
The concerts in the Sypert Summer Concert Series, generously supported by George and Joy Sypert, were of particularly high quality this year. Moira Landells who organises these for the University of Edinburgh put together a particularly fine line up, which began with a return visit from the duo of Susanne Ehrhardt (early woodwinds) and John Kitchen, then explored the Splendours of the Baroque Mandolin with Ensemble Pizzicar Galante, and concluded with Jean-François Madeuf (natural trumpet) and the Rossetti Players. Daniel Wheeldon, previous bursary awardee and member of the Friends of St Cecilia’s Hall, has written a short review of this last concert which captures the excitement of the evening.
soundboard 375
Music at the Habsburg Court – Rossetti Players
Listening to historically informed musical practice often involves a lot of effort from the audience. I quite frequently feel exhausted after a natural horn ensemble’s attempts at playing Telemann or something, always wondering in the back of my mind whether they’re playing out of tune or if I’m simply used to modern harmony and temperament.
I came to hear the Rossetti Players completely unaware of what I was about to experience. The performance began with a hearty and sophisticated fanfare full of every desirable flourish by Jean-François Madeuf, leaving the hall breathless. This set the tone for the rest of the evening as I settled in to enjoy the musical acrobatics. The Rossetti Players were exceptionally sensitive and interesting in their performance but from my perspective the evening was all about Jean-François Madeuf.
After satisfying the most stringent music critics in the room the trumpeter dismissed his work so far as mere introduction, explaining that now he would begin to use the clarino register and going on to demonstrate his complete mastery of this new palette. The higher clarino register allows the natural trumpet to play in diatonic and even chromatic scales, and of course I knew this in theory but to see it performed so proficiently was truly gratifying.
The harmonic series is notoriously difficult to control and in trumpet clarino playing the technical mastery needed to bring this in line with a desired pitch is staggering.
Madeuf may have adopted a relaxed pose with his left hand on his hip raising the trumpet up with a refined underhand grip, but on closer inspection his body was hard at work. Every muscle in his head and every tendon in his neck were at work like the fingers of a violinist performing music that would be technically challenging to proficient valve trumpet players.
The players were adored by the audience who erupted with rapturous applause at the close of the performance.
Daniel Wheeldon
Peter Williams Memorial Concert
On Friday 13 April 2018 we held a memorial concert in St Cecilia’s for the late Peter Williams who died on 20 March 2016. In the 1960s Peter began the significant and highly specialised work which still goes on at St Cecilia’s, and established the collection as the world-famous resource it has been ever since. (One wonders what he would have made of the recent restoration!) Most of the evening’s performers had worked with Peter at some stage, and of course we have all benefited hugely from Peter’s voluminous, stimulating and sometimes trenchant writings: particularly on Bach, as well as on every conceivable aspect of organs and other keyboard instruments. Each performer spoke briefly on their association with Peter. Naturally, there was an emphasis on the music of Bach: John Butt, who had worked closely with Peter in a number of Bach-related projects and performances, and who wrote a comprehensive obituary in the Guardian, played four preludes and fugues from book 2 of Das Wohltemperierte Clavier.
Christopher Field, who had taken part in some of Peter’s ‘Bach at St Cecilia’s’ concerts in the 1980s, performed the Sonata in C minor for harpsichord and violin, with myself at the keyboard. Leon Coates played the F sharp minor prelude and fugue from book 2 of the ‘48’. Leon had probably known Peter longer than any of us, having travelled with him many years ago in the GDR when Peter was gathering material for his ground-breaking study, The European Organ (1966). David Ponsford, who more recently worked with Peter on a study of French Classical organ music, gave a fine account of Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, as well as playing Stanley and Handel (another of Peter’s enthusiasms) on the recently-restored chamber organ in the concert hall.
To reflect Peter’s fascination with the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, I played K287 and K288 – both for organ, and which I played on the chamber organ. Peter once told me that he regularly worked his way through all 555 sonatas, and never ceased to find extraordinary originality in the writing. It was appropriate to include Jenny Nex, curator at St Cecilia’s and a fine soprano, as one of the performers. Peter had a number of unexpected musical enthusiasms, one being Scottish laments; I was informed of this by Peter’s widow Rosemary. Jenny sang the beautiful and well-known The Flowers of the Forest, as well as Braes of Ballenden and The Lass of Peaty’s Mill. These are all contained in the Scots Musical Museum, the basses to the tunes in that publication being mostly the work of Stephen Clarke, organist at St Cecilia’s from the 1770s.
