Monthly Archives: December 2012

Keeping It Real: reviews., Notes on Music

That was a week, that was…

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It’s been an action-packed final week; from Thursday through to Sunday, many of the University’s musicians were involved in rehearsing for, and performing in, the Gala opening concerts on Saturday and Sunday; the University Carol Service took place in Canterbury Cathedral on Monday night; there was a ‘Winter Wonderland’ lunchtime concert at which the Estates Team Choir made its debut yesterday; and finally Carols Round the Christmas Tree yesterday night.

Chorus and Orchestra in the Gala weekend, Image: Miles Banbery

We’re still recovering, both from the number of events in so short a time, but also from the heady success of the formal opening of the wonderful Colyer-Fergusson music building. You can see extensive photographs from the entire weekend on our special Pinterest board here.

The weekend saw two works premièred: one with the Chamber Choir by your loyal correspondent, the other with Concert Band in James Rae’s Platform One, which you can read about on their blog, ‘On The Beat’ here.

The Chamber Choir sang at the University Carol Service in Canterbury Cathedral on Monday night; find out how they got on in a feature over on the choral blog, Cantus Firmus, here.

University Chamber Choir

Wednesday’s festive lunchtime concert saw music from the Cecilian Choir, the Canterberries, and the debut performance from the Estates Team Choir; read about how it went (and there’s even some footage too…) on Cantus Firmus here.

The Estates Team Choir

And finally, members of the University community and friends gathered in the chilly night to bid a musical farewell to the term at ‘Carols Round The Tree.’

Image: Jim Higham

We’re taking a break for Christmas, but will be back again in the New Year to report on all the events we’re lining up for next term through to the week-long Summer Music in June; it’s going to be an exciting period. Festive good wishes to all our readers: see you in January.

Notes on Music

In memorian: Jonathan Harvey and Dave Brubeck

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The musical world has lost two giants this week; British composer Jonathan Harvey has died at the age of seventy-three, and American jazz pianist and composer Dave Brubeck, aged ninety-one.

Jonathan HarveyHarvey, who has suffered from motor-neurone disease for some time, will be remembered as the composer of music, often clothing instrumental and orchestral textures in a tapestry of electronics, that maps new worlds of deeply spiritual and sonic, almost mystic, contemplation, nowhere more so than in one of my favourite pieces, one of his very late works, Messages.

From the eletronics-and-bells of Mortuos plango, vivos voco to later works such as The Madonna of Winter and Spring which cracks open like Stravinsky’s Rite, or the meditative breathing ensemble in Tranquil Abiding, Harvey’s music combines a deep religious sense (his outlook embraced both Christianity and, later, Buddhism) with a unique musical language, one with a wonderful ear for ravishing sounds. (There’s a very moving interview with The Guardian‘s Tom Service that appeared in January this year, which you can read here).

Dave Brubeck will forever be remembered for Take Five, a recording graced with the liquid tone of saxophonist Paul Desmond. Classically trained, his music invested jazz in the 50’s and 60’s with classical techniques, including a mischevious delight in unusual time-signatures.

Here’s the band making 7/8 popular in Unsquare Dance:

Both will be much missed.

Notes on Music

Head down until the weekend

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We’re almost mid-way through the final rehearsals for the two Gala concerts coming up across this weekend; programmes have been signed off to the Print unit, final tests are being run on the acoustic curtains in the concert-hall, and the Christmas tree in the foyer went up at the end of last week, so that’s the key features dealt with.

Concert and Big Bands are about to rehearse in an hour or so for the last time on the James Rae commission, Chamber Choir raised the roof of the concert-hall in exuberant fashion last night, and Chorus and Orchestra will come together tomorrow night in Orff’s epic Carmina Burana.

Hot on the heels of the two concerts, there’s also the University Carol Service on the Monay, for which the Chamber Choir will be providing some of the carols; and then there’s the Estates Team Choir lunchtime debut on Wednesday lunchtime, with the Cecilian Choir and The Canterberries also singing; and then Carols Round The University Christmas Tree on Wednesday evening, together with the University Brass Ensemble.

Thursday: and relax… See you at some point before then…

Keeping It Real: reviews.

Brilliant Brodsky show Ravel’s true Modernist colours

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Last Friday night’s visit from the Brodsky Quartet was eagerly awaited for two very special reasons; not only was it their chance-driven ‘Wheel of 4-Tunes’ concert celebrating the group’s fortieth birthday, it was also the first formal concert in the new Colyer-Fergusson concert hall.

The Brodsky Quartet in the new concert-hall

The programme, chosen on the night by the spin of the wheel, included turns (no pun intended!) from Professor Keith Mander, a member of the public, Music Society Secretary and cellist Aisha Bové, and our very own Sophie Meikle. The pieces the wheel chose were by Piazzolla, Barber, Golijov, and Ravel, and displayed the quartet in their customary eclectic form, whether tango-ing in idiomatic style with Piazolla or exquisitely painting the famous ‘Adagio’ from Barber’s String Quartet.

The final piece in the concert was Ravel’s String Quartet, and it was here that the Brodsky’s revealed their final masterstroke; equally robust and rainbow-hued, Ravel’s piece was shown, in the wider context of the other pieces which had appeared in the programme, to be a modernist piece, bristling with harmonic dissonances, spiky textures, sudden changes of mood and pace, and bold gestures that are often obscured by performance that prefer to embrace Ravel’s Impressionist tendencies. Whilst the quartet was fully alive to the rich and exotic harmonies and sinuous melodic lines that give Ravel this label, they also brought out Ravel’s more striking characteristics in a performance that drew fierce applause from a delighted audience.

Music Society Secretary, cellist and soprano Aisha Bove spins the Brodsky wheel