The magical world of IMS Prussia Cove
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uthor Hans Christian Andersen once said: “ Where words fail, music speaks.” Hungarian violinist Sándor Végh would surely have agreed. In 1972, Végh launched a series of international musicians’ seminars (IMS) on the family estate of Cornish landowner Hilary Tunstall-Behrens, at the beautiful Prussia Cove between Porthleven and Penzance. Their aim: to provide a creative haven away from the distractions of daily urban life, for players of any age or nationality to practise chamber music. Masterclasses and rehearsals took place in Porth-en-Alls, the house built by Hilary’s grandfather. Half a century later, they still do. Many well-known names have passed through its doors, including virtuoso cellist Steven Isserlis, who first attended IMS Prussia Cove as a teenager and is now its artistic director. In September, IMS hosts a programme of events alongside its annual Open Chamber Music seminar to mark this important n 22 |
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milestone, including a special exhibition of its archive collection at Kresen Kernow in Redruth (culminating in a family workshop on September 24), and a series of outreach workshops in local primary and secondary schools. There will also be a sale of portraits by Romi Behrens – Hilary's sister-in-law - of IMS musicians, patrons and helpers from the 1970s onwards. Tim Boulton attended his first IMS in 1979 at the tender age of 19, and attributes his lengthy career in music in large part to the influence of IMS and its charismatic co-founder. Today, he is a driving force in music education and provision in the county, directing Cornwall Youth Orchestra and running the Concerts Penzance series. He will lead IMS’ outreach project, with aspiring young musicians learning alongside chamber music professionals, then performing in local primary schools. “I fell into IMS Prussia Cove by accident, when a friend of a friend of a friend
Issue 73 | August - September 2022
suggested I volunteer in the kitchens,” he recalls. “I’d never been to Cornwall and had no idea what I was letting myself in for. I hitch-hiked from London and ended up on a track leading further and further into nowhere, with this beautiful sea and stunning landscape. “The course itself was a bit of a whirlwind, but it gave me the chance to hear Sandor Végh speak, and his influence on my musical life has been enormous.” Soon, Tim was taking part in viola classes and keeping Easter and September free every year. “IMS became an important part of my life. I learned much more about music as a language there than I ever did in my formal musical education. “That the courses took place in Cornwall, rather than in London or a European city, meant our music reflected the waves of the sea, the way the wind was changing, the feeling of motion. We spoke to each other through our music.”
