St Rumbald

[ Classical Concert Review by Fabio Perselli – Oundle July 2026 ] Kiele Sacco Keyboard Journeys & the Art of Transcription A Recital for Organ & Harpsichord St. Rumbald's Church, Stoke Doyle, Oundle 12 July 2026   Still buzzing from the 2026 Fringe Festival, Oundle was offered another musical treat, within a week, in the Georgian church of St. Rumbald. Noted for its acoustics, bright natural light and pastoral setting, Stoke Doyle's church has hosted a string of arts initiatives in recent years, from drama to visual arts and, increasingly, music. Oundle has long enjoyed its tradition as a hub for classical music – as a centre of excellence for the organ, for its International Music Festival and for kindling young talent at Oundle's schools – and Kiele Sacco's recital, hot on the heels of the Fringe Festival's classical events, was always going to draw interest. Bold in its originality, Sacco's programme offered a journey across the keyboard's early genres, in vogue when even the fortepiano (precursor of the piano proper) was yet to be invented: an evolution of styles through form, ornamentation and expressive flair. From Sweelinck's Ballo del Granduca (c.1602) opening the concert with the Renaissance art of variation, through to the Baroque of J S Bach's vibrant French Suite No.1; from William Croft's English 'ground' and the structure of Domenico Scarlatti's Italian sonata, through to the French character pieces of Rameau and François Couperin – all were illustrated on the harpsichord. A tall order, requiring both technical command and an instinctive understanding of the musical language of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries: Sacco, a Master of Music graduate of the Guildhall School of Music, possesses both, as well as a musical maturity normally found in much more established artists, with decades of experience at their fingertips. Each piece was introduced by her, making this voyage through styles, fashions, instrumental evolution and, ultimately, history (in days when a composer's patronage dictated the course of their career), all the more engrossing. Migrating from the harpsichord to the organ, Kiele Sacco introduced us to the art of transcription after the interval. Drawing on the resources of the organ's stops, she continued the journey by exploring the Baroque fascination with transformation and variation – from orchestral grandeur to intimate devotional expression. We were led through Handel's mighty Water Music score as reimagined by Francesco Geminiani, before turning to Bach's own transcription of Vivaldi's Concerto in D major, BWV 972, each revealing how composers could breathe fresh life into existing masterpieces, while making them unmistakably their own. Handel made a final appearance in the opening Sinfonia to the Messiah, its familiar orchestral grandeur finding a new voice through the organ. The programme's final three offerings further illustrated that transcription was never merely an act of imitation, but also one of renewal, allowing music conceived for the concert hall to find fresh life and intimacy through the voice of a single instrument: Pachelbel's Chorale Partita P.7a, in which devotional reflection and contrapuntal ingenuity create a quiet eloquence, each variation unfolding naturally from the hymn that lay beneath (Ach, was soll ich Sünder machen); Handel's Passacaglia, which transformed the simplest of repeated bass patterns into a work of compelling dramatic sweep, colour and expressive breadth; and, finally, Thomas Billington's eighteenth-century arrangement of Corelli's celebrated Christmas Concerto. This gem of a recital, in its unlikely venue, hand-held its listeners into a world where variation, transcription and improvisatory imagination were not isolated techniques but fundamental expressions of Baroque creativity, leaving them with a deeper appreciation of the richness and enduring vitality of the early keyboard repertoire. The harpsichord was a on loan from Charles Cornford – whose early music ensemble, the Caroleans, had performed just days earlier as part of the Oundle Fringe programme. At the heart of the Caroleans' concert, Charles Cornford also accompanied special guest soprano Maureen Brathwaite on his spinet. Kiele Sacco's forthcoming events can be found listed on her website – https://kielesacco.co.uk/. Fabio Perselli – Oundle July 2026