Baroque in Hackney

By Rab MacWilliam

A classically trained violinist, and a specialist in the Baroque period, 28-year-old George Crawford can lay claim to being one of Stoke Newington’s more talented and unusual musicians.

Born in the (now closed) Mothers’ Hospital on the Lower Clapton Road, and educated at Latymer School in Edmonton, Manchester University and the Royal Northern College of Music, George currently plies his musical trade from a small flat in Cazenove Road.

His interest in early music began when he played with the European Union Baroque Orchestra. At that time, the music of Bach and Handel was undergoing a renaissance, but generally the tendency was, and is, to interpret the music in a modern manner, not as originally conceived by the Baroque composers, and played by large orchestras at large venues rather than the smaller ensembles of the 17th and 18th centuries who preferred more intimate spaces, including aristocrats’ front rooms. The instruments, also, are today generally of contemporary design, rather than those used in the Baroque age, such as lute, clavichord and bass viol.

In an attempt to bring back the authentic spirit of Baroque music, in 2005 George formed Battuta – ‘an opportunity to play with my mates’ – a fluid coalition of young musicians of all backgrounds and persuasions and all schooled in the traditions of early music. The emphasis in their concerts is very much on informality, with jeans and old jerseys replacing the conventional dinner jackets and tails. Furthermore, George, while realising the importance of printed programmes as souvenirs and in generating advertising, prefers to introduce, explain and describe each musical passage – ‘without being patronising or dogmatic; I want to break down traditions’ – and, having attended Battuta’s last two concerts, I can confirm that his approach not only attracts the audience’s attention but also sets an informed context for a non-musician such as I.

All Battuta’s concerts have, to date, been performed at the Hackney Empire, with the highlight being the Hackney Proms, an event initiated by now-retired Hackney GP Paul Julian and registered as a charity.  Although the Proms has to cover its own costs, George states that ‘we receive a lot of generous support from the Empire’.