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The 2008 Boat Race ended with the slowest winning time for more than sixty years, but this was far more indicative of the weather than the standard of racing, which was as fierce as the sky above and waves below. Helicopters circled overhead and thousands hugged the banks of the Thames to watch Oxford reaffirm their recent dominance over Cambridge, and continue a satisfying trend which has now seen them win three out of the last four races, narrowing their all-time deficit tantalisingly to just five.
For Cox Nick Brodie the victory was especially magical. Much of the subsequent boat race coverage has justifiably focused on the 21 year-old, for whom revenge proved as sweet as ever. Having endured a frankly horrific few years of varsity rowing, he finally and perhaps inevitably fought back against all the odds to claim a doubly meaningful personal victory. He claimed that “losing the Isis-Goldie race in my first two years and then the main race last year was devastating, but looking back now, the way my four years have unfolded here at Oxford with the highs and lows has just made the victory that little bit more special.”
However despite Brodie’s own fairytale story, the Oxford performance was ultimately defined not by any one individual but by the solidarity and focus of a team which had to drag its way not only through the rugged waters of West London but also the increasing politics which has surrounded the contest in recent years. Last year saw the boat race’s heaviest ever participant, Thorsten Engelmann, sensationally quit his course at Cambridge just days after their victory, leading to accusation, claim and counter-claim between the two camps. The particularly high level of animosity since that race not only meant that the stakes were higher than ever, but also that when the race began and the first oars were swept through the water, the action itself was a welcome return to rowing with oars as opposed to voices.
Pre-race favourites Oxford appeared to have gained the initial advantage by the time they sped past Craven Cottage – home of the varsity football defeat just a few hours before – but Cambridge remained within touching distance. The two crews passed Hammersmith Bridge neck and neck, with blades almost overlapping amidst repeated warnings from the umpire. At this point Cambridge seemed to be taking control, with Oxford’s rowing for a time appearing lethargic, despite remaining rhythmic.
As the boats passed Chiswick Eyot however, the team seemed to collectively realise there was actually the possibility of defeat, and at this point Oxford’s tempo and aggression noticeably increased. The Dark Blues pushed ahead round the outside of the Surrey Bend, and moving from half a length to clear water within 30 strokes, they already seemed almost certain to satisfy pre-race predictions of a comfortable win, powering into a lethal rhythm that the Light Blues simply couldn’t keep up with. An elated Brodie described how during this part of the race, “we noticed them cracking and we jumped on them”, and Mike Wherley was equally subtle when he assessed the way in which Oxford “stood on their necks”. It was aggression such as this, combined with power and technique, that Cambridge understandably struggled to match during the race, and the distance between the boats continued to increase as Oxford ruthlessly maintained the pressure: the final 22 second margin of victory was judged to be 6 lengths, a statistic which certainly didn’t flatter Oxford, although perhaps failed to do justice to Cambridge who valiantly fought against the Dark Blue’s superior power and erg scores.
So Oxford, as expected, were just a little too strong for their adversaries, and despite the weather playing heavily into the Dark Blue’s hands, their performance would have surely warranted a victory whatever the conditions. But it should be remembered that the first half of the race was very tight – Brodie claimed “it took us half the course to find our rythm” – and so, whilst in retrospect a repeat of 1877’s dead heat was always unlikely, the race was certainly more hard-fought than a glance at the winning margins might suggest.
More rowing in Cherwell Sport >>>
£5 million is being given by Julian Blackwell of the eponymous bookshop chain to allow the Bodleian library to build a new hall to open access to its collection and put much of it on permanent public view for the first time.
An exhibition hall will be created in the New Bodleian Library thanks to the generous donation. The hall, to be named Blackwell Hall in recognition of the donor, will display the Bodleian Library’s collection of British literary treasures that had until now been accessible to only a few scholars.
The priceless collection includes the earliest complete book written in the English language, one of only eight surviving Gutenberg Bibles and Shakespeare’s First Folio. It also holds the original manuscripts of many book classics including Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and a map given to the king and queen of Spain, which was probably used in discussions with Christopher Columbus before his 1492 voyage to discover the New World.
The earliest complete book written in English, Gregory the Great’s Pastoral Care, translated by King Alfred in about 890 AD is another of the treasures. There are also many original handwritten texts of popular classics such as Frankenstein, as well as more than 10,000 medieval manuscripts. Other treasures include an embroidered handwritten book by Queen Elizabeth I.
