Category Archives: Notes on Music

The philosophy of music: or the music of philosophy ?

Anthem for Kent for HeartKent Radio: part Two

Since we last spoke, you and I, Your Loyal Correspondent has been busy making good on his rash promise to create a choral arrangement of the Anthem for Kent, which presenters James and Becky broadcast on HeartKent Radio a few weeks ago, and which I thought on Tuesday might work as a choral piece.

Since then, with brow furrowed and wielding quill and parchment, the arrangement has been written and type-set, and is here unveiled for the first time; the University Cecilian Choir will be taking a first look at it in rehearsal later today.

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This stirring, epic hymn to the glories of the county will resound around Colyer-Fergusson Hall this afternoon; prepare for the earth to move…

 

Anthem for Kent for HeartKentRadio: part One

Early risers may have caught Your Loyal Correspondent live on air this morning, talking on Heart Kent Radio about the Anthem for Kent which presenters James and Becky have put together.

This stirring, majestic eulogy to the glories of the county – think Elgar and Walton – celebrates its Roman roads, its White Cliffs, as a ‘Garden of England green,’ and I rashly suggested that what better than a choral arrangement of the piece sung by the University Cecilian Choir ? A piece about the county sung by the county’s University seemed a great idea whilst listening to it in my car in the white-heat of the school run a couple of weeks ago, a thought I carelessly voiced out loud and to which my children immediately yelled ‘WE DARE YOU!’

Kent_Anthem_early_draftSo, here we are; I’ve now made a start on converting the piece to a full arrangement for mixed choir, which the Cecilian Choir will then need to learn. We’ll keep you posted as to how it’s progressing. It’s my children’s fault…

Who knows, maybe a performance in the Royal Albert Hall, anyone ?!

Revolution, dreams, dance and desire: annual Colyer-Fergusson concert next week

The mightiest orchestra the University Music department has ever assembled will gather next week, as the Chorus and Symphony Orchestra come together for a revolutionary tale of dreams, dances, hallucinations and desire in Canterbury Cathedral on Saturday 5 March.

Under the incisive baton of Susan Wanless, the Orchestra will perform one of the most exciting, revolutionary pieces in the repertoire, Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique, a story of hopeless passion, unrequited love and hallucinogenic visions, with its famous ball scene, the March to the Scaffold and terrifying final bacchanalian revelry of sorcerers and witches. In the immortal words of conductor Leonard Bernstein – ‘Berlioz tells it like it is. You take a trip, you wind up screaming at your own funeral.’

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Photo: Emma M during a lenthy tacet section for the harp

The second half of the concert brings in the University Chorus for a performance of Beethoven’s Mass in C, with four outstanding soloists Sally Silver, Kiri Parker and University alumni Andrew Macnair and Piran Legg.

Susan  Wanless is particularly excited at the prospect of unleashing Berlioz’s masterpiece in the Cathedral in the annual Colyer-Fergusson concert, always one of the highlights of the University year. ‘To present such spectacular pieces, complete with off-stage instruments and massive orchestral forces, will be thrilling for both the performers and audience alike!’

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Photo: Phoebe H when she should have been playing the clarinet…

The Orchestra has been hard at work industriously rehearsing for next week’s epic performance, and the concert promises to be an occasion not to be missed: tickets and details online here. Prepare to be led on a whirlwind of love, death and dance next week…

Vivaldi ‘Gloria’ to form centrepiece of Minerva Voices’ Crypt Concert next week

Vivaldi’s enduringly popular Gloria forms the centrepiece of the annual Crypt Concert at Canterbury Cathedral next week, in a performance for upper-voices by Minerva Voices.

P1110049 - CopyFresh from its concert at Studio 3 Gallery last week, the University’s auditioned upper-voices chamber choir will bring the Crypt to shimmering life on Friday 26 February with Vivaldi’s masterpiece, in a programme that also explores repertoire from the medieval to the present day. The first half of the concert will include works by Hildegard von Bingen, Mozart and Brahms, as well as Veljo Tormis’ filigree Spring Sketches and Bob Chilcott’s radiantly colourful Song of the Stars. It’s a terrific opportunity to hear Vivaldi’s radiant, celebratory Gloria in an upper-voices edition which may well have been familiar to audiences during Vivaldi’s lifetime, written as it was for the young voices of the Ospedale della Pietà in Venice.

The Cathedral Crypt is a wonderfully evocative venue in which to perform, and the Choir is eagerly anticipating the opportunity to fill the sonorous space with such a richly-hued programme; join us on a voyage charting choral music across the centuries and Vivaldi’s crowning glory, in the magical surroundings of the Cathedral Crypt next Friday at 7.30pm. More details online here.

Student lunchtime concert next week: Radiance Trio

Next Tuesday, the concert-hall will host an informal lunchtime concert given by the Radiance Trio, led by first-year Music Scholar and violinist, Lydia Cheng.

Radiance TrioThe Radiance Trio was formed in the summer of 2013 by violinist, Lydia Cheng (University of Kent), cellist, Angel Ji (University of Toronto), and pianist, Marcus Chiam (University of Toronto) after their trio debut of Butterfly Lovers at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China. The name is taken from the debut composition with the same title by the trio’s pianist and composer, Marcus Chiam.

During their music tour to China in 2014, they volunteered and performed at the Tsinghua University Hospital as well as a local Beijing orphanage in China, and gave performances in various venues including the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.  In 2014, the ensemble entered its first ever competition under the tutelage of Mr. Ding Huang and received scholarship from the Ontario Provincial CMC Committee for their performance as national finalists in the Canadian Music Competition. Radiance Trio currently continues to work with the expert coaching of Mr. Ding Huang in Toronto.

The concert is on Tuesday 16 February at 1.10pm, and features Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio and Butterfly Lovers; admission free, find out more on the group’s Facebook Event page here.

Two lunchtime concerts next week

A brace of lunchtime concerts to enliven your working day next week; on Wednesday (10th Feb), the award-winning quintet, Total Brass, comes to Colyer-Fergusson Hall at 1.10pm; and then on Friday (12th Feb), Minerva Voices – the new upper-voices chamber choir – explores the dialogue between choral music and art in the new exhibition at Studio 3 Gallery over in the Jarman building as the #EarBox series returns.

More details about both events online here.

Don’t rain on my ‘Parade’

Toi toi toi to all the cast and crew involved in the Music Theatre Society’s production of Parade, which is currently on at the Marlowe Studio Theatre; today is the double-whammy of matinee and evening performance, and here are the pit-band (well, wing-band might be more appropriate!) at the dress rehearsal yesterday, conducted by recent graduate, Michael Sosinski.

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Break a leg, guys!

Sound thinking: new experimental festival in Folkestone next week

There’s a feast of experimental sounds, live music, spoken word performances and more coming to Folkestone next weekend, as the seaside town presents a brand new two-day festival, Profound Sound, across a variety of venues.

Friday 12 February sees a collection of premieres from the Montrose Composers’ Club, led by local composer Anna Braithwaite, whilst Asda – yes, you read that correctly! – will play host to LIFTED, an installation for choir and beat-boxer by Emily Peasgood which premiered at the Turner Contemporary recently.

The festival also offers site-specific sound-installations, spoken word performances and live music; the Quarterhouse will also welcome a Panel Discussion addressing the future of DIY spaces and how they can foster new creative ideas. Folkestone will be buzzing. Probably quite literally.

Find out more about the festival online here.