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Sell-out
Concert launches new CD
New CD launch concert by Andrew and Margaret Watchorn
Thursday 26th June, at St Mary’s Church, Low
Newton-by-the-sea
A bright Thursday evening found an enthusiastic audience crowding
into the little church of St Mary’s at Low Newton to hear Andrew and
Margaret Watchorn’s concert to launch their latest CD Borrowed
Days. Ably supported by Andy May and Hinny Pawsey, a recent
graduate of the excellent traditional music degree course at
Newcastle University, they enthralled us with an evening of good
music from the Northumbrian tradition and from Sweden. A variety of
smallpipes, fiddles and piano, combined with Margaret’s singing
entertained and delighted us.
One of the refreshing aspects of a concert given by the Watchorns is
their ability to engage with their listeners. They share their
enthusiasm generously and provide a commentary on their music that
carries us along wanting to find out more. The opening set,
Hesleyside Reel/Miss Jean Milligan, established the tone of what
was to come. We were in the presence of musicians with a command of
their instruments and their music. We settled down expectantly to
enjoy what was to follow. We heard The Dunstan Carol,
collected nearby in 1906 by Ralph Vaughan Williams, and Dusty
Miller, a 3/2 hornpipe from the collection of fiddle player,
William Darling of Bamburgh, father of the famous Grace. From
Sweden there was the superb Josefin’s Waltz. For me the
highlight of the evening was the piece written by Margaret’s father,
Jack, called Mrs Elizabeth Ann Dodd, and dedicated to her
mother – a delight.
Their audience, a mix of knowledgeable local folk and holidaymakers,
enjoyed the range and variety of the programme. At the interval I
watched as Andrew and Margaret explained the pipes to visitors who
clearly wanted to know more about the Northumbrian tradition.
As we left, the buzz of enthusiastic comment continued. The
Watchorns will be playing the same venue on Thursday August 14th.
Catch them if you can! And if you can’t, don’t miss their CD.
Borrowed Days
is available from
www.pipesandfiddle.co.uk
Simon Foley
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