Finally, Peter Manning, a friend of the family and international violinist, gave a vigorous account of Bach’s great Chaconne in D minor for solo violin. In addition to the pieces played on the hall’s own chamber organ, originally installed there in 1968 in Peter’s early days at St Cecilia’s, the main keyboard instrument used, most fittingly, was Peter’s own single-manual Ruckers harpsichord (Antwerp 1609 but later altered), which is happily on long loan to the collection. The audience included many of Peter’s admirers from far and wide, and we were particularly pleased to welcome Peter’s widow Rosemary, and their sons Greg and Edward. The Friends provided post-concert refreshments, giving an opportunity for audience members to mingle, chat and reminisce.
John Kitchen
On Friday 13 April 2018 we held a memorial concert in St Cecilia’s for the late Peter Williams who died on 20 March 2016. In the 1960s Peter began the significant and highly specialised work which still goes on at St Cecilia’s, and established the collection as the world-famous resource it has been ever since. (One wonders what he would have made of the recent restoration!) Most of the evening’s performers had worked with Peter at some stage, and of course we have all benefited hugely from Peter’s voluminous, stimulating and sometimes trenchant writings: particularly on Bach, as well as on every conceivable aspect of organs and other keyboard instruments. Each performer spoke briefly on their association with Peter. Naturally, there was an emphasis on the music of Bach: John Butt, who had worked closely with Peter in a number of Bach-related projects and performances, and who wrote a comprehensive obituary in the Guardian, played four preludes and fugues from book 2 of Das Wohltemperierte Clavier.
Christopher Field, who had taken part in some of Peter’s ‘Bach at St Cecilia’s’ concerts in the 1980s, performed the Sonata in C minor for harpsichord and violin, with myself at the keyboard. Leon Coates played the F sharp minor prelude and fugue from book 2 of the ‘48’. Leon had probably known Peter longer than any of us, having travelled with him many years ago in the GDR when Peter was gathering material for his ground-breaking study, The European Organ (1966). David Ponsford, who more recently worked with Peter on a study of French Classical organ music, gave a fine account of Bach’s Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, as well as playing Stanley and Handel (another of Peter’s enthusiasms) on the recently-restored chamber organ in the concert hall.
To reflect Peter’s fascination with the keyboard sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti, I played K287 and K288 – both for organ, and which I played on the chamber organ. Peter once told me that he regularly worked his way through all 555 sonatas, and never ceased to find extraordinary originality in the writing. It was appropriate to include Jenny Nex, curator at St Cecilia’s and a fine soprano, as one of the performers. Peter had a number of unexpected musical enthusiasms, one being Scottish laments; I was informed of this by Peter’s widow Rosemary. Jenny sang the beautiful and well-known The Flowers of the Forest, as well as Braes of Ballenden and The Lass of Peaty’s Mill. These are all contained in the Scots Musical Museum, the basses to the tunes in that publication being mostly the work of Stephen Clarke, organist at St Cecilia’s from the 1770s.
Finally, Peter Manning, a friend of the family and international violinist, gave a vigorous account of Bach’s great Chaconne in D minor for solo violin. In addition to the pieces played on the hall’s own chamber organ, originally installed there in 1968 in Peter’s early days at St Cecilia’s, the main keyboard instrument used, most fittingly, was Peter’s own single-manual Ruckers harpsichord (Antwerp 1609 but later altered), which is happily on long loan to the collection. The audience included many of Peter’s admirers from far and wide, and we were particularly pleased to welcome Peter’s widow Rosemary, and their sons Greg and Edward. The Friends provided post-concert refreshments, giving an opportunity for audience members to mingle, chat and reminisce.
