Music in the first half of Michaelmas

The Music Department really hit the ground running in the Michaelmas term. The choir ably sang a mass setting and an anthem on the second day of term and, by the first Monday back, instrumental and vocal rehearsals were in full swing. They needed to be, as our first event was under three weeks away.

Hurst’s musicians are always proud to participate in the annual Hurst Festival and, on 21st September, the Baroque Ensemble was privileged to perform in the front room of a house on Wickham Hill to an appreciative and knowledgeable audience.

Douglas Brion, one of the ensemble’s recorder players, writes:

“Invited Back!  The Hurst Baroque ensemble was invited to play at the Hurst festival again this year. On the 22nd September, the now well established group set off to 88 Wickham Hill in order to play a variety of music for the Hurstpierpoint Festival committee.

“We arrived at the house to be welcomed by a packed living room of excited people eager for another good performance this year. There was warm applause after we played Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 4 which has become our ‘signature piece’.  After this there was a variety of solos from members of the ensemble. Corey Wickens played Kreisler brilliantly on the violin, Cameron Forster played beautifully on the guitar and Miranda Holliday’s Salut d’amour was heard in rapt silence. Everyone performed really well providing appropriate contrast to the ensemble pieces. 
After a short interval and the opportunity for some much needed refreshments we kicked off the second half which consisted of Bach’s next Brandenburg Concerto, No 5, and the Vivaldi Double Recorder Concerto in C Major.  We ploughed through the Brandenburg Concerto with considerable gusto and finished the concert with the cheerful and bouncy Vivaldi, this ending a very enjoyable evening. Having packed our gear and said goodbye we jumped onto the minibus and drove off into the night like wandering minstrels, waiting to stumble upon our next gig.”

The following Wednesday, the Chamber Choir travelled to Winchester Cathedral, one of this country’s largest cathedrals, to sing Evensong. After a long, hot minibus drive, the Cathedral came into view and the choir’s excitement at their forthcoming performance was tangible.  Darren Jameson, Head of Academic Music, writes:  Practice clearly pays off as, true to form, the choristers acquitted themselves with the usual high standard of singing.  Winchester is a special, and huge, place and our reward was to sing to such an appreciative and untypically large congregation. Our choice of music was as varied as usual ranging from Mathias’ The Doctrine of Wisdom, through John Sanders’ responses and taking in Stanford’s canticles in G. The latter setting enabled us to show off the talents of two soloists; Lucy Allen and James Mitchell, both giving flawless performances as good as any seasoned cathedral chorister.

At the end of September, we welcomed people into the the Music School hall to hear a concert given by members of the Jazz Band and others. This concert, called Cake at the College, is accompanied by tea and cake served by the prefects and is fast becoming a firm favourite in the Hurst Festival calendar.

Darren Jameson writes:  As our guests munched their way through a selection of homemade cakes and pastries, they were entertained with a wide selection of musical treats.  The largest musical offering was provided by the Senior School Jazz Band. Mr Andrew Sutton, who ably directs the band, only had three weeks to whip them into shape and, with so many new musicians to get up to speed, he did an amazing job. The group sounded as good as usual and played old favourites such as Misty, and the up-beat Saxes with Attitude alongside other well-known standards with flair and enthusiasm. Their two sets were interspersed with a number of solo items in addition to the Sax Group. Great performances were given by Corey Wickens, Douglas Brion, Claire Shaw and Lizzie Learmonth and these were very well received indeed. In fact, they were the icing on this particular musical cake!

At the beginning of October, the Music School was invited to All Saints’ Church in Lindfield to take part in its Lunchtime Concert Series. This concert series is well known in the area for the quality of its performers so it was a great honour to be asked to take part.

Rory Green, cellist in the Baroque Ensemble, writes:
The lunchtime recital opened with an impressive rendition of Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 4 which was extremely well received by the sizeable and appreciative audience. There then followed solo performances from Cameron Forster on the recorder playing a contemporary sonata by Colin Hand, Corey Wickens on the Violin playing a scintillating version of Kreisler’s Praeludium and Allegro,  Alice Peters playing Bach’s Prelude from Suite No 1 on the cello, Ellie Hargreaves on the piano playing Doctor Gradus ad Parnassum from Debussy’s Children’s Corner and a superb solo performance from Jessica Black singing Mozart’s Agnus Dei which had her listeners captivated from start to finish. Superb solo performances from all ensured an extremely grateful response from the audience and much anticipation for the final ensemble piece. The Recital concluded with Vivaldi’s Concerto in C for two recorders, a lively and tuneful end to a polished and professional event.

Performing is a key part of the GCSE Music course and pupils who take this course are given frequent opportunities to perform. The Vth form Concert is designed to give pupils the opportunity to perform both solos and ensemble pieces and this event did not disappoint. Lewis Barnes, a member of the Vth form Music Class, reviews the concert:

The evening got under way with the Brass Group treating the audience to two movements from Susato’s dance suite: Bransle Quatre Bransles and La Mourisque.  This was a confident performance of a great standard from the sextet, setting the bar high for the hour to come. Then, through a variety of twists and turns, the audience were then taken on a musical journey covering the full musical spectrum of Jazz, Classical, Pop, and Romantic styles. One of the highlights was Jess Hedges’ and Rosie Zeidler’s duet (piano and voice respectively). Beautifully dynamic and impeccably well-rehearsed, the two gave a splendid performance of Adele’s Turning Tables.

We were also treated to the soaring harmonies of Delibes’ Flower Duet (duet by Chloe Burrows and Lottie Atkinson), the unplugged subtleties of Clapton’s Tears in Heaven (Rory Green and yours truly) and the all-out pop-rock of Red Hot Chilli Peppers (Max Silvey and Alex Hill). Rory Green closed the concert with a performance of Mozart’s Fantasia in D Minor. This was a demanding piece, seamlessly changing mood and character, from slow to fast; passionate to tranquil. It was a terrific way to end a wonderful recital. All the performers should be applauded for the high quality of their music making. Bravo!

House Music Competition
The first half of term was brought to a close with the annual, keenly contested, House Music Competition which took place in the Chapel just before half term. We were pleased to welcome Mr S W Parry, the Assistant Director of Music at Eastbourne College to adjudicate the evening for us. Mr Parry was impressed not only by the standard of playing and singing but also by the audience support for each other - Hurst spirit at its best. It was evident that all houses had worked hard to prepare their House Songs and Ensembles. The standard was, as always, very high indeed and shows the real depth of musical talent that we have here at Hurst.

Well done to Pelican who were worthy winners with their ensemble, put together by Lizzie Learmonth, of Lizzie,  Lauren Collier (Remove), Emily Roser (Shell), Rosie Zeidler (Vth Form), Nicole Tuffin (Vth Form) Eloise Pfeiffer (LVI) and Isabel Rayner (Remove), who performed I’ll Be There by the Jackson Five with panache and style.

The Pelican house song, Build me up Buttercup by the Foundations, also showed real polish.