In celebration of Jane Austen's "Very Pretty Tunes" for 250th anniversary

SussexWorld

Very Pretty Tunes is the enticing title as prize-winning harpsichordist Penelope Cave offers an afternoon of piano pieces from the Austen family collection in honour of Jane Austen’s 250th anniversary.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this

00:06morning to speak to Penelope Cave. Now, you are offering a really intriguing entertainment

00:12called Very Pretty Tunes, piano pieces from the Jane Austen Family Collection, with readings

00:18followed by tea and cake. Now, it's three o'clock, April 5th, St Andrew's Church, Tangmere.

00:25Explain that lovely title as you've just explained to me, Very Pretty Tunes. Where does that

00:29come from? Well, this comes from Jane Austen's niece, Caroline, who wrote about Jane practising

00:37first thing in the morning, and that she played Very Pretty Tunes, I thought. You can't get

00:45better than that, can you? But what did music mean to Jane Austen then, do you sense? Well,

00:50I think it was part and parcel of sociability, mostly. So, she particularly enjoyed playing

00:59a lot of music that her nieces and nephews could dance to. So, it would be part of a

01:06happy family evening, and she would play for them, which was perhaps more modest, although

01:12we know Jane loved dancing herself. And you suspect that she was a pretty competent player?

01:18Yes, I think so. She practised every morning before breakfast when other people weren't

01:23disturbed by her practice, and so I think she took it seriously. She first learnt with

01:30George Chard, the organist at Winchester Cathedral, and so I think she must have had some good

01:36teaching to start with. And you are offering, obviously, authenticity

01:40on various levels, not just these are pieces that she would have played, but you are playing

01:46on the kind of instrument that she would have used. Tell me more.

01:50Yes, well, I'm using a square piano made by Broadwood of 1795, and it's, well, it has

02:03five and a half octaves, so it's smaller than a modern grand. It is a rectangular box, really,

02:10so even the soundboard is smaller, and so it's quite quiet, but nevertheless very expressive.

02:16And I think pieces that might sound quite twee on a big modern grand piano actually

02:23have a charm on this instrument, and as you said, it is more authentic.

02:28Absolutely, and say a bit more about the touch then for you as the performer, as the player.

02:34Quite a light touch. You have to be very precise, rather in the way you had to be for playing

02:41the harpsichord, which preceded it, and yet it has a dynamic contrast.

02:49It sounds lovely, and we should say that all this is to celebrate Jane Austen's 250th anniversary

02:55this year, of course. Yes.

02:58Well, lovely to speak to you. It's St Andrew's Church time here at April the 5th at 3pm.

03:05Thank you. Thank you.

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