The Moorlander, Elizabeth-Jane Baldry
Now in its second year, the Whiddon Autumn Festival impressed audiences once again with its commitment to bringing high quality music directly into the rural heart of North East Dartmoor.
The great joy of this festival is its youthful exuberance, enthusiasm and vitality. Forget the stuffy, strait-laced image which sadly plagues so much serious music-making, the Whiddon Autumn Festival works hard to pulverize the stigma of classical music as elitist. Young Festival Director, local born Freddie Crowley, presents the concerts with warmth and charm. He’s an engaging musician, a former chorister at Exeter Cathedral and an Oxford music graduate.
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The concert I attended in Drewsteignton Church was unforgettable – atmospheric, haunting, timeless, otherworldly.
The acclaimed Ferio Saxophone Quartet joined Freddie Crowley’s vocal ensemble, the Corvus Consort, to perform music from their new joint album, ‘Revoiced’. I loved it! The four saxophones of different sizes gleamed in the autumnal light, reflecting the colours of the stained-glass windows. The youthful voices soared.
The rich programme included music from the 1500s to the 21st century performed with a seductive loveliness that pulled the audience in.
If you’ve never experienced it, the mesmerizing combination of human voices and saxophone quartet is worth travelling a long way to hear … We drove home in virtual silence, suffused with numinous joy.
