Several weekends ago, I presented a lecture-recital for the Perquimans County Restoration Association. The event took place in a lovely setting - Hertford United Methodist Church, and was arranged by a friend I met through our chapter of the American Guild of Organists, Lynwood Winslow. Jonathan Johnston joined me once again for several of the works.
The program as well as a few reflections follow.
Life Let Us Cherish - Mozart
Kinlock of Kinlock - Arranged with Variations
This is a lovely set of variations that always seems a variation or two short.
Tyrolean Waltz from La Cenerentola - Rossini/Herz
Two German Waltzes - Henri Herz
This was the first concert on which I have played these two Herz Waltzes. I thought they worked rather well on the bright piano and the lively acoustic of the church.
Buonaparte’s Coronation March
Bonaparte’s Retreat from Moscow
Battle of Warterloo - G. Anderson
Duke of Wellington’s March and Quickstep - M. Holst
This suite surveys high and low points of Napoleon's career. The pomp and pride of the Coronation March make a silly contrast with the immediate reversal of musical fortunes in the childish-sounding retreat that follows. The audience, which was particularly attuned to the humorous aspects of the concert, had a good laugh at the juxtaposition.
A few days after playing this collection of Napoleon pieces, I had the idea of arranging them for Chowan's string group (The Meherrin Chamber Orchestra) and maybe adding a fiddle tune and composing one more piece for Napoleon's time in exile. If I get around to doing it, the title of the orchestral suite will probably be "Napoleon Complex."
The Cottage Rondo - M. Holst
Intermission
Waltz - Mozart
Overture to Caliphe de Bagdad - Boieldieu
One audience member told me he thought the piano was too loud for the violin in this piece. While that may be the case, it might also be that this type of piece calls for a type of balance that we are not so accustomed to today. The violin part here is not so much a solo to be accompanied as one voice adding color to a more orchestral piano texture. This is typical of violin parts for a number of parlor pieces that mostly double what is already happening in the piano. In fact, the pieces usually stand alone just fine without the part, although the added color definitely gives them a very nice new dimension.
Storming of Monterey - Francis Buck
This is not in the bound anthology but was owned by the same ancestors and was passed down alongside it.
Auld Langsyne with Variations - D. Ross
Virginia Reels - Arranged by G. P. Knaupf
Natchez on the Hill
Republican Spirit
Love in the Village
After the concert, we were treated to a reception with tasty food and interesting stories. The audience had been rather large for a Sunday afternoon concert of parlor music, and among its number were several people with Skinner connections. The original owner of most of the music was actually a resident of the Perquimans region, so it was exciting and fun to present the music back in her area.
One colorful story that was shared involved some Skinners who have a property between Hertford and Edenton, I think. They named their place "Skinner Cat." The reason for the name, of course, was so that when they give directions to their home, they can say "There's more than one way to Skinner Cat!"
