The English String Quartet visits two schools in North East London

"The players were so enthusiastic that any stereotypical images the children might have had about classical musicians were completely dispelled....we are sure that many children will have been inspired to want to learn instruments themselves."

Ms Judith Skelton, Head Teacher, Churchfields Junior School, South Woodford, London E18

The English String Quartet in action in South Woodford

Rachel Douglas reports:

As well as being a trustee of the Sheena Booth Music Trust, I am also involved with the English String Quartet's educational programme, which the Trust has helped to sponsor recently.    Thus, one sunny May morning, I set off with two hats firmly placed on my head to meet the English String Quartet at an East London Primary School.  What followed was sheer delight for me:  being doubly involved as a trustee, I could feel doubly proud at the success of the day and the obvious pleasure it brought to the children concerned.     But for the Quartet - with one unknown school to win around to the idea that chamber music is A Good Thing in the morning and another in the afternoon, and only time for a snatched half hour with a sandwich between - I can assure you it was pretty hard work.

Picture the scene at Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, Wanstead E11.   The entire school has been herded into the assembly hall and sits there expectant – but without any real idea at all of what they are expecting.    The front rows consist of the 5 and 6 year olds cross legged on the floor and still not awfully used to school discipline;  the back hold the 11 year olds almost ready for secondary school and sitting on their adult sized chairs looking superior.     The sun is shining outside and thoughts of dashing about in the playground can’t be far away.    Not an easy audience to capture straight off, and if you fail to hold their attention imagine the bedlam that could ensue!    The easy option would be to play them a pop tune or something from a TV show they could hum along with, or perhaps even a classical nugget that had been used as backing for some advertisement.   I am sure you are familiar enough with the Quartet to know that they are not ones to compromise their principles in this way.

So the first movement of a Haydn quartet just to soften them up a bit – and it worked!    No whispering or shuffling noises at all, but the complete attention of about 250 pairs of eyes and ears.    Papa Haydn would have felt pleased if he’d known that his 18^th century creation the string quartet was still able to communicate so directly to 21^st century youngsters with  life experiences so totally  different from his own.    

Then a Spot the Difference exercise and, once it was established that the players were plucking rather than bowing the strings, Luciano gave a wonderful lesson on how to say ‘pizzicato’ with an authentic Italian accent.   Are you aware how important the hand movements are?  (or how these relate to the feeling of rhythm?)     [I must confess it crossed my mind at this point that it might be rather fun to turn the experiment around one time and get the children teaching Luciano to say ‘however’ with a true London accent.]

Shostakovich’s Circus Music with its graphic sound depictions of acrobats, tigers, snakes and so on was an obvious hit, as was an ingenious ‘Who’s got the Tune’ game with exceedingly eager audience participation.     And when the opportunity came for children to actually  hold instruments themselves and join in a performance, the enthusiasm was unbounded.   In fact my only disappointment about the whole show was that there could only be time for 12 children to have a go when dozens of eager, pleading hands were signalling their desire to be chosen.

A Schubert slow movement made it clear that music doesn’t always have to be loud, fast or furious and Luciano made the important point - one we all need to remember sometimes - that any real performance of music must start with silence and that the rests are just as important as the notes.    This was beautifully demonstrated in a performance of one of Webern’s 6 Bagatelles for String Quartet.    I know they are only short pieces, but would you think of playing Webern (well known to be a ‘difficult’ composer) to 5 years olds?     What this made so clear is that an audience with no pre-conceptions is prepared to give anything a try, and children are remarkably receptive to real quality.    In fact this was the high point for me, seeing youngsters really concentrating on these extraordinary sounds and then describing very thoughtfully  the feelings that the music had given them.

So the LFCM tries ‘to make great music accessible to a wider audience of all ages and backgrounds with live performances of the highest standard’ and the SBMT aims to ‘further the musical development of children and young people’.    We will continue to work together on these objectives – and I will continue to wear both my hats with a great deal of pride.    Be sure if you befriend either of these Trusts you are supporting A VERY Good Thing.

Excerpts from the letters received from the two participating schools:

"The children's enjoyment was evident because although you played for a generously long session, the time simply flew by and there was none of the usual fidgeting.  It made such a difference to involve the pupils.... you struck a perfect balance of entertainment, education enjoyment and fun.  In addition, you finished at the right moment, leaving the audience wanting more!"

"The players were so enthusiastic that any stereotypical images the children might have had about classical musicians were completely dispelled....... we are sure that many children will have been inspired to want to learn instruments themselves............ There was so much interaction with and inclusion of the children that the whole event was truly memorable."

Ms Judith Skelton, Head Teacher, Churchfields Junior School, South Woodford, London E18