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Scores of the School’s young musicians battle it out today in a competitive Pianoathon Challenge being held to raise money to buy pianos for the new Music School.

Each of the School’s Houses has been challenged to provide an hour of sound, with small teams of musicians and soloists playing for up to three minutes each: the result should be six hours of non-stop music in the Main School Hall.

The event has been arranged as one of the special events taking place to celebrate tomorrow’s Founder’s Day.

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “This is part of our last big push to ensure that our brilliant new Music School is equipped to the highest standards when it opens in the autumn. Thanks to the generosity of the School’s Foundation Trustees, we have already secured the purchase of a superb grand piano for our new recital hall, but that still leaves seven new practice rooms all needing a high-quality piano – and that is what we are raising money for today.

“If you haven’t already donated, please give now, sponsoring your House, or your son’s House, via our dedicated eQE Pianoathon page. This is a real first for QE and promises to be a thrilling event: let the playing commence!”

Parents and friends can watch the musical action unfold live in a special YouTube broadcast (above), which can also be viewed on the eQE page and via the Music department’s YouTube page.

Each House has entered small teams comprising up to five musicians – including at least one pianist – to play music of their choice. There is a visiting guest adjudicator, Mr Huw Jones, Director of Music at The John Lyon School in Harrow, who will be helping to pick the winners in the various categories, which cover team and solo performances (both for each year group and overall), also including a prize for the Best House Overall. Houses that raise large amounts of money will also have the opportunity to have one of the new pianos named after them.

Today’s musical menu chosen by the boys includes a rich range of genres and styles, and features instruments ranging from violins to electric guitars, and from oboes to tablas. Here is a small selection of the repertoire to be heard, House by House:

• Broughton: Canon in D, Pachelbel; Étude op 10 no. 12 ‘Revolutionary’, Chopin; Peppa Pig theme
• Harrisons’: Es war einmal, Grieg; Downton Abbey theme, John Lunn; Samba Nights, Proudler
• Leicester: Attack on Titan Opening Theme 1, Sawato; Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, arr. Sakamoto; I See Fire, Ed Sheeran
• Pearce: Sonatina in C major, Kuhlau; Opening Night Jazz, Martha Mier; Sonata No. 3, Prokofiev
• Stapylton: Romanze Op. 28, Schumann; Sonatina Movement 1, Dušek; Toccata in G minor
• Underne: Pink Lady, Pam Wedgwood; Prelude in C-sharp minor, Rachmaninoff; Your Song, Elton John.

The £3.5m-plus Music School, which is currently in the final stages of construction, received the go-ahead in 2019 after the Department for Education accepted the School’s £2.2m bid, which consisted of a £1.2m grant and £1m loan.

Like all major improvements at the School over the past two decades, the project is relying on the generous financial support of the Friends of Queen Elizabeth’s and other benefactors. Pride of place in the building will go to the Yamaha CF6 grand piano in the recital hall, which was chosen by the Music Department after a week-long audition process. Valued at just under £75,000, it is being paid for by the School’s Foundation Trustees.

For those without an eQE account, donations can be made to each House’s total by clicking on the relevant name: Broughton; Harrisons’; Leicester; Pearce; Stapylton; and Underne.

The portentous ‘dun dun dun duuun’ opening notes of his 5th Symphony are recognised everywhere, but just what is it that accounts for the enduring popularity of Ludwig van Beethoven?

That is the question which Surya Bowyer, QE’s Head of Library Services, examines in the latest episode of The Queen’s Library Roundness podcast.

He drafted in some local expert help – Ruth Partington, the School’s Director of Music, and Caroline Grint, Music teacher – in his exploration of the significance of the iconic German pianist and composer in the musical canon.

“2020 marked the 250th anniversary of Beethoven’s birth in Bonn,” says Mr Bowyer. “Around the world – from London to Melbourne and Shanghai to Sao Paolo – events which had been planned over many months, and, indeed, years, in concert halls and music venues to celebrate his works, in that symbolic year, had to be cancelled.”

