Bognor music club enjoysflavour of Scotland

Robert Fraser, a staunch Scot whose ancestry is evident as soon as he begins to speak, chose the Celtic Heritage as his theme and found 17 works to illustrate it.

As he said, many composers were influenced by Celltic landscapes and legends, among them Beethoven, Wagner and Donizetti. But Robert began with the descriptive piece called The Land of the Mountain and the Flood, written by Hamish MacCunn, which ranges from a jaunty cheerful opening to a storm and back again.

As a contrast, Robert continued with the Irish composer John Field, the inventor of the Nocturne, a virtuosic pianist, whose Piano Sonata in E Flat major was a rippling delight.

Before he began, Robert told his audience a brief history of the great tribe of Celts, who for 4,000 years were the most populous inhabitants of Europe. In the last century they spread to North America, to colonize the New World as well. A beautiful Lament, The Ashokan Farewell, was played on the violin by Jay Ungar, who heard its haunting tune in the Appalachian Mountains. Robert played a few more folk songs, including the Glasgow Orpheus Choir's singing of two of Robbie Burns '“ Mice and Men, and Ae Fond Kiss. Beetoven adapted many Scots songs, and Robert chose one sung by Janet Baker '“ Faithful' Johnie.

Both Wagner and Donizetti wrote operas on Gaelic subjects '“ Robert chose Isolde's great Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde, thrillingly sung by Kirsten Flagstad belying the age of the recording, 1937. Donizetti went to the novels of Sir Walter Scott to write Lucia di Lammermoor which turned out to be his greatest success. The sublime voices of Pavarotti and Sutherland were ideal for this passionate music.

A much lighter opera also sprang from a story by Sir Walter Scott '“ Bizet's The Fair Maid of Perth. To hear Robert McKellar sing the Serenade was a nostalgic treat. Max Bruch's Scottish Fantasy, with the great violinist Jascha Heifetz, and Alexander Mackenzie's Scottish Concerto op.55 with the pianist Steven Osborne, were unknown to most of Robert's audience.

The club's next meeting is on April 17, when Shirley Caunt will discuss Robert Schumann. Details on 01243 827358.