As well as the opening night Magnificats, an airing of the ‘Evening Hymn’ from ‘Tis Almost One by the Holst Singers and the final-night Trumpet Concerto performed by Imogen Whitehead, the Barnes Music Festival also celebrated Stephen Dodgson’s centenary in concerts from oboist Nick Daniel and friends, and guitarist Jack Hancher.
Guitar Etudes (18th March)
Jack Hancher – guitar
At festival halfway point, the Barnes Music Festival were treated to a lunchtime performance by Jack Hancher, winner of the prestigious Gold Medal of the 2022 Royal Overseas League Competition.
The intimate one-hour concert took us through a series of arrangements (including works originally for lute and for piano) and guitar pieces by Dowland, Ravel and his pupil Jose, Mompou, Albeniz and Debussy (not least his famous La Fille aux Cheveux de Lin) and the two famous Gymnopedies by Satie. Dodgson’s Etudes (Hancher played nos. 1–3) were beautiful and introspective with a degree of unease, and piqued my curiosity to discover more of them.
Hancher’s performance was undoubtedly beautiful. His sound is lyrical and he understands well how important time and breathing space are within music, and how to hold the mood of a piece after the notes have stopped. The programme was intimate overall with a degree of ebb and flow from the pensive and gently joyful to somewhat more quietly fretful, occasionally upping the mood to something a little more strong and energetic. Unfortunately this delicate choice of repertoire was set against the backdrop of the noisy Heathrow flight path – not a problem for the bigger Barnes Music Festival concerts but here sometimes overwhelming the quiet, close mood that Hancher was in the process of creating. I’d be interested to hear the same programme in a quieter space, not to mention hearing how the talented young Hancher would turn his hand to some of Stephen Dodgson’s more upbeat playful and dramatic works.
Leonora Dawson-Bowling
