The Glory of Gosford

Gosford House 12/9/25

The Lammermuir Basset Horn Ensemble

John Kitchen claviorganum, Mhairi Lawson soprano

Tabea Debus, recorders, Benedict Williams harpsichord

I don’t know how many times I have driven along the coast from Longniddry to Aberlady, passing this obviously enormous estate just inland. I knew it was Gosford House, but no more than that.

Now however, after this fascinating triple recital in the grand house that was Robert Adam’s final commission, I know a little more, and I feel extremely privileged to have been there. The programme told us a great deal about the history of the house since its early days (the estate was bought by the 6th Earl of Wemyss in 1784 but the house as we know it was not completed until 1891, the year my own house in Murrayfield was also completed, although on a smaller scale!), but there was still a big intake of breath as we were ushered into the Marble Hall and the Grand Staircase.

Under the gallery, between the two majestic stairways, the Lammermuir Basset Horn Ensemble was waiting to serenade us with two delightful divertimenti by Mozart. Invented in the 1760s, and a relative of the clarinet, the basset horn became popular when championed by Mozart, but became more rare until its honeyed tones were discovered and used by Richard Strauss, notably in ‘Der Rosenkavalier’. I have been lucky enough to sing several Mozart Requiems when the clarinets were replaced by basset horns, and the sound was clearly quite different and special.

The Ensemble today was a starry trio of Maximiliano Martín, Principal Clarinet with the SCO, William Stafford, Sub-Principal Clarinet with the SCO and Calum Robertson, who also frequently plays clarinet with the SCO, and their renditions of the two Divertimenti by Mozart were sublime. I asked about the instruments, and was told that they are all the same size but can be played in different ranges to encompass trios such as these. The acoustic was perfect for this lovely instrument, whose mellow tones are hinted at in the name, ‘bassetto’ meaning little bass.

 Ascending the stairs, we reached the Marble Hall, where seats had been laid out looking west to where the Claviorganum resides. This extraordinary instrument, dating back to the middle of the 18th century, has been a feature of Gosford for some time, but has recently been restored to its full glory by a triumvirate of specialists from Edinburgh. It is a unique hybrid which combines a stringed harpsichord with a pipe organ, which can be operated directly by the player, in this instance the multi-talented John Kitchen. I’m singing in a concert in Dalkeith Palace on October 4th with Dr Kitchen (when he will be playing Dalkeith’s own square piano), and I know he was very excited about playing this instrument in Gosford House. We were given an interesting talk by the world expert on the Claviorganum, Eleanor Smith-Guido, and Dr Kitchen showed us what it can do. He was joined by the wonderful Scottish soprano, Mhairi Lawson, in a short programme of songs by Purcell, Handel and Charles Dibdin. I have known Ms Lawson for many years and have often sung with her, but her voice just gets better and better. Perfect for early music with a pure ethereal tone, she has added weight to her voice, which rang out beautifully in the warm acoustic of the Marble Hall. The Purcell and Dibdin songs were perfectly enunciated, and her ‘Verdi prati’ from Handel’s ‘Alcina’ was simply sublime.

We were led through to the Great Dining Room, with a huge window overlooking the Firth of Forth, for the final segment of our concert, a recital for recorder and harpsichord by the stunning German recorder player, Tabea Debus, and the excellent harpsichordist, Benedict Williams. This was constructed around the idea of Bach’s life as a teacher, highlighting the multiple tasks that he set himself and his students, copying, arranging, accompanying and ornamenting, allied to studies of technique and style.

First we heard Bach’s Sonata in E Minor, which the duo imagined as an example used by the master himself to teach both continuo and solo techniques. The baton is passed from one instrument to the other throughout the sonata, until in the final movement, it becomes a relay or a chase to the end! We were stunned by the virtuosity of Ms Debus throughout the recital, mainly played on a treble recorder, but for a solo performance of one of Bach’s French Suites, and a modern piece by the Argentinian composer, Alex Nante, she played a ‘voice flute’, a slightly larger instrument, between a treble and a tenor recorder, which brought added sonority and depth.

The recital finished with an arrangement by Bach of a concerto by Prince Johann Ernst of Saxe-Weimar, originally for violin, in which Tabea Debus and Benedict Williams showed how much they had learned from JSB and demonstrated an almost perfect empathy in their playing.

What a way to spend an autumnal afternoon in East Lothian, and we must once again thank the Lammermuir Festival for yet another fascinating event!