Isle of Mull, 29 June – 4 July 2009

Thomas Duncan's portrait of Mendelssohn.

DID THE city fathers of Edinburgh have the slightest idea about what they were starting back in the dark post-war days more than sixty years ago when it was decided to start an arts festival to attract visitors to the capital? It took a few years and a fringe to become established, but once it did, every corner of the land jumped in on the act to the extent that nowadays summer has become a time of intense activity deciding which festivals to attend of the tempting selection each week.

One of the real delights of festivals is the way that they throw up the unconventional, indeed often the totally bizarre, happenings that would never be experienced during the regular artistic season. As June turns to July our country offers contrasting gatherings on opposite coasts.

Does one elect for a former bishop and chairman of the Scottish Arts Council reciting poetry to a flute accompaniment in St Fillan’s Cave in the East Neuk of Fife? Or is it preferable to brave the rain and the midges to witness members of the choir Ensemble 1685 from Coventry performing Mendelssohn inside Fingal’s Cave on the island of Staffa? Poor Felix may have been too seasick to enter that cathedral of a cavern during his Highland tour one hundred and eighty years ago, but at long last his music has completed the journey.

Edinburgh’s renowned Festival was well into middle age by the time that Leonard Friedman, the esteemed founder of what is now the Scottish Ensemble, decided to set up an annual week of intense mentoring for exceptionally gifted young string players in a peaceful and beautiful location.

There are few places on this planet more peaceful or more beautiful than the island of Mull, with its plethora of village halls and small churches so ideally suited to the intimacy of a chamber music festival. To encourage an audience to attend, Friedman decreed in the original trust deed that all concerts should have free admission and that the costs of the festival should be met by donations and fundraising. And that is a major task, as the total cost is not far short of £50,000.

For the past nine Festivals, Friedman’s mantle has been worn by the world renowned Levon Chilingirian, leader for nearly forty years of the string quartet that bears his name, and Professor of Violin at London’s Royal College of Music. Few musicians are capable of matching him in the role of directing and leading the team of mentors who, within a week, release such brilliant playing from the chrysalises of the young professionals that are selected to congregate on the island.

They come from all the airts, this cheerful crew of emergent stars; seven lads and seven lasses; six violins, five violas and three cellos; four Scots, four English, three from South Africa, a Dutchman, a Portuguese and a Russian; five studying in Glasgow, five in Manchester, two in London, one at Cambridge and one doing a PhD at Sheffield.

The five mentors are just as diverse; three violins, a viola and a cello; two Armenians, two English and a Hungarian; four based in London and one in Lisbon. Add to the mix the excellent choir Ensemble 1685, and a very ardent collection of Friends of the Festival, and the message is clear; music is a language which strides over national boundaries and unites people in a common culture.

By now the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival format is well established. Some time before the opening event, director Levon Chilingirian compiles his programme, selects the young professionals and divides them into three groups. They are sent the music so that they can learn it, but they do not meet up until the last Saturday in June when they come together in Tobermory and the hard work begins.

Sunday is the day when the audience arrive on the island, just in time for the Friends’ Reception at An Tobar where acquaintances are renewed and the choir performs, leaving the players rehearsing for their first performances on the Monday. This year we enjoyed a new commission for Ensemble 1685, All right, it was an eagle by Matthew Print, setting words by the Mull poet Jan Sutch Pickard.

Dervaig became renowned as the home of Mull Little Theatre, now moved to a brand new production centre at Druimfin, a couple of miles south of Tobermory. But for a music performance space the new village hall is an excellent replacement, providing all the facilities that Group Three, mentored by Gaby Lester and Sam Barsegian, could possibly need for the first public concert of the Festival.

A highly satisfying seafood salad at the Bellacroy Inn, next door to the hall, induced the ideal sense of contentment to relish the programme of Haydn and Mendelssohn that enhanced the Monday afternoon.

