THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
THE ALLEYNIAN 708 | OUT OF THE ORDINARY
MUSIC
BRINGING THE HOUSE DOWN
MUSIC
PULLING THE STRINGS
WHEN IT COMES TO GIVING YOURSELF A CHANCE OF WINNING THE HOUSE MUSIC TROPHY, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE PREPARATION, ACCORDING TO SIDNEY HOUSE’S NICHOLAS RICHARDSON-WALDIN (YEAR 12)
TAKING PART IN THE ANNUAL STRING COMPETITION WAS A DELIGHT, SAYS FELIX PATTEN (YEAR 10)
A t 7 o’clock on Wednesday 12 February, talented musicians from every House sat in the Great Hall, eagerly awaiting their chance to dazzle the audience with their instrumental and part-song performances. Some slight inter-House espionage meant that I knew how much time and effort every House had put into rehearsing for the competition, and it was a lot! We musicians in Sidney put in around three weeks of rehearsals, firstly just trying to learn and memorise our part-song piece, but eventually working on the blending of our sound and the creation of an entertaining performance. I believe this preparation could have been what won us the competition in the end.
It was not only in part-song, however, that we were up against stiff competition. As a member of the House instrumental group, I know how much preparation time had gone into these performances too. Rehearsals, again, had started weeks before the competition: despite our best efforts, however, Howard, with their stunning performance of Bach’s Double Violin Concerto in D minor, truly deserved to win that round. The judge’s comments were fair (in some cases quite generous!) and very constructive all round. In the end, the overall scores were close but, joyfully for us, Sidney took home the House Music trophy.
T his year’s String Competition took place in the Old Library on 21 January, with over 30 boys taking part. The adjudicator, Paul Warburton, who currently teaches at Uppingham and St John’s College School, Cambridge, watched nine different classes, from guitar beginners to concertos performed by seasoned musicians who hold grade 8 and diplomas. His comments to all musicians were inspiring, with useful advice on technique, bow weight and dynamics. As well as playing in two different classes, I enjoyed hearing some of our most talented Upper School musicians such as Matthew Ho and Luca Franchi, who both won first prize in their classes. There were a wide range of composers on offer, including Mendelssohn, Bach and Elgar, and more modern composers like Mark Summer.
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