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Josh Dyer
Upper Sixth
South Town

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The Autumn Concert

Take out the dining tables, remove all the trays and cutlery and the big school kitchen as it is known, is one of the most beautiful areas of the school. Tonight, it played host to the Autumn Concert, one of the three main displays of Clifton’s musical talent.

We opened with the ever impressive Strings Group, arguably the most musically accomplished group we will be seeing this evening; containing prominent violinists and Joseph Cooper prize winners Julia Hwang and Ollie Gittings. Led by the ever witty and enthusiastic Martin Pring, the strings group eased their way through Percells’s ‘Gordian Knot Untied’, Elgar’s ‘Elgy’ and a selection of Bartok’s ‘Romanian Folk Dances’. The animated conducting, well contrasted harmonies and virtuoso playing from the violins led this to be a performance of real depth and musical prowess; a delight to listen to.

This was followed by the cello group, performing Critelli’s ‘Italian Song’. I have never been the biggest fan of ensembles comprising only of cellos; the intense concentration of the cellos characteristically sombre tone tends to be a little much for my taste, and lacks the ability to express melody well. However, with this piece, the intentionally sombre feel, led to a truly entrancing performance, needless to say, all concerned were faultless in their playing.

Always a highlight of school events, the swing band; now under new management – with a new improvisational regime, are set to impress; very well held together by Loxley Coates on drums and newcomer Hud Abdal Sittar on bass, this allowed for some fantastic improvised solo’s over the back of the instantly recognisable riffs of the great Herbie Hancock’s ‘Chameleon’. They followed this with a creation of their own, made up the previous night called the ‘Clifton Blues’. This featured amongst others, fantastic solo’s from Tom Gill on trumpet and virtuoso newcomer Charles Vaughan on the sax.

Recorder club was up next, performing Zeismann’s ‘Fantasia Rockia’. As I cannot in any way be considered an expert in the ins and outs of the recorder, I asked leader of the Recorder Club; Hugo Lau to give his take on the performance. Directly quoted; ‘The recorder is such a versatile instrument, people tend to look down upon the recorder but not me! I enjoy the recorder for the resonant, mellow yet crisp sound it produces and with four of us together in harmony, it was divine!’… A refreshingly modest and self critical review there! I did however enjoy listening to the evidently very complex piece.

Sixth Form sax group followed, with Rosie Quick managing to make it in despite battling crippling illness, this performance displayed the full capabilities of the saxophone, proving it not just as an instrument to add texture and melody for a jazz/blues ensemble, but capable of creating a stunning musical performance on its own; earned a standing ovation from a (very) small section of the crowd.

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Brass Group produced a depleted ensemble, filled in by a music teacher. They delivered Armitage’s classic ‘Let’s all take it easy’, which was a relaxing performance; one that really allowed the audience to sink into it.

A gorgeous opening set Saxophone Group off with Street’s ‘Subway’; the introductory riff really did set the foot tapping. This was a very young group, led by David Miles, most definitely comprised of musicians that will turn out to be rather extraordinary in the years to come.

A Cappella Group opted for the ‘Gentlemen of St John’s’ version of Berlin’s ‘What’ll I do’. The main countertenor part sung by Mr Robson, and supported with harmonies from the likes of Elleri Hughes and Hugo Lau, this was a stunning performance, with real depth, however it was simply too short to really get into.

I had been looking forward to this act all evening; the Jazz workshop, led by Jonah Trenouth is always a delight to listen to. Performing a favorite of mine in Hancock’s ‘Cantaloupe Island’, this was just stunning, effortless soloing from Loxley, Charles and Jonah proved this to be a genuinely professional sounding performance.

And so we were led to the Concert Big Band who eased their way through Strommen’s classic ‘Poco loco’ and Jobim’s ‘The Girl from Ipanema’ and left us with what has come to be known as the Concert Big Band’s ‘go-to’ song – Valen’s ‘La Bamba’. The sheer amount of times I have heard this song throughout my school years is just ridiculous, but is always enjoyable, and rounded off a really fantastic evening of music.

1 December 2010

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