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On Saturday 26th September, the church was host to a celebration of the bicentenary of one of the greatest composers of all time, Joseph Haydn (1732-1809). The guest speaker was Simon Rowland-Jones, an eminent viola player, founder member of the Chilingirian Quartet, teacher and the editor of a new edition of the Haydn string quartets (published by Peters Edition).
I had heard Simon give a lecture at the Royal College of Music and knew many friends and members of the Kingston and District Chamber Music Society who would like to hear him speak, and perhaps coach them, so I was very grateful to be able to hold the event in our lovely church. As I dashed around bright and early that sunny Saturday morning with final preparations, Cyril kindly came to help and get me through all those unexpected last minute panics! Thank you Cyril! Gradually an audience of about 70 gathered and our Vicar welcomed everyone and said he was delighted that Simon's cutting-edge research was having a hearing here at St Mary's.
Simon gave a fascinating talk about his work in preparing the new edition. He told us how he'd examined 30 of Haydn's autograph manuscripts of the quartets in various places around the globe, and he also gave us photocopies of what a few bars looked like so we could see how difficult if was to read Haydn's writing! Simon's painstaking examination and comparisons between the autographs and early editions led him, after much agonising, to produce an edition which goes back as far as possible to the original - he even had to change key signatures and reinstate bars that some of the earlier editions had removed, thinking that they were ‘correcting’ Haydn's mistakes! For example, instead of having the usual 4-bar phrase lengths, Haydn often went for 3's and 5's and 9's on purpose. Early editions had removed a bar in the minuet of Op.33 no.4, for example, to create a standard 8-bar phrase instead of the 9 that Haydn had originally written.
For those of us who spend happy hours studying and playing the quartets Simon's edition gives us a 'do-it-yourself' kit, as he calls it, since it includes pages of additional comments about dynamics and bowings in order that the performers can make an informed choice (hours can be spent discussing and trying slurs and staccato markings!). Simon illustrated his points by playing phrases in different ways on his viola, and it was striking how much the character could be varied, as well as a real treat to hear Simon’s wonderful sound.
After the talk, four quartets made up of local amateur players played movements from different Haydn quartets, and Simon offered advice and suggestions for how the character of the music might be brought out more. For me, it was a particular revelation to learn that at the time when Haydn wrote the quartets, he would have expected players to put in slurs and dynamics as they played, so the modern player need not feel they must stick rigidly to just what is on the page. We were advised to follow Mozart's father Leopold’s treatise on violin playing for this, and a treatise on style and articulation by the flautist, Johann Quantz. Within the limits of 18th century performance style, there is plenty of room for individual interpretation.
The day was much enjoyed by both performers and audience, and indeed a small profit was made, which went to the church funds. At the end, Simon commented that the proceedings seemed to be very much 'with the spirit of Haydn present'.
Many thanks to all who came to play and listen, and helped make it such a memorable experience.
Janet Smith
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