Apart from the Nokia ringtone, (Gran Vals by Francisco Tárrega) those opening four notes of ‘Beethoven’s 5th’ – which form the title of the podcast – are probably the best known musical “motif” of all among the general public. And this is attributable, not to concert-going necessarily, but to their ubiquitous use in advertising and films. Yet would this suffice to explain the exceptionally high regard in which Beethoven is still held?

Miss Partington and Miss Grint discuss Beethoven’s acknowledged legacy as the composer whose composition spanned the transition from the classical period to the romantic era, and question whether he was truly ground-breaking in the way he is often presented.

The podcast covers the difference expectations held of composers such as Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who were court composers, and Beethoven who, while receiving a stipend, had more freedom. They explore the effect this had in a number of ways, including the duration of his symphonies.

The discussion ranges over whether Beethoven was a musical genius, or a talented musician and composer who happened to be about at the right time, with a rising middle-class who could afford to attend music concerts and the emergence of music critics. It also touches on whether Beethoven would recognise his own work as it is played now on modern instruments.

“The way in which Beethoven and his music are written about leads us to listening to him using the terms that are ascribed to him,” says Miss Grint. “Because we expect universality, we find it, we read the meaning into it. Instrumental music is seen as having universality because it doesn’t tell a story using words, it’s more metaphysical.”

Miss Partington believes Beethoven’s continuing popularity lies in the powerful emotions he evokes. “I’m not a fan of working-out meaning,” she says. She believes there is a mystical element to music, and that it should not be pigeon-holed.

But whether a genius, or a man in the right place at the right time, there seems little doubt his legacy will endure, from the ‘low brow’ – car advertisements, for example – to the distinctly ‘high brow’, such as performances at top music venues, the three concluded.

• The Dun, dun, dun, duun episode of the Roundness podcast is available from the Library pages of the eQE online platform and from normal podcast providers, including Acast, Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

With coronavirus restrictions this year putting paid to QE’s usual spring concert for some of its most advanced musicians, the School instead staged a special online Grade 8 and Diploma Festival with an expert external appraiser.

The event, which is now live on the Music department’s YouTube channel, featured 13 musicians, from Year 7 through to Year 12, playing in the School Hall.

Listening and watching online was Christopher Sparkhall, Director of Music at Canford School in Dorset, who gave the performers immediate feedback on their performances and then sent them longer, written feedback a few days later.

QE’s Director of Music, Ruth Partington, said: “We devised this festival because we wanted to give these accomplished young musicians the opportunity to practise performing in front of a knowledgeable and friendly stranger.

“It was very deliberately billed as a festival, not a competition: in normal years, the boys might have expected a warm round of applause from a live audience; instead, Mr Sparkhall gave them feedback that, while honest, was both generous and constructive.”

Mr Sparkhall, who was an Organ Scholar at Oxford, is an examiner for the ABRSM (the examination board of the Royal Schools of Music) and is on the senior examiners team as reviser for AQA GCSE Music. He sings with a semi-professional chamber choir, Sarum Voices.

The first half of the festival featured seven pianists, all of whom have either achieved Grade 8 and are now working towards their Diploma, or are working towards Grade 8. They played pieces by composers including Debussy, Grieg, Chopin and Rachmaninov. Shreyas Iyengar,  of Year 7, who is pictured, top, performed Passepied, written by 19th-century French Romantic composer Léo Delibes as part of his incidental music for the play, Le roi s’amuse, by Victor Hugo.

Following a short interval, the festival continued with musicians playing the viola, alto saxophone and cello, and with performances by two singers, Shivas Patel, of Year 12, and Arjun Patel, of Year 10.

After alto saxophonist Conor Parker-Delves had brought the festival to a conclusion with his rendition of Robert Planel’s Prélude et Saltarelle, Mr Sparkhall said: “Such accomplished playing! What a wonderful end to a brilliant afternoon.”