Mr. Blackwell said of his reasons for the donating, "The Bodleian is unique. It not only has the largest and most important university collections in the world, but it is leading the development of cutting-edge information services which are so vital to academic research."
Keeper of special collections at the Bodleian, Richard Ovenden said, "Julian Blackwell’s magnificent donation to the Bodleian reflects the long established connections between these two institutions.
"Not only are they neighbors on Oxford’s Broad Street, but for 130 years they have jointly engaged in projects which have both celebrated and preserved our global written heritage," he added.
The Bodleian Library is the biggest university library in Britain and second in size in the country only to the British Library.
Founded in 1602, the Bodleian has a copy of almost every book printed and an extra 5,000 books are added to its catalogue each week. It holds more than 9 million volumes as well as artifacts such as a chair made for Francis Drake from the beams of the Golden Hind in which he circumnavigated the globe between 1577 and 1580.
Only on very rare occasions are items put on public display, such as last December when the library put four 13th century copies of the Magna Carta on view for just six hours.
An event will be held on Saturday in honour of the library’s founder Sir Thomas Bodley, when the donation will be formally announced.
This week, more controversy surrounding the conduct of OUCA has emerged.
At a recent LUCA (London Universities Conservative Association) ball, ‘rowdy behaviour’ from the OUCA table allegedly offended several other diners and prompted complaints from a speaker.
The annual LUCA ball was a black tie affair held on 21st February and high profile speakers included Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries, Member of Parliament for mid Bedfordshire.
OUCA received several complaints about the bad behaviour of some of its members. As a result a disciplinary committee was called, resulting in Dan Ward losing his position as publications officer.
Ward allegedly took the microphone and made a ‘drunken’ impromptu speech, thanking diners for their attendance when he had been expressly forbidden to do so by the president of OUCA.
There have also been reports that some members of OUCA heckled throughout the speeches, pounding on the table and generally behaving in a ‘rowdy’ manner.
Nadine Dorries, who spoke after the dinner, expressed her disappointment at OUCA’s conduct. Writing on her internet blog she said, “The students were all really good fun – apart from a few on one table.”
“As I left I asked which Uni they were from, I was surprised, but maybe I shouldn’t have been, when I was told the table was from Oxford.”
“The fact that they were from Oxford I suppose increased the disappointment. You kind of expect those who were born to, or have earned privilege, to behave a little better.”
Brad Johnson, returning officer for OUCA spoke of the decision to discipline Ward. He said, “Ward took the microphone without permission, he acted in a patronising way and upset many people”.
Johnson said that he believed Ward was drunk, adding: “The fact that he was an actual office holder made the offence all the worse. The ex-president of OUCA, Alex Stafford, actually had to apologise to the organisers of the event.”
In contrast, Ward remained unrepentant for his actions. Speaking to Cherwell he said, “I did pound the table and laugh, but the speech was so dull that most people did.”
“It was not a good event. Lots of people weren’t dressed properly and they gave us the wrong wine glasses.”
Ward also claimed that he was reported due to a personal matter, and was the victim of ‘rules gimpery’.
Oxford University economist Professor Paul Collier has won the 2008 Lionel Gelber Prize for his book: ‘The Bottom Billion: Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it’.
The Lionel Gelber Prize, called by The Economist as ‘the world’s most important award for non-fiction’ is awarded to the author of the world’s best book on international affairs.
Paul Collier is Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for the Study of African Economies. He is a Professorial Fellow of St Antony’s College. His past appointment include having served as Director of Research at the World Bank and as an advisor to the British Government’s commission on Africa.
In The Bottom Billion, published by Oxford University Press, discusses how 980 million people around the globe are living in ‘trapped countries clearly heading towards a black hole.’ Poverty populations are found much in Africa, but the book also identifies other large pockets of severe poverty in such places as Bolivia, Cambodia, East Timor, Haiti, Laos, North Korea, Myanmar, Yemen, and elsewhere.
Professor Collier uses reconstruction of Europe after the Second World War as an analogy for the challenge of lifting populations out of poverty. In his book, he calls for not only immediate aid, but also cooperation from multilateral institutions as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which will effectively promote trade and security.
Professor Collier will be awarded at the ceremony to be held in Toronto on 1 April. He will also accept the $15,000 prize at the Munk Centre, where he will also deliver the Lionel Gelber Lecture. The Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) has been undertaking research on Africa for more than a decade, and has become one of the largest concentrations of academic economists and social scientists working on Africa outside the continent itself.
