Southern Sinfonia - Lighting up 2013

 By Chris Billingham 

2013 has been a very special year for Southern Sinfonia. We have taken part in many educational projects, received amazing reviews and witnessed incredible musicians performing an array of thought-provoking and challenging pieces. The end of the year is the perfect time to reflect on these events and share some of the images associated with them. 

One of the first events of the year was a fascinating 
Café Concert with Sasha Calin (oboe) and Simon Lane (piano). With the support of our friends at Gardner Leader, Southern Sinfonia is able to provide unique lunchtime events in Newbury's wonderful venue, The Corn Exchange. As well as Sasha and Simon, 2013 Café Concerts also included a range of performances including a fascinating insight into violins from maker Phillip Brown and violinist Theresa Caudle, a stunning performance from Southern Sinfonia Leader Alexander Hohenthal and pianist Sally Goodworth, the educational and inspirational recorder ensemble The Flautadors, and a winter jazz performance from bassist Chris Hill, pianist Dave Newton and singer Heather Cairncross, as well as the always fascinating Dr Jill White who introduced performances from the stars of the Newbury Older Musician of the Year: 

This year our bi-annual Newbury Older Musician of the Year competion was held in June, at the stunning West Woodhay Garden Show. The competition was fierce but pianist Alan Fantom was our winner (with runner-up clarinettist Philip Shirtcliff), delivering mesmerising performances that had every judge impressed. The older musicians weren't the only ones given an opportunity to shine this year, with last year's stars of our Newbury Young Musician of the Year competition giving performances in our October concert, 'The romance of Brahms meets Britain's Britten': 

 

The concert featured powerful performances of Brahms' Fourth Symphony and Tragic Overture, as well as our young stars dazzling the audience with movements from Britten's piano and violin concertos. This concert was a personal favourite of mine, being only slightly eclipsed by June's 'Magical Mendelssohn and More!' which also took place in St Nicolas Church. The orchestra performed with Downe House Junior Choral and two local actors... Arguably, this concert is memorable for me because I was one of those actors! 

                                                                 

Downe House Junior Choral and I weren't the only performers with whom Southern Sinfonia performed this year. A number of other concerts with talented individuals and societies also took place, including, amongst others, the City of Bath Bach Choir, Exeter Festival Chorus, the Old Royal Naval College Chapel Choir, Bournemouth Symphony Chorus, Henley Choral Society, Southern Voices, Romsey Choral Society, Windsor & Eton Choral Society and Newbury Choral Society.

With renowned conductors including David Hill, Howard Goodall and Ralph Allwood, the concerts took place in a number of spectacular venues including St. Nicolas Church, The Lighthouse, Poole, Southwell Minster, Winchester Cathedral, Wells Cathedral and the School Hall at Eton College. We performed to large audiences and received wonderful feedback:

Education is always at the heart of Southern Sinfonia's work.. Amongst many events in 2013, our touring education project 'On Dover Tracks' saw Luke Daniels (melodeon) and John Dipper (fiddle) joined by musicians from around the country. Together they created 12 contemporary folk songs with composer Anna Rice. These songs celebrated the historical and cultural history of the many drove roads in Wiltshire and West Berkshire. As well as this, Helen Fitzgerald (cello), Richard Smith (violin) Bruce Wilson (viola) and Katie Neaves (violin) also entertained and inspired the many children who watched their recital as part of the Portsmouth Music Hub. 

In the wider musical world, 2013 has celebrated a number of anniversaries of many great composers. These include Wagner, Verdi and Britten, the last of whom we remembered in our October concert (above).
We at Southern Sinfonia attended some wonderful concerts too, including The Proms 2013, the Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall, the Music for Youth Schools Prom and much more. 

Next year looks set to be just as busy; events include our Newbury Young Musician of the Year competition and a Café Concert season to look forward to. It includes Winds Exposed, an insight into the work of our wind principals, and a thrilling recital from one of the country's most exciting young pianists, James Sherlock. Southern Sinfonia will also join Bath Choral Society in the beautiful setting of Bath Abbey for a performance of Mozart's Mass in C minor and Pangbourne Choral Society for Mendelssohn's Elijah. 

Thank you to everyone who has, over the course of this year, performed at a concert, took part in an educational programme, read this blog or attended one of our many concerts. We can't wait to see what 2014 brings. Before that, however, we want to wish you a...

Happy New Year from Southern Sinfonia! 

