On this day, St Cecilia’s Day, we celebrate the patron saint of music, and this Friday the Chamber Choir will celebrate the start of the Advent season with a concert in Blean Church, Canterbury.
The Choir presents its annual ‘Music for Advent’ concert, with a candlelit sequence of music and readings to launch the beginning of the period of Advent. Combining traditional and modern carols, prose, poetry and the magnificent Advent antiphons, the programme is a meditation on the meaning of Advent and the message of the coming of the Christ-child.
You can follow the Choir’s rehearsals on its blog, ‘Cantus Firmus,’ which has charted our progress towards Friday’s performance.
The concert starts at 7.30pm; proceeds from the event towards the Church Restoration Fund and Blean School Playground Improvements. Ticket-sales and details on our concert diary online here.
Many thanks to everyone who came along to the Gulbenkian Theatre at lunchtime, and joined in to sing Handel and raise money for this year’s Children in Need appeal.
The Yellow Bear turned up and conducted the massed ranks of visitors and musicians in a rousing rendition of the ‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ whilst members of the Music Society charged around with buckets and balloons to take the collection.
After some lively warm-ups and a run-through of key moments in the piece, the performance was delivered with gusto and vibrant enthusiasm.
Pudsey with violinist Jo Pearsall
Afterwards, Pudsey was almost swamped by a crowd of eager…err… grown-ups all clamouring for a picture with the Great Bear: and not a child in sight!
Our thanks to Pudsey for coming along, to the Gulbenkian for throwing its theatre doors open to the massed and eager rabble, to the ever-enthusiastic Music Committee for being on hand to help (and rattle collection-buckets), and to everyone who turned up, made a donation, and took part. We raised £270 for a very worthy cause.
Keep an eye out on local BBC at 6.30pm and possibly 8.30pm tomorrow night: that’s all I’m saying…
Since Friday, the hoarding around the construction site of the new Colyer-Fergusson music building has taken on a different aspect – it now features several giant photographs taken by the illustrious photographic arm of the Music Department, Mick Norman.
Walking from the visitors’ car park to the Gulbenkian, visitors will be greeted with images of music in action – the images feature some of the Music Scholars performing – as well as information about music at the University.
Be My Guest: an occasional series featuring guest posts and contributions. This week, Music Society President Chris Gray reviews yesterday’s lunchtime recital by Benjamin Frith.
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Frothy Frith: Pictures a plenty!
Top brass: Chris Gray.
During the ever popular Lunchtime Concert series, sponsored by Furley Page, I sat and listened to what was an absolutely outstanding performance by Benjamin Frith of Mussorgsky’s Original Pictures at an Exhibition. The concert not only forward looking to a performance of Ravel’s orchestrated version by the University Symphony Orchestra, but also provided a warming and gratifying experience on an otherwise cold and bleak day on the Canterbury campus.
This iconic piece opens with a simple Promenade played at a quicker tempo than the ear is used to, having been a veteran of many interpretations of the Ravel orchestration. Frith provided a very lyrical and sensitive performance of this renowned motif. The movement was in two sections; the chorale opening bars and the rich density of the harmony to follow, and this was apparent in Frith’s playing as he offered two beautiful passages of playing. Throughout the concert, the pianist had a way of creating different timbres of sounds from the piano, which provided even greater colour throughout the performance.
The next movement, Gnomus, shows off the grotesquery of the toy nutcracker present in this picture. The piano was alive with stunning misshapen motifs that installed terror into the listener. Frith had a brilliant tendency to unleash fury without losing control of his instrument which was apparent throughout the performance.
Following another Promenade between pictures the piece progresses to Il Vecchio Castello which depicts an old castle by night. The continuous pedal note in the left hand imitates the sombre and distant nature of this movement, whilst the reminiscent playing certainly transported the listener to another land.