Of course 2009 is the year in which we commemorate bicentenaries for both Mendelssohn and Haydn. The former was born on 3 February in 1809 and the latter died a few months later on 31 May, although other than for programming considerations, there is no reason to suppose that the two events are connected.

Chilingirian had selected the set of three quartets Opus 74 that Haydn had composed for his second visit to London in 1793 for the groups of young professionals to display their skills without the mentors’ contributions. And for the third of the set, in G minor, the quartet of Ian Watson, Tiago Neto, Clare Fox and Deborah Chandler rose to the occasion with style and enthusiasm.

In truth, any worries about lack of rehearsal time were unfounded. For Mendelssohn’s E minor quartet Op 44/2, Gaby Lester took the first violin chair with Ian Watson playing second, while Sam Barsegian took over the viola role from Clare Fox to deliver an enthralling performance. The third work of the concert was Mendelssohn’s B flat major quintet, Opus 87, for which Tiago Neto replaced Ian Watson and Clare Fox took the second viola part. It was stunning, especially the hauntingly emotive Adagio e lento that had the audience absolutely gripped.

The other two groups opened their accounts on Monday evening, with Marcia Crayford’s team playing at the new venue of the Mull Theatre Production Centre at Druimfin, and Levon Chilingirian’s group heading to the fairytale setting of Glengorm Castle. There, in the traditions of this unusual festival, more and more people squeezed into the Drawing Room, leaving the overspill sitting out in the Hallway and half way up the main stairs.

Once again, as with Gaby Lester’s group, the young professionals had bonded very quickly, even though they had a wide difference in the levels of their experience. Michael Gurevich, Emma Stevenson and Willem Mathlener have all been seen on the chamber music circuit or in the ranks of the national orchestras, whereas Josephine Robertson and Feargus Egan have but one year of college experience under their belts.

The young professionals Michael, Josephine, Willem and Feargus had prepared the Haydn quartet by themselves, this time Op 74/1 in C major, and like their colleagues gave a performance that could have graced any concert hall. Mendelssohn’s contribution to the programme was his posthumously published quartet in F minor, Opus 80, a wonderful composition for which Levon Chiligirian and cello mentor Pal Banda were joined by Michael Gurevich and Emma Stevenson.

After prolonged and well-deserved applause the cramped audience exploded out into the interval like champagne from a shaken bottle to marvel at the views across to Ardnamurchan and the islands of Coll and Tiree in the evening sunshine. More delights were to come in the form of Dvorak’s melodious String Sextet in A major, passionately played under the leadership of Chilingirian. And even after all the euphoria left by Dvorak, there was still time to get back to the Mishnish Hotel in Tobermory to watch the last games of Andy Murray’s epic five setter under the new Centre Court roof.

The same programme was repeated by Levon Chilingirian’s group on the Tuesday afternoon in the Community Hall at Craignure to the accompaniment of a lawn mower echoing through the doors that had to be left open on this summer afternoon. Certainly the playing was a bit crisper than the previous evening, but there was not the ambience and audience rapport that there had been at Glengorm Castle.

And then the weather broke.

Tuesday evening was at Salen Church for Marcia Crayford’s group playing in the still, warm, damp atmosphere to a packed audience and countless midges; just the same as for Gaby’s group a few miles away in the tiny church at Gruline.

Group Two was the group with only one mentor, Marcia Crayford, to encourage the young professionals, Amanda Lake, Emile de Roubaix and David Edmonds from the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester, Zhanna Tonaganyan from Russia studying at the Royal College of Music in London and violist Christine Anderson studying at Glasgow.

This was their second run through the programme of Haydn’s Quartet in F major Op 74/2, Mozart’s String Quintet in C major K515 and Mendelssohn’s first string quintet in A major Op 18, written for a house party when the composer was a mere 17 years old. The group had started to develop a good level of ensemble and played with confidence and enthusiasm, although perhaps a second mentor to share the work load would have raised the performance level.