We recently launched an appeal for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which ripped through the Philippines on Friday 8th November.To donate and find out more, click here.

To get in touch with us, comment below or join in the discussion on Facebook or Twitter. 

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia, please visit our website or Instagram page.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

By Julia Hudson 

With Christmas around the corner, we’ve been travelling all over the South of England with performances of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Judas Maccabeus and much more. We’ve been carol singing, shopping and consuming a healthy amount of mulled wine (although this year I highly recommend mulled cider as an alternative…). Caught up in the whirl of present-buying, tree decorating and social gatherings, and with every politician’s Christmas card portraying themselves, rather than remembering why they’re sending them in the first place, music fortunately gives us a moment to sit and reflect on what Christmas is all about, whatever your religious leanings or otherwise.

 

I have been particularly busy this year carol singing at various venues around London and Berkshire, and have been amazed by the welcome and response we have received. When else would you see five men propping up a bar, joining in with “O TIDINGS OF COMFORT AND JOY” at the tops of their voices? The traditional format of Nine Lessons and Carols, seen everywhere from parish churches to cathedrals, to me embodies the spirit of Christmas. To this end, I’ve been conducting a wonderfully enthusiastic and well-meaning church choir in Wiltshire, my family’s home, whose sole annual performance is at the carol service. After a surprisingly encouraging rendition of Rutter’s ‘What Sweeter Music’ last weekend, I discovered that a few key members have been holding additional rehearsals up to four times a week – if that isn’t the Christmas spirit, I don’t know what is.

Attending a particularly lovely Southern Sinfonia performance last week of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, with the Windsor and Eton Choral Society in Eton’s beautiful school hall, I felt this again. Not as conventional or as well-known as Handel’s Messiah or the classic Christmas carols, the audience still felt drawn together and unified by the story; with no need for a programme, “there were shepherds in the fields” immediately signposts you (like a star, perhaps), familiarising yourself with the story while allowing you to explore the new music.

Finally, since this wouldn’t be a blog post without giving you a comprehensive account of my free time, my choir spent a day recently at a school which was running a carol composition competition. We sang through all the entries (much fantastically joyous sightreading…) voted for our winners and performed them in a concert at the end of the day. With an age range of 10-18, the standard was wonderfully high – I certainly wasn’t composing for four-part double choir in Latin, aged 10, though you may have been – and there was a huge variety of styles. A few of the younger children focussed on more obvious aspects of the Christmas tradition “Best of all, are the presents underneath [the tree]”, but what struck me even amongst these young musicians was the overriding sense of thoughtfulness and spirituality which pervaded the majority of the pieces. In styles reminiscent of Morten Lauridsen, Eric Whitacre and Bob Chilcott, the tuneful shapes woven by the students created dreamy and pensive musical pictures.

So, as I depart for a few days of Christmassy cheer, let me leave you with some advice for a thoughtful musical moment in your festive celebrations:

• Try and spare time to watch Carols from King’s. Christmas Eve, 6.15pm. An hour and a bit of stunning Christmas music, which I was lucky enough to attend one year. Perfection.

• Seek out the following carols: Howells ‘A Spotless Rose’, Cornelius ‘The Three Kings’, Tavener ‘God is With Us’, Tchaikovsky ‘Crown of Thorns’. My highly subjective shortlist of gorgeous choral music.

• Purchase those lovely crackers which have a whistle as the gift. Find seven friends and a handy conductor. Good luck!

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To find out more about our Newbury Young Musician of the Year, click here. 

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To donate to the Southern Sinfonia Typhoon Haiyan appeal and help save lives, please click here.

Seasonal Selections from Southern Sinfonia

By Julia Hudson 

We’re getting into the festive spirit here in the office, and we wanted to share our Christmassy music choices with you – be prepared for some surprises! 

Julia Hudson, Assistant General Manager 

As a singer, I have to try and narrow down beautiful choral pieces I’m lucky enough to sing every year. 

Cornelius ‘The Three Kings’ - Christmas is the time I secretly really wish I was a baritone, and this is one of the reasons why. A stunning solo line tells the journey of the Magi, above the chorale Von Himmel hoch ('How brightly shines the morning star'). It was originally composed as a solo song, and the version with which we are now familiar was made by Elgar's friend and collaborator, the organist Ivor Atkins. 

I would also choose D. Lavinio Virgili ‘Ninna Nanna Gesu Bambino’ - A little-known but beautiful carol with another gorgeous baritone solo, this Italian piece is a lullaby, rocking Jesus to sleep. 

