WITH the firework season (the time of it being one evening has long since past) noisily upon us it is interesting to ponder what, if anything, most people know about the origins of this fixture on the retail calendar and the background which brought it into being.
Guy Fawkes and a plot to blow up Parliament certainly resonate but the rich subtleties of the history of the time will go over most people’s heads and disappear like the slight disappointment of a budget rocket.
Early music specialists York Waits – on yet another hugely welcome visit to this area – seek to increase the general understanding of their audience through a well-curated programme of music and readings.
Music by William Byrd is joined by a number of tunes whose composers are no longer documented, in a programme which takes in dance melodies, hunting tunes and a handful of beautifully-rendered songs.
The narration comes in the form of excerpts from many contemporary sources covering the religious upheaval of the time and the formation of the plot itself, by way of a slight diversion into the subject of witchcraft and the occult. The fate of those behind the attempt is as remarkable as it is grisly.
The benefits of enjoying music live ‘in the flesh’ rather than recorded is a debate visited many times before, but the advantages have never been better displayed than here.
York Waits perform in what amounts to a cross between a museum and an operating theatre. A vast range of instruments all with the slight unfamiliarity that comes with antiquity are laid out on tables and are selected with precision when the time comes.
The effect is to give the audience a clear picture of who is playing at any given moments and with what. It’s a fabulously educational element to add to a performance already bursting with variety.
And full use is made of the wide range on offer. A player previously adept on sackbut might suddenly swap to bagpipes and then a guitar while a colleague makes a similar journey across different choices.
By the end the impression is that they can all play anything, the most impressive aspect being that they can all play these instruments with such confidence and expertise.
Those who came merely for the music cannot have been disappointed that, in addition to hearing this fine group at the top of their game, they went away with a deeper understanding of why, other than to satisfy our collective pyromania, we keep this anniversary in the diary.
A splendid combination of words and music delivered in a performance that never dropped below captivating, this sparkling, dazzling entertainment will outlive in the memory any display of expensive effects you could witness in the skies above.
Visit leamingtonmusic.org for details of more festive concerts and classical recitals.
