The Le Page Ensemble ~ A Christmas Celebration

On Wednesday out of the blue I got a call from an old friend, Bruce, asking if Helena and I would join him and his wife Dom as their guests at a concert on Friday evening in our town's main church. How kind. Of course we said yes, although then we knew little about the event.

The poster said:
Le Page Ensemble ~ A Christmas Celebration ~ a concert by candlelight
St Laurence Church, Stroud.

Le Page Ensemble in the beautiful Parish Church of St Laurence for an evening of music, poems, and stories! 
From the sounds of medieval England, through masterworks of the Baroque, to music of today

Bruce and Dom have been regular attendees of this annual Christmas concert created by renowned violinist David Le Page. He gathers a group of friends including three violinists, a double bass, percussionist, keyboard player, the wonderful cellist, Christopher Allan who'd organised the concert, and the actor Simon McBurney.

David has always selected a mix of classical compositions (from Vivavldi, Purcell, Debussy, Corelli, Holst), folk tunes and carols with a tinge of jazz improvisation. He then delicately weaves them together whilst including selections of spoken word pieces carefully evoking the feel and atmosphere of winter, and of Christmas in particular. These key spoken word sections were performed by the wonderful actor Simon McBurney who walked around the stage area and the church using a head microphone to recite the poems, descriptions and stories. Simon and several of the musicians live locally in Stroud's Five Valleys and often contribute to local artistic output. 

My blip was snatched at the end of the interval just as the musicians returned to the stage, when I could stand up from my seat to get a photo without disturbing anyone. I've added an 'Extra' as the audience applauded at the end, as it also shows Simon in a red and white shirt. Apologies for the poor image quality but the lighting was extremely limited.

It was such a wonderful evening and we are so grateful to Bruce and Dom for introducing us to the Ensemble. From now on we'll definitely return to hear them again whenever they next appear.

During one of the interludes between the musical pieces Christopher Allan, the cellist, mentioned that Simon McBurney currently has a major radio production airing on the BBC World Service called 'The Dark is Rising'. It is an adaptation by Robert Macfarlane and Simon of that magical story written by Susan Cooper, performed by Simon's theatrical company 'Complicité'. Apparently it is best listened to with stereo headphones to get the best from the aural landscape they've evoked.

You can see this very short video introducing the radio programme:
Making The Dark Is Rising
The Dark is Rising is our special mid-winter drama - a gripping journey through a frozen landscape... and an unending epic battle against the forces of the Dark. You can watch behind-the-scenes footage of how this much-loved and magical book was adapted for listeners around the world on on this BBC video trailer

..... and  you can access all the 12 parts once they are aired each day from this BBC webpage.