CANTABILE with Molly Townson & Richard Eldridge

Guestling Church Saturday 7 July

‘More’ because last years’  Songs for a Summer Evening was so popular, ‘Cantabile’  the musical term  for singing sweetly, which is exactly what  Molly Townson’s fifteen sopranos, mezzos and contraltos did, filling Guestling’s historic edifice with music ancient and modern.  Not only sweet, however.  Spirited and softer by turns were the melodies penned by composers six hundred years ago and their counterparts today.

With Richard Eldridge’s unobtrusively supportive piano accompaniment and Molly giving the ensemble the assurance of her expertise the result was thoroughly appreciated by a capacity audience.

Elgar always gives us ‘a good tune’ as he revealed in As Torrents in Summer, and My Love Dwelt in a Northern Land.  Back-tracking to the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, 1570’s Sister Awake and 1557’s Sweet Nymph, Come to thy Lover were madrigals written to be sung without instrumental accompaniment. Sixteenth century pop songs?

From our great-grand-parents’ era came Song of Shadows, music by Essex-born Armstrong Gibbs, words a poem by Walter de la Mare, the two having a prolific working partnership, reverting to the traditional with Long Time Ago.

The guest artiste is invariably a ‘household name’ performer rarely in the first flush of youth.  This guest artiste was very different, Molly recognising her potential four years ago when aged seven she declared her favourite composer to be Mozart.  In a gold sequined dress and with Molly accompanying Katie Wren delighted the audience with lullabies by Schubert, Hugh Roberton and who else? Mozart.

The first half ended with Albert Malotte’s tuneful arrangement of the Lord’s Prayer.

The ever-popular Amazing Grace opened the second half, followed by four spirituals from the choir, before Molly revealed another string to her bow by diffidently introducing two of her own poems, both different, both delightful. The first reflected her thoughts on seeing a bed of anemones, then a host of bluebells in Guestling Wood, and the second, a graphic account of a visit to Canterbury.

Howard Goodall’s Love Divine and John Rutter’s Gaelic Blessing gave the choir the opportunity to show their prowess in modern mode.       

The  Reverend John Burgess thanked Molly and all concerned on behalf of Guestling St Laurence Church, the proceeds going to the Restoration Fund, before the evening closed on John Rutter’s gentle benediction, The Lord Bless You and Keep You. MW                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

Etchingham Music Festival Thursday 12 July

The rain came down in torrents but Etchingham Festival’s devotees were not going to let that deter them from their annual treat by the Festival’s Patron Peter Katin whose expertise filled the ancient village church as aassuredly as it has filled concert halls from Carnegie Hall to the Melbourne Symphony.

Schubert was incredibly prolific, particularly considering his short life – he died aged only thirty-one.  The three Impromptus which opened the evening varied in approach.. The first in A flat, was contemplative, almost as though he had premonitions. The second in B flat was lighter, more familiar, the third in E flat varied from a serious opening note to a brighter finale. Beethoven is not a name immediately associated with Peter’s programmes yet the first notes of the Grande Sonata Pathétique emerged with high fidelity definition and total dedication. Slowly, solemnly as this was penned at the time when the composer was losing his hearing, then this changed. It grew lighter, brighter, the second movement a song without words, the third with moments of rapture falling away to a solemn finale.   Claude Debussy’s delightful Children’s Corner Suite of contrasting short pieces which opened the second half ranged from a lullaby through a serenade to a doll to dancing snowflakes and the finale of the Golliwog’s Cakewalk. All charming and painting a miniature in a few bars. Why is only this last regularly heard?   

To close were two works by the composer for whom the interpretation of his works Peter is justly world-famous, Chopin’s Nocturne in D flat and the No 3 Ballade in A flat minor. 

A sudden thought – has Peter in common with we lesser mortals a preference for flat keys above sharps? (A flat, B flat etc E flat etc rather than G major, D major, A major etc.) Perish the thought!  A secret which Peter keeps well and truly hidden. What does it matter as long as he continues to delight us with his genius? MW