Come into the Garden, Maud. A Celebration of Drawing Room Song.
19, 20, 26, 27 March @ 2pm, Sassafras
The Golden Years of British Song! In this concert series we will celebrate the era of the Drawing Room Ballad, once a central component of British, and indeed, Australian, musical life, and one which was directly parallel with the age of Gilbert and Sullivan. We will return to a time when the ability to sing after dinner - or at any time - was a form of social entrée. Said Sir George Sitwell: “nothing makes you so popular”.
“Come into the Garden Maud” will re-tell the story of this body of once-famous music, one which endured in the memory of the English-speaking world. From Mendelssohn to Vaughan Williams to Frederic Clay, from Prince Albert to Eric Coates to Arthur Sullivan himself, the writers of drawing room ballads immortalised all the major social preoccupations of their time with music that was remembered for generations. These are songs of love, hearth and home, soldiers and sailors, the sea, exotic places, disaster, death, and childhood, many of which are of excellent quality and require skilled execution. They charmingly bring to life the ambience of Victorian and Edwardian society in a unique manner and are still very enjoyable today. In the wonderful garden setting of “The Knowe”, “Come into the Garden, Maud” promises to be a delightful evocation of a lost era.
Come and enjoy a glass of bubbles or a cup of tea in the English garden, or inside the historic hills cottage, The Knowe (circa 1919). Even bring your own picnic and luncheon on the lawn or under the 100 year old oak tree. Garden opens at 12:30pm.
Listen to Geoff Urquhart talk about the concert with Nigel Simpson on 3MBS:
Cast:
Marisa Panzarin Renee White Kathleen Fong Lynlee Williams Ryan Jacobs Steven Touzel Robin Halls Nick Sharman
With James Douglas narrating
19-27 March 2022
4 Performances
Running time 2 hours approx
(1 Interval)
19th March at 2pm 20th March at 2pm
26th March at 2pm
27th March at 2pm
Garden open from 12:30pm
The Knowe
4 Clarkmont Rd
Sassafras VIC 3787
Enquiries: 0490 465 009,