Presentation on the occasion of Colin's retirement from
conducting WRO, 11 Feb 2006
With quotes from your past repertoire of advice.
Colin, you have an effortless
teaching and conducting style, full of passion and poetry.
You have barely ever felt it necessary to give us compliments, but your insults have been so creative and varied that we've not only learned much about music, but about the pleasure of words. You have diffused our difficulties with a pithy sentence or two. Sometimes we almost think you have complimented our playing and are surprised - "That was pale and beautiful like a Japanese print', but immediately balancing this with 'but you need more vigour"
You've introduced us to the
emotion of the music as well as just the dots on the page. "It's too cheerful. It's desolate, You are riven
in little pieces" and
"I'm full of hope. It wont be for long, Always
the same with Gibbons" And another time - "You
can almost see the Crown prince of Bavaria hopping around to it"
(referring to Brade's Paduana or was it the Galliard?)
You have always made us believe
we could play better, get more out of the music, and surprisingly, like a
dripping stalactite, we have built up our stalagmite skills over the years.
You have recognised our
weaknesses and self doubt without making us feel awful, in fact, times without
number made us laugh and therefore relax our
shoulders and 'smile at it, it's only a blob after all' .You do recognise that we have tried and that you can bear
the result -"Ouch, ouch ,ouch! Did you
hear that lovely top G? Alright then, I submit"
There has always been a concern
for our well-being;
'Rather than scrape you off the
floor dead, you can breath here' and 'so that we know the limits of terror -
afternoon tea is at ¼ to 3."
We have noted over the years your
love of certain composers, particularly, I think, Beethoven. There have been
snapshots of others "you all know about
Mr. Brade don’t you? He came from Nottingham. He was a violinist."
We are very glad it took so long
to pay off your mortgage, that you made us play fast, that you made us try
difficult things, that you so loved the hemeolas. It is with deep affection and
thanks for all those years you have shared your musical brain with us, that we
give you this photo(of the orchestra), by Jane Smith. When nostalgia hits you
can conduct us, at home, to your heart's content.
Judith Railton on
behalf of all the Wirral Recorder Orchestra