Chamber Music Notes Editorial Group: Chris Bradshaw, Leon Levy,
Jane Sufian (editor), Walter Rudeloff
TheLCMS ISSUE 8AUTUMN2013NewsletterCHAMBER MUSIC NOTES
65
Members’ Voices
Shared Love of Music
Madeleine and I met in 2002. In fact,it was our shared love of
music thathad brought us together.Independently, we had each booked
aplace on the same Martin RandallDanube cruise. The holiday
almostnever happened, because 2002 was ayear of heavy flooding
affecting many ofthe rivers in south central Europe. Butat the last
minute the sun came outand stayed out, and the cruise wassaved. Had
there been yet anotherwet weekend that August, probably wewould
never have met. From thisprovidential beginning, we were
drawntogether during that holiday weekexperiencing Schubert’s
Austria, andfinding that we shared many otherinterests in
common.
Madeleine comes from aninternational background, with anAustrian
father and South Africanmother, both of whom were steeped
inEuropean culture. When the familymoved from Australia to live in
London,Madeleine was widely exposed toconcerts in the 1960s and
1970s, andrecalls many famous performances—theiconic Klemperer
Beethoven symphoniesseries being just one example.
My own background was rather lessexotic. My early years were
based inNorwich, but involvement with thatcity’s concert scene, and
itsGramophone Society, fuelled myinterest in music. I spent five
years inthe 1960s qualifying as an actuary,during which time I
listened to andrecorded huge quantities of BBC ThirdProgramme
output on a primitive reel-to-reel tape recorder,
graduallyassimilating a wide concert repertoire.This has continued
to expand as mymusic collection has grown ever larger.
During this voyage of discovery, Ihave unearthed more and
moreforgotten music from the unheraldedcontemporaries of the major
composerswho are household names. CDs coverthis repertoire very
comprehensively,but regrettably almost none of itfeatures in the
live concert world oftoday. The need for promoters tosecure ‘bums
on seats’ and thereluctance of musicians to learnunfamiliar scores
that will rarely, if ever,
receive an opportunity for liveperformance means that there is a
vastquantity of under-rated music, most ofwhich is unknown to
musicians, letalone the public. Of course, there ismuch that does
not justify revival, butthere are many neglected pieces thatdo
merit an occasional hearing.Vaughan Williams likened this quest
tolooking for the diamond in the dung-hill. The dung-hill is large,
but thereare certainly some diamonds in there.
In this respect, there is littledifference of principle between
musicand other branches of the arts. In anart gallery, or in the
library, we can beexposed to acknowledged masterpiecesas well as to
the less familiar. Theprocess of comparison sharpens ourcritical
judgement. John Ireland oncesaid that he was a third-rate
composer,but longed to be second rate.Extending the analogy, the
Himalayasare greater than the Alps, which in turnare greater than
the Scottish Highlands.But tourists are not discouraged
fromvisiting Switzerland or Scotland.
Happily LCMS, with its need tocreate a weekly programme during
theseason, does provide its members witha very broad repertoire,
and also ahealthy input of contemporary music,which is accessible
through PeterFribbins’ wide connections. Thisenriches the product
offering that wemembers can, and do, enjoy.
Madeleine’s and my musical lifetogether has taken us to quite a
fewmusic festivals, in the UK and mainlandEurope. We have been
regularparticipants at the Orpheus andBacchus music experiences in
France, atwhich we have met several LCMSmembers, most notably our
goodfriends Leon and Vivien Levy, andseveral more, including Chris
Bradshaw,Walter Solomon, Margaret Cunningham,Neil Johnson and
Andrew Rix.
Like most emigrés from ConwayHall, we enjoy the acoustics,
comfortand convenience of Kings Place, andthe early start (and
finishing time) forthe Sunday evening concerts. FromFrance and
elsewhere, we have becomepersonally acquainted with several ofthe
artists and ensembles that play forus. To hear musicians we have
metelsewhere delighting LCMS audiences isalways a special pleasure.
TheChilingirian and Wihan Quartets, theGould Piano Trio, and Yuri
Zhislin withhis lovely wife, Natalia—to name just afew –have become
regulars in ourconcert lives, their musicianship andfriendship
enriching the experiencesthat Madeleine and I share. TheLCMS/Kings
Place environment has thusbecome an essential cornerstone of
ourcultural life together. Long may thisremain so.
