Netball 69

MUSIC

THE GERMAN TOUR

I had been with a band on tour in the year of my teaching practice a few years ago but had never taken a musical group abroad before. How fantastic it was.

The choir and band trip to Germany had been planned for a year and a half. Taking a large party abroad — there were over seventy of us — is a little daunting but having such help from a tremendous team of staff made things run smoothly. Derek Paterson was the organisational inspiration thinking of all the details large and small in every aspect of the tour. Robert Jeffs, Jacqui Finney, Chris Hall, Judith Taylor, Sue Horton and Jose Honing were all such a help and Jeffrey Gray's work in conducting the Band and co-ordinating the Barbershop group quite outstanding.

We had decided to limit the coach travel as much as possible and so took a long ferry from Harwich to Hamburg. Arriving at Bremen we were given a very warm welcome by the Gospel Choir and for the next two days entertained lavishly.

At the first concert the enthusiasm of the reception as in the later concerts from the very first piece acted as a spur to higher and higher standards as the tour progressed.

On the way to Miinster we stopped at a leisure complex with excellent swimming pools and had a grand picnic — this time together relaxing on our own was a very special day within the tour.

In Miinster our hosts were parents of pupils at the Schillergymnasium. Again, everyone was so friendly and helpful — I remember the Director of the gymnasium carrying the coach driver's luggage.

Our pupils were given a little experience of German schooling and then a reception and sight-seeing at the town hall, two more concerts, an afternoon at a swimming pool — unusually still open as the weather was still perfect — in fact we did not see a cloud until the return to Hamburg.

Living and working together as a group created such a corporate feeling reflected in all the performances. It was a real lesson to all of us to see what potential existed within the group. Clearing up at the end of concerts was done so quietly and efficiently with everyone helping.

When we returned the choir, chamber choir, barbershop and band were infinitely better groups, the level of commitment higher, it was such a joy to see this and especially to see it carry over into the pupils' attitude to performance within School.

SENIOR CHOIR

The choir's new self-confidence after their tremendous reception in Germany was evident from the first concert of the year and the new repertoire covered this year was more extensive than ever.

Certain highlights spring to mind — during the Christmas Term the vigorous singing of Vaughan Williams 'Let all the world', the procession at the beginning of the carol service with antiphonal singing and brass interludes and the controlled singing in Rutter's 'What sweeter music'.

In the Easter Term Barstow's 'Let all mortal flesh' became a favourite together with Haydn's 'Insanae et vanae' and Monteverdi's six part 'Beatus vir' was a taste of a different period of music. We tried a new type of event in this term — a Wine and Cheese evening with music by the choir, chamber choir and the barbershop group, who later in the year were described in the press as 'oozing talent'!

The Summer Term again saw the choir charting new territory with Bach's Ascension Cantata and it was lovely to see the excitement that such great music generated — we could have coined a new saying 'You are what you sing'!

The last week of the Summer Term was again hectic. At the concert the choir's ability to master a wide dynamic range and their sense of fun was evident in the George Mitchell arrangement of 'Old Macdonald'. The Commemoration Service was very special; the brass group's exciting contributions set the tone and the combined brass, organ and choir in Parry's 'I was glad' was thrilling. Palestrina's 'Tu es Petrus' was sung again after a break of six years and Stanford's setting of the Nunc Dimittis in G, with Andrew Moxon bass solo, was memorably sung. Andrew, along with Alastair Alton, Charles Barlow, Jeremy Doncaster, Martin Kershaw and Angus Iveson have given much to the choir during their five years in it and we wish them well in the future.

"HELLO BOYS!"...

An Appreciation of the German Tour

by Jack-Patrick Weatherall "Hello boys!" — was the cry which greeted us, male and female, when we arrived in Bremen. We were all hot and tired; a four hour coach journey from Hamburg, under a cloudless summer sky had done that, but the reception of our hosts was enough to cheer us up, unlike our driver's 'Rod Stewart' tape collection.

Our German families seemed determined to not only fill up our time, but also our stomachs. As soon as we arrived we were bundled off to a local fair, stopping only for a home-cooked five-course meal. Our hosts provided us with everything, a guided tour around beautiful Bremen (complete with strange local customs), parties, more food, and even a little time to rehearse and perform. No-one will forget the huge tea provided after our second Bremen concert or the farewell party after it: "Hello Boys, eat, drink!". Most memorable in Bremen, of course, was our two combined choirs, English and German, singing 'On Ilkley Moor Bau t'at' whilst eating yet another delicious, huge communal meal.

