Genius humour

The first work played by the Australian Haydn Ensemble in the Drill Hall Gallery was Boccherini and I was thinking this was delightful music, with lively first and racing 4/4 third movement sandwiching a lyrical pastorale. The double bass is odd with a string quartet, but apparently there were some excellent bassists in the local courts when he was writing this work. Then a Hadyn divertimento amplified by Wranitzky. Amplification and reduction was a technique of editing existing chamber works for different collections of voices. Here, Wranitzky has amplified Haydn's string quartet for a nonet and changed the colour by adding wind instruments: flute, oboe and horns. It's a civilised work giving much pleasure, as a divertimento should be. Quite lovely, and much richer for the wider instrumental colour. The third work was Haydn again, this time a concerto for two lira organizzatas (lire organizzati?). The lira organizzata is related to the hurdy-gurdy and listed in French-language Wikipedia under Vielle organisé. Apparently, the remaining instruments are unplayable and in museums. Music for the lira organizzata is usually performed on a pairing of oboe and flute, as this was. They would sometimes converse, and sometimes speak in unison. Again, a courtly work, lively and warm. But then the theme of the evening: Mozart's musical joke. It's Mozart, so obviously brilliant, but also it's odd and misbehaving and blatantly unconventional. It's replete with musical humour. The program lists some: "wrong notes, irregular phrase lengths, faulty harmonic progressions, clumsy ornaments, difficult and unidiomatic instrumental writing, poorly matched melodic ideas, the ever-scorned consecutive fifths and octaves between voices, shockingly subtle (and not-so-subtle) dissonances as well as pure, unbridled polytonality". Many of these are conventions rather than errors, and acceptable to our ears after the 20th century, but some were unmissable and belly-laughable. It's work of the genius and slightly noisome character of Mozart mythology, but what a clever invention and truly worthy of a few laughs. As for the performers, they were great. I loved the slinky performance of Paul with his high notes and dismissive slurs in several pieces. Jacqueline's bass was immensely capable: I am a fan. I enjoyed the occasional smiles of joy and communication from Sky and others. The horns were visitors and rang with resplendent baroque beauty. Listening back to a recording, I'm immensely pleased and even surprised by how well they played. The space could be muddy, but they did these works proud. Lovely, stately music, even despite Mozart's genius humour. AHE return for two more concerts this year as ensemble in residence at the ANU School of Music and they are recommended but perhaps already sold out.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble played at the Drill Hall Gallery. Performers were: Melissa Farrow (flute), Amy Power (oboe), Paul Wright and Skye McIntosh (violins), Heather Lloyd and James Eccles (violas), Noeleen Wright (cello), Jacqueline Dossor (double bass), Darryl Poulsen and Carla Blackwood (natural horns). AHE performed Boccherini String quintet Op.39 no.3 with double bass, Haydn-Wranitzky Divertimento no.2 from String Quartet Op.71 no.2, Haydn Concerto op.1 for 2 lira organizzata C major and Mozart The musical joke K.522.

Anything but heartless

The Australian Haydn Ensemble feels like living music, not electronic digital-perfect but with body and life. I imagine this is what music was like in the past. Instruments and education were not the production of machines and computer accuracy. Each gut string a product of another body. It's a revealing musical experience. Intimate and human. Women in lacey black and harpsichord with country idyl scenes. I hear elemental sounds. Waves of notes, rising and falling and wind and weather and country in the music. This is countryside and nature that none of us, probably not even our rural cousins, would experience now, in our age of vehicles and machines and communications and power in a switch rather than in the legs of a horse of the smouldering of a lump of timber. The period instruments help in this, notably the recorder-like tone of a wooden flute. Perhaps the room influences it, too; the Larry Sitsky room would have been big for musicians of this period. The music itself is located somewhere between baroque and classical. The is Abel and JC Bach and Haydn and Stanley. Some of it feels like popular music. Some of it feels pretty straightforward. Politics and society are always complex, but this music sounds young, of the early days of Western musical history. Lots of unisons, easy rhythms and simple times and attractive melodies, syncopations that are just dotted notes and consonant harmonies in major keys with scalar runs and third intervals. But it's quite beautiful with its mix of tones, the flute in parallel with the violins and the harpsichord plucking in accompaniment and the bass and cello working away below. For a few songs, also a male baritone singing of nymphs and shepherds and the like and the sounds of country and nature. The Australian Haydn Ensemble are artists in residence this year at the ANU School of Music and this was a lovely introduction to their music. Loved it.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble performed in the Larry Sitsky Room. They comprised Skye McIntosh (violin), Alice Evans (violin), Heather Lloyd (viola), Noeleen Wright (cello), Stewart Smith (harpsichord) and Jacqueline Dossor (bass). David Greco (baritone) joined them for several songs.