David Barker
Photo
Welcome!A warm welcome to this issue of London ChamberNotes and
to the upcoming 2013/14 season. Asalways, when it comes time to
write this message,I find myself looking back with pleasure to the
last season at the same time that I anticipate withexcitement the
future one.
Most of you will have your own favouritememories of the past
season, be they musical,social, artistic or personal. Many of you
will havenoticed the man who jumps up just before theinterval and
just before the end of each concert totake photos of the artists as
they receive theirapplause. If you do not know, that man has
beenHorst Kolo, our wonderful webmaster, and hisphotos have
enlivened our website, which hecreated. Sadly, Horst retired from
that role at the
end of last season. I want to record our enormous thanks to him
for all he has donefor us over the last seven years to make our
website so dynamic and up to date.Happily, Horst is a member of the
LCMS, and assures me that we will continue to seehim and his wife
Sue regularly at our concerts. Our new website should be up
andrunning around August.
Reflecting the LCMS programme for the autumn, this issue of the
newsletter is anintriguing blend of past, present and future. Here
you will find William Drabkin revealinghow he completed Haydn’s
two-movement quartet fragment Op.103. Chris Bradshawchats to Barry
Goldensohn, whose latest book of poetry was inspired by a lifetime
oflistening to music. Stuart MacRae, whose ‘String Quartet No. 1’
will be given itspremiere by the Maggini Quartet at the LCMS
concert on 1 December, answers questionsabout himself and his
compositions. A piece on the pre-concert foyer series highlightstwo
of the young ensembles that have played in the series, inspiring us
for the future.
Of course, there is more, including Peter Fribbins’ ‘Behind the
Notes’ highlights ofthe exciting concerts of the new season. I
cannot resist mentioning that Peter’s latestCD, ‘The Moving Finger
Writes’, has continued to receive laudatory reviews. It was aMay
2013 Pick of the Month (http://cdhotlist.com). It is indeed “an
excellent disc full ofsurprises” and, like another reviewer, in
‘Fanfare’, I “commend it to your attention.”
The trustees of the LCMS have been directing our minds to the
future of the Society,as we deliberate a Strategy for its
development over the next few years. As part of thisprocess, we
invite you to let us know how you would like to see the LCMS
develop andwhat ideas you have for making that happen. David
Barker, who has contributed theMembers’ Voices article in this
issue, has a definite view of LCMS. Do you share it?The best way to
contribute your views at this stage of the process is to write to
us viaour Administrator: [email protected]
Neil JohnsonExecutive Chairman
Completing Haydn’s Quartet, Op 103
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(ADVERTISEMENT)
On December 8, the LCMS concertgiven by the Allegri Quartet
willinclude William Drabkin’s completionof Haydn’s two-movement
quartetfragment Op. 103, which ProfessorDrabkin prepared in 2009
for theHaydn bicentenary. Here he gives usa brief background to
Haydn’s workon Op. 103, as well as anexplanation of how he came to
writethe two missing movements. He willexplore this further in a
pre-concerttalk on the evening of the concert.
In the spring of 1799, the year inwhich Opus 76 was
published,
Haydn began working on a new set of six string quartets for
PrinceJoseph von Lobkowitz. He had finished two of these by the
summerof that year, but then put the quartets aside to devote
himself toother projects, including masses for the name day of
PrincessEsterhazy and, above all, the composition and performance
of his lastoratorio, ‘The Seasons’.
When he returned to the quartets in 1802, at the age of 70,
hishealth was in decline, and he found composing original
worksincreasingly difficult. He began a new quartet from the
inside, so tospeak, by composing a Minuet (a task he found less
taxing) and thenan Andante grazioso to precede it; still, it took
him nearly a year tofinish these two movements.