Wednesday is the day when the Festival traditionally changes its routine as the players start work on some of the special pieces of music for later in the week. The only concert is in the evening in Tobermory Parish Church, when each of the groups plays highlights from their programme. This offers the perfect chance to join the members of Ensemble 1685 for a cruise to the island of Staffa and to explore the famous Fingal’s Cave.

You know that expression about the best laid schemes……? Well, this was one of them. Great, I thought. Get to Ulva Ferry and enjoy a light, if liquid, lunch in the pub before the sailing. The parking area is packed with the cars of people staying on Ulva, so you walk the half mile or so to the ferry, and find that the pub is on the other side of the water and that it is going to cost a fiver before you even have the chance of ordering a pint and a cheese sandwich!

Then the rain starts. And on Mull, what does rain mean on a still, warm day? Midges! The man-eating variety; the macho ones that are attracted to insect repellent. Eventually, when everybody is wet through, hungry, thirsty and scratching, the Island Lass arrives and off we all go into the mist, fighting to get to the coffee dispenser.

Certainly the boat is sea-worthy, but not a lot of attention has been paid to keeping the rain out of the main cabin. Seventy minutes later we sail into Fingal’s Cave and marvel at the basalt formation before going ashore at the jetty a few hundred yards away.

As an island, Staffa differs from Mull in a number of ways; it is a lot smaller, there is less shelter, the rain is wetter and the midges are bigger and more ferocious. But we are a determined bunch and we slip and slide our way over the rocks back to the cave where the choir sing a couple of works by Bach and Mendelssohn, then climb up to explore some of the higher parts of the island that are hidden by the rain. Eventually our boat returns to collect us and we return to Ulva Ferry where that pub is still on the wrong side of the water like a mirage destined never to be reached.

Thursday during Mendelssohn on Mull week is Iona day, which means an early start from Tobermory to get to Fionnphort for the short crossing to the holy isle, or as the locals call it, God plc, so commercialised has it become over recent years. It was a beautiful drive down through Mull with shafts of sunlight beaming on the mountains and we arrived at the ferry just as the rain started.

I did notice a difference with the midges on Iona. They cross themselves before launching an attack. But the beautiful Abbey provided shelter so the assembled supporters were able to dry out as the musicians once again gave a performance of the highlights of their group programmes. This was followed by one of the special pieces that the whole ensemble had prepared, a memorable rendition of Haydn’s Seven Last Words From The Cross.

As I noted earlier, music is a culture that crosses national boundaries. On Iona it also crosses natural species. One of the most attentive members of the audience was the Abbey cat as she carefully explored her way through the performers as they played, even stretching up onto Pal Banda’s cello to check that the remains of her ancestors were being treated with respect.

Thursday evening is when the groups give the third and last performances of their set programmes. Groups One and Two stayed down in the Ross of Mull to play at Creich and Bunessan, while Group Three headed back for what is probably the most spectacular of all the venues, Duart Castle, home of Sir Lachlan Maclean.

Over the years the Festival has regularly enjoyed the generous hospitality of Sir Lachlan, and this concert always attracts a sizeable audience who pack into the Great Hall of Duart Castle to enjoy the playing in what must be as near perfect a traditional setting for chamber music.

The Friday always produces a couple of essential events in the Festival Calendar. In the afternoon the youngsters of the island, who have been working all week with Maggie Miller and her team at the Mull Children’s String Summer School, give their showcase concert in the Aros Hall in Tobermory to the delight of parents and friends, and in the evening there is the traditional closing event, the Classical Ceilidh.

But this year, Friday produced a couple of other special occasions. At lunchtime the Mendelssohn on Mull Trust were the guests of Argyll and Bute Council, The Tobermory Forward Group and members of the Tobermory community in the spectacular new harbour building, Taigh Solais. There, Councillor Mary Jean Devon acknowledged the contribution that the Trust had made to Mull over the years and Duncan Swinbanks told of the research he had done following the discovery of a letter in his mother’s papers telling that Mendelssohn had stayed at her house in 1829.