Galant

The Australian Haydn Ensemble returned to the Wesley Centre to play a night of music in the Galant style. That’s a new one on me, and not only for me. The music was introduced by Skye with a quote using the adjective “elegant” several times: elegant people, dress, presentation … even music. The core theme was the music of Johann Christian Bach, the London Bach, a son of JS Bach, a convert to Catholicism, a lover of the good life. He ran the first London concert series with Frederick Carl Abel. We heard a series of tunes from this series, including by JC Bach and Abel, but also by Haydn, Mozart (who had played on the knee of JC Bach when a precocious child) and one by JC’s dad, JS Bach. Galant is pre-classical, pre-delicious Mozart, certainly not God-fearing JS Bach, but it’s lovely, elegant music none-the-less. The AHE does it eminent justice. This concert had a fully female AHE, four strings and flute, all in black. Again, elegant and dignified. They are wonderful players, playing authentic instruments, some originals from the mid- to late-1700s. The sounds are not as powerful as modern instruments; the bows are lighter and have a different balance; the tones seem more settled with smoother edges, like old wines. Anthea’s cello was voluminous, especially on lower notes, and strangely lodged between her legs with no endpin. The two violins were notable for different tonalities and the flute was just a fine and pure tone amongst the strings. There’s considerable predictability in this music. The tempos were similar; the flourishes served the same courtly purpose. Dignity reigns; pleasure is consequential; presumably a good dancer is a celebrity. It’s not our world, or at least not mine, but it’s beautiful to visit and AHE does it worthy justice. A lovely evening of style and gallantry and elegance.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble comprised Melissa Farrow (flute), Alice Evans (violin), Skye McIntosh (violin), Heather Lloyd (viola) and Anthea Cottee (cello). The played music for London’s first ever concert series, the Bach-Abel concerts.

Seduction at court

Garth Mansfield, the Director at Wesley Music Centre, thanked the Australian Haydn Ensemble at the end observing that they had staged 1,100 concerts over 12 years (something like that) and this was one of the best. I certainly agreed it was something special. Partly because we had involvement through billeting; partly because of the performance. This was early classical music, played with period instruments, all gut and transitional bows and fortepiano. The Wesley is great space for this music. It’s not a particularly pretty but it’s nicely timber-reverberent, of longish shape and relaxed and intimate.

The music was Haydn Clock symphony no.43, Beethoven piano concerto no.1, Salomon Romance in D and Mozart Jupiter Symphony no.41. The ensemble is not large, numbering 8 for the Mozart, so we could follow individual lines, feel the flow of melody and passing phrases, watch it in the musician’s own movements and follow their eyes as they watch for prompts. There’s no conductor, of course, so there were lots of glances. Chatting after, cellist Tony commented favourably about how frequent these glances were. Part of all this is the informality that this music seems to exude. I observed Neal Peres da Costa on fortepiano as he was watching and waiting to come in for a passage in the Beethoven, rocking on his stool with the beat. This is intimate music, and the informality of performance drips from it. It seems so unlike a conductor-led massed orchestra. There’s movement there, too, but I guess it’s lost amongst massed musicians and sections that are biding time and counting. I didn’t hear gut in Handel’s Theodora the other day in the large space of the Playhouse, but we heard gut here and felt the bouncier effect of the bows of this era (they are differently balanced and have the hand some way up the shaft). I also chatted with bassist Jacqueline Dossor and was surprised by her tiny bass (unknown Bolognese luthier c.1750) with a shape harking back to its viol forebears. It was probably built for 3 strings tuned in a triad. Things were different then. The fortepiano was even more obviously different with its soft but tubby, plucky tone. The instruments are otherworldly but so is the music. I speak of this music as dignified and courtly but to see it in this original form makes me think seductive intimacy rather than intellectual respectability. Not that there’s not classical order here, but there’s also playfulness in musical structure and in performance.

I haven’t spoken of performances here but there were seriously impressive individual presences here. I particularly noticed Melissa Farrow’s woody flute and Alice Evan’s fine violin tone and Neal Peres da Costa’s very easy-going fortepiano, but this is as much a function of their forward roles. When I concentrated on any player here, I was satisfied and involved. I loved some unison rapid lines on bass and cello, and Anthony Albrecht’s energetic responses to the music, but they were all involved and mobile. Both ensemble and audience were delighted after the performance. Joyful and informed and somewhat seductive. The Australian Haydn Ensemble returns to Wesley on 19 August for a program of the nascent classicism of CPE Bach. Sadly I can’t make it. Book early: after this gig, expect a sellout.

The Australian Haydn Ensemble performed Haydn’s Clock Symphony, arr. Salomon, Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, chamber arr. Cimador, Salomon’s Romance in D, flute solo, and Beethoven’s Piano concerto no.1, arr. Lachner. The performers were Alice Evans and Skye McIntosh (violins), Heather Lloyd and James Eccles (violas), Anthony Albrecht (cello), Melissa Farrow (flute), Jacqueline Dossor (double bass) and Neal Peres da Costa (fortepiano).