And so, last week we lighted on what was advertised as a lecture about Schubert's string quintet (D956), supported by a string quintet drawn from the RAM.
Reminded at Epsom Station that the laburnam was out and that it was time to visit the arch at Hampton Court, some months earlier than the visit recorded on 7th June last year. Off the train at Clapham Junction to take a bullingdon from Grant Road to Millbank House (via Battersea Park where it looked as if they had had a good show of tulips) and then from Smith Square to Bride Street, stopping rather short of the stand at Stonecutter Street at which I had been aiming. But once I was in Bride Street it seemed a bit of a palaver to get back into Farringdon Road to continue a bit further north. Up the viaduct and east to the church of St. Sepulchre without, past an oldish looking building called Gresham College, to find that I was indeed at the right place but I was a little early so had time to investigate the rather quaint Snow Hill Court left over behind the church and the rather quaint Snow Hill station of the City of London Constabulary (illustrated).
The grey hairs started to herd outside the church well before the off and we finished up with a fairly full church. Mostly grey hairs like myself but with a sprinkling of younger people and of more serious music people. The church itself, once grand, was in need of redecoration.
As it turned out the lecturer was indisposed and it had been decided to simply perform the quintet, rather than have a talk about it interspersed with musical illustrations. Although the performance was not great, I think it worked better for me than the lecture would have - but I was not sure about the old lady next to me who was clearly bored and having exhausted the slender resources of the programme provided, turned to the Holy Bible for sustenance. I associate to the old lady elector whom Prime Minister Brown had the misfortune to make a candid remark about while forgetting to turn off his microphone.
The quintet seemed to me to be rather underpowered for the rather large church, despite my sitting around 10 rows from the front and the first violin seemed to have trouble getting heard against the cellos. But it did get better as we went on and there were good passages, when the music seemed to just hang in the air, with the individual parts standing out loud and clear, while still being part of the whole. What chamber music is all about, at least for me.
Took a lunch time pause at the nearby El Vino, past another show of tulips at Rennie Garden and then took a third bullingdon from Poured Lines to South Lambeth Road. Reduced to snacking it on a sausage roll from Vauxhall Station, but at least I had the decency to stop off at Earlsfield to eat it in the privacy of the platform. Not keen on appearing in anyone's collections of people snapped eating on the train, a practice my late mother would have, in any event, deplored. And so home to be puzzled by the photo pass hanging around the neck of a young lady which proclaimed itself to be both permanent and 'AAA+'. Sadly there was no occasion to ask her what this meant: access to all areas of the building, including all those interesting place denied to the rank and file? Like getting onto the roof on the Treasury building after they realised that one could.
PS: I learn today that St. Sepulchre is one of the twelve churches whose bells used to toll you from Newgate to the gallows. Furthermore, the St. Sepulchre bellringer used to attend Newgate prison on the eve of your execution to treat you to a special hand bell concert. See http://www.st-sepulchre.org.uk/.
No comments:
Post a Comment