While there he had written to his father with a sketch of the music for the Hebrides Overture and describing the places that he and his companion Carl Klingemann had visited. Duncan had traced the original to the New York Library, along with several hundred of Mendelssohn’s other letters. A facsimile was produced and sent to Tobermory, where it was framed and presented to Marilyn Jeffcoat, the Chairman of the Mendelssohn on Mull Trust.

The Coventry based choir, Ensemble 1685 have been something of a fixture at the Festival for the past few years where they spring up in the most unlikely places. Under the direction of the ever energetic Richard Jeffcoat they gave their last concert of the week in the attractive Kilmore Church at Dervaig with a programme of religious works by Haydn and Mendelssohn, including a solo from Elijah by soprano Becky Clowes and the ever popular O for the wings of a dove.

I would like to have been able to report on the Mull Children’s String Summer School Concert, but on the way back from Dervaig to Tobermory an inconsiderate driver of a Chelsea tractor decided to ignore a passing place and force me off the road before speeding over the horizon. The incident cost me £127 for a new tyre as well as any chance of hearing the result of all the hard work by the children.

But the Classical Ceilidh in the Aros Hall that evening made up for it. This is the event when the young professionals and the mentors present their party pieces and the public get to enjoy the extra works that have been prepared. Performances that stood out were Josie Robertson’s playing of Eddie McGuire’s Prelude 21, Ninian’s Chant, Debs Chandler playing Mendelssohn’s last ever composition, and Sam Barsegian and Andy Jeffcoat playing a four-handed piano performance of Ellington’s C Jam Blues.

The first half ended with Schweitzerleid from Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No 11, and proof that the claims on the international news that music is dead following the passing of Michael Jackson to be completely unfounded as a selection of his ephemeral music was performed in a hastily arranged confection for string ensemble.

The second part opened with the second world premiere of the week, a specially arranged version of the Hebrides Overture for string orchestra by Jonathan Cohen, and very effective it is too, with the bulk of the normal wind and brass parts being taken up by the violas. To end the Ceilidh there was one of the greatest pieces of chamber music ever written, Mendelssohn’s Octet Op 20, but in a novel manner, as each movement was played by a different group of musicians, a bit like a relay race. It was the perfect way to bring our stay on the island to a close, even if it was not quite the end of the Festival.

Normally the Saturday is a peaceful day, clearing everything up and checking out before the crossing to Oban and the Closing Concert in St John’s Episcopal Cathedral. For most of us everything was straightforward, but not for one of the team whose wallet had been misplaced during the week, lost or stolen we will never know, containing cash, cards, driving licence and ferry tickets.

It leaves an unpleasant memory, especially the attitude of the Calmac staff at Craignure who insisted that cash was borrowed from friends to purchase another ticket to get off the island. Thank goodness the welcome and hospitality shown by everyone else on Mull is more typical.

There was one more special feature to come. While Mendelssohn was in Scotland in 1829 he had his portrait painted by Thomas Duncan RSA. This painting has been in a private collection ever since, but was brought to Oban for display during the closing concert and to be seen by the public for the first time.

The idea of the Oban concert is to involve the Argyll residents who support the Festival but cannot make the journey to the island of Mull for the main series of concerts. The last event is always tinged with sorrow, but all the musicians taking part in the Festival put on an excellent performance of excerpts from their set programmes followed by a reprise of the new version of the Hebrides Overture and the “relay” octet, demonstrating just how much their playing has improved over the course of the week.

And we must not forget the very last Festival tradition – the excellent buffet in the Indian restaurant just along the road from St John’s Cathedral.

Over the past few years I have made so many friends at the Mendelssohn on Mull Festival that, for me anyway, when it comes to choosing a Festival to attend at the end of June, there is no choice. I’ll be back next year, hoping for sun and a light breeze to allay the dreaded midges, to witness fourteen more young musicians blossom into confident performers.

© James Munro, 2009

Links

• Mendelssohn On Mull