My world doesn’t totally revolve around
work and sport, I have been known to partake of a bit of culture too. Yes I know East Hull and culture sit somewhat
awkwardly in the same sentence, unless you are describing things growing out of
the walls of houses down Preston Road or the strange green scum to be found on
the surface of Holderness Drain at various times of the year. I am talking
about proper grown up, middle class, Guardian reading, University Professor
culture; theatre, opera or classical music.
I should at this point, before I go any
further, describe Holderness Drain. In
East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire we have man-made water courses which are known
as drains. These are not sewers but huge
ditches which have been dug to get rid of excess rainwater from the low lying
land, to literally (pedants note correct use of literally) drain the land, into
the sea or a river, which in the case of Holderness Drain is the River
Humber. Very occasionally you may see
some sap fishing in them though what they catch other than the ubiquitous Asda
shopping trolly is anyone’s guess. In
summer the kids hang ropes off overhanging tree branches to make Tarzan swings
(or at least they did when I was a kid).
These swings lead to the hapless or reckless taking impromptu dips in
the inviting brown water (with aforementioned green scum) and the possibility
of Weil’s Disease.
I digress.
Earlier in the year I met a new friend
called Julie, who sings in the Huddersfield Choral Society, and naturally, she
was keen to drum up support for their activities. For me singing is quite definitely out of the
question, as anyone who has heard me will testify. In fact I have no musical ability whatsoever
although I have been told I hum a few times.
I had seen the choir in action once before, about six years ago when I
was invited to a corporate hospitality bash by my good friends at KPMG. So I agreed to make the odd appearance at
their concerts and went to one in June.
Now it was about time to return.
The Huddersfield Choral Society is a venerable
institution with 2011 marking their 175th anniversary no less. Whilst I accept that it may not be everyone’s
‘cup of tea’ it is impressive to hear over 200 voices singing with a live
orchestra.
Tonight’s concert is Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis performed with Royal Liverpool
Philharmonic Orchestra and conducted by Vasily Petrenko. Missa
Solemnis is a mass is scored for 2 flutes; 2 oboes, 2 clarinets (in A, C, and
B♭); 2 bassoons; contrabassoon; 4 horns (in D, E♭, B♭ basso,
E, and G); 2 trumpets (D, B♭, and
C); alto, tenor, and bass trombone; timpani; organ continuo; strings (violins I and II, violas, cellos and basses); soprano, alto, tenor, and bass soloists;
and mixed choir. (No I am not an expert but added that for
background and gravitas thanks to Wikipedia!)
Julie was taking a break from signing in this concert, so
there would be a chance to sit and enjoy it with her and her partner (Ken) and
friends. The concert venue was
Huddersfield Town Hall which is a magnificent old hall typical of Town Halls in
the industrial North of England, the like of which will never be built
again. Julie was helping on the box office when I
arrived so she gave me my ticket (Gallery D8) and said they would meet me up
there later and to go to the bar. As I
was driving, I decided to leave my beer for later in the pub, so went straight
to the Balcony and found my seat D8 which was a great seat (see photo). The Orchestra came out and started tuning up;
no sign of Julie. I noticed one of the
Trombonists is hirsute and rotund and think that he wouldn’t look amiss as an
extra in The Woolpack in Emmerdale and one of the French Horn players looks a
tad like Heston Bloomenthal. The Choir
appears and then the soloists; still no sign of Julie. Finally the Conductor appears and they are
about to begin but still no sign of Julie or Ken, not that would spoil my
enjoyment but it did leave me a little confused.
The concert was very impressive and there is no way I could
do it justice by trying to describe it except that it seems to surround you and
draw you in. If you haven’t experienced
a live orchestra I would recommend it, you just don’t appreciate just how loud
and powerful the performance is on radio or CD and 200 voices are a magnificent
sound even if you cannot understand a word of it.
After the concert had ended I got a chance to stand up and
have a good look around. I could
recognise nobody! I thought the best
plan of action was to head out of the building and meet them in the pub. As I opened the door and headed for the
stairs I bumped into them coming down an additional flight of stairs that I
hadn’t noticed on the way in. I was
supposed to be in the ‘gallery’ in the gods whereas I had headed into the
‘Balcony’ where the top priced £35 seats were!
We nipped across the road to The County which a fine if slightly
well-worn pub that serves a decent pint of real ale – Copper Dragon bitter
tonight. Copper Dragon is a small but
quickly expanding brewery in Skipton and the beers I have sampled so far have
been pretty decent session beers. The
pub quickly fills up with members of the choir in need of a well deserved drink
and concert goers. They are a great
bunch and even though I only really know Julie I am quickly accept by them and
feel as if I have known them ages. It is
a real shame that I am driving this time; perhaps I will push the boat out next
time and stay overnight. You can’t beat
a good pint amongst good company.
If I had been up to date with my blog the following would
not have been added! In last weeks The
Times I noted the following small but fascinating paragraph…
“Beethoven Note: Berlin: A letter written by Beethoven
pleading for money to fund his 1823 work, Missa
Solemnis, has been valued at €150,000 (£124,000) after it turned up among
items given to the Brahms Institute in Lübeck,
northern Germany.”
Blimey!
Huddersfield Choral Society http://www.huddersfieldchoral.com/
Huddersfield Town Hall http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/townhalls/huddersfield.shtml
Copper Dragon Brewery http://www.copperdragon.uk.com/
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