Realising that the project would never be completed,
Haydnpublished the two completed quartets separately. (These are
hisOpus 77 quartets.) Though he hoped to complete the third, he
nevergot beyond making a few sketches for a first movement; the
Andanteand Minuet were published in 1806, together with a quotation
fromone of his part-songs whose text explains why the work was
notfinished (‘Gone is all my strength/old and weak am I’):
Two of the first-movement sketches came to light in the
late1990s. The key and time signatures in the first of these
indicate thatit is for the beginning of a movement, in D minor:
while the second outlines the build-up towards a perfect cadence
inthe relative key, F major.
Completing the first movementTaken together, these sketches can
best be understood asrepresenting moments in the first movement of
the quartet. If so, thetask of completing this movement could be
divided into thefollowing, smaller assignments:
1 Connect the first sketch to the second;
2 Complete the texture of the second sketch;
3 Continue the second sketch with music leading to a double bar,
marking the end of—and setting up a repeat of—the “exposition” of a
sonata form;
4 Write a “development”, i.e., a harmonically unstable section
that makes use of ideas from one or the other sketch, or from
both;
5 Write a “recapitulation”, which comprises the following:
a) an exact repeat of the first sketch,b) a different connection
between the two sketches, leading toc) a transposition of the
second sketch, to lead to a cadence
on D,d) a new continuation of the second sketch, leading to the
end
of the movement.
Admittedly, the surviving material is so scant that there
areinnumerable ways of performing this set of tasks. And the other
67quartets by Haydn, though they tell us much about his style, are
onlyof limited help in realising the above plan, since Haydn
himselfworked out his sonata forms with extraordinary variety. To
be trulyHaydnesque, an opening movement for Op. 103 ought to sound
quitedistinct from Haydn’s other quartet first movements.
Composing a finaleTo complete Op. 103 as a four-movement work,
one begins with atabula rasa: no sketches survive for a finale. I
chose to write a fugue,because this would provide a link to Haydn’s
earlier quartet fugalfinales, in Op. 20 and Op. 50. In doing so, I
recognized that Haydn’searlier efforts suggest a move away from
strict counterpointthroughout—most evident of all in Op. 20 No. 6
in A—towards agenre in which a fugal beginning gives way to a less
strictlycontrapuntal continuation and conclusion. We see this not
only in Op.50 No. 4 in F sharp minor but also in the fugal end of
the firstmovement of Op. 76 No. 6 in E flat.
With this in mind, I began my finale for Op. 103with a strict
fugal exposition in D minor—thesubject is taken from the last of
Kreutzer’s violinetudes from the 1790s—and proceeded towardsever
more ‘homophonic’ textures. Where my Op.103/iv most departs from
its models is that it has itsown finale, so to speak: a Vivace that
introduces anew theme, that of the part-song quoted above.
Books‘The Listener Aspiresto the Condition ofMusic’ by Barry
Goldensohn. Fomite Press(www.fomitepress.com; alsoavailable at
www.amazon.co.uk).
What does music do for you? We maydaydream or nostalge about
happy orsad times; perhaps imagine ourselvesplaying an instrument;
we may put onour ‘critic’s hat’ and analyse theperformance; perhaps
dance or evenquietly doze. One of our members,Barry Goldensohn, is
inspired to writepoetry, and I have recently enjoyed chatting to
himabout his career and his book of poetry entitled, ‘TheListener
Aspires to the Condition of Music’.
The title refers to a quotation from Walter Pater(1835 – 1894):
“All arts constantly aspire towards thecondition of music,” and
indeed Barry writes a poemwhich exemplifies one aspect of this,
describing“Music as Civil Order” and “Outlaw Music.” It’s
anenigmatic and teasing phrase: does condition refer tosituation or
shape, state of being or theindispensable?
Barry was a teacher and critic in the States, andwas interested
in poetry from school and college days.He has taught history of
poetry as well as structure inwriting. Although the poems in this
book evince adeep empathy with music he did not himself have
amusical background in the technical sense. Membersof his family
were interested in dance and ballet,working with Merce Cunningham
and John Cage, buthis own response to music is perhaps emotional
andobservational: “The first violin, all of him, follows hisarm….”
“The face of the second violinist is UnendingPassion…,” “The
cellist grinds his teeth, clenches hisface in spasms of control….,”
“The violist sits andplays. Staid….”
