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Party for Linda, 19 June 2022 Friends
and relations collaborated to present 101 invitees with |
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Many thanks to many performers –
Rick Blackmore, June Brassington, David Briggs, Darci Clare, Gummo
Clare, Jane Clare, Peter Clare, |
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Introit: nineteen tunes (mainly traditional) |
As guests gathered
they heard folk-tunes of the sort that Linda and friends had
played in a Bristol park during weekly lockdown sessions, when Covid
regulations forbade indoor rehearsal: this merry activity in an
otherwise gloomy time kept a lot of people’s spirits up
... not least our own.
The recital included Great North Run + Weasel's Revenge; Neil Gow's Lament for the Death of his Second Wife; Lillibulero + The New Bo Peep; Planxty Irwin + Hewlett; Le Sansonnet + Schottische à Virmoux; Hector the Hero; The Wild Rose; Harlequin Air + Shropshire Lass; Hommage till en Spelman; Swaggering Sylvie + American Husband; Gaston Pommier + Bien Temps + De Montford |
Heather
duet concertina |
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The Scribble-Lark (Richard Blackmore) |
This whistle solo
was the only piece at the party not played live. The recording had been
thoughtfully e-mailed to us, by its composer/performer, on Linda’s final day in the
Oncology Ward, and is thus the last recorded music she ever heard.
Linda delighted in birds and birdsong, so this new piece was a perfect
choice.
'Scribble-lark', Rick tells us, is
another name for the yellowhammer. |
Rick whistle (playback) | |
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The Abbess (Andy Cutting) |
This is a lyrical
yet stately piece by Linda's
favourite folk musician, Andy Cutting, a melodeon solo rearranged by
Roland as part of the outdoor park-repertoire (we later gave Andy the
score ... not sure what he'll do with it!). Carol kindly took the part
originally written for Linda's 'cello. |
Carol ’cello Heather duet concertina June fiddle Roland Bb clarinet, arrangement |
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Goldfinch (Robert MacFarlane) |
The last thing that we know Linda read also involved a little yellow British bird. We found this short blessing bookmarked in a volume she left by her bedside, and her bandmate David delivered it for us, repeating his performance from her funeral on the Ides of March 2021.
Charm on, Goldfinch,
charm on – |
David reading |
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Penally (Roland Clare) |
Linda gave the very first performance of this little piece when Roland wrote it for a 1993 outdoor run of The Winter's Tale in St Dogmael's Abbey. Her plaintive recorder created the magical atmosphere in which Shakespeare's lost queen, Hermione, apparently comes back to life. She subsequently played it at the funeral of our friend Tom Troscianko, and Heather and Jane played it with Roland at Linda's funeral too.
When she was young
you woo'd her ... |
Heather descant recorder Jane violin Roland digital piano, arrangement |
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Enrico (traditional) |
In September 2020
Linda and Roland bought an American set of 37 bronze handbells to play in the fresh
(Covid-free!) air, and planned to busk with them at Christmas ... though Lockdown II supervened.
Jane rang Linda's notes for the party; but
Linda's still ringing
in the little film we put on YouTube,
fundraising for Shelter: 'Enrico', a favourite tune of Thomas Hardy’s,
concluded that recital, and is thus Linda's final recorded performance. |
Dorinda handbells Heather handbells Jane handbells June handbells Roland handbells, arrangement |
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All I Do is Dream of You (Andrew Cresswell Davis) |
On her last day, murmuring with eyes closed, Linda asked the family, ‘Where's the mandolin?’ Roland was able to fetch a ukulele back to the Oncology Ward and Linda requested All I Do is Dream of You, a whimsical little love-song by local musician Andy Davis. The family also sang this in March 2021, at Linda's funeral, at which time Covid regulations barred any audience participation. Fifteen months later, however, Roland was legally able to exhort the party-going throng to join in – 'not in weedy reluctance, but in full-throated joyful remembrance' – and that's exactly what people did.
