This afternoon I went to a concert at Crown Court Church of Scotland, which I had never visited before. It tucked away in Russell Street, in Covent Garden, and the church itself is upstairs, with the hall on the ground floor. The church congregation dates back to the early eighteenth century - the first records are from 1711 - and was a home for the Scots who came to London, although there had been other congregations from the time of James I. They moved to the current site in 1719; by 1909 the building had become very dilapidated, so was rebuilt in its current form.
The church is rather plain, as one would expect; it is approached up a flight of stairs, and there would appear to be other offices or meeting rooms on the same floor. There is a very spacious hall downstairs, with more offices or meeting rooms - one thing I noticed was lists of names on one wall described as a "Cradle Roll". There seemed to be far too few names for the lists to be baptisms, but I can't think what else they might be.
The concert featured The Flautadors, who are one of the UK's leading recorder ensembles, although the instruments they were playing bore little resemblance to what one normally thinks of as recorders. They have a large repertoire, spanning over 800 years, and the music they were playing today was from the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries - Richard Deering, Anthony Holborne, Matthew Locke, Georg Philip Telemann, Johan Sebastian Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. The programme included a wide variety of pieces, mostly fairly short.
Sunday, 28 September 2014
Saturday, 20 September 2014
Music for a While
This evening I went to a concert at Holy Trinity Church, Rotherhithe, which might seem a long way to go, but in fact is a very easy journey - Central Line to Oxford Circus, change to the Victoria Line to Green Park, and then pick up the Jubilee Line to Canada Water, from where it is just a short bus-ride to the church.
Holy Trinity is a modern Church; the impressive original one, dating back to 1838, was bombed in 1940, the first church to be completely destroyed, and it was later rebuilt in the 1950s. It is not very big, although it is set is quite large grounds, and seems to have quite a lot going on.
I had come to listen to a concert of music by Henry Purcell and John Blow, sung by soprano Emily Atkinson and mezzo-soprano Cathy Bell, accompanied by musicians on harpsichord, organ, viola, violin and guitar.
The singing was wonderful; both girls have lovely voices and it is not difficult to find excellent pieces from the seventeenth century. The programme included a large number of short pieces by both composers, including "Sound the Trumpet", "If music be the Food of Love" and "Dido's Lament".
It wasn't a stuffy concert; although all the singers and musicians were very professional, there was a certain light-heartedness about it, although this didn't detract at all from the performance.
Holy Trinity is a modern Church; the impressive original one, dating back to 1838, was bombed in 1940, the first church to be completely destroyed, and it was later rebuilt in the 1950s. It is not very big, although it is set is quite large grounds, and seems to have quite a lot going on.
I had come to listen to a concert of music by Henry Purcell and John Blow, sung by soprano Emily Atkinson and mezzo-soprano Cathy Bell, accompanied by musicians on harpsichord, organ, viola, violin and guitar.
The singing was wonderful; both girls have lovely voices and it is not difficult to find excellent pieces from the seventeenth century. The programme included a large number of short pieces by both composers, including "Sound the Trumpet", "If music be the Food of Love" and "Dido's Lament".
It wasn't a stuffy concert; although all the singers and musicians were very professional, there was a certain light-heartedness about it, although this didn't detract at all from the performance.
Brook Green Day
The Old Brook Green Fair used to be quite a good event - loads of charity stalls selling everything from bric-a-brac to cakes to crafts - rides, etc for the children, commercial food stalls, a stage with constant entertainment, a tug-of-war - all the usual things you would expect at a fair on the village green. All that was needed was some sunshine to make it a very pleasant place to spend a couple of hours on a Saturday afternoon.
Brook Green Day was a much inferior affair. There were a couple of stalls selling expensive - very expensive cakes, etc. some facepainting, a funfair for the children which would soon eat up a fortune, something for dog-owners, some children from Bute House singing, and rather more estate agents stalls than anything else. Just about worth a quick walk-through to see what was there. But Andy Slaughter, our MP turned up and there were a few people wandering around.