The poetry is full of acute observations that Ithoroughly
enjoyed, like the contrast between the“tempestuous C# minor” and
“we turn, stand, bangour knees against the seats, fumble with our
coats...”for our return home.
There are many genres of music described in thisvolume, and I
asked Barry if he had a favouritecomposer, of course an almost
impossible question.He alighted on late Mozart and Stravinsky, but
with along list of many others. He finds other inspirationfrom
concert going, reading (he mentioned Yeats andDonne as ‘old
friends’), and in his search for the‘condition of music’ moves from
Bessie Smith, whosings “with vibrating throbs and wails about her
lostyellow dress,” to St. Pancras Old Church, where the“polyphony
in graduated voices …transcends rotepieties.” I liked the poem ‘The
Burmese Temple Bell,’which was inspired by the wonderful bell at
the BritishMuseum that will be familiar to many.
Another inspiration for Barry is his wife, Lorrie, forwhom he
wrote a moving piece when she was ill andhe was consoled by
Beethoven’s Quartet in G.
The poetry is adorned with some vivid illustrations,black and
white monoprints by Douglas Kinsey. Theyare full of movement and
grace, and perfectlycomplement this collection of poetry. We can
lookforward to Barry’s next book, which is currently
inpreparation.
Chris Bradshaw
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The 2012/13 season was our fifth in the new hall,and possibly
our most adventurous yet. I still havethe encore of the final
concert in my ears: theremarkable sound of Yuri Zhislin’s
arrangement of‘Moscow Nights’ as performed by the superbRussian
Virtuosi of Europe, moving effortlesslyfrom Tchaikovsky to jazz and
back again! It wasalso a season of great variety. It
included—aswell as many old friends—the entertaining,
periodtheatrical musicianship of Red Priest; and the firsttime the
LCMS has ever featured a brass quintet(the wonderful Fine Arts
Brass). It also brought us
the culmination of the popular Allegri
Quartet’sShostakovich-Beethoven series, amongst its many
highlights.
I think autumn 2013 offers an equally excitingprogramme: we have
the first three concerts in ournew London Chamber Music Society
InternationalQuartet Series, featuring quartets from Russia
(St.Petersburg Quartet), the Czech Republic (Martin
o
uQuartet), and Norway (Vertavo Quartet). All theconcerts present
highly distinctive programmes,and the second one also features the
wonderfulRussian-American pianist Olga Vinokur in SergeiTaneyev’s
majestic piano quintet from 1911.Further quartets from Germany,
France, andanother from the Czech Republic, complete theseries
after Christmas, with more to follow in 2014/15.
We have two piano trios in the comingautumn. In October the
wonderful Graffin,Demarquette, Blumenthal Trio (whom we lastheard
in 2010) presents a very interestingSchumann-Tchaikovsky programme
of 19th-centuryromantic ghosts. The following month, the
famousRosamunde Trio completes their survey ofBeethoven’s trios.
November also sees a concertof some of the finest music for wind,
withJapanese pianist Reiko Fujisawa and windprincipals from the
London orchestras taking uson a fascinating musical journey. A
welcomereappearance by the celebrated period violinistElizabeth
Wallfisch, joined by David Breitman onthe fortepiano, ends the
month in historicallyinformed performances of violin sonatas by
Bach,Mozart and Beethoven.
For quartets, in early December the MagginiQuartet offer us
Mozart, Mendelssohn and thepremiere of a new string quartet by
StuartMacRae. The following week, the Allegri Quartetbrings another
premiere, albeit of a very differentnature: the London premiere of
a Haydn quartet!
Professor William Drabkin has completed thefragments Haydn left
of the first movement of hislast quartet (the middle two movements
werepublished as Op.103), and has also supplied aspirited finale.
The Allegri Quartet programme also includes late string quintets by
Mozart and Brahms.
The concert on October 20th presents twoquartets in one, as the
celebrated ChilingirianQuartet is joined by some wonderful
stringsoloists to perform the Brahms G major sextet andthe Enescu
Octet. We are particularly grateful tothe Romanian Cultural
Institute for their generoussupport of this concert.
Our autumn season culminates on December15th with a chamber
orchestra: the very bestmusicians from Cambridge University
conducted bythe legendary Sir Roger Norrington in symphoniesby
Haydn and Mendelssohn and a beautifulBaroque cantata by Alessandro
Scarlatti.