The time we had will
always be the best thing in my life for me |
Darci
voice |
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| After we'd all sung the song, Jane's antipodean fiancé Jamie Campbell hung a bronze leaf (pictured right) on a metal 'Tree of Life' nearby. The leaf was a gift from Penny Brohn UK, recognising the sterling fundraising that friends and family had undertaken on Linda's behalf. |
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The inscription on the leaf reads, |
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Bugle call
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After the party lunch, Aaron's bugle – in timely fashion he played the call for 'Half an Hour’s Dress for Dinner' – summoned revellers to the music room where tea, cake, and further music awaited them. Married to Roland's godperson Lolly Steiner, Aaron is currently the Senior Bugle Major with the Band and Bugles of The Rifles. Good to have a pro on board! |
Aaron Bb bugle |
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A Man is in Love / Kaliope House
(Mike Scott / |
Linda was a multi-instrumentalist (alongside David, Dorinda, Peter and Roland) in an eclectic Bristol outfit known as Lionel Richie and the Wardrobe (she coined the name, often later shortened to 'LRatW'). We ceased trading only when our irreplaceable violinist Jan Crawford tragically succumbed to motor neurone disease: her former pupil, Jane, stepped into those admirable shoes for one day only. Carol again played Linda's 'cello part with aplomb; and other friends reinforced the core band in a special arrangement of this gentle riddle-song by The Waterboys. He called your name when his eyes were closed A man is in love and he knows. |
Carol
’cello |
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Shiver me Timbers (Tom Waits) with a slice of Moon River (Henry Mancini) |
Linda grew up by the sea, with an ex-Navy father, and loved messing about in boats. This is a watery song from LRatW's back pages, and its words have taken on another shiver of poignancy since the carefree era when we played it to the Saturday night crowds at Beese's Waterside Tea-Rooms. I'm leaving my family, leaving all my friends My body's at home but my heart's in the wind
As they say, Tom Waits for no man |
Carol
’cello |
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Keep Your Distance (Richard Thompson) |
The afternoon's third Lionel Richie and the Wardrobe revival comes from the pen of the great Richard Thompson, an artist whom Linda and family enjoyed many, many times in clubs, concert halls and festivals. 'Keep Your Distance' is another lyric that resonates very plaintively in the particular circumstances. Our splendid lodger, Jacob, steps up to cover Linda's organ part. When I feel you close to me, what can I do but fall? |
David voice
+ guitar |
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A Rum Tale (Gary Brooker / Keith Reid) |
When Linda and Roland met at Cambridge they soon realised they shared a distinguished favourite group. Procol Harum was the first show they ever went to together, and latterly both worked for the band, getting to know them well over their last four tours. Gary Brooker, their leader, was very kind to the family when Linda became so unwell … and now he’s gone too. Negotiating this labyrinthine song required the singer to wear a most unusual hat, designed by Gary and kindly presented to Roland by his widow, Franky. I'm buying a ticket for places unknown It's only a one-way: I'm not coming home |
Jacob drums Peter electric bass Roland voice, piano, arrangement Simon accordion |
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Somewhere Only We Know (Rice-Oxley / Chaplin / Hughes) |
The words of the previous song apply only inasmuch as they refer to moving on to another realm. Likewise in this next number, a very particular favourite of Linda's, which she used to listen to while travelling to Sussex to visit her widowed mother (Keane, who sing it, come from Battle, just eight miles from Nanna Joyce’s house). Today's lead vocalist Darci had just completed her ‘A’ levels, having been born the year the song was a chart hit. Oh simple thing, where have you gone? I'm getting old and I need something to rely on ... |
Darci voice |
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Nephling Stomp (Clare / Clare) |
The party's musical portrait of Linda
concluded with a sequence of six dances, the first originating at that
very house in Sussex, where Linda and Roland would often extemporise piano duets for
their little nephlings to jump about to. The higher part is all Linda's
improvisation, albeit gradually fossilised into a repertoire item. |
Peter piano (primo) Roland piano (secondo) |
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I Saw Her Standing There (Lennon / McCartney) |
Linda, Roland, Jane and Peter enjoyed many French holidays accompanied by Roland's brother Martin and his family, and by our good friends the Mangans, always playing music together, late into the evenings. On one occasion we took our slim repertoire busking on the public streets of Brittany, and Jane and Rachael were mortified that there was no cash in the hat after our Beatle finale. Just 34 years on we presented those two little girls again (illustration below) and, since Martin is no longer with us, his nephew Peter filled the gap with panache. ... the way she looked was way beyond compare So how could I dance with another? |
Jane vocal + handclaps Mick guitar + voice Peter guitar + voice Rachael vocal + handclaps Roland mandolin + voice |
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Tourdion (traditional) |
Moonscraper was
another Bristol band that Linda named, though she didn't perform in our only gig, just before the first Covid lockdown.
Our house in Eastfield
Road, though, often resonated to this favourite piece, first popular in France
during the '30s (the 1530s). Nice to be joined here by Mike, another in the
distinguished series of Clare family lodgers (and by Jane Clare, Louise
+ Rainer Emerson and Marc Vyvyan-Jones, who contributed some unexpected and elegant
dancing!) |
Dorinda
descant recorder + voice |
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Carina's Polka |
On a foray to New
York, playing Procol Harum tunes with the Palers' Band, Linda and Roland lodged with
our fellow-musician friends, Bert and Carina
Saraco. On their living-room wall was the framed manuscript
of a smashing melody Carina’s Swedish father had
written to celebrate her birth. We don’t know if the piece was ever played, and
it's only from the present webpage that our erstwhile hosts will find out that Roland
covertly photographed it, which enabled him to make the arrangement
premièred at
our Party for Linda ...
(thanks,
Bert and Carina!) |
Heather duet concertina |
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The Muffler / Bhaskar’s (Jon Swayne / Barn Stradling) |
Linda was a founder
member of the splendid and eccentric Brigstowe Village Band, which celebrates the
early Victorian music of the West Country. But there's memorable
music coming out of the same region still: we learnt these two mazurkas
(written by a Bristolian and a peri-Glastonburian) by going to
gigs featuring another of her favourite live bands, the mighty Blowzabella. |
Dorinda descant
recorder |
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Bulgar from Odessa |
For the afternoon's last offering we left behind local tunes and poignant personal memories, to deliver a blast – molto accelerando – of raw dance exuberance from Ukraine. As the Party for Linda sought to demonstrate, creative energy and the resilience of imagination can help a family through the darkest of times: let's hope it can do the same for a whole nation too. |
Arun flute |
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Once again, thanks to everyone who performed, and
listened, so graciously |
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