Review: Thoroughbass | Forgotten Songs – An Unforgettable Experience

Thirsty for experiencing a live concert, the socially-distanced audience eagerly awaited the Thoroughbass concert on Saturday Oct 17, Forgotten Songs, in the beautiful hall at Mosman Art Gallery.

Opening with Debussy’s Ariettes Oubliées (from which the concert takes its title in the English translation), soprano, Danielle Grant, and Diana Weston at the piano took us through the subtle emotions expressed through changes in nuance, rhythm and tone colour of Debussy’s music and Verlaine’s poetry.

Written early in his career (1886-7), this music already shows Debussy’s compositional style. This is exemplified not by descriptions of scenery, but by emotional feelings or sensory landscapes. With songs like C’est l’extase, one could share the languorous ecstasy felt after love-making; the depression in Il pleure dans mon coeur; or the giddy joy and later nausea in Chevaux de bois, which describes a ride on a merry-go-round.

We were then taken back approximately 100 years to hear Ignace Pleyel’s Sonata in G major for piano-forte and violin, performed by Diana Weston and Tara Hashambuoy. Pleyel’s sonata was charming and reminiscent of Mozart, performed in an elegant way appropriate to the style and era. Such a piece may have been performed in Colonial Australian drawing rooms in the 19th century, as were the works in the rest of the concert.

The next stage of the concert involved a switch from piano to harpsichord. This meant that the accompanying string instruments, which included two cellos, played by Angus Ryan and Lucy Cornack, had to be tuned down a semi-tone from A(440) to A(415).

Garnered from the collections of Sydney Living Museums, we heard a medley of Gaelic dances from the Lucy Havens Portfolio. Born in Scotland, Lucy Havens emigrated to Australia in 1839 and ended up marrying a Scottish Presbyterian minister. Hence it is no surprise that the music she collected was largely Scottish in origin or inspiration. These works were in complete contrast to Debussy’s subtle nuances and they were played with appropriate enthusiasm and gusto.

Soprano Danielle Grant returned to the stage to sing three Scotch Songs with Violin obbligatos by Ann Carr-Boyd, who is considered an authority on the history of European music in Australia. Such songs reflect the enthusiasm early Australian immigrants had for traditional Scottish music. Danielle sang these sweetly, referring to life and love in Scotland.

The concert continued with music from the 6th edition of The Gaelic Old Hotch-Potch. This collection was found by Diana Weston in a second-hand bookshop at Cootamundra. After three instrumental works ranging in mood from The lament of the dead of the battlefield to The reel of Tulloch and Johnnie Cope, Danielle Grant returned to sing The Land o’ the Leal. This is a subdued song about “the Land o’ the Loyal”, i.e. Heaven and the end of life, which Danielle performed with lilting subtlety and sincerity.

We were then treated to an encore: Robin Adair, a traditional Scottish/Irish song from the 18th century, with lyrics written by Lady Caroline Keppel, who married Robin against her family’s wishes as he was below her station.

This was wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon, in the company of like-minded, although socially-distanced people, and it will not be forgotten soon.