Cultural activities continued last night with The Caritas Ensemble 's summer concert, A summer sojourn , at St Nicholas' Church in the Market Place. This was my first chamber concert in Durham, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but the group's online description of their performances including lesser-known works caught my eye (as did their aim of raising money for local charities). An audience of about 20-30 had assembled by the start of the concert, which began with a familiar work, Debussy's Syrinx for solo flute, setting the atmosphere for the evening. The lesser-known works were all in the first half, of which I most enjoyed Lennox Berkeley's Six Preludes - pianist Emily Murray performed 'moderato', 'lento' and 'allegro'. A clear debt to Debussy, but still extremely enjoyable. Less enjoyable, for me at least, were excerpts from Richard Rodney Bennett's Sounds and Sweet Aires - a very high quality performance but t...
The varied musings of a music maniac...