Drew Steanson, Joint winner, Newbury Young Musician of the Year 2012 

I would choose Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, because Bach is just amazing and that piece is fantastic! You can catch Southern Sinfonia performing it for the second time this week with the Bath Minerva Choir in St Swithin’s Church, Bath. 

Kay Lawrence, Managing Director 

Kay has chosen a traditional yet beautiful carol – ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’ (1599, Anonymous). An often-used Christmas text, it tells of the ‘spotless rose’, which represents Mary, or Jesus. ‘Its fairest bud unfolds to light/Amid the cold, cold winter/And in the dark midnight’. Its simple beauty means that it is a tune used in everything from Brahms chorale preludes to the film ‘The Time Traveller’s Wife’ (2009).  

Appropriately for this year given the composer’s sad death last month, Kay has also chosen a modern carol, Tavener’s ‘The Lamb’. Written for four part unaccompanied choir, the piece is a setting of the poem of the same name by William Blake. Bitonal in places and with an interesting interplay between the parts, this is indicative of Tavener’s work, described by John Rutter as capable of bringing “an audience to a deep silence." 

Chris Billingham, Social Media 

Using the same text, ‘Es ist ein Ros entsprungen’, ‘A Spotless Rose’ (Herbert Howells) is a piece that has always reminded me of Christmas, especially the beautiful spiritual side. For unaccompanied choir, the gentle rocking rhythms evoke a sense of tranquillity. 

James Chater, Intern 

I have chosen Corelli’s Concerto Grosso in G Minor Op. 6 No. 8, particularly the third and sixth movements, which are extremely peaceful. I played it at a Christmas concert at school and it was the only one during which it snowed; very atmospheric! 

The third movement begins at 4’45 in this recording. To me, this piece sounds like how Christmas probably was in the 17th Century - a lot more simple and a great deal less commercialised. It speaks to me of the real spirit of Christmas. Also, Holst’s ‘In the Bleak Midwinter’. again the simplicity thing; Holst's setting, "Cranham", is a hymn tune setting of the poem by Christina Rosetti. The hymn is titled after Cranham, Gloucestershire and was written for the English Hymnal of 1906. 

Natasha Wilson, Projects Manager and Southern Sinfonia oboe and cor anglais player 

[To demonstrate our team working closely in harmony…] 

I guess one of my favourites [also!] is the Corelli Concerto Grosso in G Minor Op. 6 No. 8 or the "Christmas Concerto". This evokes many childhood Christmas memories. I was always envious of school friends who got to play this at our school carol services in Salisbury Cathedral as it is a string piece, therefore no oboes! My favourite movements include the third movement, Adagio-Allegro-Adagio and the sixth movement, Pastorale ad lib; Largo. 

Emmanuel Bach, Joint winner, Newbury Young Musician of the Year 2012 

There are two pieces, popular especially at Christmas, that I particularly enjoy. One is a choral work by the American composer Morten Lauridsen, called 'O Magnum Mysterium'. It is an exceptionally beautiful and moving piece of music. 

The other is Corelli's 'Christmas' Concerto… 

[OK, this is getting silly now!] 

…I Iove the tranquil thoughtfulness of the Adagio, and the elegant dance and lightness of the Pastorale, juxtaposed with the sheer vitality of the fast sections, with their solo-tutti dialogues. It's wonderful music, and also a piece that I've enjoyed playing. 

[And just as I was contemplating a rethink of this entire blog post, our esteemed Leader lightens the tone…] 

Alexander Hohenthal, Leader, Southern Sinfonia 

It’s hard to pick just one! I could say all the carols we sing with our children from 1st December when the family is in a jolly Advent mood. For the quieter, maybe slightly melancholic moments I gravitate towards "God rest ye merry gentlemen"...by Mr. Bean

(Performance begins at 0.40)

To find out more about tomorrow's concert with Bath Minerva Choir in St. Swithin's Church, Bath, click here.

For more details about our work please visit our website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages! 

To donate to the Southern Sinfonia Typhoon Haiyan appeal and help save lives, please click here. 

