Musical Destinations
When summer turns to autumn, a fine festival welcomes classical music fans to this characterful Cotswold town, reports Jeremy Pound
Jeremy Pound enjoys a woolly time in Tetbury
Head to Tetbury on the late May bank holiday and, in most years at least, you will see young people running as fast as they can up an absurdly steep slope while carrying very heavy sacks of wool. It looks painful for the competitors, but is fun to watch. And besides, there’s a pub waiting for them at the top. Taking place on Gumstool
Hill between The Royal Oak and The Crown, this annual tradition is called The Woolsack Race – or, more accurately today, Woolsack Races – and pays a nod to the trade that, in the Middle Ages, first put this pleasant Cotswold town on the map.
‘The festival founders wanted to o er an experience similar to the best concert halls’
Rather than haring up hills, most people visit Tetbury just to amble and admire the place, or spend time in its multitude of antiques shops. It is, mind, that same erstwhile woolly wealth that gave the town its most photographed landmark: The Market House, built during the boom period of the 17th century for the sale of wool and yarn, though also used over the years as a temporary prison cell and parking space for the local fire engine, among other things. The sheep, jailbirds and firemen may be long gone, but its columns and golden-yellow fascia still give it a distinguished air.
And then, in the first weekend of October, there are those visitors who come here for a little cultural fulfilment, in the
form of the Tetbury Music Festival. In this instance, they can been seen making their way not up Gumstool Hill nor in and around The Market House, but over to the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin.
Tetbury Music Festival was the brainchild of Graham Keen, former director of music at St Mary’s, and distinguished arts patron Elise Smith who, for its first instalment in 2003, invited cellist Steven Isserlis to be the event’s artistic director. And from the very outset, the festival was steered in a very specific direction, explains current director Caz Weller Knight. ‘Elise and Graham made it their goal always to bring musicians who were at the height of their powers,’ she tells me. ‘They wanted to offer an experience similar to going to the finest concert halls in London. Secondly, by putting it on in early October, they timed it to coincide with what can otherwise be a bit of a seasonal slump. The nights are getting longer and the weather colder, the kids have gone back to school… So that makes the prospect of a visit to the festival even more pleasurable.’
Performers welcomed to Tetbury in 2019 included soprano Felicity Lott, pianist Pavel Kolesnikov and the choir VOCES8, and a look at the festival website reveals a gallery of the many illustrious names who have been before. Almost as much of a star as the musicians, however, is St Mary’s Church itself. Dating from the late-18th century, this Georgian Gothic gem is blessed with both excellent acoustics and eye-catching architectural features such as its box pews, slender columns made entirely of wood and the glorious East Window depicting the Last Supper.
Should you be attending a post-sunset concert, you won’t, of course, be able to see the detail of said window. You will, however, be able to admire the two magnificent chandeliers, each holding 36 candles that are lit for the duration of performances. For an intimate recital such as Kolesnikov’s last year – featuring nightrelated works by Beethoven, Debussy and others – it is hard to imagine a more atmospheric autumnal setting. (The fact that Weller Knight prides herself on the quality of wine served in the interval merely adds to the enjoyment.)
Tetbury Music Festival is short but sweet, consisting of one long weekend, plus one concert held the previous weekend at The Goods Shed arts centre (which, incidentally, also stages concerts during the rest of the year). For 2020, performers including violinist Hyeyoon Park, pianist Benjamin Grosvenor and countertenor Iestyn Davies are on the bill.
That’s in theory, at least. However, these are strange times, and should even this autumn festival go the same way as so many other events this year, then the plan is for a programme of performances to be streamed online instead. The audience may not be able to come, but that doesn’t mean the music will stop. As Tetbury’s intrepid Woolsack Racers will attest, where there’s a will, there’s a way.
Further information:
For up-to-date details of Tetbury Music Festival, go to tetburymusicfestival.org