English Music

[poliphilo]

Hopping from channel to channel last night, I settled on a film of Jacqueline du Pre playing the Elgar cello concerto. I could see at once it was special, with that clarity and intensity you only get in black and white. Du Pre was very young, very exposed- and I felt like a voyeur. Mostly when you watch musicians at work they seem well aware of their audience,  playing up to them, gifting them with little touches of drama and melodrama- but Du Pre was in a trance, like a pythoness above a vent, breathing in the tainted smoke, giving out prophecy. I've heard the Elgar many times, but I've never felt before just what an uneasy, neurotic, feverish piece it is. Du Pre, alone on her sad height, seemed to embody it.

Afterwards- same channel- we were whisked over to the Cambridge festival where the super-group The Imagined Village were playing English folk. The line-up included Billy Bragg, both Carthys, bhangra drummer Johnny Kalsi, world-fusion group Transglobal Underground  and other top musicians from a range of traditions to the number of fourteen.  They're trad, they're multicultural, they're exploring what it means to be English in the early 21st century and they tear up the stage. I love 'em.

Comments

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

I've got the Imagined Village CD. Not sure what I make of the Benjamin Zephaniah upgrade of "Tam Lin" but I loved the Carthy / Wood "Cold, Haily Windy Night".

Glad you liked it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

We've ordered the CD.

I'm not sure about the Zephaniah Tam Lin either- but I suppose it may grow on me.

[jfs.livejournal.com]

I'd suggest watching the video of Tam Lin - it really brought it to life for me.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=7bIvFg5fXUM