• Miss Partington recently led a research process to make the key choice of which grand piano should be purchased for the recital hall in QE’s new Music School, which is due to open in the autumn. During a week’s testing, piano teacher and accompanist Tadashi Imai played two instruments brought in on loan. The Music department then unanimously picked the Yamaha CF6 over the other instrument, a Bösendorfer 214VC. The School’s Foundation Trustees (Trustees of the Endowment Fund of the Schools of Queen Elizabeth I in Barnet) have agreed to pay for the piano, valued at just under £75,000. Expressing her gratitude for their contribution, Miss Partington said the aim was now to raise a further £30,000 through giving to QE’s new Piano Fund to cover costs for other pianos and equipment.

A topping-out ceremony was held for QE’s new Music School on the last day of term, marking an important milestone in the delivery of this key building.

Representatives of Queen Elizabeth’s School met with senior staff from contractors TJ Evers, architects Hollins and project manager Barkers Associates for the ceremony, which served to confirm the swift progress of the £3.5m project.

The climax of the event came when two Year 11 Music students – Theo Mama-Kahn and Jao-Yong Tsai – climbed to the roof and drilled in place a piece of ridge timber that had previously been signed by everyone present.

Headmaster Neil Enright said: “The Music School will represent a major addition to the School’s facilities, enabling us to meet the growing demands of our Music department and of the boys involved in our many extra-curricular musical ensembles.

“It has been exciting to watch it take shape and to know that, with the project running on time, our pupils and staff will be able to move in during the autumn. Our attention is now turning to funding the musical instruments and other equipment necessary to furnish it to the highest standards.”

The ceremony was led by John Blundell, Site Manager for TJ Evers, who explained a little of the history of topping out ceremonies, which have been held for hundreds of years, usually marking the point at which a new building attains its maximum height. As on this occasion, topping out ceremonies often include an opportunity for those present to sign the uppermost beam, or its equivalent, thus providing a record of the occasion for posterity.

After a welcome in what will become an atrium area, all present signed the final piece of roof timber. Mr Blundell pointed out different areas of the building and what they would be. From the atrium, guests could see through to where the new recital hall will be, as well as to two ground-floor classrooms.

When the party moved into the roof area, the ridge decking was lifted up on to the roof and put in position. The two boys, Jao-Yong and Theo, then went up the scaffolding and fixed it in place with a drill. Everyone then returned downstairs to the atrium for a toast with non-alcoholic bucks fizz.

The go-ahead for the project was confirmed in 2019, following a successful £2.2m bid to the Department for Education. The DfE package includes a £1.2m grant and £1m loan.

Director of Music Ruth Partington, who was among the guests at the ceremony, recently led a research process to choose the grand piano that will take pride of place in the recital hall. The School’s Foundation Trustees have agreed to pay for the selected Yamaha piano, valued at just under £75,000. A new Piano Fund aims to raise another £30,000 over the coming months to meet the associated costs of pianos and further equipment.”

Among those attending the ceremony with Mr Blundell were: Mervyn Denney, Managing Director (TJ Evers); Martin Croot, Contracts Manager (TJ Evers); Joe Richmond, Assistant Site Manager (TJ Evers); Rob Marsh-Feiley, Architect (Hollins), and the project manager for QE, David Mugliston, (Barkers Associates). The School’s other representatives, besides the Headmaster, Miss Partington and the boys, were: Tara O’Reilly, Deputy Head (Operations); James McEvoy-Stevenson, Assistant Director of Music; Hannah Morgan, Music teacher; Caroline Grint, Music teacher; Silvia Shann, Facilities Manager, and Matthew Rose, Head of Project Support Services.

• For an overview of the progress of the Music School. go to our dedicated page about the project.

Renowned saxophonist, composer and educator Mike Hall kept QE’s senior musicians on their toes with a masterclass on jazz improvisation.

His hour-long, richly illustrated, online talk focused on examples of improvisation by two of the jazz greats, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis.

The boys now have a couple of weeks to submit recordings of their own improvisations before Mike runs another two masterclasses in which he will offer them direct feedback on their work.

