Ut majeur

Saturday past to the Wigmore Hall to hear the Nash Ensemble, mainly on account of the programme including the Schubert C major quintet, D.956, said by the programme to be Schubert's greatest chamber work. Plus the Haydn quartet Op.76 No.3 and the von Weber clarinet quintet Op.34. Not to be confused with Webern who came about a century later.

The programme of music

Curiously, the snap above reveals nothing of the grain of the paper on which the programme was printed, even at full zoom. Unlike an unpublished snap of the screen of my laptop which, at full zoom, clearly shows the array of pixels making up that screen.

Substantial lock plate

A dull cold evening, overcast and cold.

At the station intrigued by the very substantial lock plate which had been added to the door to the power shed at the country end of the London platform, maybe half a centimetre thick. Seemed a bit out of proportion to the door and door frame, which would not, I would have thought, resisted attack by a sledgehammer.

Pleased to find that the cold had not stopped all the young people coming out to play, with one conspicuously turned out young lady in the block of seats next to ours. A young lady who spent the journey applying full war paint, dropping a modest number of used tissues around her as we went. And when the carriage more or less emptied at Vauxhall, calmly put her feet up on the seat opposite. But at least the war paint was well done.

Plenty more young people milling around the concourse area at the entrance to the tube at Vauxhall, but we got onto the platform fast enough, to emerge at a busy Oxford Circus. Once again, having paid my dues on my last visit, we took our picnic on the tables and chairs outside the Finery.

Music stand with lower prongs

Hall nearly full, with some signs of the friends of the ensemble, for which see reference 1. Musicians in what might be called fairly smart casual, a bit too casual for BH's taste. But I was happy enough. All played from real music, with care being taken at a couple of points with the page turning, with the right hand leaf being propped up on the prong of the music stand for fast turning. First violin first, then a few bars later the second violin. Not a wheeze I have seen before. Turning up the bottom right hand corner of the page yes, propping it up no.

First half very good. Visit to the Cock & Lion in the interval. Second half even better, with audience very enthusiastic at the end. But with the second piece being something of substance rather than the more usual short modern piece, a long concert, which meant that we were maybe forty minutes later out than usual.

Schmid

John Lewis

Out to inspect the Christmas windows at John Lewis in Oxford Street, which I thought wre rather good, both clever and jolly. Much better than the rather pompous Victoriana that they usually offer at Fortnum & Mason's. I was rather taken with the Lego contraption, lower middle, despite the large number of special parts, while BH was much more interested in the dragon, a wing of which is to be seen top left. The star of an extensive series of television commercials - which I found rather silly some days later when she got around to showing one to me. What about the expense of it all? What about the planet?

Oxford Circus still busy. Plenty of dressed up young people on the tube, some in display mode. Just missed a train at Vauxhall, which, being late, meant getting on for a half hour wait. During which Cortana failed to find the picture included above, the middle of which was used for the front cover of the programme, the work of one Julius Schmid, a Viennese painter from the turn of the 19th century, now well known for this painting, painted nearly a century after the event, but otherwise obscure. A striking painting, but rather staged and unconvincing. Home something after 2300.

The top part of the account

Then this morning I was moved to check up on the Nash ensemble, fairly quickly getting myself to an account for what I suppose is the year ending April 2019. Quite a modest turnover, nothing like a decent living for getting on for a dozen people, all of whom must have day jobs. But interesting to see where all the money goes. I also learned that they are rather banally named for the Nash terraces around the music school some of them went to in Marylebone Road, the place noticed at reference 5.

John Nash, 1918

One of the two paintings of this name, sometimes visible in the Tate Britain. One of a pair of paintings of corn fields. Rather pale colours, compared with both the reproduction in our dining room and what I remember of the original. I thought I had already posted this image, but search fails to find it and so included here for future reference.

PS: another example, as it happens, of the odd workings of charity law in this country (and not many others). The Nash Ensemble, fine ensemble though it is, can hardly be considered a majority sport, or even a popular sport. Up there with Eton College and other such oddities. No.255017.

Reference 1: http://www.nashensemble.org.uk/.

Reference 2: https://pumpkinstrokemarrow.blogspot.com/search?q=amadeus+equipment+nash. Possibly the first time that I heard this ensemble, back in February 2012, with the number of hits on the blog archive suggesting at least a few times since. Record confused by Nash terraces, Nash painters and Nash mathematicians.

Reference 3: http://psmv3.blogspot.com/2016/11/fields.html. With one of the Nash mathematicians turning up here. Coincidentally, perhaps my first recent exposure to the 'L' mathematicians mentioned yesterday. See reference 4 below.

Reference 4: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/11/trick-of-memory.html.

Reference 5: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2017/10/cello.html.