Our first concert in 2014 (January 5th, so nottoo much champagne
on New Year’s Day, please)presents Brahms’ fabulous Piano Quintet,
with the Emperor Quartet and that wonderfulinterpreter of Viennese
romanticism, the pianistSarah-Beth Briggs.
Dr. Peter FribbinsArtistic Director
Peter Fribbins’ new CD,‘Dances & Laments’,including some
haunting pieces previously heard ata LCMS concert, isscheduled for
release inJuly 2013.
A Bit Like a Family
Martino was born in Cyprus, and hiscareer as a musician started
spectacularlyat an early age. He studied with hismusician father,
violinist and conductor,with whom at the age of six he was
alreadyplaying chamber music. He studied bothpiano and violin, and
at the age of eightplayed a Haydn piano concerto in public.Aged 12,
he conducted seven publicperformances of La Traviata and receivedan
offer to conduct the opera at La Scala.His father, perhaps wisely,
advised against this.
At 13, Martino won a scholarship toBedales School, and he looks
back on this,his first period in the UK, with greatpleasure. Three
years later, he won theLiszt piano competition and went on to
theRoyal Academy of Music, where he studiedpiano, violin and
composition.
Like many of his contemporaries tryingto make their way to the
top of the musicaltree, he found leading a normal young
lifeextremely difficult in the environment of asuccessful,
developing career and thecontinuous need for hard work.
After winning many prizes, hecompleted his studies in Vienna at
theState Academy. This was probably the onlyunhappy period of his
early life. The rigidapproach was not to his liking and he
soonreturned to the UK, where he found hisgreatest mentor, Gordon
Green.
Martino describes Green not only as asuperb teacher but also as
a great humanbeing. With the help of this influenceMartino’s career
took off. He went on tocompete in international
competitions,winning two, and finally made the pianothe basis of
his future career. At this stagehe was performing concertos and
recitalsrather than chamber music. He has sincerecorded the
complete works of Mozart,Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and
Janác̆ek.
So how did he enter the world ofchamber music for which Martino
is so wellknown now? It all started 30 years ago,when he met Daniel
Veis at a concert inwhich both were playing as soloists. Theysoon
formed a successful duo playing atconcerts and recording together
(includingnotably the complete works for piano andcello by
Mendelssohn).
The trio repertoire beckoned, but thisambition did not at first
seem feasible asDaniel was already playing in the Dvor̆ákTrio. Then
in 2002, after this triodisbanded, Ben Sayevich was identified asa
suitable violinist, and the Rosamunde Triowas born.
Why the ‘Rosamunde’? There are tworeasons. Martino has a special
affinity with
Schubert as he was the first pianist toperform and record all of
Schubert’s soloworks in one cycle, and Schubert’sIncidental Music
to Rosamunde was writtento accompany a play by Helmina von
Chézyentitled ‘Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus’.
At this point in our conversation, apotential problem became
clear. Themembers of the trio live in London, Pragueand New York,
which seemed to present adisadvantage to a closely knit
ensemble.Martino described how all three of them areso close
emotionally and musically thatgeography makes little difference.
Indeed,this adds to their freshness when they doget together, which
is usually for threeperiods each year for concerts, recordings,and
commissioning new works.
Martino’s taste in 20th-century music isperhaps a little
restrained, even thoughcomposers have written several works forhim,
with a preference for Bartók,Stravinsky and Tippett (whose
pianoconcerto he has recorded under Tippett),whilst the avant-garde
school “hasproduced few masterpieces”.
We discussed his philosophy ofperformance. A high standard of
playing isof course essential, but the performer mustfirst serve
the composer and communicatewith the audience by projecting ‘the
idiom’of the composer. The problem he sees withmany performers
today is that they aremore interested in projecting their
ownpersonality. It is not easy to serve thecomposer, following
directions in the scoreis not enough. One must get into
‘theessence’ of the language. This meanslistening to a wide range
of compositions,e.g., with Mozart, the operas as well as thechamber
and orchestral compositions.
Audiences must also be stimulated toget involved in the music.
