#englishcomposers

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One of the most beautiful stringed instruments, the lute. John Dowland used this often to accompany his beautiful songs. here is “Lachrimae” (something to do with tears and crying), played by Christopher Morrongiello for The Met. 

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Excellent performance from Nicola Benedetti and pianist Alexei Grynyuk of Elgar’s Violin Sonata. Lots of tenderness and emotion in Benedetti’s playing here. The pianist Grynyuk deserves credit for his virtuoso interpretation, too. 

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William Walton’s excellent, haunting Viola Concerto. 

The viola really deserves more recognition and respect. 

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The third lesson from Benedetti’s class on Edward Elgar’s Salut D’Amour. Some of the key ideas I took from this was the importance of beginning from a place of security when practicing a particular technique. Benedetti obviously values good time organisation, particularly when approaching difficulty. I have to learn more of this, how to concentrate my effort into done one thing in one particular time-frame. By far the most important lesson from this video was not expecting even results. Intonation on the violin is one of the most difficult topics to address, and one has to be willing to risk imperfect results at one time, in order to produce a good sound. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it is a far more reliable method of improving your practice and eventual sound. I can apply the same thing to writing and drawing-- I cannot expect linear results, and should accept that some parts will be less than good. 

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In this second lesson on Elgar’s Salut D’Amour, Nicola Benedetti focuses on addressing and progressing through difficulty. This is something which definitely speaks to my own experience inside and out of music. I would either tune out difficulty, or only wish to correct it through method and discipline. Benedetti recommends the latter-- but as just one method. The other method is creativity, something I have definitely lacked. Leaving what you expect and trying new things leads to higher levels of creativity, and that is something that I will implement in all the arts from now on. I also admire Benedetti’s focus on focusing, which allows you to keep things in perspective. Not everything can be fixed at once. 

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Nicola Benedetti’s illustrated story of Elgar’s beautiful Salut D’Amour. She plays the piece in the background. I realise upon wriitng this that I know very little about Elgar. I will see whether I can locate a good documentary on him. Despite being born in England, I have always been more attracted to continental composers such as Bach, Handel, etc. But the English were no less illustrious, and English styles were reflected in the music of continental composers. After all, Handel’s best years were arguably spent on our shores. Haydn profited from visiting London. Britten was admired as far as Russia (and possibly beyond), rubbing shoulders with Shostakovich, Rostropovich, and many more. And every patriotic Brit loves the sound of Land of Hope and Glory at national festivals. 

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More from William Byrd, Ave Verum Corpus. Reminds me of when I collected Renaissance pieces such as these. Now it’s early German and French medieval works. 

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Majestic music from Tudor England by William Byrd (1543- 1623), The Battell.