Gateacre Play Day
- January 2005 -led by Colin Martin
We sit in the old church hall, with its multi purpose usage
emphasised by the orange and neon green stage set for an amateur performance of
Jack in the Beanstalk in front of us.
Our conductor , Colin Martin , clad in his familiar garb of tweed,
cable knit and brown shoes has a backdrop of
Jack's kitchen and great dusty old, red velvet stage curtains.
This then is the atmosphere and inspiration for some great music
exploration.
The Fantasias by Gibbons have 6 parts - with two descant and two
treble parts. They are to be found in
an old manuscript collection in Oxford, without signature , but appear with
similar others authenticated and signed by Gibbons. It is one of the few pieces
from the 16th century with bar lines.
We ask 'What is that wiggly flag shaped image in the music? And
learn that Bill England translated the original squiggly long note and notated it so.
Colin is famous for encouraging us to play fast - with good reason
here - to be able to play the crochets more lightly - 'Every crochet should be
as light as anything, always'. It is after all a very dancy piece. We promise
ourselves we will breath before long notes and accent them.
'What do I care about your body, it's what the music demands' said
Beethoven.
WE started Matthew Locke's Suite No. 1 - with its French time for
the courante of 6/4 and are introduced for the hundredth time to another
favourite observation of Colin's - the hemeola. As ever it has an almost mystical
ring to it. 'If you get it right first time I will be amazed'. Spurred on by
his faith in us, we respond by getting it unexpectedly right.
'Well I am amazed - but that was only at half speed, so now we must
play it quicker'.
The Ayre suggests a rolling countryside on a hot summer day. Birds,
courtesy of the massed parts, run and play against each other in a lazy cloud.
Suite 5 begins one to a part, with a lovely haunting clarity. There
is a distant tenor and then the trebles and other parts swell
We now enter the combined misery and jollity of Hassler's Motets.
There is the satisfaction of exploring a minor mood with its
resonating angst and enjoying the joy and uplifting of the spirit it can bring.
There is a mood of misery but the lovely runs, acting against each other give
hope to the tortured spirit. At times the music is unrestrainedly jubilant.
Colin suggests ironically, 'Let's have another crack at it, I'm not used to
dealing with amateurs,' followed by the inevitable suitable comments from the
crowd.
'I must say it was an impressive first reading, I expected it to be
much worse that that'
Mendelsohn's triple Fugue was an impressive composition for the 16
year old in 1823 and continues to challenge the player today. Colin's gleeful
look on his face when he called 'now faster' added to our pleasures and he was
generous with his praise after our attempts - 'Well Done', although qualified
it with reminders to 'relax - don't try and crack walnuts with our elbows'.
When I got hold of the music for Don Bateman's 'Recorders in
Rhythm, the instructions to play it
'Rock Style' brought a leap of excitement to my chest. There is not
enough rock music in the recorder world and I feel deprived! But this was rock
from a further past - rumba, swing,
Danny Boy. Interesting rhythms, but not Red Hot Chilli Peppers.
We packed up our instruments, in any number of different boxes,
cases and home made bags, picking up dustings of gold, silver and turquoise
from the bare board floor. These remnants of the pantomime echoed with our
heightened musical senses as we went home in all directions into the cold
January evening.+
Judith
Railton - Wirral Recorder Orchestra - 2005
Gateacre play days, led by Colin Martin, were organised by Derek
and Cynthia Dare for several years