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Early departure

In her otherwise interesting and thorough Trains of Thought (see also left), Julia Winterson mentions Pierre Schaeffer’s 1948 Étude aux chemins de fer but leaves out – leaves on the line? – reference to his earlier compatriot Alkan’s similarly titled piano étude, Le chemin de fer, Op. 27. Dating from more than a century earlier, in 1844, it is one of the earliest musical examples after Johann Strauss I’s Eisenbahn-lustwalzer (which Winterson discusses) in the long history of rail journey portrayal.

Alistair Hinton, Hereford

Holst’s vicar

I enjoyed accompanying Jeremy Pound and friends on their Walk With Holst (March). However, while realising that it would have made for a very long detour, I was sorry they didn’t acknowledge Holst’s time in Thaxted in Essex, where he collaborated with the controversial vicar Father Conrad Noel – Holst and his family lived in Thaxted from 1917-25. The so-called ‘Red Vicar’, Noel was, in spite of his patrician origins, a devoted if idiosyncratic member of the Christian Socialist movement – he was appointed to his post in Thaxted by the socialiteturned-socialist, Daisy Greville, Countess of Warwick, of ‘Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do…’ fame. Holst was organist and choirmaster at Thaxted’s magnificent parish church, where Noel had introduced High Mass complete with ‘bells and smells’. Noel was attempting at Thaxted to recreate the ‘Merry England’ he imagined had existed before the Reformation. The pageants, processions and morris dancing were all part of his vision, to which Holst contributed.

Ian Beckwith, Wenlock

Sadly, there was not enough room in our Cotswold stroll to incorporate Holst’s exploits in either London or Thaxted, though perhaps there is plenty of material here for a feature in the future?

Belfast memories

It was so good to read Clare Stevens’s Troubled Times article about music in Belfast in the 1970s (March) and of her being in the audience for a concert by the King’s Singers, of which I was then the founder bass. We sang at St Anne’s Cathedral on several occasions during the Troubles and were always introduced to the audience by Sammy Crooks, the wonderful Dean. The last time we went he confessed he had nothing new to say about us but still came up with the following words of welcome, in that wonderful Irish brogue of his: ‘It’s a great pleasure to welcome back our old friends The King’s Singers. I heard them rehearsing this afternoon and if they’re no

better tonight you can get your money back on the way out.’ Follow that!

Brian Kay, Fulbrook

Anton’s anti-climax

I have been struck by the negative comments Michael Tanner makes about Bruckner’s music in his recent reviews. First, in your Christmas 2021 edition, when he was reviewing the Vienna Philharmonic recording with Christian Thielemann of the Fourth Symphony, the first thing he says is that it should be called ‘The Pedantic’ rather than ‘The Romantic’ Symphony! If he has such a negative view of the piece, why was he asked to review it? And then, in the January 2022 issue, when reviewing the new recording of the Seventh Symphony, he comments that the last two movements ‘so often seem an anti-climax’ after the Adagio. I’ve never heard that said, and I think all lovers of the Seventh would be astonished by such a statement. Guy Richardson, Brighton

The editor replies:

With regards to the Seventh Symphony, the point that Michael Tanner was making is that, in many performances, the last two movements can seem an anti-climax, not that those movements are anticlimactic per se.

Rightly pitched

During a recent Building a Library on Haydn’s Symphony No. 49, ‘La Passione’, in

Radio 3’s Record Review, presenter Andrew Mcgregor remarked on the slightly lower pitch of Trevor Pinnock’s recording with the English Concert by comparison with the other period instrument groups. Reviewer Simon Heighes replied that the pitch quoted in the booklet is A=421 (i.e. the A above middle C has a frequency of 421 Hz). He assumed this is doubtless for ‘good scholarly reasons’ but did not know what these are as they are not explained any further. The Viennese instrument maker Stein used a tuning fork which modern measurements show was A=421.6 and was probably the pitch used to tune Mozart’s fortepianos and clavichords. This is also very likely the pitch of the instruments in nearby Eszterháza, where Haydn worked in the 1760s and even had to tune his own keyboard instrument!

Philip Mitchell, Winchester

How to tune in?

I’m surprised that you never mention in your monthly Audio feature how to get the best possible sound quality from Radio 3. There are so many options now – FM,

DAB, Freeview, Freesat and the internet. The BBC has mentioned ‘HD Sound’ on Radio 3, but I have not been able to find out how to access it; not from the BBC itself nor from manufacturers or dealers, although I understand that HD offers quality comparable to CDS. If I do get it on my imac – I’m not sure about this – I only have the computer’s speakers and amp and it’s in a different room to the main stereo. I live in an area with very poor FM reception and the only choice on my hi-fi stereo is DAB, with its rather gritty sound.

I’ve found a couple of receivers with internet, DAB and FM (Hama and Sangean Fusion 600) but I don’t think they can access HD Sound. I’m sure there must be many other radio listeners who would like some information about this.

Edwin Baker, via email