Monday 26 August 2024
09.00 Chapter House, Southwell Minster
Gemma Bass (violin), Graham South (trumpet, flugelhorn), Judy Louie Brown (mezzo soprano), Marcus Farnsworth (baritone)
At 9.00 on a quiet Bank Holiday Monday, a small crowd of musical pilgrims journeyed to the Chapter House of Southwell Minster to hear an intimate concert by the indefatigable Marcus Farnsworth and three of his musical friends. As the sun illuminated the ornate stonework of the early 14th architectural marvel that is the Chapter House, the capacity audience inhabited the edges of the room while the musicians sat in the middle, facing each other like members of a string quartet. The concert featured five traditional English folk songs, sung fairly ‘straight’ by Farnsworth, whose baritone was gorgeously rich and deep. He was sometimes joined by Scottish mezzo soprano Judy Louie Brown, who brought a dignity, purity and smiling serenity to duets with Farnsworth.
Around the two singers, musicians Graham South and Gemma Bass (whose music we heard in Cathedrals of Sound last Friday) wove beguiling spells of improvisation, drawing from jazz, blues, the avant-garde, folk and minimalism. The concert began with Lemady, a song from Norfolk, which included the apt line, ‘early in the morning at the break of day.’ Offstage, Bass played folk tunes while South played soft-grained flugel-horn, almost like a human voice, with virtuosic, jazzy runs. Bass provided the folky melody to the Becks and Brooks, which takes words from the nature writer Robert Macfarlane, while Farnsworth and Brown sang a close-harmony duet. The two singers and violinist sparkled in this jaunty, syncopated song. An audience member muttered ‘wow!’ at the end. Well, quite.
The Trees They Grow So High was a showcase for South, with stunning trumpet playing, at times florid, declamatory, bluesy, mellow, jazzy and keening. It was also a reminder that even great musicians are human – Bass smilingly improvised while South left the stage, and he candidly revealed afterwards that he forgotten his music. The song ended badly for the protagonist (as they often do), ‘my love is dead’, while South blew hollow notes down his trumpet and Bass played spooky high notes, a spine-chilling moment. The Young and Single Sailor was another vocal duet, arranged by Bass with a minimalist, looping violin motif. The four performers merged, become a single musical entity, relaxed and smiling, communicating their joy in shared music making. Farnsworth said the Festival has created this kind of musical collaboration – both Bass and South have worked with him at the Festival for around the full decade it has existed. The concert ended with a very witty arrangement of The Lincolnshire Poacher, with violin and trumpet providing a syncopated, avant-garde but jolly accompaniment, sometimes wandering off completely from Farnsworth’s resolute singing of the tune. A joyful ending to a superb concert and indeed to the Festival itself.
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