Music Department

Chamber Music Course 19 – 23 October 2009

The annual music course was held during half term with twenty two Hampton boys, from second year to upper sixth, and two visiting boys from the City of London Freemen’s School who joined the brass ensemble. It was run this year by Joanna Estall, Liz van Ments and Alan Jones, with help from Chris Aubrey, a maths teacher who is also a fine violinist.

We started our rehearsals in the Garrick building on the Monday, with thirty different groups during the day, playing music from Gabrieli to Jonah Man Jazz for the brass ensemble, Beethoven string quartets, piano trios by Mozart, Dvorak and Brahms, numerous trio sonatas, mixed wind quartets and wind trios by Poulenc, Ibert and Bourgeois. We were assisted each day by members of the visiting music staff and other professional musicians, who tutored each small group for about an hour and a half each day. In the afternoon we held a composing workshop, led by Bernard Hughes, who is Composer-in-Residence at LEH. He showed the boys an interesting approach to composing, starting by playing CDs of the opening few bars of several pieces, such as Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and asked for comments about why they grabbed attention and what mood they were setting. The boys then heard a short piece of modern music a couple of times and had to draw graphs or plans to represent it. They were then asked to compose, in groups, a ten second piece for any instrumental ensemble, following the same plan. The results were very interesting and included their own instruments, percussion and howling! It was a thought provoking and enjoyable session.

On Tuesday we moved the course by minibus to the Purcell School, a specialist music school near Watford, where the musical facilities are ideal for our needs. There are so many grand pianos that we are spoilt for choice and Alan Jones enjoys testing them all to choose his favourite! We continued with our full schedule of rehearsals but also held an informal concert of solos, took an evening trip to a Mexican restaurant, followed by ten-pin bowling and the boys organized an informal football session at every possible opportunity.

On Thursday evening we held a concert of a selection of our repertoire in the Recital Room at the Purcell School. (The programme has been delivered to you). We started rather late, as about thirty parents and friends struggled around the M25 and the North Circular to join us and were delayed by road works and accidents. There were some very pleasing and impressive performances and it was followed by a short party, during which large quantities of coca cola and crisps were consumed.

Of particular note, amongst the more senior boys who attended, were Nathan Klein and Finlay Bain, who led the brass group with enthusiasm and flair. Finlay also gave an impressive performance in the challenging Sextet for two horns and string quartet by Beethoven. William Round gave a very expressive performance on the piano in a Poulenc trio, also starting work on the demanding trio by Brahms, as well as playing the violin and directing the barbershop group.

Despite three boys having 24-hour bugs and a tutor having flu, we had a very successful course, where the boys worked willingly and with commitment. On Friday morning we packed and left for Hampton, stopping en-route at the Big Apple in Woking for two games of Laser Quest and lunch.
This opportunity to work in a concentrated manner, or cover a wide range of repertoire, with the assistance of a specialist tutor over four days, is a luxury that cannot be accommodated during the school term. It is so important to stretch some of the more talented musicians and encouraging or challenging those who are keen but less able. Over the months following, we often see a noticeable improvement and increased motivation from many of the students who attend the course.

At this point we eagerly await our first chamber music concert in the new 450th Hall on 5th November and hope that the boys have not forgotten all that they learnt on the course during the intervening time!

The Musicians:

Alex Horne, oboe                                                        Angus Bain, violin/piano
Rusheb Shah, clarinet /piano                                       William Round, violin/piano
William Pepperell, clarinet/piano/voice                       Joseph Brady, violin
Sonosuke Kanada, clarinet                                         Robert Dewhurst, violin/viola
Matthew Chan, bassoon/piano                                    Naoto Nishimura, violin/viola
Christopher Breeze, bassoon/piano/voice                   Hiro Shimazaki, violin
Fergus Midforth, tenor sax/double bass                     Robert King, cello/voice
Nathan Klein, trumpet                                                Harry Blaiklock, cello/piano
Philip MacDonald, trumpet                                        Julius Haswell, cello/voice
Finlay Bain, horn                                                        Max Thomas, cello
Alexei Watkins, horn/cello                                          Josh Rowley, double bass
Tim Peters, trombone                                                  Mr C. Aubrey, violin
Sam Glynn, tuba
                                                                       
The Tutors:

Joanna Estall, Liz van Ments, Alan Jones, Bernard Hughes, Fiona Chesterman, Sally Whale, Steffan Rees, Rebecca Boyle , Anne Park, Tsui Fei Lim, David Ward, Leon Taylor, Tony Cross, Robert Stroh, Mark Smith and Janet Spotswood.