Concert by Young Professionals November 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the world into lockdowns of varying lengths and severity from March of this year and has changed our lives unimaginably. Since then all those involved in delivering live music have struggled to survive but, due to a deep love of their Art, have quickly learned to adapt to keep the flag of music well and truly flying.
West Sussex Guitar Club has played its role, and Saturday 28th November saw the launching of its very first Virtual concert given by four exceptionally talented guitarists of the new generation. This was a rich and varied journey along the timeline of both instrument and compositional style beginning with the Renaissance and ending with freshly composed contemporary works.
The concert began with Sam Brown playing the lute, the precursor to the guitar. His impressive technical grasp of the instrument allowed the subtle voices of the music to be heard individually but also as one rich tapestry. He captured the melancholic lamentations of Dowlands Lachrimae to the contrasting light hearted courtly jig by Kemp.
Then followed Jonatan Bougt's performance of various pieces by Robert de Visee on the theorbo which is essentially a bass lute . Although a more sonorous and sad sounding instrument the Chaconne demonstrated a delicacy and joyfulness unimaginable on an instrument of such ungainly proportions.
Laura Snowden then gave a performance of her own new compositions and arrangements of traditional folk songs and carols. Her playing captured the transcendence and joy at the birth of something or someone and the wonder of nature in This Changing Sky.
The end performance by Ioannis Theodoridis was a potpourri of pieces beginning with Michael Berkeleys Impromtu and then moving to a number of traditional Catalan folk song, each capturing the testament to love in the sun parched fields of Spain. The bouncing rhythmic drive and sultry mood of Tango en Skaii transported us to Argentina. However, the final “Parting Glass ” composed by Laura and performed by Ioannis was a wistful yearning, with Celtic undertones, of a return to the land of lost content and of happier times.
Although nothing can capture the vibrancy of a live performance all four musicians conveyed the intimacy of a concert through a digital medium which we all enjoyed.