It’s Thursday evening in mid-September, which means the second rehearsal for the Academy of St Olave’s Triple 150th Anniversary concert has just come to a close.
For not only am I a rank and file first violinist in the orchestra, but I’m also the son of conductor Alan George and principal clarinettist Lesley Schatzberger, which makes every block of ASO playing rather a family affair! So while many other players may just turn up to the rehearsals and concert and put in a bit of private practice at home, ASO can often, for me, be quite dominant in home life in the weeks leading up to a concert.
We got through the finale of the Sibelius! The orchestra begins packing up after our second rehearsal.
Dad will be reading his scores religiously weeks before the rehearsals start and getting really enthusiastic about whatever repertoire the orchestra is tackling. I’ll be upstairs doing some university work in preparation for the start of term when suddenly the sound of Dad’s Nielsen 1 record playing at an obscene volume will cause me to jump and ruin whatever architectural drawing or model I’m working on. He’s always testing out different recordings; sometimes they can provide not only inspiration but also an insight into where it can all go wrong. The other day, I heard him cackling with laughter from the other side of the house at Robert Kajanus’s 1932 recording of Sibelius 5, in which the brass are a whole bar behind the rest of the orchestra at the end of the first movement! Hopefully we will have more success with that in ASO…
When the rehearsal period is starting, Mum and I will be asked on a regular basis whether we have done any practice for ASO. The answer is usually ‘no’ until the hour before the first rehearsal, when the house will be filled with an awful combination of the clarinet part of one orchestral piece and the violin part of another. It’s alright, though, because Dad’s super loud record will probably drown us both out. Then, once the rehearsal period has begun, the conversation at dinner times will often involve one or both of Mum and me complaining at Dad about how he conducted a certain passage in the symphony, and him doing his best to protest. Poor Dad.
All this aside, it is certainly a privilege and a pleasure to be able to play with my parents, although I suppose I rather take it for granted now that I’ve been doing it for so long – at least with Dad – the above photo of me playing with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet at the age of about 3 is proof! Yes, I really was playing Shostakovich’s 10th Quartet note perfect…… One of the first pieces I played with both of my parents was in fact the opener of the upcoming ASO concert, Glazunov’s Rêverie Orientale, in its original chamber version.
Coincidentally, my big sister Hannah has a significant link to this upcoming programme as well – when she was one year old, she famously mortified my parents by urinating all over the fireplace in Sibelius’s house during a tour by his own granddaughter, whose son my parents were playing with in Finland. Okay, 20th century Scandinavian music might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but REALLY, Han?! I was always much more appreciative of his music as a child. I have been told that one day at play group, the leader was asking all the children to name their favourite songs. Round the circle, all the other kids were naming ‘Twinkle Twinkle’ and ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’. Me? I responded with ‘I quite like Sibelius!’. Oh, to be raised by classical musicians…
My sisters Jessica (8) and Hannah (10) at the piano
My debut with the Fitzwilliam String Quartet, aged 3. It all went downhill from there…
Quite a few people in York’s classical music circles will have heard of my other sister, Jessica. I never met Jessie, as she sadly died of a brain tumour in the year before I was born. My parents started the charity Jessie’s Fund with money originally raised in order to send Jessie to America for specialist treatment. Now in its 20th Anniversary year, Jessie’s Fund helps children with complex needs to communicate through music in special schools and children’s hospices. Jessie’s Fund is extremely grateful to ASO for supporting us in previous concerts, most recently in June 2015, when songs by David Blake based on Jessie’s poems were performed alongside Beethoven 9 in the Sir Jack Lyons Concert Hall in the University of York. The concert was a great success, with orchestra and audience alike finding it both poignant and exciting.
Alan George rehearses Beethoven’s 9th Symphony for the 20th anniversary of Jessie’s Fund in June 2015
Also marking Jessie’s Fund’s 20th Anniversary is York Guildhall Orchestra, which shares many members with ASO. Mum, Dad and I are all honoured to be appearing as soloists in their concert in the Barbican on Saturday 10th October, which will also feature Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony and Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite. Tickets are available from the York Barbican box office. I think I can get away with a little plug here, as the more bums on seats, the more money Jessie’s Fund will make!
Until then, we’ve got a wonderful ASO concert to look forward to on the 19th September – please encourage your friends to come along and appreciate these three amazing composers. We hope they will be moved to say ‘I quite like Sibelius!’ rather than go and wee on his fireplace…
