Alcarez and Sinner were preparing to venture out onto centre court, where the strings of their racquets would flex and vibrate as they skilfully struck the ball across the net in the Wimbledon men’s singles final. Meanwhile, in Hunsdon Church, the strings of violins, violas, cellos and double bass were set in motion by the skilful players of the A10 Strings, producing an altogether more glorious sound. There was no grunting to be heard in church, just beautiful music which inspired applause at the end of every piece.
Having attempted to play both violin and double bass myself (not at the same time), I am very aware of how much skill it takes to find the right notes – unlike the guitar, there are no frets, so the positioning of the fingers is critical. Part of the wonder, for me at least, was to watch the players’ left hands, and to see how they moved so effortlessly up and down the necks of their instruments; how their fingers moved swiftly from string to string and invariably found their sweet spot as the bows in their right hands rose and fell in unison across the band. There was a little vibrato here and there, and a moment in the leader’s performance where he used a technique that one of the audience described to me afterwards as being like the “hammer-ons” you might hear from a heavy rock guitar solo. There’s probably an Italian term for the technique, but I understood him immediately – it was fun to watch and great to hear.
The music was varied, from the “Yee-haw” sounds of Soon Hee Newbold’s “Blue Fire Fiddler” to Ferdinand Hérold’s “Clog Dance,” complete with the sounds of clogs clippity-clopping interposed at key moments by the fingertips of the cellists tapping on their instruments. I was thrown back to my mid-teenage years as the band played Dvořák’s “Humoresque no.7” – a dainty little piece traditionally understood to have been written on a train, inspired by the rhythm of the wheels on the track. I had first heard it on a rather dubious album in my father’s record collection in a song by Paddy Roberts with its own reference to trains and stations. (I can safely say that the Dvořák original was much better than Roberts’ comedic version.)
As an encore, the band put down their bows and played entirely pizzicato. It was very clever, and I was amazed at the subtlety that they achieved as the volume faded almost entirely away at times. And then, in the afternoon sun, those who weren’t rushing off to see the tennis were treated to a fine selection of summer refreshments – Pimm’s and non-alcoholic punch were served alongside smoked salmon blinis, glazed cocktail sausages (hoisin sauce, apparently – they were delicious!) and scones with jam and cream, served Devonian style.
This was a truly wonderful way to spend a Sunday afternoon – good music, good food and good conversation with friends and neighbours from the local community. It’s already been suggested that we host a similar event in the future (trying not to clash with the tennis!). Watch this space – or better still, sign up for our priority mailing list to make sure you don’t miss announcements of our events.
