Interview, The Korros Ensemble: Nostalgica

The chamber combination of flute, clarinet and harp might not seem like the most obvious juxtaposition of instruments, compared to other trio formats for which far more music has been written. Yet over the past two decades the Korros Ensemble have forged a unique path as just that, blending original compositions with arrangements and new commissions. I spoke to the ensemble's members about their new album Nostalgica, built around a pair of beautiful trios by Elizabeth Poston and Howard Blake that draw out the potential of this unusual sound-world.

You mention having first come together in the early 2000s when the three of you were studying at London’s Royal Academy of Music; what initially led you to form this trio?

Eliza and I [Nick] were in the same year at the Royal Academy of Music, and one of the first pieces we performed together was a wonderful duo by Villa-Lobos called Choros No.2 - incidentally this is where the name Korros Ensemble comes from. We were asked to do a short tour soon after leaving college and were invited to perform as a trio but without piano, so harp seemed like a natural choice. We discovered that the sound world, textures and timbres created by this unique combination of instruments was so inspiring, and we worked particulary well together, receiving such good feedback that we decided to stick together. Twenty years on and after such varied careers and experiences we have the biggest respect for each other's playing and creative ideas, which still drives us to continue to move forward as a group.

A question you might be sick of answering: How difficult have you found it to find repertoire written originally for your unusual combination of instruments? Do you often find yourself falling back on arrangements?

It’s always an interesting question actually – especially as fashions do change over time. Composers have arranged and re-arranged music for centuries however when we formed the group, we think there was a higher prevalence of a certain snobbery towards arrangements – times have changed greatly and today there is much more of a feeling that ‘anything goes’ which is a good thing.

The interesting thing about having an ensemble which has very little music originally written for this combination of instruments is that we are not bound to a specific repertoire list – this has given us huge freedom to create new and inventive ways for us to perform and for audiences to listen to existing music. The idea of ‘falling back’ on arrangements isn’t a thing for us, as we have given a central platform to arrangements, which we always produce with time and energy, never as an afterthought. Rather than being restricted by lack of repertoire, we get to play what we want and how we want it! This has led to volumes of arrangements, from expanding well-known piano pieces to reducing orchestral scores down to three players and everything inbetween.

We do obviously love an original work too, and have enjoyed working with composers on new commissions. We were however very excited to discover music written for this particular combination of instruments; that's why the Elizabeth Poston Trio recorded on this album has been so important for us to record and showcase to the rest of the world.

Other than the Golden Age of Hollywood (in Nick Ellis’s Jacqueline’s Theme) and lost green spaces (in Poston’s Trio), what other things does this album look back to with nostalgia?

There are also some very nice links elsewhere on the album. Vocalise by Cheryl Frances-Hoad was composed when she was only 13, and it has been resurrected and re-imagined for clarinet instead of the original soprano voice; in a way it’s a fresh look on an old piece which has great feelings of nostalgia for the composer. But also I think it's interesting for any composer to be revisiting their early works to be reminded of their own music journey. Howard Blake’s music always evokes huge feelings of nostalgia – he has a gift for melody and most people have strong memories of his music to ‘The Snowman’. His Trio recorded on our album has exactly these feelings – it was originally used on a silent short film Howard Blake produced in the 1960s – this arthouse film had themes of nostalgia and what could’ve been and the music is entirely fitting. Elisabeth Poston’s Three Pieces for Flute and Harp open with a beautiful movement titled Ricordanza, meaning ‘recollection or rememberance’.

Today, Elizabeth Poston is known almost solely for one small – though undeniably beautiful – carol that she wrote in 1967. How did the rest of her extensive output (numerous radio and television scores, chamber works such as the ones you perform here, and more) end up being so overlooked?

It is always difficult to look back and say exactly the reason why this happened and most often it would be a variety of factors. Absolutely the fact Poston was female living and working in a time and industry that was male-led would have been a strong reason for her music not to have been recorded, performed on radio or published. She seemed to me to love the quiet life too; her home in Stevenage (which incidentally was the former childhood home of EM Forster – they were great friends – and the inspiration of his novel, Howard’s End) was very important to her and she had all sorts of animals around her, dogs, donkeys and even a wild owl that sat on her arm at the piano! Perhaps she didn’t promote herself in the London scene enough to stand the test of time – perhaps she didn’t feel she was able to in a man’s world – who knows. What we do know is how successful she was in her day: pianist, composer, president of the Society of Women Musicians and head of the BBC European Music Service.

The tantalising story of Poston’s wartime role smuggling information into occupied Europe on vinyl discs, while very poorly-documented, is simply too good to ignore. Do we have any clues as to what she was doing and what impact it had on the war generally?

The more we read about Elizabeth Poston, her life, work – the more we talk to people she knew and visit the places that she’s been – the more deeply fascinating we think her life is, not least the work she undertook whilst working for the BBC during the war sending coded gramophone messages. Unfortunately this is all we know about the subject – Poston never divulged any information about this, and indeed throughout her life and in all areas of it she was a very private person. She had a very deep connection and relationship with Peter Warlock but again, very little has been written about it. Poston was a prolific letter writer with many friends and acquaintances reaching far and wide. She often kept them very separate so it gives us a hint about the life she led, keeping herself to herself and rarely divulging intimate or secret aspects of her life even to the closest of friends.

From 2000 on, the post of Royal Harpist to HRH the Prince of Wales has been revived after nearly 150 years without one – Catrin Finch (whose Nuntii features on this album) being the first since the 1870s. Is there any indication of an increase in interest in the harp since then – in Wales or more broadly?

Yes, absolutely, and there continues to be such interest. The role of Royal Harpist continues and each harpist has a four year tenure. Auditions are held for young Welsh harpists – and this has now become one of the key platforms that young harpists aspire to.

The position has also helped hugely in raising the profile of the harp more generally – the public interest in the Royal Family (here and abroad) is huge and with this musical position being affiliated to the family it has increased the level of awareness and interest in the instrument.