Last Friday the members of Shipston Music Society gathered, as usual, at the Methodist Church, for a recital of piano duets performed by Lynn Arnold and Charles Matthews. These two pianists perform together frequently, presenting a vast repertoire of both original compositions and transcriptions for four hands. A shared passion of English music features significantly in their choice of repertoire which includes the complete works for piano duet by York Bowen, Delius and Vaughan Williams. Lynn and Charles are also keen to promote recent British works such as those by Elizabeth Maconchy (1967) and Andrew Glover-Whitley (2019). In 2022 Howard Skempton dedicated his piano duet “Inventing the Wheel” marking his 75th birthday, to Lynn and Charles.
The programme began with “Sonata” by Poulenc with its powerful opening of the Prelude (a wake-up call?) Immediately one was impressed by the ability of two pianists sounding as one, the synchronisation being so perfect. After Clara Schumann’s “March” we heard “Variations on a Theme of Robert Schumann” by Brahms in which the melody is passed from one performer to the other – thus creating a contrast between the upper and lower registers of the keyboard. Then came Warlock’s “Capriol Suite”, a very popular work, composed as a piano duet in 1926 and based on six different dances of the Renaissance period. The second of these, “Pavane”, is in a minor key with a gentle, legato melody creating a feeling of yearning, so beautifully played. Three more varied movements brought us to “Mattachins” (Sword Dance). This very energetic dance was rewarded with very energetic applause!
During the interval there was much to be discussed such as “How do they manage to play so accurately and at exactly the precise moment together?!” Indeed, their synchronisation is absolutely perfect. This became even more apparent in their execution of “Balliol Dances” by Bramwell Tovey, (1953 – 2022). These contrasting movements from the gentle swaying motion of the 6/8 rhythm to the rollicking finale are a real test of synchronisation for the performers. The evening ended with “Rout” by Arthur Bliss (1891-1975) which began with an explosion of sounds like fireworks shooting off in all directions. It was a perfect choice to consolidate our admiration and gratitude to Lynn and Charles for a fantastic evening’s performance of such high calibre. We are indeed very fortunate to have such talented performers in this area who enjoy playing for us and are prepared to do so on an instrument that is certainly not a “concert grand”!