He feels thatLondon audiences achieve this with theirserious
approach and informed alertness.He enjoys a similar environment in
Germanyand Austria.
And leisure time? Martino is a fullyconverted Londoner, loves
the theatre, andis a serious chess and badminton player aswell as a
watcher of sport, mainly footballand tennis.
Not only Martino but all three membersof the Rosamunde have
enjoyed a sparklingcareer so far, but Martino assured me thatthe
best from this Trio is yet to come. Weall look forward to that, in
particular thoseof us associated with the LCMS. The nextopportunity
for the LCMS to hear him willbe 3 November 2013.
Leon Levy Meets Martino Tirimo
Stuart MacRae’s ‘String Quartet No. 1’ will begiven its premiere
by the Maggini Quartet atthe LCMS concert on 1 December. Here
heresponds to questions about himself and hiscompositions.
Walter Rudeloff I see that much of yourmusic has specific
titles, such as ‘Hamartia’,‘Ancrene Wisse’, ‘Three
Pictures’.Presumably, these titles would indicate anextra-musical
source or direction. Does theString Quartet that LCMS are putting
on inDecember have an extra-musical subject orinspiration?
Stuart MacRae The ‘String Quartet No.1’borrows ideas from
Mendelian genetics.When I was writing it, I thought of parts ofthe
piece as if they were the generations ofa family, and the ideas and
musical motifs,or cells, were related to each other in thesame way
that different phenotypes of aspecies might be. To describe how
thisworks in more detail can be difficult, but Iwould take a short
section of music that I’dalready written (starting with the very
basicrepeating-note idea with which the piecebegins), and then
re-write it with one ormore characteristics altered.For example, an
idea that was originallyarco (bowed) might re-appear
pizzicato(plucked), and then, because it’s‘genetically’ different,
it quickly goes off inan alternative direction to the
original.Characteristics like speed, density, andregister were also
treated in this way, andmixed together, so that all the material
inthe piece is related, but not necessarilyheard in a clearly
linear order. So listeningto it might be a little like the way in
whichwe look at family trees, following onebranch at a time, then
jumping back (orforward) to another point from which wecan follow
another.
WR Does the British landscape ornature feature here (in the
quartet) at all,either as subject or inspiration?
SMR I think the first answer answers this inthe affirmative!
WR What convinced you to become acomposer?
SMR I had been composing in one form oranother before I had any
formal musicaltraining. During holidays I used to sit at
mygrandmother’s harmonium (which I nowhave in my house!) for hours
and make uppieces, really because I didn’t know how toplay anything
else. I began having pianoand flute lessons when I was 12, at
whichpoint I learned to read music. I startedtrying to write things
down immediately, butI didn’t finish a piece until I was 14. So
Isuppose I was always a composer; but fromthat point on, I knew I
wanted composingto be the thing I was going to do in life.Although
I didn’t know such a thing waspossible until I met living composers
for thefirst time. They were James Macmillan andPeter Maxwell
Davies, both of whom gaveme a lot of encouragement and
inspiration.
WR We at LCMS admittedly are not terriblyfamiliar with your
chamber music. Can youtell us a bit about your overall work in
thisgenre and how the quartet sits in relation tothe other
works?
SMR ‘String Quartet No. 1’ is the longestchamber work I have
written to date. I’vealways written chamber music; but althoughI
played in orchestras and sang in choirswhen I was younger, I’ve
never been anactive chamber musician. I think as a resultof that I
haven’t felt quite as ‘at home’ inthe genre in the past. But I’ve
graduallybuilt up quite a variety of chamber works,often with
slightly unusual combinations ofinstruments (these sometimes coming
aboutbecause of the requests of commissionersrather than my own
urges), from an early‘Piano Quartet’ and a string trio (titled
‘OneMan In His Time’) to a work for mixedsextet, ‘Motus’, which was
commissioned forthe Spannungen chamber music festival,and a
‘mini-concerto’, ‘Equilibrium’, for soloviola and five instruments.
I also wrote anearlier string quartet, but decided towithdraw that
piece as I didn’t feel inretrospect that it met the great
challengesinvolved in writing successfully for thatmedium!
Hopefully the new work will farebetter.