The story was exactly the same in Miinster, an enthusiastic greeting from our new hosts, followed by tours, parties, swimming and even a little snack. We were introduced personally to the Mayor of Minister, and Mr. Paterson returned the civic favour by attempting to buy an entire Miinster ice-cream shop, boosting the local economy. (He and Miss Finney normally cooled down, like the rest of the choir, with copious amounts of CocaCola.) We sometimes found time to do our own thing, groups of Peterites sampled the city's discos, shopping precincts, Macdonalds (afters) and the local music scene. Many of us attended a very fine Rhythm and Blues gig in the city, and I'm sure will still remember it. Our hosts helped us try German life, informally as well as formally, an interesting way of eating strawberries among the secrets I was let in on. Eventually, however, after an excellent final concert, it was time to leave both Bremen and Germany. We said goodbye again to our kind German friends and set off for home. The return journey itself held many memorable moments, for me especially, as well as lots more Rod Stewart, the 'Rocking Hairdressers', our barbershop quartet, won the ferry talent contest (they were the only entrants) and, highlight of the tour, the choir did its infamous ROCKY HORROR SHOW rendition, complete with Mr. Gray's well received pelvic thrust!

Many thanks to Mr. Wright and the other members of staff who made such a wonderful tour possible and special thanks to all our German friends who fed us so well, and so much. Marlene, my adoptive Bavarian mother, made Charles Barlow and I, the men we are today, Charles who was only three feet tall and six stone before he went away, now being a member of the School's Henley crew.

CHAMBER CHOIR

Our Friday evening rehearsals are very much social occasions with conversation wandering widely over coffee and later in the year sharing wine and singing madrigals by the cricket pavilion.

The chamber choir was another group which benefited from its experiences in Germany. The size has been reduced and the parts are now more balanced making a very effective group. The Christmas Concert rendering of 'Have yourselves a merry little Christmas' was especially memorable with its close rich harmony presented with a real sense of humour and style. Our visit to Greenfields was also much appreciated.

Madrigals, music for Lent and various performances at concerts later in the year all showed good development and much promise for next year. We also hope to arrange some more visits outside School.

CHORAL SOCIETY/CHAMBER MUSIC

Elgar and Parry proved quite a good draw for the choral society in the Christmas Term — big English stuff especially Parry's 'Blest Pair of Sirens' with its lovely sweep of phrase and long passages building to climaxes. All the pieces were demanding and were performed with real enthusiasm as was the orchestra accompaniment which was by no means easy.

In the Easter Term, Mozart's Missa Brevis in F was a complete contrast, a Viennese mass with light textures. This again was managed with style and was part of a chamber concert where groups from both junior and senior Schools combined.

Our senior string quartet has progressed well this year as has the brass group, whose regular rehearsal slot has led to a greater sense of pride in performance. As ever the most pleasing thing is when pupils get together in two's, three's or more to make music — long may this continue and grow.

Bill Riley's retirement (a tribute is printed elsewhere) in August 1991 and his illness which had prevented him from returning to the School meant that the band underwent a transition period. This was mainly directed by Jeffrey Gray who did a first rate job in developing the band's morale and their standard of playing. I remember well the loud spontaneous applause after the first Munster concert which said so much.

In January Christopher Blood, our new Head of Wind Studies, joined us and set about taking the band on further. First of all, rearranging the band's seating so that me flutes did not poke their instruments down the oboists' ears and the saxophones did not blow the clarinets off the stage!

At the Wine and Cheese evening in March in aid of the U.S.A. tour 1993 the band's programme had an American feel to it but also contained some English classics. The opening Sierra Passage by John Higgins described the journey by the old waggon trains across the United States. The climax for the band was the First Suite in E flat by Hoist. Back in 1978 I remember going to Malvern College as a newly-appointed Director of Music and hearing their band perform Hoist's First Suite and thinking that when a School band can play as difficult a piece as that it has really achieved something.

