Aldeburgh Festival 2006

The small town of Aldeburgh on the Suffolk Coast would be nothing more than a small seaside resort with a pebbly beach were it not for one fact: it was the place that Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears chose for their home. More than that, in 1948 they created the first Aldeburgh Festival. Pears’s original idea was ‘just a few concerts with a few friends’ but it is still going after 58 years and is now one of the most notable British festivals, particularly for those with an interest in 20th century music.

An inspired suggestion from a friend led me to my first visit to the Festival. The Suffolk countryside is rather flat but still attractive, there are numerous lovely houses and excellent country churches.

The Festival now lasts for just over two weeks with an intensive programme of concerts, lectures and opera, along with exhibitions and even slightly eccentric ‘beach events’, where you are invited to join forces with “Bladder-wrack” to ‘echo our relationship with the sea’ through the ‘use of live words’.

My programme started with a production of Stravinsky’s opera “The Rake’s Progress” at the Snape Maltings. The setting is sensational, set amongst reed beds and with exposed brick walls. It is the Festival’s largest venue, but still seating only just over 800. The performance was well sung by singers from the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme with the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted by Martyn Brabbins. The effective and witty production was by the hugely talented Neil Bartlett.

Saturday was a big day, starting with an 11am concert in Aldeburgh Parish Church. This was preceded by a visit to the graves of Britten and Pears, side-by-side in the churchyard. There was then a special frisson to listening to one of Britten’s earliest works (the Phantasy quartet) and recalling that his mortal remains were laid to rest less than 100 yards away.

Time then for a quick beer and a sandwich before driving on to the village of Orford for the next event: a concert entitled “Brian Ferneyhough Portrait.”. This included some Gregorian Chant and two motets from the fifteenth century all expertly sung by the young choir Exaudi (although the ladies were somewhat harsh of tone). But then we moved on to the music by the eponymous Brian Ferneyhough. Two violin pieces had me completely baffled and his Missa Brevis had me in helpless giggles, not least as I imagined staid liturgical events into which it could be inserted. The choir sometimes sang but also moaned, screamed and shouted the words of the Latin Mass.

Saturday evening brought another big event at the Snape Maltings: a concert by the Halle Orchestra conducted by Mark Elder. The centre piece of this was Britten’s Serenade for tenor horn and strings. For me this was the musical highlight of my visit: brilliant music with immaculate performances from tenor Timothy Robinson and Richard Watkins on horn.

The Sunday schedule was a little less hectic, which allowed time for a visit to the “Red House” and the Britten-Pears library there. This was another extraordinary and atmospheric experience of stepping in the footsteps of greatness. I was particularly pleased to note that the Britten-Pears library is sufficiently broad-minded to include Joan Sutherland ‘s autobiography on its shelves: she could not stand BB’s music and he cruelly lampooned her in his opera “Midsummer Night’s Dream”!

The afternoon concert was a piano recital in Blythburgh Church: Mozart, Schumann, Messiaen and Bartok played in the ‘sea of light’ that flows through that church’s windows on a sunny afternoon.

Back to Aldeburgh for the evening event: a challenging concert of string quartet music by Schoenberg, Berg and the man of the moment: Brian Ferneyhough. The rigours of all that atonal music were modified by some excellent lobster at a local restaurant and a sight of the famous “Aldeburgh Moon” as the late night moonlight crosses the sea and rises up the beach: magical.

Monday morning was Auden morning in Aldeburgh. First of all a lecture by the academic, novelist and poet John Fuller on “Auden the Poet”, then a recital of songs setting texts by Auden and sung by the promising young tenor Robert Murray. These took place in Aldeburgh’s Jubilee Hall, where the Festival first started 58 years ago.

Time for lunch at another excellent Aldeburgh restaurant before setting off home, with memories some of which will never leave me and an urgent desire to return to this brilliant festival.

Pentecost

The feast of Pentecost commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles. This is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2 as having occurred fifty days after the Resurrection of Christ, on the ancient Jewish festival called the "feast of weeks" (which marked the first phase of the harvest). The name Whitsunday came to be used for this day because of the white garments worn by those who were baptized during the vigil which took place on the Saturday preceding Pentecost. The word Pentecost is Greek for "the fiftieth" (day after Easter).

The celebration of Pentecost or Whitsunday, as a Christian feast, dates back to the first century and there is a reference to Pentecost as early as St Paul's first letter to the Corinthians (16:8).
The Mass for Pentecost has the lovely Sequence, "Veni Sancte Spiritus", which contains such wonderful lines as 'Bend the stubborn heart and will; Melt the frozen, warm the chill. Heal our wounds, our strength renew; On our dryness pour thy dew. Wash the stains of guilt away; Guide the steps that go astray.'

At Vespers is sung the great hymn "Veni Creator Spiritus". This dates back to a 10th century manuscript, but has been variously attributed to Emperor Charles the Fat, grandson of Charlemagne, Gregory the Great, St Ambrose, and Rhabanus Maurus, Archbishop of Mainz (c.776 - c.856). From the 11th century it was used in ordinations, and from 1307 (the date of the coronation of Edward II) at coronations in England. Rather remarkably, it is the only hymn specifically prescribed by the Anglican1662 Book of Common Prayer. Much later, the words of the hymn were used by Mahler for the majestic opening of his eighth symphony.

The colour of the vestments for Pentecost is red, a colour symbolic of the Holy Spirit or of the tongues of fire, which are said to have appeared on the heads of the apostles on the original Pentecost.

An ancient rule was that law courts did not sit during the entire week following Pentecost. Within my professional lifetime this remained the norm on England's North Eastern Circuit.

In Italy it was customary to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues; hence in Sicily and elsewhere in Italy Whitsunday is called Pascha rosatum. The Italian name Pascha rossa comes from the red colour of the vestments used onWhitsunday. In France it was customary to blow trumpets during divine service, to recall the sound of the mighty wind which accompanied the descent of the Holy Spirit.

In England horse racing was the traditional Whitsun amusement for the gentry. For more ordinary folk the Whitsun Ales were the thing. These were, despite the name, not a type of beer but rather country fairs, with sports and competitions, morris dancing displays, music, plays and of course socialising, eating and drinking, in fact a major event on the social calendar.

This Pentecost Sunday I was in London so was able to attend the principal Mass at the Brompton Oratory. The vestments were sumptuous: beautiful rich red, woven through with golden thread, and with tasselled dalmatic and tunicle for the deacon and subdeacon.

The music was even better. A Buxtehude organ prelude before Mass;Victoria's Missa Dum complerentur for the ordinary of the Mass;Palestrina's motet Dum complerentur at the Offertory; Attwood's lovely setting of Veni Creator Spiritus (originally written with English words) at Communion and Bach's fantasia Komm heiliger Geist as the finalvoluntary. Wonderful!