"Something to say and a story to tell" - our Young Musicians share their experiences

By Chris Billingham 

One of the reasons I am so proud to be connected to Southern Sinfonia is our commitment to nurturing young musicians and helping them develop their musicality. This is achieved through numerous education projects and the Newbury Young Musician of the Year competition, which is now open once more and accepting applications for the 2014 competition. The competition is for musicians aged 15-19 living or studying within 30 miles of Newbury Town Hall. First prize is a substantial cheque and the chance to play with Southern Sinfonia; the winners of the most recent competition, Drew Steanson and Emmanuel Bach, recently experienced this thrill when they performed in our October concert ‘The romance of Brahms meets Britain’s Britten’. 

Drew and Emmanuel mesmerised the audience with the first movement of Britten’s Piano Concerto and second movement of his Violin Concerto respectively. As many readers will know, these pieces are not particularly easy to perform, the constant tempo changes and pace requiring concentration and synchronicity with the orchestra. 

So why would any young musician take this on? Perhaps it’s because, as Drew explains, the opportunity to perform with an orchestra allows you new experiences and ultimately to learn new skills; “When the orchestra is there, you have to follow them as much as they are following you and that’s always difficult and challenging.” 

Opportunities to put these skills into practice are not as available to young musicians as they should be, especially with the suggested reduction of music lessons in schools. As Emmanuel explains, “music is so essential to one’s development because it encompasses a lot of skills that one might not have the chance to develop, and it’s something that can help develop so much. It’s about playing together, it’s about interactivity”. His thoughts are echoed by Drew: “certainly, everyone should be given an opportunity in an ideal world to play a classical instrument and engage with arts, there’s a focus on academia and getting the best grades, but that leaves out the enjoyment of classical music.” 

It is this enjoyment of classical music that has led to Southern Sinfonia ensuring that a concert performance is part of the prize for Newbury Young Musician of the Year. Competitions are a fantastic way to showcase skills and progress your career but they cannot compare to a concert. Drew feels that when auditioning or taking part in competitions, a performer is “playing for someone who is checking you’re getting it right, whereas to have the opportunity to play in a concert with Southern Sinfonia is really valuable. Music is for people; in competitions one is often put up, you’re compared to fellow musicians and students, whereas in a concert the audience is there just to hear how you play and hear your enjoyment of the playing, not what you can do, not what you can’t do.” In addition, as Emmanuel explains, his “highlight of the evening would actually be bringing those pieces to an audience who might not have heard them before and might not hear them that often again”. 

To make a connection with an audience, the performer has to give a performance of which to be proud. Emmanuel would advise young musicians to “learn the concerto as well as possible but, more than that, learn all the music, don’t just learn your part in exclusion. Really feel that your part is in a dialogue with what the orchestra are doing; not separate, it’s all connected and that’s very different to working on a solo piece. Really get a feel for that dialogue, be yourself and find out what you want to say based on what the composer has written. It’s about understanding the music, understanding the meaning and knowing how you can best bring that meaning to life to the audience through the performance. Ultimately it’s about having something to say and a story to tell”. 


Southern Sinfonia can’t wait to find out what stories this year’s entrants want to tell; it is so rewarding for us to see such passion in young performers. It’s also great to know that Drew and Emmanuel took so much from their recent performances with the orchestra, with Drew stating; “I don’t think many students around the world get an opportunity to play with an orchestra as fine as that” and Emmanuel suggesting that “it would be a great pleasure to work with the orchestra again” as they made him feel that he “was one of them and part of what they do”. 

You can see Drew perform on Saturday, 7th December in St Nicolas Church, Newbury as part of the MacMillan Charity Concert. Emmanuel will be giving a lunchtime recital at Queen Anne's School, in Caversham, Reading on Friday 7th March at 1pm. He will also be performing a recital in St Michael's Church on the Northgate, in Oxford (Monday 10th March, 1pm) and performing Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 with the Surrey Mozart Players, at the Electric Theatre, Guildford on Saturday 29th March, 7.30pm. 

To find out more about this year's Newbury Young Musician of the Year, click here. 

For more details about our work please visit our website, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter pages! 

To donate to the Southern Sinfonia Typhoon Haiyan appeal and help save lives, please click here.

Culture - Not Just for the Capital?

By Julia Hudson 

 

Reading this excellent Gramophone blog article over breakfast last week, I found myself agreeing and arguing in equal measure. It is evident that the arts, both in terms of funding and geographical density, are overflowing in London and sadly lacking in parts of the country. “There are seven full-time symphony orchestras in the capital if you include those resident at the two opera houses and there’s always been debate about whether that’s too many”. While I couldn’t help jumping up and down at their attestation that there was no professional symphony orchestra “in the whole of Somerset, Devon and Cornwall…you’re lucky if there’s one concert performance from a professional symphony orchestra in a year”, I had to admit that they are technically correct. However, we are a professional chamber orchestra, and regularly perform sizeable concerts across the south of England, with six performances in the above counties already confirmed in this season alone. 

