The Wykehamist
The Bach Prize attracted more than your usual organists, pianists and string players— Bach also wrote much for the voice. While his vocal music was almost entirely religious in nature( cantatas, passions, motets and so on), and almost never for exclusively solo voice, this did not stop Noah Wong( F, 21-), Monty Weaver( K, 22-) and Kyven Tan( Coll:, 21-) from putting forward their best rendition of three songs:‘ Quia Fecit Mihi Magna’( from Magnificat, BWV 243),‘ Endlich, Endlich Wird mein Joch’( BWV 56) and‘ Mache dich mein Herze Rein’( from St. Matthew’ s Passion, BWV 244).
Monty was occasionally drowned out by the continuo— a recurring theme with those accompanied by NAS— and he lost a bit of control on some of the runs. His enunciation could also have been more precise— it was quite difficult to make out the lyrics sometimes. However, I liked the stability he had with the pulse, even if his phrasing was quite Romantic in nature. Noah, on the other hand, had a great voice; it was impressive how far back into Music School Hall he could project. Every Bach song is typically unified by a single emotional state( Affektenlehre); for example, a lament should feel constantly weighted, and an aria should be relentlessly driven. In this case, Bach wrote‘ Quia Fecit Mihi Magna’ for just solo bass and continuo, and Noah leant into the simplicity of the piece as an expressive choice, without it ever feeling underpowered. As with Kyven, there were lapses in enunciation in the words, but there was a great understanding of the Affektenlehre of the piece. Kyven was the best of the three singers— there was a good balance between the continuo and the solo voice, almost as if he and NAS were intertwined, and he had the great projection of Noah with phrasing that demonstrated a true understanding of what Bach intended with the piece. Whilst he would, admittedly, not have been my choice for the honourable mention— I thought there were other slightly better performances— I could very much see why he was highly commended.
Moving on to the instrumentalists, Louis Haymoz( Coll:, 24-) played the Andante and Allegro of Violin Sonata No. 2 in A Minor, BWV 1003. His intonation was slightly imprecise, but he more than made up for it with a clear sense of pulse in the Andante. The Allegro brought a much clearer sound and excellent projection, with good
contrast between forte and pianissimo, although his control in the triplets was ever so slightly shaky. However, what stood out to me the most was Louis’ feel for the Baroque style. His use of terraced dynamics, the absence of long, flowing Romantic phrases, and his phrasing were all on point, demonstrating an impressive understanding of the stylistic composition of a Baroque piece. I think Louis displayed a real sense of musicality here— he was one of the few to both understand the stylistic requirements of a Baroque piece, and have the technical proficiency to pull it off. I thought his performance was deserving of at least an honourable mention.
Edwin Humphreys( Coll:, 24-) was next. His interpretation of the Bourrée and Courante from the Cello Suite No. 3, whilst very technically precise( apart from two egregiously missed chords), was quite Romantic in nature. There is nothing inherently wrong with a Romantic interpretation of the Suites— even the great Rostropovich himself arranged the suites in this way— but it does mean that, more often than not, certain Baroque idioms can sometimes end up being lost in translation. For example, the Bourrée lacked the articulation that would be expected from a more
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