Apollo Trio in Chichester

 Apollo Trio, Chichester Cathedral, Sept 23

Some say that 1971 was pop music's best year and I'm one of them. Today's programme by the Apollo Trio prompted me to wonder what was 'classical' music's equivalent. It might be preferable to nominate a decade rather than a specific year and the 1720's is a big contender. Opinions will vary, of course, but there was a time before composers decided that music was all about them and their expression of themselves, when they served their art and their art wasn't regarded as a vehicle to serve them. 

It seems unfair that a composer like Michele Mascitti is all but unknown while his music sounds very like some household names. His Trio Sonata, op. 4 no. 10, opened with a melodic line in Lizzie Elliott-Capulli's cello with the two violins in decorative support in an Allegro. The third movement was a more halting Largo, the Giga surely with traces of Vivaldi and the Allegro finale equally jiggy.

The innate beauty that comes as standard with this sort of music was obvious in Bach's Three-part Invention in C minor, a piece written for ensemble practice but nonetheless moving. No transcription from piano was necessary. Such music is as clear, crisp, refreshing and as good for you as champagne. 

Corelli is credited as a major innovator of this baroque style. His 'churchy' Trio Sonata, op. 1 no.2 featured an emotional charge worthy of a Miserere Mei in the violins of Marino Capulli and Ray Box and achieved a stillness in its third movement with quicker tempi in the even numbered sections.

Representing England in this Italianate set was William Bates whose Trio Sonata no. 2 built two movements from such short simple phrases before a sense of twilight led into a summery conclusion. This is all music that never outstays its welcome and none did so less than Handel's, the German-born Italian composer who spent so much of his life in England. His Trio Sonata, HWV 393, doesn't extend any movement longer than it needs to. Its Andante comports itself with dignity with the violins most felicitous over the ambulatory cello part. The Allegro verily skipped along, the Largo was most winsome and the composer and musicians complimented each other in their elegant decorum. While I'm not convinced that everyone everywhere was as enlightened and well-mannered in the first half of the C18th as the music we remember it by, it left a gorgeous legacy. An exquisite performance of some very fine pieces.

Sometimes it seems necessary to review the audience, too. I could see how the misunderstanding occurred by which the Bach went unapplauded but the acclaim at the end of the concert was by no means enough. The musicians didn't even get back for a much-deserved second bow. That is to be regretted. I hope the Apollo Trio return soon and give Chichester a chance to make amends.