John Kitchen
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Soundboard 28, Winter 2014 Page 6 John Kitchen makes Friends feel at home Four instruments and a four-poster Four instruments in a bit more than an hour – it sounds almost as good as a tour of St Cecilia's Hall before they started emptying it. In fact, it was a lot better, being a home visit. The home and the instruments were John Kitchen's and we might have heard five if he had not lent one to a student. We weren't feeling picky, though – it was an excellent afternoon of music and there was a glmpse of the Doctor's four-poster bed as a bonus. We started in the hall with music from the English composers of the 16th or 17th century, William Byrd and Peter Philips, on an instrument built by Lionel Gliori (Friends may remember visiting his house in Pencaitland for a concert a number of years ago) based on the instrument from Naples in the Russell Collection that is more or leas contemporary with the music. We then moved into the back sitting room – or some of us did, others perched on the stairs – to hear an 1811 square piano by Clementi. The music was practically modem: polonaises by Franz Xaver Mozart (WA's youngest child) and two Kinderszenen by Robert Schumann. The 20 or so of us just fitted into John's upstairs sitting room to hear Johann Ludwig Krebs and JS Bach on the Neil Rickerby house organ. A 90-degree anticlockwise tum and we were positioned for the two manual Dulcken harpsichord copy by Keith Hill. We heard two pieces by Forqueray and a suite by one of the Couperins from the generation before the great Frangois. John attributed it to Louis, but tentatively – the scores don't entirely distinguish between him and his brothers Frangois and Charles, the latter, confusingly, father of Fran~ois le Grand. Concerts from our 2014 Fringe Season
Harpsichords at St Cecilia's 13 August JOHN KITCHEN A welcomed return to St Cecilia's Fringe series John Kitchen demonstrated the appealing tonal qualities of the 1678 virginal by Guarracino, from Edinburgh University's Rodger Mirrey Collection. Renowned for his outstanding keyboard artistry, Kitchen created a uniquely rewarding recital, bringing this lovely instrument to the attention of early music lovers in a programme which will also entrance more general concert-goers. He performed works by Frescobaldi, Pasquini, Alessandro Scarlatti, Byrd, Bull and late 16th-century Scottish composers with 'remarkable articulation and musical sensitivity' which 'deserved only the highest praise' (audaud.com) Guitars at St Cecilia's.Saturday 16 August De La Guitarra: Stephen Morrison and Gordon Ferries from diverse backgrounds (Scotland and North America), Gordon Ferries and Stephen Morrison have separately built sterling reputations as baroque and classical guitarists. For the first time they combined their talents to create a programme illustrating the beautiful, complex sonorities of historic instruments. Taking as inspiration Chopin's dictum that "Nothing is as beautiful as a guitar, save perhaps two", Ferries and Morrison feature neglected 19th-century original duet compositions by Fernando Sor, Napoleon Coste and Fernando Carulli alongside their own arrangements for two guitars of works by Beethoven and Mozart. The duo's artistic complementarity was matched by stylistic individuality shown in baroque and classical solos. Their shared enthusiasm for the historical development of guitar repertoire and techniques guarantees a virtuosic, intimate and wholly entertaining recital. Harpsichords at St Cecilia's 20 August. ARBOREA MUSICA with their customary inventiveness, Gerard McDonald (baroque woodwind) and John Kitchen (harpsichord) developed a stimulating new programme to gratify their followers. As theme, they highlight the 300th anniversary of the arrival in Handel's London of three virtuoso Italian performer-composers: Francesco Geminiani, Francesco Barsanti and Francesco Maria Veracini. Fittingly, this commemoration dovetailed with homage to the elegant 1764 Hass harpsichord, part of Edinburgh University's Raymond Russell collection, marking the 250th anniversary of its construction. A sympathetically matched, refreshingly uncommon recital from a duo of outstanding reputation. Harpsichords at St Cecilia's 23 August KSENIA SEMENOVA winner of the prestigious 2013 Volkonsky International Harpsichord Competition in Moscow, made her St Cecilia's debut with a bravura recital of major keyboard works by great contemporaries born in 1685. After contrasting J.S. Bach's luminous Partita BWV 828 in D major with his dramatic Chromatic Fantasia and Fugue, she presented a Handel suite in a richly embellished version by Gottlieb Muffat, representative of the kind of ornamentation baroque musicians were expected to supply. A set of virtuoso sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti completed her sparkling programme. The Friends of St Cecilia's gratefully acknowledged the support of the Keyboard Charitable Trust in making possible the visit of this exceptional young artist. Harpsichords at St Cecilia's 27 August The Gilbert Elliott Duo."I am Learning to play upon a German flute..." (from a letter to the Marquis of Montrose, 1702). Elizabeth Ford (baroque flute) and Allan Wright (harpsichord) highlighted the importance of the flute in 18th-century Scotland, exploring fashionable repertoire by native and continental composers. Their programme drew on the latest editorial insights into the music of William McGibbon, placing his popular oeuvre in the context of work by his Scottish contemporaries, General John Reid, James Oswald, and Alexander Munro, alongside virtuoso flute compositions by Edinburgh resident, Francesco Barsanti, and Berlin-based Joachim Quantz. |
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