It looked as if it was organised in rather a hurry, and no-one had time to really make it a really good event. Maybe next year things will be different.
Brook Green Day was a much inferior affair. There were a couple of stalls selling expensive - very expensive cakes, etc. some facepainting, a funfair for the children which would soon eat up a fortune, something for dog-owners, some children from Bute House singing, and rather more estate agents stalls than anything else. Just about worth a quick walk-through to see what was there. But Andy Slaughter, our MP turned up and there were a few people wandering around.
It looked as if it was organised in rather a hurry, and no-one had time to really make it a really good event. Maybe next year things will be different.
Sunday, 14 September 2014
Queen's Park Festival
I'd been to the Queen's Park Festival many years ago, on a day when, in the middle of the afternoon, the heavens opened and the rain poured down, and it was only a long plastic mac that saved me from being completely soaked - an umbrella would have been completely useless.
Today the sun was shining, and the park was alive with people all enjoying the festival, the park and the sun.
There were plenty of stalls, though the prices for things like cakes and jam and honey were rather steep. There were also a lot of craft stalls, but none selling anything I really wanted.
There was, though, plenty of entertainment for everyone, especially the children, and the atmosphere was quite jolly.
I went with a friend and we had a cup of tea in the park cafe before going and getting something to eat at a Lebanese restaurant where the menu included a bowl of very nice soup at a very reasonable price.
Today the sun was shining, and the park was alive with people all enjoying the festival, the park and the sun.
There were plenty of stalls, though the prices for things like cakes and jam and honey were rather steep. There were also a lot of craft stalls, but none selling anything I really wanted.
There was, though, plenty of entertainment for everyone, especially the children, and the atmosphere was quite jolly.
I went with a friend and we had a cup of tea in the park cafe before going and getting something to eat at a Lebanese restaurant where the menu included a bowl of very nice soup at a very reasonable price.
Saturday, 13 September 2014
Quebec House
I'd passed Quebec House several times on the bus, but never actually stopped off to see inside it. So today I decided to make up for that omission.
Quebec House is owned by the National Trust, and was the former childhood home of General James Wolfe, with whom most people immediately associate the Plains of Abraham and the gaining of Canada as a British colony in 1759.
The house is at one end of the village of Westerham in Kent, and although comparatively small, is full of interest as an example of a family house in the early eighteenth century. The house itself is much older and was presumably built for letting, but because no-one really famous ever resided there, there are no records of its occupants prior to the Wolfe family.
The house came to the National Trust in an unusual way. A Canadian devotee of General Wolfe bought the property for a museum; his widow left the property to the Canadian Government who, realising the problems of looking after a museum in England, offered it to the National Trust.
Unfortunately, not many mementos of General Wolfe are in the house. He died young and unmarried at the battle of Quebec; his mother when she died distributed the family's possessions amongst many different people, and although quite a lot exists, it is all in other hands.
When I was there, there was a lot more than usual in the house. The young James Wolfe had been great friends with the young son of the Squerryes family, who lived on a large estate at the other end of the village, and they in fact have many items connected with him, including portraits, books etc. Squerryes Court is currently being refurbished, and so they have loaned some of their items to the museum for the duration of the works.
But among the permanent items are the white robe in which James Wolfe's body was wrapped for transportation back to England, and replicas of his uniform and weapons.
There was also a opportunity to try some of the eighteenth century cakes in the kitchen, where "Mrs. Wolfe" was busy baking.
A house that is very much worth a visit.
Quebec House is owned by the National Trust, and was the former childhood home of General James Wolfe, with whom most people immediately associate the Plains of Abraham and the gaining of Canada as a British colony in 1759.
The house is at one end of the village of Westerham in Kent, and although comparatively small, is full of interest as an example of a family house in the early eighteenth century. The house itself is much older and was presumably built for letting, but because no-one really famous ever resided there, there are no records of its occupants prior to the Wolfe family.
The house came to the National Trust in an unusual way. A Canadian devotee of General Wolfe bought the property for a museum; his widow left the property to the Canadian Government who, realising the problems of looking after a museum in England, offered it to the National Trust.
