Music Department

Konstanz Orchestra Exchange: Summer 2008

The first day of the holidays, Saturday 4 July, and 44 members of the orchestra, with five members of staff were meeting at 6 p.m. with an all-night journey in prospect. Our destination, Konstanz, is a wonderful mediaeval city on the shores of the Bodensee, just at the point the Rhine leaves the lake on its long journey north. The city itself lies on the German/Swiss border, and thanks to its bold and imaginative inhabitants suffered no damage during the war. They left their lights blazing all night, so that any bombers coming over would assume it was a Swiss city; it worked! Some of us manage to get some sleep overnight, but it was a stiff and tired party who arrived at exactly 2 p.m. (as it said on my itinerary) at the Heinrich Suso Gymnasium, thus giving me first prize in the sweepstake for our arrival time. However, it then took Charles, one of our indefatigable drivers, 25 minutes to reverse the bus and trailer into the schoolyard so I willingly forfeited my prize in favour of one of the boys who had assumed we would actually be late, since the bus finally came to rest at 2:25 p.m. In fact, we were still 35 minutes early, as our hosts were expecting us at 3:00 p.m. No problem, as that gave us plenty of time to unload our bags and reorganise the coach. The trailer had given us plenty of room for all instruments and bags on the way down, but the drivers reckoned that they could get all that we needed for the week into the coach itself once our luggage was out, and leave the trailer until our return journey. And so it proved, which made manoeuvring in and out of the schoolyard that much easier. It was still a bravura piece of coach driving though, as there was no more than 2cm to spare on either side of the coach as it reversed through the gate.

After a pleasant evening with hosts, we had the shock the following morning of school starting at 7:45 a.m., compounded by the fact that we were an hour earlier than UK time anyway. A two and half hour rehearsal starting at 8 a.m. may not have been at the top of the boys’ list of priorities, nonetheless that’s what we did, honing our performances from the high standards we had already reached at the Summer Concert the previous Thursday. Then, after a quick look around the old city and shops, we returned to school to go with our hosts for lunch and to prepare for a 3:00 p.m. departure for our first concert. After a half-hour drive to Singen, it was all hands on deck to unload our instruments ready for a performance of Peter Maxwell Davies’s An Orkney Wedding and Sunrise conducted by Mr. Dawe at the Schools’ Music Festival in Singen’s brand new Hall. What at first seemed to be an ideal venue turned out to have a less than ideal acoustic, but nonetheless the orchestra produced an excellent performance, which raised one of the best audience reactions of the evening, no small credit for which must go to James Cormack’s closing solo on the bagpipes. We were one of 10 orchestras playing at this concert, and the final performance was by a primary school from China, which was simply outstanding. Unfortunately, so many performances, rather too much speechmaking, and some less than slick stage management meant the concert finished at 9:45 p.m. rather than the expected 9:00 p.m. Despite the Herculean efforts of the boys to get the coach loaded quickly, we were still quite late for our 10:30 p.m. pickup time. The first of several very late nights.

Despite the long rehearsal the previous morning, Tuesday started with another rehearsal, as we had not quite got through our entire repertoire. We were due to perform at 1:00 p.m. in the courtyard of the Rathaus, the town hall. After a short rehearsal, we headed back to the coach and went the few miles up the shore to Mainau Island, which is a spectacular garden with a beautiful baroque castle and chapel. Now run by a foundation, it was owned by a Swedish prince and is still managed by his family. Thirteen years ago, on my first visit to Konstanz, two very lucky boys were hosted at this castle, as the children of the family went to school at HSG. A couple of hours is too short a time to spend in this wonderful place, but we had to depart for our concert at lunchtime. There was nowhere close to park the coach, so all music stands, music and instruments (including three timpani, and the bass drum) had to be carried some 200m, a task which the boys undertook quickly and efficiently, and for the most part, cheerfully. After the wet weather at the start of our visit it had cleared up a good deal, but there were still dark clouds threatening and, more of a problem, a gusty wind. At times only about half the orchestra were actually playing, whilst the other half desperately tried to keep the music on the stand. Bravo to Hugh Claridge and Alastair Trodden for their solo performances at this concert. We had thought our programme would be a little short, but in fact we managed to fill our allotted hour exactly. Indeed, we started to worry that the wedding scheduled for 2:00 p.m. might start accompanied by James’s bagpipes, but we just about got away with it. We had an appreciative audience of about 150; some hosts, members of the language exchange led by Mrs Croucher, and quite a lot of passers-by who stayed for the whole programme, which was very gratifying. And despite the difficult conditions, and a worrying few spots of rain mid-concert, the orchestra did very well indeed.