PREMIER DIVISION
Teddy Hall 3 Oriel 0
Last week, SEH regained some form by beating Oriel 3-0. It was a good attacking display, in which many chances were created. Goals scored by Talbot Smith, Theodore, and Hoffmann secured this victory. Oriel rarely threatened until the last 10 minutes, in which they had a couple of good chances. Talbot-Smith and Mike Sopp both had excellent games. John Waldron
DIVISION ONE Exeter 0 Balliol 3Balliol beat Exeter 3-0 on Monday. Goalscorers were George Wright, Jamie Hill and James Gerlis. Jamie Hill
DIVISION TWO Fri 22nd Feb – Pembroke 4-3 St Peter’s Pembroke started the game well and went into a 4-1 lead, with Ali Craggs running the game from central midfield. However, Peter’s soon got back into it. Sherlock scored in the first half, with the two centrebacks Al Smith and Charlie McNicholas both scoring late headers. Charlie McNicholas
Fri 29th Feb – St Peter’s 0-0 Queens For all St Peter’s pressure they could not find the goal. Charlie McNicholas, Luke Sherlock and Matt Judge all came close, but they could not find the breakthrough. Charlie McNicholas
Mon 3rd March – Trinity 1-5 St Peter’s St Peter’s got their first win of the season with a fantastic display of attacking football in a game they dominated. Charlie McNicholas got two – the first a superb curling shot – and Toby Hodgson emphatically smashed in to put Peter’s into a 3-0 half-time lead. Forward Rob Pepper then added two more before Trinity’s consolation. It could have been double figures. Charlie McNicholas
Merton-Mansfield 1, University 2
Merton-Mansfield’s promotion party was well and truly spoiled last Wednesday, as they stumbled at home to a determined and passionate Univ side. The hosts only needed a solitary point to wrap up the Division Two title, but were denied it as they threw away an early lead and suffered only their second home defeat of the season. Ten days ago, Merton had travelled to Univ’s fortress-like Abingdon Road ground and plundered all three points, so today the away side were out for revenge. They were also desperate for a result in order to reinvigorate a promotion challenge which had stuttered slightly in recent weeks. This showed in the opening minutes, as the Univ defence set its stall out with a number of crunching challenges. Merton started brightly nonetheless, and looked particularly dangerous from set pieces. The first talking point came after fifteen minutes. A swift passing move created a real opportunity for the home side, but Univ skipper Jack Browning flew in and prevented an almost certain goal. The Merton players were vocal in their claims for a penalty, but replays confirm that he won enough of the ball to justify the referee’s decision to play on. Merton-Mansfield were not to be denied for long though. Univ struggled to deal with a flurry of corners, and eventually an excellent delivery from the left was firmly headed by Tom Goodman into the bottom corner. The home support celebrated wildly, as confirmation of the title moved to within touching distance.
However, Univ’s interest in the promotion race is far from over, and their reaction to falling behind was superb. Earlier in the season, heads may have gone down after conceding in a game of such importance, but it was a different story today. Their front two of James Gingell and Will Stuart looked dangerous throughout, and it was the former who fired in a spectacular equaliser just before the break. From an innocuous looking position with back to goal, he swivelled and hammered a ferocious half volley across Reuben Holt in the Merton goal and into the bottom corner. It was no more than the away side deserved. The vocal home crowd had been silenced and Univ went into the break full of confidence. The second half started in the same vein, as Univ controlled possession and looked threatening. Just a few minutes after the restart, a neat passing move culminated in Will Stuart being played through on goal. As he shaped to shoot, he was inexplicably hauled down by a home defender. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, and suddenly the game was in danger of being turned on its head. A hushed silence descended across the ground, but James Gingell was the calmest man on the pitch as he confidently slotted the ball past Holt to give the away side a priceless lead. Merton poured forward in search of a title-winning equaliser, but it was Univ who looked most likely to add to their lead. A long range Gingell free kick was tipped over, while Alex Watson rounded the keeper only to see his goal-bound effort cleared off the line. As they became increasingly agitated, Merton began to lose their discipline, and one home midfielder was booked for a particularly wild challenge.