Unfortunately, not many mementos of General Wolfe are in the house. He died young and unmarried at the battle of Quebec; his mother when she died distributed the family's possessions amongst many different people, and although quite a lot exists, it is all in other hands.
When I was there, there was a lot more than usual in the house. The young James Wolfe had been great friends with the young son of the Squerryes family, who lived on a large estate at the other end of the village, and they in fact have many items connected with him, including portraits, books etc. Squerryes Court is currently being refurbished, and so they have loaned some of their items to the museum for the duration of the works.
But among the permanent items are the white robe in which James Wolfe's body was wrapped for transportation back to England, and replicas of his uniform and weapons.
There was also a opportunity to try some of the eighteenth century cakes in the kitchen, where "Mrs. Wolfe" was busy baking.
A house that is very much worth a visit.
Fourteen Guitars
I didn't recognise Holland Park School when I saw it; nothing about it rang a bell, and I assumed that it must be because I was entering via a different gate, until I discovered that the whole school had been pulled down an the re-built. And I must say the finished product is rather outstanding.
There are now security gates - you used to just be able to walk straight in - and the guard showed me the way to the main entrance, which looks a bit like a hotel entrance - nothing dull or drab about it.
The entrance hall is very spacious, with armchairs, huge bowls of lavender on the table, copies of Dickens' novels on the coffee tables, vases of fresh flowers - a complete contrast to what school receptions used to look like. Likewise the Ladies - modern, gleaming, complete with taps with sensors so you don't have to touch them. Everything is spotless and very much 2014.
The hall where the concert was held is huge, and could probably easily hold a thousand. The wood floors were gleaming, with not a mark on them, and the whole place would not have looked out of place on the Southbank.
The concert was in aid of a charity called Future Talent, which aims to help brilliant but poor musically gifted children from 5 to 18 years old, by providing mentoring and financial assistance, e.g. paying for tuition, helping to purchase instruments, enabling them to take part in competitions, etc. The charity was set up by the Duchess of Kent in 2004, and although she was meant to be attending, she was was not able to make it. But the fourteen guitarists of the title all managed to make it, along with two others and an unexpected fifteen year old guest player from South London, who is one of the recipients of their help.
The programme was quite varied, with most, if not all, pieces not originally written for guitar. Some sounded slightly strange as a result, and much more medieval.than normal, as if they were being played on a lute. But the result was wonderful - an evening that was different, but also very enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the size of the audience was quite small - most of the chairs that had been put out were unoccupied, and I got the impression that much of the audience were in some way connected to the school.
There are now security gates - you used to just be able to walk straight in - and the guard showed me the way to the main entrance, which looks a bit like a hotel entrance - nothing dull or drab about it.
The entrance hall is very spacious, with armchairs, huge bowls of lavender on the table, copies of Dickens' novels on the coffee tables, vases of fresh flowers - a complete contrast to what school receptions used to look like. Likewise the Ladies - modern, gleaming, complete with taps with sensors so you don't have to touch them. Everything is spotless and very much 2014.
The hall where the concert was held is huge, and could probably easily hold a thousand. The wood floors were gleaming, with not a mark on them, and the whole place would not have looked out of place on the Southbank.
The concert was in aid of a charity called Future Talent, which aims to help brilliant but poor musically gifted children from 5 to 18 years old, by providing mentoring and financial assistance, e.g. paying for tuition, helping to purchase instruments, enabling them to take part in competitions, etc. The charity was set up by the Duchess of Kent in 2004, and although she was meant to be attending, she was was not able to make it. But the fourteen guitarists of the title all managed to make it, along with two others and an unexpected fifteen year old guest player from South London, who is one of the recipients of their help.
The programme was quite varied, with most, if not all, pieces not originally written for guitar. Some sounded slightly strange as a result, and much more medieval.than normal, as if they were being played on a lute. But the result was wonderful - an evening that was different, but also very enjoyable.
Unfortunately, the size of the audience was quite small - most of the chairs that had been put out were unoccupied, and I got the impression that much of the audience were in some way connected to the school.
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