A Big Night at the Grand Théatre

Well you the public, are the true judges of how it went, but from our point of view it was a fantastic and unforgettable night, and certainly all our hard work payed off.

For the latest update to the centenary website, please visit: http://centenaire.hmap.fr/

Having arrived at the Grand Théatre (GTP) at lunchtime it was a full day, ensconced in the theatre until well after the concert when we enjoyed relaxing in the bar. However, on arrival we were led to our smart "loges" to get installed.

Then down to business, the piano was tuned while we had a big logistics meeting. Next up, sound  testing and balance for percussion, drums, electric and bass guitars, followed immediately by a full rehearsal from 3pm-6pm starting with the second half first in order that the 43-strong childrens' choir could be released before returning for the concert. A few technical hitches with microphones made us start to fall behind schedule. During the entr'acte a team of volunteers and GTP staff re-organised the seating and stands for the other half of the programme, no mean feat given our numbers. The GTP was at full stretch accommodating us all on stage, a total of 220 in the second half.

Having finished on the late side, the fact that we had to eat, change and be ready to tune up at 7.30pm meant there wasn't too much time, despite the fact that a buffet had in the meantime arrived downstairs. The pressure mounted as well over 100 hungry musicians queued for a very long time for their buffet, however a certain number of the more assertive/hungry/impatient representatives spoke for all of us with a chorus of "allez, allez, on a faim!" and suddenly people started serving others which helped things move a bit faster. 

Backstage it was very black, and in the wings - les coulisses - we were surprised to have no lighting whatsoever so it was a slightly perilous passage through to the stage, carrying in some cases quite large musical instruments and not seeing where to put our feet. 

Quiely warming up

Louis-Marie, who joined the Harmonie aged 14 and is still plays at 75!

Listening to our Chef backstage

Some final words of wisdom from our very wise chef Alain after his extraordinary 42 years with the Harmonie.

The space allocated to instrument storage and "accordage" was directly backstage, so once the theatre opened to the public at 8.00 o'clock, we had to have finished tuning up. Half-an-hour to wait, to be quiet and nowhere to direct the adrenalin led to an impromptu photo-shoot and a little bit of silliness...

For me , the icing on the cake was to have two daughters there!

Click on pictures to enlarge

Centenary concert. Sold Out.

Sold out, tuned up, filmed and recorded. Final Saturday rehearsal in Luynes.

 

Countdown

Recalling the Harmonie of the past, welcoming back former members and commemorating times gone by when Emile Zola played his clarinet, our special guest clarinettist Olivier Derbesse helped us to jazz things up today. A terrific rehearsal at St Marc Jaumegarde, focus on costumes and the countdown to Concert-day has definitely begun. Click on photos to enlarge.

More from behind the scenes

Our second Saturday rehearsal went well, we were joined by the children and the adult choirs giving a refreshing new dimension to the newly created work we are preparing. The children, from the age of seven, and who, despite being terribly excited to be a part of this event, are already well-rehearsed and quite impressively well-behaved. A good example to the adults! It's really encouraging to see such young children gaining so much pleasure from music.

Each week we all contribute a dish and share a great buffet at lunchtime. This week there were many new people to meet, to chat to and to eat with and almost no time left to take photos. However, after lunch I just managed to take just a few before we began the afternoon session. By the way click on the photos to enlarge.

 

Centenary Concert, Harmonie Municipale

In less than a month the Harmonie Municipale d'Aix-en-Provence will be celebrating its centenary year with a big concert in the Grand Théatre de Provence, in Aix. It's hard to believe that any organisation such as this can exist for such a long time but just proves the dedication and motivation of all its members, past and present. As one of its current members I can boast that I belong to the same Concert Band as Paul Cezanne, who took part on his cornet, and Emile Zola on his clarinet, however, just not at the same time!

Some members have belonged to the Harmonie for an extraordinary length of time. For one tuba player it's his 56th year, having first joined at the age of 18, his father having played saxophone before him, and our conductor has kept his post for 42 years. We are determined to give the public a concert to remember and to that end have started giving up our entire Saturdays for extra rehearsals in the run-up to the big day on December 8th.

Yesterday in Jouques

We will be joined by some former band members for the occasion, some of whom have since become professional musicians. The clarinettist Olivier Derbesse will be coming from Paris to contribute some special solos, and the second half of the concert will be devoted to the performance of a work written especially for the occasion and for which we will also be joined by two choirs, one adult and one childrens', bringing the numbers on stage to over 200. The music will cover many different styles and periods and there will be plenty to keep you happily entertained and your feet tapping.

