Last Saturday morning saw me rolling up at Montgomery Hall just opposite the Oval – to learn how to do the minuet! Under the guidance of 18th century dance expert, Mary Collins (seen here in the underskirt that would have held up the full skirts of her dress at a ball) with assistant Kathy as her partner.
It is easy to forget how crucial a part dance played in 18th century music and social intercourse as the only time that a lady of any age could spend time alone with a gentleman who was not her husband, father or brother was on the dance floor. Although, compared to a smooch in a nightclub, minuets, cotillions and farandols were pretty chaste affairs, they none the less allowed for the pressure of a hand or a whispered compliment which would not have been possibe under the eagle eye of a chaperone.
Apart from performing and running classes such as last Saturday’s, Mary now teaches dance at both the Royal College and the Royal Academy – although it took her many years to persuade both august institutions that understanding how to play music to be danced to musicians needed to actually accompany dancers – so they also needed to teach students about dance!
Not, I fear, that The Vauxhall Band who played for us on Saturday were put to much of a test! Enthusiastic we may have been, expert we definitely were not. Here is a short clip of Mary and Kathy showing us how it should be done – and then us making a pretty poor fist of doing it…..
None the less, it was great fun – and if you get the chance either to attend one of Mary’s classes or to watch her perform, grab it!
Magnum Opus
From the Oval I headed off to St Giles Cripplegate where the Britten Sinfonia were staging this year’s composer showcase.
Britten Sinfonia run two programmes for new composers. Opus 1 which gives aspiring composers the chance to write a piece for a Britten Sinfonia chamber ensemble, take part in workshops and receive feedback from musicians and composer mentors. And Magnum Opus for more experienced composers to develop their skills in orchestral writing and to create concertos that will be performed as part of a Britten Sinfonia concert programme. This was what I attended.
And what an exciting and adventurous concert it was.
- An accordion concerto by Daniel Soley, played by Ryan Corbett – a revelation in terms of the versatility, power and yet the delicacy of the accordion.
- A concerto for Jazz, Scat Singer by Crystalla Serghiou inspired by the Stepford Wives. Jazz singer Emma Smith, rattled and battled with her ‘spick and span’ domestic programming in her desire to explore the world beyond her husband’s needs.
- And finally, a concerto, Chorus in Alto, for electric and acoustic guitar by David John Roche – written for Sean Shibe. And what an amazing piece that was – rock, metal, pop and classical all got a look in. Sean’s electric guitar thundered one moment and whispered the next – but always had you on the edge of your seat.
Keep your eye out for pieces by all of them.
Music for Passiontide
And finally, if you are free on Saturday week, 16th you might want to take yourself to St Mary-at-Hill in Lovat Lane (near where the Great Fire of London started in 1666…) for Howard Williams and Music at Passiontide.
The first half of the concert consists of the Choir of the 21st Century singing ‘musical contemplations following the readings on the last three days of Holy Week; Antonio Lotti three settings of the Cruxificus text in 6, 8 and 10 voices – and two of Heinrich Biber’s Rosary Sonatas, depicting Christ on the Mount of Olives and the Crucifixion itself. (These works for violin and continuo retain a very special place in the violin repertoire, not least on account of the particular string tunings – scordatura – that they require.)
The second half of the concert will consist of Domenico Scarlatti’s 8-part setting of the Stabat Mater uniquely rich in its concentrated 8-part polyphony, building to an inexorable climax.’
You can book at Eventbrite here.
Our upcoming concerts
Sunday March 17th – Highgate Society lunchtime concert.
Book here for Declan and Sophia – guitar and saxophone – jazz numbers by the likes of Pat Metheny sit alongside the tangos of Piazzolla and the folk-inspired music of Ciarán Farrell.
Monday April 8th
Book here for the Bassett Horn Ladies of the Vauxhall Band For more on this concert see this post about the basset horns, and this post about Vauxhall Pleasure gardens.
And do not delay too long as there are only a few tickets left.
Thursday 16th May
Declan Hickey will be back with us at Hampstead Lane for a solo guitar recital. For more details and to book, go here.
Sunday 26th May – Highgate Society lunchtime concert
Anna Scott sings and plays Americana classics. For more details and to book go here.
Leave a Reply