Merton- Mansfield are not top of the table for nothing though, and as the game drew to a close, they began to show their class. An excellent free kick was superbly tipped wide by visiting keeper Ed Hardy, who suffered a nasty collision with the post for his troubles. Indeed, Hardy made a number of excellent saves as the hosts threw everything they had at the Univ back four. Nevertheless, the away defence stood firm. They rode their luck at times however; and Jack Browning was lucky only to be booked after a mistimed challenge prevented a clear Merton opportunity. With just minutes left on the clock, prolific Scot Robbie Coleman thought he had salvaged a Merton leveller. He slotted calmly past Hardy, but his joy was cut short by the linesman’s flag, as a home striker was adjudged to have been in an offside position when the ball was played. Seconds later, the final whistle was blown, and Univ celebrated a sensational away victory. Merton, on the other hand, were left to rue a missed opportunity. Not only had they thrown away an early lead, but they would have to wait another week to confirm their status as league champions.
Indeed, subsequent results have meant that going into the very last week of the season, we are still no closer to knowing the identity of this year’s Division Two champions. Merton- Mansfield’s last game of the season, a 3-2 defeat away to Corpus- Linacre, has left them top of the table on 34 points. Corpus on the other hand blew their title chance by losing 1-0 at home to Pembroke on Tuesday. However, they will confirm a promotion spot if they, as expected, see off OXILP at home on Friday. This has created an extraordinary situation in terms of the final promotion spot. Pembroke host Univ on Friday, knowing that if they avoid defeat, they too will be playing in Division One next season. Univ know that only a win will keep their dreams alive. Furthermore, a win for either team will see them leapfrog the entire pack and be promoted as champions, while a draw will hand the title to long-term table-toppers Merton-Mansfield. This Friday looks likely to be one of the most exciting final days in Division Two history.
by Matt Miskimmin
Gravity’s Rainbow, Pynchon’s manic schizophrenic novel, originally titled ‘Mindless Pleasures’, is a quasi-sequel to his previous work V, which had appeared in 1963 to literary acclaim. In V, Herbert Stencil raced across Malta, New York, the Sudan and German South-West Africa, hunting for a lady indicated by the initial V, who never died and who was in some sense mechanical. Gravity’s Rainbow expands the historical framework of this premise.
In the period just after the surrender of the Nazi Reich, Tyrone Slothrup is sent into the crumbling remnants of Germany – ‘The Zone’ – to find the mysterious rocket 00000 and its cargo, the Schwarzgerät, in order to explain the mystical correspondence between his erections and the grossly phallic and destructive V-2 rockets. Yet this quest becomes a journey of self-discovery, into his forgotten history of Pavlovian conditioning that has ensnared his sexual desire to destruction and mechanical death. What isn’t in this book?
The dominatrix heroine Katje is attacked on a beach in France by a mechanical octopus called Grigori. Slothrup and a black marketer throw custard pies from a hot-air balloon into the face of a German fighter pilot. In the midst of making love, Slothrup becomes his own penis. And let’s not forget the virtuoso orgy scene with sentences as contoured as the postures of the hundred fellating protagonists. Unlike his contemporaries Joseph Heller or Kurt Vonnegut, who knew first hand the macabre insanity they were writing about in Catch-22 and Slaughterhouse 5, Pynchon served in the U.S. Navy in the 50’s but never saw action. Instead, working for the Boeing in-company magazine, he accessed their archives on the V-2 rocket, and gained a boarder view of war as an institution. The search for peace out of the debris of the Second World War is helter-skelter, a pantomime of clowns and scatology, a lunatic carnival, a catherine-wheel sparking in multiple trajectories.
In the Zone, Slothrup’s identity fluctuates to the superhero Rocketman, to Plechazunga, the Pig-Hero, before dissolving under the pressure of history, language, and the threat of castration. His disappearance towards the end of the book is the literary equivalent of Lea Massari’s vanishing in Antonioni’s L’Avventura, disappearances which the reader finds hard to grasp, which threaten the reader’s own sanity. Yet although there are remarkably few battle scenes or scenes of atrocity in Gravity’s Rainbow, Pynchon’s vision is not whimsical or glib. The Vietnam War, still raging when it was published in 1973, is all over the text. Slothrup heads up-river in the boat Anubis, finding not a heart of darkness, like Martin Sheen, but the military industrial production that underlies peaceful civilised society, the business deals in slaughter and the deviant sexuality that creates the phallic V-2 rocket 00000.