WR Would you describe the musicalstructure or content of the
quartet for us?
SMR I think I’ve described the structureabove, and I’d rather
not describe the formand its progress in a blow-by-blow fashion.But
the piece is made from the simplest of
building-blocks: a repeating note thatusually groups in
long-short pairs; and asimple alternating chord sequence. The
firsthalf of the piece is predominantly energetic,and there is a
longish slow section towardsthe end, where much of the earlier
tensionhas been dissolved. The piece has a shortchorale-coda, whose
relationship to the restof the piece is perhaps a little cryptic:
itbegins to explore certain strands of themusic that have been more
in thebackground, implying—to me anyway—thatan artificial
‘completeness’ is not necessary,in music as in nature.
WR Of the many composers who may haveinfluenced your
compositions is there one(or more) who is a more important
influenceto the quartet?
SMR The quartet doesn’t particularly relateto any one other
composer. As well as thecore repertoire, which I’m still slowly
gettingto know, I’ve familiarised myself with alarge number of
20th- and 21st-centurystring quartets, and most of them will
havehad some influence. I’m particularly fond of the string
quartets of Janác̆ek, Bartók,and Carter, but others (Ligeti’s
2nd,Holliger’s 2nd, Birtwistle’s ‘9 Movements for String Quartet’
and some of JamesDillon’s quartets) have made a strongimpression
recently.
WR Are there any other aspects regardingyour interest in chamber
music that mightbe of interest to our audience?
SMR Before I started writing the piece Iwent to see the Magginis
rehearsing Bridgeand Mendelssohn quartets, and thisexperience
certainly had a big influence onmy approach. I saw the way the
playersand their musical lines related to oneanother, with great
subtlety andcommunication and a constant passingaround of focus and
responsibility, robustyet delicate. It was great for me, as a
non-chamber musician, to be able to gain aninsight into the process
of this unique typeof music-making, and it helped me tounderstand
that a string quartet has to singwith one and many voices
simultaneously, aconstant interplay and a unified whole—abit like a
family, in fact!
London Chamber Music Society, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London
N1 9AG. Tel: 020 7014 2813 Registered Charity No. 1075787
www.londonchambermusic.org.uk
e:[email protected]
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Behind the Notes
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My next journey in this series of interviews took me backacross
the river to South London and Morley College—avenerable, highly
respected and still very flourishing adultacademic institution
founded in 1889 by the wealthy textilemerchant and philanthropist,
Samuel Morley. Here I metMartino Tirimo, pianist, conductor, child
prodigy, teacher andLCMS favourite.
Early arrivals on Sunday evenings have forsome months been able
to listen to ‘foyermusic’ on the lower ground level at KingsPlace.
This can comprise duets, song,string or wind ensembles, and can
beenjoyed in the informal bar area by all ages;indeed, a number of
toddlers have beencaptivated by seeing and hearing live music.
Hannah Cooke has taken on theorganisation of these groups.
Hannah has
been at Kings Place since January, helping Tanya Cracknell with
thecoordination of all the classical concerts in Halls 1 and 2, as
well as thefoyer performances. With her musical background (Hannah
is a singer)she is ideally placed to find us some excellent
musicians to accompanyour pre-concert drinks. Many of the groups
are just starting theirprofessional careers, and may well become
much more familiar to you inthe future.
Two ensembles who played in April were melothesia and the
AlaudaQuartet. Both have intriguing names, which turn out to be
intenselypersonal to the group. The name ‘melothesia’ refers to a
keyboardtreatise and collection of pieces which Matthew Locke
published in 1673.The first piece which the ensemble performed
together was a beautifulsuite of dances by Locke, rich in
counterpoint. The name not only recallsthe formal beginning of the
group’s playing together, but also the fluidityand spontaneity in
this work that they endeavour to capture in eachperformance. The
name ‘Alauda’ comes from the Latin for ‘lark’, and thequartet’s
first piece performed together was Haydn’s ‘Lark’, so it wasmost
appropriate that the group should take that name.
