James Lloyd Thomas, organ, Portsmouth Cathedral, Sept 20th
On the south coast of England on a windswept afternoon, not far from the agitated sea, a man is playing Pachelbel to a meagre audience in the largely unadorned interior of the cathedral. And it matters that he is.
The stately unfolding of the Ciacona in F, having embroidered itself probably more intricately than its famous sibling, returns to its reflective beginnings. For James Lloyd Thomas's programme is 'A Variety of Variations'
Franck's Choral no.2 varies considerably and its logic is less easy to follow although it bursts into demonstrative action after feeling its way a little uncertainly.
The serene modulations of Jeham Alain's Variations sur un theme de Clement Jannequin explored some of the organ's more delicate resources and one could make out its C16th template, whether Jannequin was responsible for it or not. I'm glad I checked. I thought Jannequin was earlier than that.
Anton Heiller - and we were rewarded with some esoteric names today- provided another collage of effects in Nun komm der Heiden Heiland, woodwind, flute and recorder evoking the cuckoo, amongst other things, in what might have been the BBC Radiophonic workshop rather than woodland, before piling in full bore at the end in a riot of organ pipes. And then Henrik Andriessen's Thema met Variatas rounded us off in portentous style, showing that not all such grannd organ work has to be specifically about God even if organs tend to make music sound as if it is.
It is a shame my two weeks of self-curated festival is coming to an end because one could get used to it although it becomes almost like full-time work.
Before the weekend trip to Wigmore Hall for Natalie Clein, I fitted in an additional event, hearing that Portsmouth poet, Richard Williams, was presenting a new collection in the Square Tower (review of his Landings to follow soon). Supported by several of the great and good of the thriving local poetry community, he put in a good shift with a variety of poems that ranged from 'page' to 'performance', football and local history to politics and lyricism. A big added bonus was a second half of music from Crossing the Line, fine musicians all three (briefly four) of them with their set of C20th Americana.
You sometimes need to know where to look, or be lucky enough to have these things pointed out, but there is plenty going on. Many of these stalwarts want to make the world a better place but they are fragmented whereas the forces for bad are somehow more concerted even if retaining the luxury of indulging their own ambitions at the same time. But they already do make the world far better than it would be without them.
David Green
- David Green (Books) is the imprint under which I publish booklets of my own poems, or did. The 'Collected Poems' are now available as a pdf. The website is now what it has become. It keeps me out of more trouble than it gets me into. I hope you find at least some of it worthwhile.
