CON CERT REVIEW
A Cry was Heard BY AL AN SWAIN
1 August 2021 St Martin’s Church, North Nibley, Gloucestershire A concert in memory of Audrey Sewell – a very longstanding member of the church choir and huge supporter of local music-making. It seems fitting that as we come out of the enforced cocoon we have all been in for the last 18 months or so, the first live concert I have attended featured music from the Renaissance. And why not? Much of the discussion about the future of music – maybe even the value of live music itself – over the pandemic, has been about how to sustain large-scale professional orchestras and Opera in a world where older audiences might well be uneasy about sitting in close proximity to each other for prolonged periods. Does ‘Classical’ music in the UK have a future? Will audiences stay away? Is there an appetite for ‘art’ music going forward and can our economy sustain the profession? Emily White has begun to provide answers to these questions with her concert tonight called ‘A Cry was Heard’ at St Martin’s Church, North Nibley. The concert was billed as following social distancing guidelines (although for the time being these have been dropped in England) and a quick head count reckoned that you couldn’t possibly have got more people into the medium-sized space. With an average age in the ‘already retired’ bracket it is very clear that the appetite for live music is certainly there and our older patrons are happy to attend concerts! Phew! So to the concert itself. Your correspondent is not an early music specialist, but Emily and her merrie band of musicians are! There is a whole list of superlatives which 24
I could use to express how amazing this music is in the right hands and this group delivered every time! There were three sackbuts played with exquisite dexterity by Emily White, Martyn Sanderson and David Todd, virginals (Italian harpsichord) played by Robin Bigwood, viola played by Andrew White and violone played by Peter McCarthy. Above all of this, was a sublime countertenor, Guy James. In the right hands the sackbut is such a lyrical instrument with the tenor being very close to the human voice range. Through the concert the peerless Emily played tenor and alto sackbuts as well as violin. Such incredible talent. Before the concert, as people found their socially distanced seats, there was an excited buzz. No doubt this was the first concert many had attended since the lockdown ended. Emily began by thanking the audience for their trust and support in actually attending the concert. As musicians we all fell silent in March 2020, which was incredibly painful. When combined with the uncertainty of what the pandemic would bring in terms of the public health emergency, there was the added fear that our industry was going to be decimated. At the time of writing, although there are hopeful signs, we are not out of the woods yet! The concert began with Kyrie Eleison a 5 by Andrea Gabrieli 1533–1585. This featured David on bass sackbut, Emily and Martyn on tenor sackbuts. The fantastic sound immediately demonstrated the lyrical qualities of the sackbuts. Next came Ah, Robin by William Cornysh 1465–1523, a piece in Canon form performed with such
