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MUSIC
CHAMBER MUSIC LEARNING THROUGH MUSIC-MAKING
Hugo Jopling (Year 9) reflects on the central role that chamber music plays in his musical life at the College
I remember my first lunchtime concert at Dulwich. I was in Year 8, and I played the Haydn Quartet in G major, op. 76, no. 1. There’s a viola solo very near the beginning and, in the performance, I completely messed it up. I was, of course, completely mortified but, even as we played on, I could tell that it did not matter to the rest of the group. This is because of the community that Dulwich has and, in particular, the community in the Music Department. It is one where mistakes are accepted and learnt from. Because everybody is there to learn and to grow, it does not matter where or when the mistakes happen, whether in a rehearsal or at a lunchtime concert. So when I made my mistake two years ago in the Chapel, I really do think that it helped me become a better musician overall. What makes chamber music click is understanding the other players and listening to them, so when any one of the other players takes some time, or speeds up, you as a group can follow them. This is made possible by the regular rehearsals, which are part of co-curricular life. Getting to school at 8 o’clock and spending 45 minutes playing chamber music is the perfect start to the day. It is amazing being able to do this weekly, giving the rehearsals their own rhythm, and making the playing that much tighter.
Not only is Dulwich a forgiving environment, there is also an unspoken understanding that it is the differences when you play together that make the music come alive. When chamber music is being played, every player must understand that there are four parts and must accept and build on the way the other players express their lines. Players are both interpreting as individuals but also as an ensemble. When playing chamber music, you act like one group, like a shoal of fish where, at any moment, a flash of inspiration can take the group off in another direction. There is an incredibly high level of playing here, so you can play repertoire that is thought of highly by everyone in the music world. It is such a good feeling to play such great music with other boys who also value it so strongly. Chamber music is a key part of Dulwich’s Music Department; it is part of its identity and part of the identity of the boys who play here.
During the Michaelmas and Lent terms, 38 Dulwich musicians performed in seven lunchtime concerts at Christ’s Chapel, Dulwich Village. The highlight of this academic year’s chamber music programme was the Spring Chamber Concert, which took place on 30 March at All Saints Church, West Dulwich, and in which over 40 musicians performed a wide range of chamber masterpieces, including movements from Dvorak’s Piano Quintet, Borodin’s String Quartet no. 2, Schubert’s ‘Trout’ Quintet and Poulenc’s Sextet of Piano and Winds. THIS YEAR’S CHAMBER MUSIC EVENTS
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