The concert was followed by the customary welcome by the Mayor in the council chamber, and most of the boys managed to resist the temptation to play with the microphones at every seat. On a tight schedule for the afternoon, the boys did well to get the coach loaded quickly and then we were off for an afternoon swim in the lake. Unfortunately unbeknownst to us, the road to the closest and best of the swimming areas was closed that afternoon, thanks to an Elton John concert. So we headed down the coast again, past Mainau Island, and managed to find another well-equipped swimming area where we could spend an hour enjoying an invigorating dip in the waters of the lake. Then back to the school for a joint rehearsal for our Thursday performance. This was the first time we had heard the two orchestras together, and the quality was astoundingly good. The orchestras split for further rehearsal before departing with hosts for the evening.

 Wednesday was our free day, and we headed across the border into Switzerland and up into the mountains. At Kronenberg there is toboggan run on rails, which had proved very popular at our last visit, and so it proved this time. After their two rides provided by the fund, most of the party went back around time and again before we headed up the cable car to the top of the mountain for lunch. After an hour or so at the top of the mountain to enjoy lunch and a walk, we headed back down the cable car. The fact that there were too many of us to fit into one car gave a few of the party a chance to have another go or two on the toboggan run. In the afternoon we headed for the Rheinfall, the biggest waterfall in Europe at 23 m high and 150 m wide. I had expected the falls to be impressive, as the water level in the lake was higher this year after heavy snowfalls in the Alps last winter. The summer is the best time to see the falls, as this is when the water levels are highest. We were not disappointed, and this year several of us took the opportunity to take a boat across the middle of the falls where you can climb a rock to the very top. I’m sure there will be some impressive photographs, but nothing can quite capture the power and noise of the Rheinfall. I tried with the video option on my new camera, but unfortunately not having used it before, managed to film more of my feet than the waterfall! That evening, our hosts were performing at Singen – it was unfortunate that we could not perform the same concert, but the organisers had wanted to have both a British and the Chinese Orchestra on stage together on the Monday evening, not least because there were TV cameras there. As a result we had to make our own arrangements that evening, and the younger ones headed for a cellar room in an excellent Italian restaurant, whilst the older boys made their own arrangements. As it happened, they all booked themselves tables in the Brauhaus, a very popular spot for older Hamptonians, and which was conveniently directly opposite the restaurant the staff were in with the younger boys. HSG Orchestra had slightly less of a marathon concert than us, and were waiting for us when we arrived, unfortunately again a few minutes late. This time because so many boys had ordered pizza at the restaurant, and their oven could only take three at a time, so our meal had been rather prolonged. Another late night for all of us.

Thursday was our final full day in Konstanz, and we started with an early-morning rehearsal in the magnificent 14th century Konzil building. This is the second time we performed here, and it really is a magnificent venue, with its terrace and views over the lake. After rehearsal we had the morning free in the city before meeting hosts for lunch and an afternoon with them. Returning that evening to the Konzil, the joint orchestras opened the concert with a magnificent performance of Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture conducted by Mr Dawe, followed by the HSG orchestra in a medley from Phantom of the Opera. Our orchestra followed with a really excellent performance of the three dances from Verdi’s Macbeth, which won warm applause from the packed house. The boys’ hosts had arranged a room in a nearby bar for a post-concert party which all but the youngest went to. Another very late night for everyone, but hosts had been given the day off school the next day letting everyone (except the staff) enjoy a welcome lie in.

Friday was spent with hosts, and many of the boys found themselves once more at the lakeside, enjoying the fabulous weather with a swim in the lake before our four o’clock departure.

The boys were a credit to themselves in every possible respect, performing to a very high standard, and their behaviour was exemplary throughout the trip. Many of the host parents told me how much they had enjoyed having the boys stay with them. Many thanks to them, and particularly to the staff accompanying our visit, Mr Dawe, Miss Jordan, Mr Aubrey and Miss Ford.