More behind-the-scenes photos will follow on this blog as things progress.

To find out more about the concert and to book up, please visit our centenary website where you can see photos of the players and find out lots more about us.

http://hmap.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=6c34089e3ca0b94531e10ca4c&id=aa5ad4e052&e=9aa3a0a1e8 

India, Tagore, Dartington and me, what's the connection?

India 

My father was born in the Indian hill station of Kodaikanal in the state of Tamil Nadu, and lived in India until the age of 6. His father, in other words my grandfather had joined the Indian Civil Service and was posted first to Madras in 1908 and later to Bangalore. My grandmother trained as a teacher in Ambleside and travelled out to India with Lord Pentland in 1912 to be Governess to his two children, meeting my grandfather there. They were married in 1915 and their lives were then bound up in India until 1944.

Tagore

Rabindranath Tagore was born in 1861 in Calcutta, India, at a time of an Indian cultural renaissance, a fertile time for developments in the arts, philosophy, religion and society. His parents were editors & publishers of magazines, translators to and from Bengali, composers and performers, and encouraged the writings of the young Rabindranath, schooling him at home. Absorbing all of this rich cultural background he was seen as something of a prodigy by the time he reached adolescence. His parents sent him to Britain to study law, however he failed after two attempts and returned to India settling down to writing music and literature in 1881. He started writing short stories and poems drawing on his intimate knowledge of the daily rural life of small communities, and these writings are seen as universal in their human relevance.

In 1986 the Barbican Art Gallery
held an exhibition of Tagore's paintings
and drawings

Three years later and with a young family of his own he undertook his childrens' education. This gave birth to a desire to start his own school which he did at Santiniketan in Bengal, the ideas for which had grown from his own experience and his poems. His belief was that "education should be a creative process controlled by the individual's own rhythm of growth, using the natural world as a source of knowledge." His school was not easily accepted as it was unorthodox and did not measure success by exam results.

Briefly, Tagore travelled to London in 1912 and met Sir William Rothenstein, a leading member of the New English Art Club and later the Principal of the Royal College of Art from 1920-35. He was already aware that Tagore was the leading man of letters in Bengal, and in 1910 had instigated the founding of the India Society, aiming to introduce the British public to the arts and literature of India. Tagore's poetry had impressed him so much that he called upon W.B.Yeats to read it, which led to the publication of a private edition. "Gitanjali" (song offerings) was immediately popular and in 1913 Tagore won the Nobel Prize for Literature. At the time this was a sensational achievement for a
non-European and it brought Indian literature to world-wide importance. Having now become an international figure he was knighted in 1915, although renounced the honour four years later in protest at the Amritsar massacre. His school had grown to some importance and by this time he had announced his intention to establish the University of Visva-Bharati, which was inaugurated in 1921 welcoming students and teachers from around the world. 

The Dartington link

Leonard Elmhirst is the link that connects Tagore with Dartington, in fact Dartington college wouldn't have existed without him. Elmhirst worked with Tagore in India in 1921 establishing the Institute of Rural Reconstruction as a part of Tagore's university of Visva-Bharate. He and his wife Dorothy returned to England in 1925 to found Dartington Hall as a centre for experiment in rural reconstruction, education and the arts, drawing heavily on his experience in West Bengal. 

Dartington was opened in 1926 and for its 50th anniversary in 1976, when I was studying there, it held a Festival to honour Tagore.

Rabindranath Tagore with Leonard Elmhirst at Dartington

We were treated to performances by Indian musicians including Imrat Khan, famous sitar and surbahar player, Latif Ahmed Khan, a leading tabla player and Durga Lal, a leading exponent of Kathaka Dance, all three of them working with us as College students.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KCtjrsu4dFk

In addition there were lectures by representatives of Tagore's University of Visva-Bharati, other notable singers, dancers and a leading Indian sculptor attending the week of celebrations.

The India-Tagore family connection

We believe that my grandparents met Tagore himself and below is the programme of a meeting of 'The Poetry Society' which I understand was founded by my grandmother, dated November 1st 1941 which was the year of Tagore's death. The meeting was to commemorate his songs and poems.

By coincidence I became a music student at Dartington, and by good fortune was there at the time of the Tagore Festival. My grandparents decided to give me one or two of their mementos from India including an Indian edition of Tagore's book "Gitanjali" as well as another book of his poetry, the  Poetry Society programme and this original painting.  

"Dr Tagore" by Sudhir Khaslgir