St Mary’s Music School: Summer Concert
Queen’s Hall, Thursday 20th June 2024
Pupils of St Mary’s Music School, Edinburgh
Having recently visited St Mary’s Music School in Haymarket for an interview with the Headteacher and Head of Vocal Studies (see my article in the EMR Blog section), it was a great pleasure to hear some music performed by the pupils in their Summer Concert at the Queen’s Hall. Given that it is a specialist music school, one would expect high standards, but I was blown away by the excellence of the playing and singing we heard.
The concert started with the beautiful a cappella section, Lift Thine Eyes, from the second part of Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’, sung from the left balcony by choristers of St Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral, conducted by the Master of Music at the Cathedral, Duncan Ferguson. This ethereal three-part movement was sung with great style by the choristers, setting the scene for an evening of high class music-making.
Next, we heard a rare piece by Paul Hindemith, Fünf Stücke für Streichorchester, written in 1927. This five movement work is a good example of Hindemith’s early style. He was quite an individualist in his compositions, writing music that is modern sounding but rooted in tonality, and his style is unique. I can’t say that it is enormously appealing on first hearing, but the fact that it so annoyed the Nazis as to be described as Degenerate Music was a good sign! The Five Pieces for String Orchestra was excellently played, directed from within the ensemble by Dr Valerie Pearson, but led by a superb young S6 violinist.
Next, the school choir, prepared by John Cameron and Kate Aitken, sang the 2000 vocal piece ‘There will be Rest’ by the American composer, Frank Ticheli. He was born in 1958 and is presently Emeritus Professor of Composition at the University of Southern California. This was a very listenable piece, very well-performed by the choir, with decent singing from all these young voices. It was nice to hear a relatively modern work which was difficult but not fiendish, and which tested the pupils but also gave pleasure to the audience.
The final section of the first half was a new suite, originally for oboe and piano, drawn from Leoš Janáček’s opera, ‘Příhody lišky Bystroušky’, commonly referred to as ‘The Cunning Little Vixen.’ The suite was written by Fraser Kelman, an alumnus of the School and currently oboe teacher both at St Mary’s and George Watson’s, who also has a busy performing career with major orchestras throughout Britain, as well as featuring as oboe soloist and in chamber music. The work has been orchestrated both by St Mary’s Music School’s orchestration tutor, Simon Smith, and two of his pupils, and we heard Fraser Kalman as soloist tonight, with the Chamber Ensemble of 12 current pupils, conducted by Simon Smith. I have sung the role of the Priest, in Czech, at the prestigious Bregenz Festival on the shores of Lake Constance, a performance recorded and made into a CD by Austrian Radio, so I know the opera very well, and apart from obviously missing the voices, I found this suite very successful, and reckon it is a very good introduction to the delights of Janáček’s music. The orchestration gives free rein to many of the pupils to show their skill, as the composer was a genius in using unusual combinations of instruments. We even had some accordion playing!
After the interval, we heard the full orchestra, boosted by several players from Douglas Academy in Glasgow, George Watson’s College, East Lothian Instrumental Music Service and RCS Junior Department. Since St Mary’s Music School is relatively small, it can’t itself provide a symphony orchestra, so this was an excellent compromise. The second half featured the Symphonie Espagnole by Edouard Lalo, which is basically a wonderful, virtuosic violin concerto, here performed by William, an extraordinary S4 pupil at the school.
I was utterly astonished both by his virtuosity and by his interpretive powers, as he gave a superb rendition of a fascinating piece. This is yet another example of a French composer somehow able to produce authentic Spanish music (compare Bizet’s Carmen, Ravel’s Bolero, Debussy’s Iberia), with dashing syncopated rhythms and yearning melodies. William’s performance brought out all the light and sparkle of a Spanish summer, as well as the languid sensuousness of a Seville evening. He is a huge credit to his violin tutor, Dr Pearson, and to his own hard work and imagination. Watch out for him – he is going to be a star! The Lalo was conducted by the school’s recently appointed Artistic Director, Robert Baxter, who guided William and the young players through this technically complex work. It was a fitting end to a superb concert, all of which was on a high professional level way beyond a normal school’s summer concert and showed just what a jewel we have in Edinburgh in St Mary’s Music School.
My article in the EMR Blog section, which accompanies this review, gives a wider perspective on how the school operates and what plans it has for the future, after the collapse of the planned move to the Old Royal High School on Calton Hill. Exciting times lie ahead and we should do all in our power to promote the work of the school. It has just launched the St Mary’s Music School Circle of Patrons, and I would recommend you check this out on www.stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/patrons . Classical music is in a very dangerous state at the moment in the UK, and in Scotland in particular, and this excellent school can help to encourage the younger generation to understand that this wonderful musical culture is important, and indeed vital, for the soul of the nation.