Both groups are quite young. The Alauda Quartet met as
Mastersstudents at the Royal Academy of Music and formed their
quartet in 2011.melothesia met in 2011 while performing with the
European UnionBaroque Orchestra (EUBO) and quickly found their
shared love of fusingdifferent national styles and temperaments
within the 17th and 18th centuryrepertoire. In this short period,
and in these fiercely competitive times,both have done
extraordinarily well.
melothesia have performed widely in the UK after a successful
seasontouring with the EUBO (which comprises young musicians from
acrossEurope). They are currently planning to make a recording,
potentially inSondershausen, as well as entering international
chamber musiccompetitions and performing in Germany and France. The
Alauda Quartethave performed in England, Spain and Italy, and
played at the St. Bury’sFestival during May. They will play
concerts in the Baltic in June 2013,and have been selected to take
part in the IMS Prussia Cove 2013.
Choosing repertoire can be problematic for new ensembles, but
thefoyer musicians play a wide variety of periods and composers and
seemto tackle the foyer acoustic with aplomb—chat, clink of
glasses, shuffle ofmovement, not to mention the cavernous space,
nothing fazes them!
The Alauda Quartet explore all periods and composers, not at
thisstage particularly specialising, but they have lately become
very interestedin contemporary music, which has exciting prospects
for them. One oftheir current interests is the development of AMA,
which is a projectcombining painting, music, composing and art, so
look out for news ofthat. melothesia love the versatility found in
the music of the 17th and18th centuries and are passionate about
historical performance. However,whatever the period or genre, they
search for the lesser-known pieces,offering quality music that is
often neglected. They enjoy compiling variedand thematic programmes
with the aim of ‘painting a picture’, resulting inperformances
which are high in energy and richly continental. These arebut two
of the ensembles who have played at the Kings Place foyer.
Bothcaptivated the audience, who appreciated the accomplished
playing in aninformal setting. More information on their future
plans can be found onwww.alaudaquartet.com and
[email protected]
Do keep supporting the young musicians who play before the 6.30
LCMS concerts.
Chris Bradshaw
Foyer Concerts
Getting to Know YouIntroducing members of the LCMS/Kings
Placecommunity.
Tom KellyStage Manager, KPMFSince graduating from the
RoyalAcademy of Music in 2010, Tomhas led a varied freelancecareer,
splitting his timebetween stage management and
performance. Inspired by his love for theatre and music aswell
as the diverse programming of Kings Placeand feeling of community
within the staff, Tomjoined the Stage Management team at KingsPlace
two years ago. As regular Stage Manager for the LCMS Sundaynight
concerts, Tom has the opportunity to listento some of the best
chamber music groups inthe world, inspiring him further still to
pursue acareer in musical performance.A cellist and founding member
of the HampdenQuartet, Tom can be seen regularly in concert inand
around London to critical acclaim by variouspublications, including
the Financial Times. Tom is no stranger to the recording
studioeither, having had the opportunity to feature onmany artists’
albums, including both of MercuryPrize winner Speech Debelle’s
albums—‘SpeechTherapy’ and ‘Freedom of Speech’—as well asvarious TV
and film features, including‘Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of
the DawnTreader’.In his spare time, Tom considers himself a bit ofa
film buff. He tries to visit the cinemaregularly, and his film
collection rivals that ofsome public libraries. He is a keen cook
and canoften be found serving three-course meals forhis friends and
family.
Ruth PitmanTrustee, LCMSThere was always music in herlife from
her beginnings.An early memory is of beingtaken by her father to
hearchamber music on a Sundayafternoon in a house in
Hampstead Village. That was certainly the startof her love for
that form of music making. Shealways sang, and so it was inevitable
that shewould go to music college. Also around thistime she started
to spend some of the summertaking part in Music Camp. An
importantinterest of hers is to expose and enthuse youngchildren to
music; music of all kinds, not onlychamber music.Her earliest
memories of Conway Hall are fromher late teens. And more recently
she attendedSunday evening concerts there with her latehusband.
(Unfortunately he wasn’t there whenLCMS moved to Kings Place.)
Since LCMS hasmoved to Kings Place she has continued to be aregular
member of the Sunday evening concerts.She was reluctant to become a
trustee of LCMSwhen asked, thinking she didn’t really know howshe
could contribute anything useful, butdecided to accept the
invitation and see how itwas. She is still wondering!
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