Director of Music Ruth Partington said: “This was a great event and we are very lucky to be able to welcome a player of Mike’s stature ‘to’ QE. At this time of year, we would normally be holding our annual Jazz Evening, so the timing of this first masterclass was particularly appropriate.

“Mike’s talk combined the perfect mix of approachability with some challenging concepts for our advanced students. He talked about how to improvise over chords using the notes of the chord, about guide tones and about specific scales such as minor pentatonics.

“And he included some live demonstrations on Zoom: it was wonderful to hear him play.

“The audience clearly enjoyed his presentation, and there were some interesting questions at the end.”

The class briefly covered the history of jazz, with Mike stressing that it is an “aural music…[that] should be learned initially by listening to and emulating great players”. He moved on to the specifics of improvisation, including the need to acquire the requisite skills, such as “strengthening the connection between your ears and fingers”.

Mike was Head of Jazz Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music for 20 years, during which time he directed well over 100 concerts with the RNCM Big Band.  He still teaches at the RNCM and has also taught at many jazz summer schools and been a consultant and composer for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (ABRSM – a Music examinations board).

He began with the National Youth Jazz Orchestra and then spent 20 years with Michael Garrick, the late English jazz pianist and composer – a period which saw them tour Malaysia as well as make several CD recordings and national radio broadcasts.

Today, Mike is a regular member of the Echoes of Ellington Orchestra and runs his own jazz duo, quartet and octet, for which he also writes.

A video of the masterclass can be seen on the QE Music department’s YouTube channel.

Two QE boys have won prestigious places in national youth choirs after being nominated by the School.

Year 9’s Joel Swedensky has been offered a place with the National Youth Boys’ Choir, while Eeshan Banerjee, of Year 13, secured the opportunity to sing in the National Youth Training Choir.

Congratulating the pair formally with Headmaster Neil Enright last term, Director of Music Ruth Partington paid tribute to colleagues who had helped them and expressed the hope that their achievement would be a foretaste of even more singing successes to come.

“It is wonderful that these two boys have been offered places in national ensembles – both had to audition for these places, and it is very competitive, so they have done extremely well to get in.”

Joel and Eeshan were put forward for their auditions by QE singing teacher Rhys Bowden, an Old Elizabethan (1995–2003) and a professional operatic tenor.

“With such an excellent singing teacher and with the appointment of our new Assistant Director of Music, Mr James McEvoy-Stevenson, himself an ex-Oxbridge Choral Scholar, I hope that more boys will start to have voice lessons, and that our singing will go from strength to strength in the future,” Miss Partington said.

Both choirs are part of the National Youth Choirs of Great Britain organisation. The auditions took place online through Zoom.

The National Youth Training Choir is for boys and girls aged 15-18. Members receive the highest level of choral training, singing alongside some of the most gifted singers in the UK. They are introduced to repertoire from all periods, genres and cultures. The choir often collaborate with guest artists and, in non-Covid times, perform at leading venues.

Eeshan explained how his audition had gone. “There were two senior members of the choir, including the conductor, who listened to me perform and then got me to complete a few exercises to test my ability. I performed an Italian song called Dolente immagine di Fille mia and got special commendation for singing in Italian.

“I’m really excited to join the choir as the next step in my musical journey. I’m both looking forward to improving my singing and also having access to a massive range of opportunities.

“If it weren’t for Mr Bowden, who told me about the audition and pushed me to take part, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity, so I would like to especially thank him. I’ve been having singing lessons at QE for probably around five years, but he has been teaching for the past two years and really helped me to understand my voice and help me improve.”

Joel, who has been having singing lessons since the beginning of Year 8, also acknowledged Mr Bowden’s help. In his audition, he performed Where the Bee Sucks by the 18th-century British composer, Thomas Arne. “I feel like my singing has developed massively as a result of these lessons.”

Although a little nervous about the likely impact of Covid on the choir’s activities in the coming months, Joel said he has happy to be joining and hoped it would be fun.

In normal times, the choir, which is for boys with unbroken voices (trebles), offers opportunities to perform at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and to train to the highest standards, with a wide range of music studied on residential courses.