Period string music trio at Ludham

TONY COOPER Friday, April 21, 2006
8:00 AM

TONY COOPER

The Trunch series of concerts continues Saturday, April 22 (7.30pm) with the Ludamus String Trio in St Botolph's Church performing two of the finest works in the string trio repertoire:.

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The Trunch series of concerts continues Saturday, April 22 (7.30pm) with the Ludamus String Trio in St Botolph's Church performing two of the finest works in the string trio repertoire: Mozart's Divertimento in E flat major, K563 and Schubert's Trio in B flat major, D581.

Led by violinist Jane Gillie, the trio is an ensemble of period-music specialists and takes its name from the Latin meaning “let's play”. And that's just what it's been doing for the past two decades and like many chamber music groups its personnel changes depending on the repertoire. Currently, it's immersed in the classical string trio repertoire.

Completing the trio are Lisa Cochrane (viola) and Gabriel Amherst (cello). All of the girls play regularly with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, English Baroque Soloists and the Orchestre Révolutionaire et Romantique.

The Mozart work is a most appropriate piece to perform this year as the “boy wonder” from Salzburg is being feted round the world to mark the 250th anniversary of his birth. And what better way to celebrate it than to hear one of the pieces which he himself most enjoyed playing.

Schubert only wrote two string trios, both in B flat major. The first of these is incomplete, comprising only of a first movement and a fragmentary andante: it is an innocent, charming piece. The second, however, was completed in four movements and is beautifully written for the instruments. It includes a prominent part for the viola and this was the instrument that Schubert himself played in domestic music-making. It's a supremely-lyrical piece and a charming and lightweight addition to the string trio repertoire and complements the Mozart piece admirably.

The concert promises to be one of the finest that the organisers have hosted as part of the church's restoration appeal. St Botolph's is one of Norfolk's great medieval churches, a harmonious flint-faced church from the outside while inside it boasts one of only four canopied-font covers in the country as well as a splendid hammer-beam roof carved with angels, misericords and an ornate screen - all over 500 years old.

The restoration appeal (Trunch in Crisis) was set up in 2000 to maintain and develop the fabric of the church. It has already raised money for renovating the stone tracery of several windows, repairing the chancel roof and securing the tower.

Tickets £6, concs £5, at the door.