His World War 2 is not a straight battle between good and evil. Rather, it is the Playboy bunny scene of Apocalypse Now writ large. Pynchon’s humour is excoriating, but if nothing else, reading Pynchon is an education in the roots of the modern age and its moral ambiguity. He traces the roots of the Holocaust into the genocide of the Herero people of German South-West Africa; and he foregrounds the dubious connections between the concentration camps and big business – how IBM helped optimise administration in Auschwitz through a new system of punch-cards and IG Farben, the German conglomerate, manufactured Zyklon-B for the concentration camps at a profit. Through this, Gravity’s Rainbow opens up perspectives on our own time.
For readers accommodated to a world of tired political rhetoric, compromised international institutions, and universal indifference over African atrocities, there is a clear relevance in revealing the commerce that continues to underpin our ‘peace’. And for readers used to a world of advertising, public relations and the commodification of desire, it is clear that Slothrup’s Pavlovian conditioning has bought his compliance. What could be more revealing than the scene in which our hero, in the midst of Potsdam Peace Conference and under the nose of President Truman, sneaks in to steal a massive quantity of hash? Mindless Pleasures indeed.
by Angus Mcfadzean
Thank heavens Mort is showing in 8th Week of Hilary: the term of sickness, stress and freak exams for an unlucky few. Well – thank death, shall we say…Terry Pratchett’s satirical tomfoolery translates brilliantly onto the stage, drawing the audience into his pantomimic world of medieval slime and weak gags.
Mort (Rob Hemmens) becomes Death’s (James Utechin) hapless apprentice. Learning the ways of the grim reaper’s trade, it turns out the tyke’s got conscience, as he chooses to save the doomed Princess Keli (Harriet Tolkein) with the help of a wizard, Cutwell (Chris Carter). With reality now gone awry and Death on holiday, Mort and Death’s adopted daughter (Kate Morris) have to put the world to rights, even in the face of Death’s meddlesome dogsbody, Albert (Liam Welton).
Pratchett has all the ingredients for a children’s bedtime story: an unlikely hero, a princess and a quest; there’s even a friendly narrator, whose dulcet tones form a distraction for the scene changes. But director Rhys Jones has ensured to keep the adults from yawning. Besides controlling a sterling cast of extras, who double as the minor characters (Stewart Pringle, Rebecca Baron, Thomas Woolley, Rob Morgan, Vicki Turk and Tom Richards), Jones has managed to create the unique aesthetic quality of ‘The Discworld’. The OFS looks like something out of The Wizard of Oz, through the lens of Tim Burton.
Far more sophisticated than any set-piece to be found in Harry Potter, the stage is used to its full potential, with an impressive lighting design and switches between location smoothly manoeuvred by the actors themselves. The dark hues of the set are wonderfully contrasted with flashy costumes, not least Hemmens’ head of bright red hair.
It’s almost as stark as the contrast between Death and the way in which the play mocks it.
Abstract doom is personified by a terrifying skeletal cadaver, dressed in a hooded cloak and boasting an echoing voice (a chilling effect –especially when the microphone picks up the dialogue of the other actors). However, Death is so wearisome of his position that he encourages sympathetic coos from the audience.
As a comedy, the jokes are witty rather than hilarious (“It would be a bloody stupid world if people got killed and didn’t die!”), but then this is Pratchett’s way. Fans of the books will revel in the play’s faithfulness to the text, but anyone who begrudges his style might find the 120 minutes a strain. However you react to it, Oxford deserves a bit of silliness after the past eight weeks – wall-related injuries and all. Life’s too short to be without it.
4/5
By Frankie Parham
7:30pm Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat
2:30pm Sat
OFS
Richard Wentworth, Master of the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, initially seemed slightly taken aback to discover that he was the sole panellist on what was advertised as ‘A Panel Discussion’ of the Role of the Art School in the 21st Century. Yet, with renewed confidence, Wentworth announced that the audience, which was comprised of past and present students of various art schools, art teachers and some very dissatisfied and discontented members of the ‘Artworld’ (the existence of which Richard firmly denies), would be the ‘panel’.
