BY SAM W (YEAR 7, DRAGON)
On Saturday the 17th of June I had the pleasure of listening to the Katherine Broderick (Soprano) and Kathryn Stott (Pianist) concert. For the ‘Three Scottish Songs’ by James Macmillan, they were slow, smooth and the voice of Katherine Broderick was clear throughout the whole of the concert. These songs were sung with a lot of passion – and the wave-like motions of Kathryn Stott’s arms emphasised this. It really surprised me when dramatic chords were played on the piano, always led up to by a dramatic voice line. At the end of these ‘Scottish Songs’, the repeated use of startling chords on the piano were used to leave the audience on a cliffhanger.
Though the atmosphere was tense from the last ‘Scottish Song’, Percy Grainger’s ‘Walking tune’ gave an air of friendliness and a sense of happiness to the Performing Arts Studio. Adding further to this atmosphere, ‘Spring of Thyme’ brought a folk-song aura to the PAS. With the folktale feeling set in motion, it was added to by ‘Six Dukes Went a Fishing’. I thought that the story this told was quite interesting.
Fauré’s ‘Barcarolle Op. 44, No 4 in A flat Major’ really gave me an image of an ocean in my mind – sometimes calm, sometimes more violent. At one point I remember thinking of a school of fish. They swam with the current, and then against it, and then with it, and against it. For the following pieces by Fauré I was transported to another musical world. On ‘Après un rêve Op. 7 No. 1’ it felt like the PAS was floating.
The concert was truly awesome and anyone who didn’t come along missed a really great night.
