An Early Music Showcase
St Cecilia’s Hall, 12/11/25
St Mary’s Music School Early Music Group; Hilary Michael (leader)
St Mary’s Music School, based in Edinburgh, is a real powerhouse of musical education in Scotland. It recently received a generous bequest of early musical instruments, including some viols and baroque bows, which has boosted the teaching of early music at the school. So, where better to showcase the school’s Early Music Group than the eighteenth-century surroundings of St Cecilia’s Hall?
After a brief tour of the highlights of St Cecilia’s instrumental collection, an appreciative audience repaired to the Concert Hall where we were entertained by the Early Music Group, consisting of nine pupils and led by teacher Hilary Michael. The group, a string octet and harpsichord, only just fitted on the bijou stage.
The showcase began with the Gavotte and Rondeau from JS Bach’s Partita No 3 in E major BWV 1006, played by S5 pupil Frederick on his own baroque violin and bow. This was an assured performance, showing a deep understanding of the piece. Frederick then moved to the harpsichord and joined the other musicians for the rest of the programme.
The second piece was the ‘Abdelazer Suite’ by Purcell, incidental music written in 1695 for a revival of the eponymous play by Aphra Behn. The play is long forgotten but this piece consisting of ten short movements remains popular, in part due to the second movement (a rondeau) being used as the basis of ‘The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra’ by Benjamin Britten. Note-perfect, the group played with assurance and verve.
Hilary, herself a former pupil of the school, introduced the programme and briefly explained the challenges each piece presented to the musicians. The standard of musicianship was very high, and if I closed my eyes, I forgot that I was listening to teenagers performing, such was their professionalism, maturity, and enthusiasm.
Next came the later ‘Concerto Polonois’ composed by Telemann around 1750. He described it as exuberant Polish dances clothed ‘in an Italian dress’ and it was played with élan by the group.
The final piece was, as Hilary said, an ‘absolute banger’ and a very well chosen one. The Curtain Tune from Timon of Athens, composed in 1695 by Purcell, was designed to be played as the curtain rose or fell and during scene changes. A four bar ground bass from the cellos and harpsichord, with the other players improvising above and around it, tapping, plucking, and bowing their instruments. The musicians clearly relished this piece, and so did their listeners. In my notes I find the words: ‘like 17th century jazz?’
This was a superb concert. St Mary’s pupils spend half their timetable on academic work, in which they achieve impressive results, and the other half on music, with even more impressive results. If these students represent the roots of music education in Scotland, then the tree is looking very healthy indeed.
Pupils from St Mary’s will be playing at the Edinburgh Society of Musicians on 22 November, and the school’s popular Christmas concert is on 15 December at the Parish Church of St Cuthbert, Edinburgh. Book now!
https://www.stmarysmusicschool.co.uk/
Photo credit: The photo is reproduced with permission from St Mary’s Music School.
