The philosophy of music: or the music of philosophy ?
There’s only three days to go until we gather in The Gulbenkian to sing Handel’s rousing ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ for Children in Need.
Thursday, 1.10pm in the Gulbenkian Theatre: even if you’ve never sung before, just bring your voice, enthusiasm and a donation as University musicians and members of the community join to raise money for a very special cause. More details online here.
If you can ‘bear’ it…
Acclaimed international pianist Benjamin Frith returns to the Gulbenkian Theatre next Monday, to perform Mussorgsky’s mighty Pictures at an Exhibition.
In its original version for solo piano, this epic showpiece takes the listener on a musical odyssey through a series of paintings by the composer’s friend, the artist and architect Viktor Hartmann, at an exhibition held to commemorate the artist’s early death at the age of only thirty nine.
From the menacing ‘Hut on Fowl’s Legs’ to the lively ‘Ballet of the Chicks in their shells,’ finishing with the grandiose ‘Great Gate of Kiev,’ the piece represents a dazzling display of virtuosity for pianists.
The concert, on Monday 14 November, starts at 1.10pm, and finishes at 1.50pm. Admission free, with a suggested donation of £3.
There will also be an opportunity to hear Ravel’s brilliant orchestration of the piece at the University’s Symphony Orchestra’s concert in December.
More details online here.
The executive at the helm of this year’s Medway Music Society has burst onto the scene in a vibrant fashion, brimming with ideas and a vision for the musical life at Medway.
We travelled to Medway yesterday to meet this year’s dynamic trio of Djack Mcdonnell (Vice-President and Treasurer, Music Technology), Clive Berry (Secretary, Engineering) and Ethan Sacré (President, Business), who are brim-full of plans for leading musical activities and events over the course of this year.
For these three, music lies at the heart of the student experience, on a campus which combines three universities – Kent, Canterbury Christ Church and Greenwich. In fact, two of the team are Kent students and the third is at Greenwich – a small glimpse of the co-operative Medway tripartite experience. Meeting Djack, Chris and Ethan, you’re immediately struck by their fiery enthusiasm for enriching the muscial life of all the students across Medway, and their vision for a vibrant society life.
Numbers in the Medway Music Society are rising steadily, and their musical life really got underway last week with ‘Rockaoke’ (read the Medwire review here, complete with photos). The whirlwind continues next week with the first heat in their ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition, competing for prizes including studio recording time, vouchers and performing opportunities.
The team, in true enterprising fashion, has demonstrated a sound business sense: it has arranged links with local music shops and services in the area, giving members of the Society discount opportunities at a range of stores.
”Campus life is very de-centralised,’ says Ethan, ”with students going into town in the evenings for their social life. And if you don’t go into town, you go to the Student Union by default.” The team aims to change this, by bringing events back to the Medway campus and encouraging students to come to gigs and shows. Spaces and venues are a challenge, they admit, but they are exploring potential spaces here and there, and have a wealth of flexible events lined up, from small-scale open mic nights to…well, I can’t say more.. . They are also aware of the importance of striking the right note at Open Days and during Freshers’ Week; of demonstrating to potential students that there is a student social life to be had at Medway. Plans are afoot to develop new ensembles as well, to cater for the diversity of musical interests that has come to Medway this year.
Follow the Medway Music Society on Twitter here and on Facebook here, and the University of Medway Student Association on Twitter here. You can also e-mail the Society directly by clicking here.
Having interviewed several Medway students this year, and reading the dialogue on their active Facebook page, it’s already apparent that the artistic side of life on the campus could potentially be very lively: the task now is to harness that energy and realise its potential. And if anyone were capable of doing just that, it would be this team. Prepare for the tide to turn….
I’m delighted to see that we’ve been given a double-page spread in the latest issue of the University magazine; the feature includes a review of last year’s Music Scholarship prize-winners; a focus on Humphrey Berney’s musical success after life at Kent; a look at the latest on the Colyer-Fergusson music building; and a look ahead to the last ever concert in Eliot Hall!
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The slightly damp weather this morning will be lightened with the forecast of some sunny music-making this afternoon, as some of our Music Scholars give their annual lunchtime recital in this year’s Canterbury Festival.
After weeks of rehearsals, the Festival Club will come alive at 1pm to the music of Gershwin, Saint-Saens, Delibes, Granados and more, as some of the stars of tomorrow appear today. We’re in the process of gathering all the logistical equipment together as you read this: music stands, copies of the programme, posh frocks for the sopranos (of course!) and all the other paraphernalia that accompanies a public performance.
See you at the Festival Club on St. Alphege Lane at 1pm; admission is free – last year’s concert was packed out, so make sure you get there early!
Several of the University’s Music Scholars will take centre stage in a lunchtime recital on Friday 28 October, as part of this year’s Canterbury Festival.
Talented singers and instrumentalists on the Scholarship scheme will present a programme rich in variety at the Festival Club on St. Alphege Lane, including instrumental music by Gershwin, Saint-Saëns and Bach, and songs and duets by Granados, Puccini and Delibes, accompanied by the Deputy Director of Music, Dan Harding.
There’s the chance to enoy a rare pair of duetting tubas, some well-known soprano duets, a dazzling firecracker for flute by Chaminade, and more.
Come and enjoy the buzz of the Festival Club, and hear some of the University’s top musicians in fine form. The recital starts at 1pm; admission is free.
Further details on-line here.
I’m delighted to see that the current Lunchtime Concerts series, now celebrating its ten-year anniversary of sponsorship with Furley Page Solicitors, is featured in the recent issue of EK One, the luxury bi-monthly lifestyle magazine for East Kent.
Flip to page 10 for the feature, including a photograph.
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Just to draw your attention to a couple of highlights on Radio 3’s iPlayer this week.
First up, the colossus of the saxophone world Wayne Shorter leads his quartet in a live session recorded at the Barbican earlier this month. Former Miles Davis sideman, one of the original members of fusion giants Weather Report, and a player who showed there could be life after Coltrane, this is Shorter’s first UK appearance for a number of years.
Also on iPlayer is a rarity, a piece from composer Alec Roth: his Departure of the Queen of Sheba, (1999) received its first broadcast in a concert with the Orchestra of the Swan in Loughborough last night. Roth has written some fantastic pieces: his Chinese Gardens for tenor and guitar is a miniature gem of immaculate refinement, whilst his choral work Shared Ground displays a rich harmonic language with sumptuous colour, with the occasional hint of Vaughan Williams.
Roth’s companion piece to Handel’s lively depiction of her arrival depicts the famous Queen and King Solomon meeting in the Garden of Earthly delights; Roth includes Handel’s theme in an altered fashion, and the work is scored for the same forces as Handel’s but includes a cor anglais. The emotional atmosphere of Roth’s work is far removed from the buccolic jollity of the Queen’s arrival, and instead is profoundly lachrymaic, with the oboe and cor anglais weaving heart-rending melodic lines in a tender dialogue over an almost minimalist accompanying texture.
The piece beings forty minutes in to the programme, and is preceded by a short interview with the composer.
Don’t miss either.