I wonder why this dearth is there? Some of the comments on Andrew Mellor’s article mention programming; are London audiences more knowledgeable, and thus can cope with more inventive, unusual programming? From my knowledge of our audiences, I think this is unfair; everyone likes to hear a piece they know, but paired with something new and challenging (a common Proms formula). This way, they are comforted and tested in equal measure, as we did in our most recent subscription concert, pairing lovely Brahms 4 with movements from edgy Britten concertos.

I think we are nearing the point, however, here: “the five concert-giving London symphony orchestras increasingly manoeuvre themselves into brand-aware niches catering for the ‘pic n mix’ London concertgoer”. This week I found myself at the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s ‘Night Shift’ at 10pm, gin and tonic in hand, as the players explained their way through each movement of Beethoven’s 8^th Symphony, prompted by Alastair Appleton. Lovely as it was to see some familiar players’ faces in a London setting, as I collected my free branded Oyster card holder I felt that it had been a fun, new concert-going experience but that I had, ultimately, been distracted from really comprehending a new piece of music. However, I don’t think the answer is for regional orchestras to trot out the same repertoire and shy away from inventive concepts and programming, especially given that “there’s no longer a quality gap separating London orchestras from their regional counterparts.” With the breadth of activity Southern Sinfonia undertakes, ranging from jazz to educational work to Baroque continuo to al fresco opera, we are living proof that there is scope for progression outside the capital (if we only had the funding to make the most of it).

On a happier note, and because I can’t avoid it any longer, the festive season is approaching, and with it an annual renewed appreciation for music. With Handel’s ‘Messiah’ emanating from so many churches and concert halls around the country (many played by us) and Christmas carols drifting around street corners (this year sung by us, excitingly!), everyone will get a taste of classical music, whether they choose to or not. How can we capitalise on this, and maintain this level of pervasiveness? Is it by offering a badge and a DJ set with your dose of Beethoven, or is it purely by increasing the available quantity (taking quality as a given) of classical music, particularly outside of London? If funding was more widely spread, ticket prices could be kept low and more artistic risks could be taken, broadening the audience base and demographic and, in turn, strengthening the position of existing organisations. As well as the orchestras, “the real winners, of course, would be those south western taxpayers who enjoy live classical music (apparently more than anyone else) and crave a notable local institution to be proud of.”

Millions of people are still suffering in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan which ripped through the Philippines on Friday 8th November. Southern Sinfonia has launched an appeal. Please click here to join us and help save lives.  

If you would like to come and hear us sing carols in aid of this appeal, please join us in Newbury town centre on Thursday 5^th and Thursday 19^th December.

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia, our appeal or upcoming events, please contact us through our website, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Why does music bring us together?

By James Chater 

Directors of ensembles such as the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra or the World Orchestra for Peace often make the claim that music has the power to “bring people together”, both in the literal and metaphorical sense of the word. The name ‘World Orchestra for Peace’ is a fortunate one in that it appears, at first glance, to make total sense; much more sense than say, a ‘World Bird Watching Group for Peace’. Music’s ability to draw people together is of course, not limited to the world of classical music. You could easily ask why 200,000 people annually descend on Worthy Farm in Somerset, for Glastonbury Festival. If you did ask them, I bet they wouldn’t say it is due to the high standard of hygiene and accommodation. Why is it then that music can make living in a field for five days with 200,000 other people worthwhile? Is it naïve to think that music really can “bring people together”? Or could a ‘World Knitting Group for Peace’ be equally as effective?

So how do these orchestras purport to do it? It is a rather large claim after all, that music can bring about world peace. It seems each orchestra has their own unique manner in which they go about it. In the ‘ World Vision’ on the website of the World Orchestra for Peace, director Charles Kaye states, “[The players] must also accept that positions will be rotated after every work, and therefore there is no room for even one player to say, “But I am concertmaster of my orchestra at home – so I must sit first desk.” In this way we ensure there is no hierarchy.” An admirable sentiment, but I would question this message’s ability to translate to people outside of a musical culture. Would someone with no knowledge of classical music be compelled to act after finding out the person sitting half way back normally sits at the front?