A handout was passed around which detailed the compilation of sixties tracks which Richard had selected to play in the background. With the music in full swing, Wentworth expressed his concern that he was, ‘doomed to prattle about the sixties’ and consequently imparted a detailed, animated depiction of life at art school in the sixties which contained hints of nostalgia. For Wentworth, the sixties was characterised by the fact that it was illegal to be gay, the invention of the mini-skirt, the Profumo affair and the lack of central heating. He attended the Hornsey College of Art, which he described as a fairly radical move. The students didn’t refer to the teachers as ‘Mr’ or ‘Miss’ and he remembers his main activity not as sculpting, painting or carving but as ‘making long bendy things stand’.
Having provided a thoroughly envious picture of his free and easy time at Hornsey in the late 60s, seeing the likes of The Who live at Goldhawk Road, he opened up the ‘discussion’ to the audience. There emerged varying degrees of satisfaction with the art school. While some current students whined about the degeneration of art schools and described them as ‘disorganised’ and ‘infertile’, others raved about the nourishing ‘space’ (a modish, oft-repeated word) it provided for them to broaden their engaged, curious and inquisitive minds. A major issue of contention stems from the fact that, since the sixties, loans have replaced grants. Consequently, there has been an increased preoccupation with what students ‘get out’ of what was described as a fiscal ‘transaction’. While some complained that the art schools did not ‘forge careers’, the majority seemed to think that this was not, and should not be, the purpose of art schools. There was a rather acute level of tension between the ‘art school for art school’s sake’ contingent and the realist ‘What is the point in an art degree when you end up washing up for the rest of your life?’ argument.
The audience member who surely stood out in the minds of all was the disappointed, frustrated and, possibly disillusioned gentleman who had spent 1968-75 at various art schools only to have been left with an astonishing level of bitterness. For him, art school provided a free, almost fantastical world which could lead to psychological instability. He complained numerous times that the talk hadn’t answered the question of what the role of the art school in the 21st Century was. To an extent, this complaint was justified as the majority of the discussion was spent with people recounting personal experiences rather than directly addressing the question. But the gentleman was after the impossible; he wanted an answer which would both dissolve his deeply entrenched dissatisfaction with art schools and reveal the materialistic, career-orientated benefits of an art school degree. I doubt whether any discussion of the role of the modern day art school would have been able to achieve this.
by Francesca Angelini
Holywell Music Room, 2nd March 2008
Wandering past a posterboard for the Holywell Music Room coffee concerts it is easy to feel a twinge of jealous admiration for the pro-active types who forego their Sunday morning torpor for a fix of culture and caffeine. The anxiety is quickly soothed, however, with comforting convictions of this breed’s rarity. How very unnerving then, on one’s first ever venture to this kind of concert, to encounter a room filled with audience members, as it was at last Sunday’s recital featuring violinist Thomas Gould and John Reid on the piano.
On occasions like these an aura of expectation builds and the resulting pressure on the performer can be a little overwhelming, particularly in the amphitheatre-like set up of the Holywell Music Room. From the kick off into Franz Schubert’s Fantasy in C, however, Gould and Reid delivered the goods with finesse. Gould leapt into the piece, communicating an electric spark to the audience whilst maintaining a clarity and smoothness of tone. At the same time, Reid’s sensitively judged rubato and articulation allowed the audience time to soak up every ounce of the highly expressive performance. Equally in the third movement, Gould’s light finger work and buoyancy was matched by Reid’s cascading ripples across the keys.
Their rendition of Karol Szymanowski’s Mythes, Op 30 was possibly even more captivating. The ethereal world of the Greek myths was vividly portrayed by both performers. Reid’s dynamic variety alone was enough to create a narrative in its own right while Gould flicked between the gritty earthiness of the lower strings, and unearthly harmonics, skated out with a touch so delicate that his fingers seemed instead to float, cloud-like, above the surface of the string. This dream-like sense otherworldly was dispelled as Robert Schumann’s Fantasiestucke brought the audience back to their senses. The lyricism of the first two movements was enhanced by Gould’s finely nuanced vibrato and the dialogue between the two: The transfer of the line from piano to violin and vice versa was seamlessly accomplished. The two came together in the last movement with a sharp injection of vigour which gathered up momentum as they hurtled towards the resounding final cadence.
Such an energetic performance, Sunday morning or not, is bound to have anyone skipping down the steps of the Holywell Music Room.”
by Hannah Nepil
The next coffee concert at the Holywell music room is next Sunday, March 9th, at 11.15am, and will feature the Chamber Players performing works by Arensky and Tchaikovsky (tickets available from Tickets Oxford 01865 305305).
