PAXTON HOUSE HAS AN INTRIGUING, HIGH QUALITY LINE-UP FOR ITS TENTH YEAR
It’s the archetypal British summer classical festival scenario: a sumptuous stately pile in the countryside, exquisite grounds for outdoor listening (weather permitting), intimate gatherings for chamber music inside. And Music at Paxton, which begins on Friday, has the added interest of being right on the English-scottish border, with the River Tweed running just feet in front of 18th century Paxton House, where the festival has its home. “We have about a half-and-half audience split between Scotland and England,” says festival director Helen Jamieson. “We even have people travelling from the south of England for the concerts.”
With Jamieson’s assured and varied programming, that’s understandable. And what makes this year special is that it’s the festival’s tenth outing. “It’s grown enormously since it was established,” continues Jamieson. “Without having vast resources, every year we’re able to do a little bit more. But then what can you do for the tenth festival? Do you have fireworks or an orchestra? That’s not really us. So instead we simply tried to get the best performers we possibly could.”
It’s a strong programme, with appearances from pianist Steven Osborne with his wife, clarinettist Jean Johnson (18 July), as well as respected cellist Natalie Clein (19 July) and hotshot young pianist Benjamin Grosvenor (25 July). “We have been after Benjamin for years,” admits Jamieson, “and we booked him up a very long time ago.”
One of the festival’s most intriguing events this year, however, takes place around a table – with mead and sweet and spicy treats, we’re promised. This is Dowland’s Table from Anglo-american vocal quartet Les Canards Chantants with crack lutenist Jacob Heringman (19 July), and puts lute songs by 16th century English composer John Dowland back into the context for which they were originally conceived. “The lute song was music intended for a social setting,” explains Les Canards’ co-director Robin Bier, “and you can see that in the layout of the music on the page – each of the parts is facing a different direction, so in order to sing it, you have to sit around a table.” The audience then surrounds the performers, Bier says – and they’re encouraged to get involved. “We give everyone the table of contents and the audience can request songs, or ask us about the music, or tell us what they thought of it. Every performance is different, and we never quite know what’s going to happen.” And for an ensemble focused on historical authenticity – “we love going back to original sources and understanding the social and musical history around what we sing,” says Bier – it’s equally important, she explains, to make it relevant for a 21st century audience. “That’s where we quite willingly break a lot of rules in terms of the current early music world,” she adds.
Jamieson has also invited the Cologne-based Signum Quartet to Paxton – they’ve made their mark as BBC New Generation Artists down south but haven’t yet been heard north of the Border. “We love playing contemporary music,” says the Signum’s violist Xandi van Dijk, “but we also identify strongly with the core Germanic repertoire. Beethoven, Schubert, also Brahms and Schumann – they’re all very dear to us.”
It’s Beethoven that the Signum foursome bring to Paxton, and one of his most demanding chamber offerings – the Quartet in B flat Op. 130, complete with its original Grosse Fuge ending, dropped in favour of a lightweight alternative on the advice of Beethoven’s publisher, but now generally reinstated in respect to the composer’s original wishes. “You just dive into the first movement, then come up for air at the other end after about 45 minutes or so,” says van Dijk. “It’s definitely a challenge, but it’s worth the effort and – yes – the pain!”
They couple it with Janácek’s Second Quartet – “such a passionate piece: there are few quartets that get under your skin in the same way,” says van Dijk – and there’s likely to be a tiny addition to the programme. The Signums have just announced #quartweet, a project to get miniature new string quartets sent to them – you guessed it – via Twitter. It might sound like a gimmick, but in fact it’s a serious challenge to composers to encapsulate their musical language in 140 notes or fewer. “It’s open to anyone who wants to tweet us something, and on a regular basis we’ll pick certain quartweets that go well with a programme and include them.” The project isn’t officially launched until October, but it’s likely that the Paxton audience will get a sneak preview: “We have one quartweet already, called Eine kleine Dupstep, transposing dubstep dance music for string quartet, which we’ll more than likely be playing at Paxton.” It looks like Jamieson’s wideranging festival just broadened out even further.
Music At Paxton is at Paxton House, Berwickshire, 17-26 July, www.musicatpaxton.co.uk