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.

[baritonejeff.livejournal.com]

The Elgar is, for me, the very embodiment of world-weariness.

And Du Pre was one of its greatest interpreters.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I see what you mean. This was perhaps the first time I heard "behind" the music.

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the link. I listened to Imagined Village doing "John Barleycorn". This is my kind of folk music. I guess it's in the genes - ancestors came from Cornwall about 250+ years ago. Anyhow, I think I will order the CD because I really love the sound.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ailz and I love this music. It's about the only musical taste we share. We've just been cooking our tea to the nasal roar of an early Watersons album.

[happydog.livejournal.com]

well, my friend, you have just directed me toward my next album purchase!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Excellent!

We're buying it too.

[happydog.livejournal.com]

This seems like a logical progression (at long last) from Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention right up to today.

I wish that we could have a rethinking of American folk music on this level, but all we get is Bruce Springsteen yelping away over Pete Seeger songs, and that's supposed to be "a modernization." Sorry, went into a personal gripe there.

[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