I am a huge fan of Daniel Barenboim as performer, conductor and writer so I may be a little biased. However, his and the late Edward Said’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra seems to hit upon a concept that is much more easily perceived by a majority. This orchestra brings young musicians together from warring nations all across the Middle East: Israel, Palestine, Iran, Jordan and Syria all feature. The power of this orchestra is not solely the fact that these young people are able to come together in peace; it is what they are able to create together. Truly amazing performances, their cycle of Beethoven Symphonies at the Proms 2011 is evidence enough of that. Yet the unification of these two ideas is where music’s ability to bring people together is crystallised. As an observer, you can’t help but watch in admiration and slight guilt, thinking “as if they haven’t already got enough on their minds.” That guilt soon changes to joy though; you just can’t help but admire the energy of the orchestra, and the evident excitement and delight that the music is bringing them.

James Chater (left) - Photo: Richard Johnson

I recently took part in the Music for Youth Schools Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, an event which, until this year, I had never come across. I approached it with caution, unsure as to what to expect. Yet, when leaving that same night, I felt extremely guilty for ever harbouring doubt. The event brings young musicians together from across the country, between the ages of 8 and 21, for a celebration (and I mean celebration) of music. In the words of the organisation, the music ranges “from Daft Punk to Vaughan Williams, and Elbow to Tchaikovsky.” Impeccably co-ordinated and organised, I have never seen something that summed up exactly why music can bring us together, in a physical way. Everyone, without fail, left the Albert Hall with a buzz of excitement, with many unforgettable memories made. Even I, with the cold heart of one approaching the upper end of the age bracket, was stunned by the occasion. I did not think I would ever get to play ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ at the Albert Hall with a full auditorium shouting back at me, accompanied by fireworks, streamers and balloons falling from the ceiling. Music has the power to bring us together because, more so than anything else, we can create and re-create something that means so much

In this spirit, we are using the power of music to launch an appeal for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, which ripped through the Philippines on Friday 8th November. We have established an appeal fund and have pledged to dedicate all proceeds from our recent ‘Winter Jazz to Cheer Us’ Café Concert to the appeal.

Why do you think music brings us together? To get in touch and share your thoughts, comment below or join in the discussion on Facebook or Twitter. 

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia, please visit our website or Instagram page

A Writer’s Response to Classical Music

By Chris Billingham 

Three weeks ago, my colleague James posted this fascinating article, examining whether music should be considered a language. Whilst I am certainly not a musicologist or composer, I can relate to the article and the theories it discusses because of my experience as a writer. 

With a background in many forms of writing, from poetry to comedy, the idea of music creating an emotion fascinates me. From conversations with other writers and my own experiences, it is clear that different styles of music cause different emotional reactions, which help or hinder writing in a number of ways. In my opinion, we interact and connect to the language of music with a wide range of responses. 

The most common form of writing I undertake is scriptwriting, an activity that for me at least initially requires complete silence, followed by all-encompassing instrumental music. The silence is needed first, to find the characters and the scene. I find that music can be distracting, or perhaps too leading. For example, Stravinsky’s ‘The Rite of Spring’ is an incredible work, and recently the gentle pace of the opening was perfect when writing a character profile for a shy, quiet character. When the pace of the music increases, however, the images that were conjured up suddenly didn’t fit the character. 

This is the reason that music is only introduced to the process when the direction of a scene and the characters within that scene are clearly seen in my mind’s eye. At this stage, orchestral music especially is an incredible aid, the sadness and tragedy of a piece like Mahler’s 9th Symphony bringing such vivid imagery to life that immediately translates to the page. This process takes place with instrumental music in particular; I tend to find that vocals, or more specifically lyrics, lead thoughts in a certain direction, causing me to imagine the specific scenario the singer is describing, not the one I need to portray in the script. 

It goes without saying that the process described above is completely personal, and all writers and lovers of classical music will have different experiences, taking in a number of other internal and external factors. There will be those that react physically to music, the ones that cheer and stamp their feet directly opposing those that sit in a refined manner and take in the piece (another blog article for another day). There will be those that feel that the composer should decide your thoughts when you hear a piece; logical, one might think, but what about when guidance from the composer is limited? Are listeners then dependent on the author of the programme? 

