Today M and I finally made a trip to Ushaw College, former seminary, now - what? Specifically, we went to hear Ushaw String Quartet perform, but it was also interesting to see the buildings. I knew that Durham Business School had been based there (they still are, in part); I knew that some students live there; but not much else. The core parts of the building are open to visitors on Saturdays from today, so we saw St Cuthbert's Chapel, lots of side chapels and some funky Richard III memorabilia (inner history geek says woop!). Richard, Duke of York's book of hours - amazingly small for such a minutely detailed book; copy of Geoffrey of Monmouth's 'A History of Britain'; and the Westminster Vestment, last seen being worn by Cardinal Vincent Nichols in a requiem mass for Richard III.
On entering St Cuthbert's Chapel, this is the view:
The Ushaw String Quartet were in St Cuthbert's Chapel performing the string quartet arrangement of Haydn's The Seven Last Words of Our Saviour On The Cross, from 1787. Completely new to us (in any arrangement). The Chapel has an excellent acoustic and we were sat so near to the quartet that we could hear breaths and bow movements.
Haydn's work is a supreme meditation on the human condition, with seven 'sonatas' - movements, little meditations, all slow (except for the coda!). I particularly enjoyed sonatas II, III, V (especially this one!), VII and the coda - 'Il terremoto'. All movements slow, but full of meaning.
The full track listing is:
Introduzione in D minor – Maestoso ed Adagio
Sonata I ("Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt") in B-flat major – Largo
Sonata II ("Hodie mecum eris in paradiso") in C minor, ending in C major – Grave e cantabile
Sonata III ("Mulier, ecce filius tuus") in E major – Grave
Sonata IV ("Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me") in F minor – Largo
Sonata V ("Sitio") in A major – Adagio
Sonata VI ("Consummatum est") in G minor, ending in G major – Lento
Sonata VII ("In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum") in E-flat major – Largo
Il terremoto (Earthquake) in C minor – Presto e con tutta la forza
Sonata I ("Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt, quid faciunt") in B-flat major – Largo
Sonata II ("Hodie mecum eris in paradiso") in C minor, ending in C major – Grave e cantabile
Sonata III ("Mulier, ecce filius tuus") in E major – Grave
Sonata IV ("Deus meus, Deus meus, utquid dereliquisti me") in F minor – Largo
Sonata V ("Sitio") in A major – Adagio
Sonata VI ("Consummatum est") in G minor, ending in G major – Lento
Sonata VII ("In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum") in E-flat major – Largo
Il terremoto (Earthquake) in C minor – Presto e con tutta la forza
There are some interesting music events coming up at Ushaw, worth checking their website. Notably folk act Kathryn Tickell and the Side on 23rd May...
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