Brickwall Music and Arts Society, founded at Brickwall House in Northiam 49 years ago, returned for the first of a full season of five concerts, after three years of exile, on the evening of Friday, October 28. This significant event in the drawing room was the result of the welcoming outlook of the new senior management of Frewen College, which is the permanent occupant of the house.
The Primavera Piano Quartet of Michael Dussek (piano), Paul Manley (violin), Catherine Musker (viola) and Andrew Fuller ( ‘cello) gave extremely thoughtful and highly emotional accounts of Mozart’s first work in this form and concluded with the wonderful first piano quartet of the much underrated Gabriel Fauré.
These two works flanked John Carmichael’s piano quartet Sea Changes and, a first for the society, the composer was in the audience! John Carmichael was born in Australia in 1930 but has long been resident in Britain and he introduced his own composition with a modesty and clarity which delighted the audience as well as informing them that the inspiration for Sea Changes came from the Fauré which would follow it after the interval. Sea Changes itself proved to be not only powerfully expressive of the sea’s moods but also eminently approachable, like the composer himself. Seek out more of his music soon.
Brickwall Music and Arts Society’s next concert is in the Brickwall drawing room on December 23 and is a piano recital by the remarkable British pianist Daniel Grimwood. Anyone wishing to join the society should contact the membership secretary on 01797 225822 for details.
Photo: library image