Heaton Moor United Church, Stockport
Memorial concerts commemorating departed loved ones are no novelty, but it’s surely extraordinary to find a memorial concert featuring new pieces specially composed from 14 British composers. That was the case on 18th April when friends and colleagues braved cancelled trains and blocked motorways to reach Heaton Moor United Church in Stockport in time for Music for Margaret.
This uplifting afternoon of music-making was in memory of Margaret Turner, the late and much-missed wife and helpmate of John Turner, the indefatigable recorder player and champion of British composers who has probably sparked into life more new music written for his beloved instrument than anyone else in the world.
Topped by John himself, the eloquent artists gathered together in the church’s friendly acoustic included the Victoria String Quartet, Richard Simpson (oboe), Laura Robinson (another recorder), Jonathan Bielby (harpsichord), and Flora White (harp). Lesley-Jane Rogers, meanwhile, not only applied her lambent soprano to two of Purcell’s hit songs; we also heard her gravely tender Sarabande-Elegy for recorder and string quartet, one of most immediately attractive of the modern offerings.
For depth of feeling, though, and sustained beauty, nothing could beat Robin Walker’s Take Her to Thee, O Redeemer, written like numerous others for the same instrumental combination. Walker is such a caring and sensitive composer, and one deserving of much more attention. Every short piece of his has the emotional impact and weight of pieces much larger, and this new work was no exception. Plucked staccato string notes immediately grabbed our attention, beckoning us toward the quartet’s mellifluous, gently rocking phrases, with Turner’s birdlike recorder repeatedly and movingly pirouetting high in the blue sky above. Time for a while sat suspended until the reverie finally faded and the returning pizzicato notes gently closed the music’s doors. Magical.
What also pleased? Certainly Edward Gregson’s neatly woven Prelude on the Hymn Tune ‘Agincourt’, helped along by the encouraging contours of its source, a tune written by Margaret’s maternal grandfather, Thomas Cordall. John Purser’s Skyelark (recorder and harp) introduced a refreshing breath of Highland air. Adam Gorb’s Chaconette combined a reflective mood withsome muscle and fibre; while Robert Saxton easily won the Conciseness Prize with his Little Passacaglia (recorder, viola, cello), a piece so short that its score fitted last year onto John’s annual musical Christmas card. Another Saxton contribution, Tribute to a Pied Piper (recorder, cello, harpsichord) served as a memorial to John’s former colleague David Munrow, the early music musician and crusader who blew a mean recorder himself, and bassoon, and crumhorn, and pipes of all sizes: another of the world’s lamp-lighters and forces for good.
Purcell aside, three other historical items were woven in, chief among them Handel’s complete F major Trio Sonata for two recorders and continuo (a John Turner discovery) and two movements from Ravel’s String Quartet, played so lusciously that it’s a pity that time considerations knocked out the other two.
But it was the new pieces, above all Walker’s, that made this concert really special. It is good to know that this repertoire is to be recorded, though no album alone could fully capture the sense in Stockport of audience and performers bonding, drawn together by love of Margaret, of John, and love of music, universal source of comfort and joy.
Review by Geoff Brown