Following on from the Director of Music’s week 1 piano recital, growing audiences in All Saints’ Church have enjoyed brass and piano lunchtime recitals in the second and third weeks of term.
Charlie (Form 4) and Archie (Form 6) entertained us with their accomplished playing on Wednesday 15 September. Charlie opened the recital with a spirited rendition of ‘Loch Lomond’ by Timothy Jackson on the horn. His musicality and excellent tone particularly shone through in his second work, the slow movement from Richard Strauss’ Horn Concerto No. 1, filling All Saints’ Church with his glorious sound. Archie concluded the recital with a trio of more modern pieces, framing an arrangement of Smoke gets in your eyes with two rhythmic pieces by David Mitcham. Archie’s expressivity in the Jerome Kern arrangement contrasted strongly with the vibrant Latin American and rock-influenced features of David Mitcham’s A Latin Heart and Trombomatic, which were enjoyed by performer and audience alike. Congratulations to both boys for giving such an excellent first pupil recital of the new academic year.
Samantha (Form 6) was the next recitalist to perform on Wednesday 22 September. Her piano recital contrasted Romantic music by husband and wife Robert Schumann and Clara Schumann, before moving on to perform 20th Century works by the Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe and American composer Aaron Copland. Samantha’s excellent programme notes matched her outstanding command of the piano in this varied recital as she conjured up a wonderful array of sounds from the piano, ranging from the contrapuntal clarity of Clara Schumann’s fugue, via the tenderness of Sculthorpe’s nocturnal soundscapes, through to the concluding cheeky flashes of Copland’s The Cat and the Mouse. Many congratulations on such a brilliant recital, Samantha.
Both recitals can be viewed again online at https://bit.ly/oakhammusic