Once again the listener is transported via an assertive Promenade towards the next painting Tuileries based on a picture of the park of the same name. The dexterity in articulation and delicate tempi changes conveyed the playful nature of the children depicted in the painting. This was in stark contrast to the following movement Bydlo, a huge cart drawn by oxen. The power of the piano itself was apparent throughout this movement and the dynamical contrast reflected the passing of the cart; heavy and unwieldy the playing was a relentless trudging through the thick mud lining the cart’s route, and the dense chords in the left hand mirrored this.
Via a yet another Promenade, Mussorgsky reflects on the previous picture with a reflective and sombre recapitulation of the main theme. Ballet of the Chicks in their Shells lifts the oppressive feeling of the previous movement. Ben showed great skill in not only the speed of his playing but also the accuracy at which he danced across the ivories. It was a great interpretation and the tempi at which Frith played seemed perfectly natural and transported the listener into the gallery. The next painting follows on immediately into an argument between two Jewish gentlemen: Samuel Goldberg and Schmulye. The two characters were exhibited during the movement, with great dynamical contrast between the sections and the different personalities within the music. The next painting Limoges depicts a busy market place and a discussion between a group of women. Again Frith interpreted this brilliantly with dynamic busy playing and reflected the lively nature of the market place. A dark and dank Roman Catacombe is represented by a sheer mass of noise from the piano, daylight could be seen between the piano stool and the pianist himself(!), as the solid columns of sound emitted from the instrument.
Following on from this picture, Mussorgsky reflected on the loss of his close friend with a chant-like, haunting Promenade which leads to an ephemeral ‘Amen’ reminiscent of his friend’s rise to heaven. The penultimate painting The Hut on Fowl’s Legs is of a clock in the shape of the hut of Baba Yaga. This painting provided two distinct sections ranging from evil, demonic and massive playing representing the drama that surrounds the witch Baba Yaga, and the mysterious and suggestive aura that represents the sorcery of the witch.
An eddying chromatic scale propels the user into the Great Gate of Kiev, which is the manifestation of the whole piece. Magnificent spread chords imitate the tolling bells of the Great Gate and the theme returns as a trident triumphant tune very fitting as a memorial to Mussorgsky’s great friend.
As an orchestral player, I felt the piece lacked body, which was probably due to the piano, and the fact that Ravel wrote such a wonderful orchestration of Mussorgsky’s original work. However this did not detract from the simple fact that this was an outstanding performance by a genuinely talented performer. Benjamin Frith transported us to Mussorgsky’s side as he walked around the gallery, and this concert will go down in history for me as an incredibly important one. Not only did it provide an insight into Mussorgsky’s original pursuance of timbre, dynamic and tempi and will prove invaluable to my experience as an orchestral tuba player playing this piece as part of the University Symphony Orchestra.
I hope the next concert is good, it has got a lot to live up to!
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.
Over on ‘Cantus Firmus,’ the Chamber Choir is preparing for its first concert commitment this year, the Advent concert in Blean – this week’s post sees the Choir developing a mixed-formation ensemble sound… Whilst on ‘Playing Up!‘ the tuba-playing Society President Chris Gray muses on the impact of last weekend’s workshop with the Symphony Orchestra. The Medway Music Society also had the first round of their epic ‘Battle of the Bands’ which kicked off in Coopers on Tuesday night.
Next week, on Thursday 17 November, the Gulbenkian Theatre opens its doors at 1.10pm for a very special musical event: the chance to sing the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ from Handel’s Messiah, to raise money for this year’s Children in Need.
Even if you’ve never sung before, or don’t read music: come along and bring your voice and enthusiasm (and a donation!), and take part.
Rumour has it that a certain Yellow Bear may also be making a special appearance…
Join up on the Facebook Event here: join the Music Department and the Gulbenkian Theatre, and come and support a worthy cause. See you there!
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.
Hartmann: Catacombs
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.
The Choir presents its annual ‘Music for Advent’ concert, with a candlelit sequence of music and readings to launch the beginning of the period of Advent. Combining traditional and modern carols, prose, poetry and the magnificent Advent antiphons, the programme is a meditation on the meaning of Advent and the message of the coming of the Christ-child.
If you can ‘bear’ it…