Recently, a newly-musical friend mentioned that they were attending a concert of Mahler 2, the “Resurrection” Symphony. At 90 minutes, it wasn’t exactly an ‘accessible’ entry into the world of orchestral music, so at our suggestion he took some emotive, rather than technical, notes into the concert. Illuminative, or restrictive? Should he have been able to make up his own mind about what he heard? He responds: “The notes helped provide an extra dimension and understanding of the performance. This was the first classical concert performed by a symphony orchestra I had attended. The notes guided me through each movement, allowing a fascinating insight in to the mind and motivation of the composer. A truly memorable performance by the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra." 

For my own writing process, then, and for consistency’s sake, how can someone who wants to write and make people think about their chosen subject matter turn to a piece of music that is clearly about another subject for inspiration? Perhaps it’s the many responses to the language of music that makes music so powerful as an art form; my initial, literal response might be entirely different to my deeper, cerebral one. 

How do you react to music? Do you work to classical music? To get in touch and share your thoughts, comment below or join in the discussion on Facebook or Twitter. 

To find out more about Southern Sinfonia, please visit our website or Instagram page. 

To find out more about tomorrow evening’s concert with the brilliant City of Bath Bach Choir, click here. Next Friday sees Chris Hill, Dave Newton and Heather Cairncross perform ’Winter Jazz to Cheer Us’, in a Café Concert not to be missed. To find out more, click here.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand - Beehives and Berio at the Festival Hall

By Julia Hudson 

I’m the only girl on this blogging team, so in this post I’m going to talk about toasters, cushions, vintage, and almost certainly fashion. Consider yourselves duly warned.

If you venture into any trendy retail establishment or hip cocktail bar, you will find a smorgasbord of “retro”. Gatsby-inspired beaded flapper dresses, Smeg fridges, beehives (not the buzzing kind), and endless looks back towards a bygone era. Vintage is in, and many trendsetters are rejecting progressive design in favour of authentic or faithfully reproduced pieces of history which are permeating our daily lives.

Last week, I went to the Royal Festival Hall for the eagerly-anticipated Sao Paolo Symphony Orchestra Brazilian-themed concert, conducted by Marin Alsop. The programme was close to Alsop’s heart, mentored as she was by Bernstein, who was in turn a close supporter of Guarnieri, and who commissioned Berio’s Sinfonia, which was performed with the Swingle Singers in the second half. Introducing the pieces with a friendly, collaborative air, Alsop seemed comfortable and the orchestra responded beautifully.

Mad Men's stylish Joan Holloway

As Nick Breckenfield mentions: “Born out of post-war austerity, and conceived from the very beginning as the only permanent fixture marking the 1951 Festival of Britain, the Royal Festival Hall was always set to become the capital’s – and therefore the country’s – main music venue.” Having undergone a multi-million pound restoration in recent years, the RFH still stands as “an astounding architectural statement” in the heart of the city. To be the venue for this kind of programming, surely, showed it at its most authentic – indeed, one could have stepped back in time. As Alsop said, “all we needed was the Beatles”, or, indeed, a Dualit kettle. Mad Men's stylish Joan Holloway

But, with our embrace (on this blog, and throughout much of the classical music world) of all things forward-looking and innovative, of music fused with technology and progressive thinking, was this concert dated, out of touch and (dare we say it) passé? Surprisingly, the music still had the power to shock, and shock it did – six of my neighbours had walked out by the end of the first movement of the Berio, with its vocal grunting and squeaking and constant referencing of other works. This, considering how much has passed in society since this music was conceived – Miley’s twerking, clearly, has nothing on this.

Where is the line, then, between dated and retro? Is it down to quality, authenticity, consistency? The young, beautiful, trendy incarnation of Swingles, though, were key, as was the vibrant orchestra. However, there is something about the past which unsettles my (Eighties) generation. To pull the girl card again, I’ve just started watching Mad Men, and am finding the flagrant sexism and disregard for female intelligence disturbing. I enjoy vintage clothing, music from bygone eras and am partial to the occasional beehive, but a “real” authenticity of values and belief systems doesn’t sit well with my contemporary ones.

So, where does this leave music?  Nick Breckenfield suggests that “there are derisory claims as to the Royal Festival Hall’s plain, even austere, functionality…[but that it is] just as much a product of its times as the spirit of hope that gave birth to the Festival of Britain.” Perhaps this is the key – we don’t have to disparage or dismiss more contemporary music, with its pared-down, Bauhaus-esque aesthetic, if we view Friday’s exciting and still powerful music as a product of its times. When one considers that Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring was written less than 40 years earlier, this suddenly isn’t so hard to do.

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