Page 10 - The Strad (February 2020)
P. 10
SOUNDPOST
Letters, emails, online comments
The ‘Banks Ensemble’ at St Thomas’s Church, Salisbury e Banks Ensemble would be delighted to hear from
other custodians of instruments by the maker. For more
information, contact julie@mettyear.net
JULIE METTYEAR
Salisbury, UK
SIMPLY PRICELESS
It’s not often that I’m lost for words when dealing with
potential students, but I felt I should put pen to paper
LETTER after this morning. I know that people are hard-pressed
to nd unique and unusual Christmas gifts at this time
of the
MONTH
of the year, but honestly – a man phoned enquiring about
the cost of buying a single violin lesson for his wife, on
account of the fact she had been bequeathed a ‘priceless
BANKS A LOT instrument’ by her grandmother earlier that year and
On 16 November 2019, a rare and possibly unique ‘wanted to play Twinkle like her daughter’. As far as I could
gathering took place, to form an ensemble of 18 tell, this lady had no previous experience playing any
instruments by a single 18th-century English maker in instrument, and on learning that she’d need more than
his home town of Salisbury. Benjamin Banks produced one lesson, her husband announced that he ‘didn’t like my
violins, violas and cellos from his Catherine Street tone’. It then turned out that they didn’t even have a bow
workshop from around 1770, the business passing to (though he didn’t see the signicance of this little detail).
his sons James and Henry until their departure in 1811. Kind thought aside, I do wonder if this is another
e ‘Banks Ensemble’ met for the rst time in St omas’s symptom of what I call the ‘instant gratication’ mentality,
BANKS ENSEMBLE PHOTO ROB PRIESTLEY viola of 1770, the ‘City Council’ violin of 1778, and two to a loved one is reduced to a curt text message. And the idea
whereby all information is downloadable at the touch of a
Church, where Banks was a churchwarden and is buried.
Among the special guests were the ‘Salisbury Cathedral’
button; virtually any product can be ordered online; a letter
instruments from the collection of the Salisbury Museum.
that one has to work at something in order to become good
e repertoire played were pieces advertised by Banks
at it – be it sport, numeracy or the good old violin –
eventually goes out of the window. ank goodness, I say,
as being sold from his shop, and recorded in the Journals of
his contemporary and fellow violinist John Marsh, as being
for such ideas as ‘10,000 hours will make you a great violinist’
(Soundpost, January 2020) – which might be just as
played at Banks’ house and at local subscription concerts.
erroneous but much more inspirational.
TIMOTHY RICHARDS
Hove, UK
LETTER OF THE MONTH WINS
GAME OF DRONES
Reading ‘Musicians on Screen’ by
A full set of violin, viola or Kathleen Ross (December 2019)
cello strings made in brought back pleasant memories of
an experience I had a few years ago
Denmark by when I shot a television commercial
for a bank. But rather than being used
LARSEN STRINGS as an extra, I was front and centre and the
only person in the commercial as a violinist playing Bach.
Indeed, in this sort of situation (above), one needs to
deal eciently and cheerfully with the unexpected and
at one juncture during the shoot, I was asked to play my
Bach excerpt over and over while a drone with a camera
Discover more: larsenstrings.com ew over my head!
RAPHAEL KLAYMAN
Long Branch, NJ, US
10 THE STRAD FEBRUARY 2020 www.thestrad.com