At the end of the year at the York Festival Concert the band played some pieces with sectional features:—

Formation Flight — (Trumpet Trio); Fandango for Flutes; and for the first time the band accompanied the choir in the Slaves' chorus (Nabucco) by Verdi: and a chorus from Orpheus by Gluck. One of the most pleasing developments has been the increasing control of the band bom in dynamic range and subtlety of phrasing and the general realising of their true potential.

The Brass Ensemble, as ever, made a significant contribution to major musical occasions including the Commemoration Service at the Minster where Bach's 'Praised be the Lord' and Purcell's Trumpet Tune and Air for ten-piece brass originally arranged for the Philip Jones Brass Ensemble were a thrilling start and finish to the service. They have also added greatly to our own School services such as the Confirmation service and School Eucharists as well as playing in concerts. We all greatly value the work they do.

STRING ORCHESTRA/SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Charles Barlow and Alastair Alton have shared the leadership of the orchestra this year. The most pleasing development has been the firm establishment of a symphony orchestra. Meeting from 6.00 p.m.-7.00 p.m. on Monday evenings we managed at last to find a time when a full orchestra could meet although I am concerned that this, in addition to Choral Society on Tuesday evenings and Chamber Choir on Friday evenings, is a heavy load for some pupils.

The Symphony Orchestra concert in March was at St. Olave's Church, Mary gate and was one of the highlights of the year with Sibelius' Karelia Suite excitingly played along with the Rossini overture 'The Thieving Magpie' and two of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances — I think the pupils surprised themselves with the quality of the finished product!

The String Orchestra has covered a wide repetoire during the year. The main event in the Christmas Term being by some wind players for a performance of Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, two hundred years to the day after the death of Mozart. Martin Kershaw's clarinet playing demonstrated clearly what a splendid player he is. Corelli's 'Christmas' concerto was rescheduled and played well under Roger Carrington's direction the next term when one of the soloists damaged his shoulder.

In the Summer Term we tackled some difficult repetoire. Bartok's Dances from Transylvania and Copland's 'Hoe Down' which together with the 'tear jerker' Albinoni's Adagio for Strings, made a well contrasted group of pieces.

The Symphony Orchestra, I hope, is now firmly established as it should be in a School with the quality of musicians that we possess. It is unfortunate that the percussion equipment we have is so limited and antiquated.

It's always an intensive but thoroughly absorbing experience to hear almost every instrumentalist and singer in the Music Department perform individually. One of the real pleasures this year has been the development of individual singing as a study.

The finals of the competition as always provided an excellent concert in its own right. Our adjudicator this year was Timothy Brown, Director of Music at Clare College, Cambridge, and a notable conductor with many choral recordings especially to his credit. His concise encouragingly critical comments were excellent.

The winners were:

Junior Strings Patrick Calvert Junior Woodwind Timothy Brogden Junior Brass Graham Kershaw (Junior Prize) Junior Keyboard Wendy Chung Singing Andrew Moxon Composition Graham Kershaw Senior Strings Jane Mindenhall Senior Woodwind Martin Kershaw (Senior Prize) Senior Brass Dominic Greeves Senior Keyboard Alison Blair

MUSIC STAFF

Gillian Lyon-Tupman (flute) left us at the end of the Easter Term as did David Riley (singing) and Ruth McCartney-Moore (singing) and we both thank them for all they have done for the pupils here and wish them well in the future. Sophia Preston (double bass) leaves at the end of the Summer Term for a lectureship in dance at Surrey University and we wish her well in this.

James Morgan (singing) and Yvonne Seymour (singing) have already settled in well and Alan Easterbrook (double bass) joins us in September.

Christopher Blood, our new Head of Wind Studies, who joined us in January, has already made such a positive impact on the department and as the books on management state (I've been doing some wider reading recently!). We all have much to learn from the newest recruit. Keith Pemberton, Jeffrey Gray and Roger Carrington all continue to give so much to the department and I am most grateful for this, as I am to all the visiting music teachers.

GENERAL

The Music Department has moved forward a long way this year. The German Tour had a tremendous impact, the new organ provided by the School for the chapel will also aid the development of the choir, the growth in numbers taking public music exams and the firm establishment of our larger ensembles all bode well for the future. We look forward to improved facilities — fully sound-proofed rooms and proper rehearsal space and finally a purpose-built music block. I believe strongly that our pupils deserve it.