The Chronicle 1

The ChronicleIssue 4093

Charter Day Short Leave 2009

2 Charter Day 2009

CO

NT

ENT

S Features

4 - 5 Interview: Eton’s Provost

6 - 7 Cover Story: Eton Action Fair

Eton News

8 - 9 Salves: An introduction to Eton’s new beaks

10 CCF: Duke of Edinburgh expedition

Sport

11 Lord’s Cricket Match report

12 - 13 Boat Club success

14 Twelfth Man report

Arts and Societies

15 Preview of Drama: 2009-10

16 Art Exhibition: Gordon and Nancy Baldwin

17 Concert: Alison Balsom and DWG

18 Interview: Nick Chambers

19 Society Reports

Letters to the Editors are gratefully received from anyone in the community. Please address them to chronicle@etoncollege.org.uk or via School Office. The next edition of The Chronicle will be published before Long Leave.

Issue 4093

Editors Joon-Son Chung Archie Cornish DavidGriffith-Jones AlexMacKeith

Master-in-Charge GDM

Literary Advisor SMMcP

Photographers Alex Forjaz Max Furse

Special thanks to TheProvost,TheHeadMaster,MGHM,GJP,S-JB,NGC,LVC,JAGF,BDMO,MrsVickiKeppel,MrsNanetteShaw,TobyMather,ChrisHuthandArnoAlbici.

OpinionsexpressedinThe Chronicledonotnecessarilyreflectofficialschoolsentiment.

The ChronicleisproducedbytheboysofEtonCollege,Windsor,SL46DW.PrintedbyILK,Gloucester.Reproductioninwholeorinpartwithoutwrittenper-missionisstrictlyprohibited.The Chroniclesubscriptions:chronicle@etoncollege.org.uk

CongratulationsareduetoNadeem KS onbecomingtheCaptainoftheSchool,toLiautaud ma OS (RPDF)onbecomingtheCaptainoftheOppidansandtoFaber (TEJN) onhiselectionasPresidentoftheEtonSociety.

WecongratulateParmar KS,Zhou KS and Popplewell OS MS (MJP)onwinningtheRussellMathematicsPrize.TheWilderDivin-ityPrizewaswonby Jones ma (TEJN),whileP. Hart OS (NCWS) wontheBrinkmanandHornbyPrize.Cornish ma KS wontheHerveyEnglishVersePrize.

TheKeynesPrizeforEconomicswasaward-edtoWitherow OS (MJP).TheMacmillanPrizeforPoliticswaswonjointlyby Yorke (IH) and MacInnes-Manby (PBS); The Rose-beryawardforLowerBoyHistorywenttoCornish mi ME (MJP) whilsttheSothebyHistoryofArtprizewasawardedtoHeren ma (CMJ). Lau OS MS (WFM)wontheSchool Music Prize; Leventhorpe (PBS) theGladstoneDesignPrize.TheRhodesGeographyprizewasawardedtoS. Browne (PJMcK).TheEtonTheatreAwardwaswonby H. Clarke ma (GRP)andtheOEMedicalSocietyPrizewenttovon Guionneau ma OS (NCWS).

Alexander ma (MAG)wontheWolfersJapanesePrize,Ghulati OS (MNF)wontheXanaduEssayPrize.

ETONIANA

The Chronicle 3

Whilst Eton may not have changed much over the course of the last fifty years, there can be little doubt that outside media perceptions have become steadily more critical, if not of the school in reality, then of the image that lingers in the public imagination. As the Charity Commission finalizes its guid-ance on fee-charging educational charities in the UK, now may prove a prudent time for some quiet reflection on the purpose that this school serves, not only to those who attend it, but also to the wider society that grants the tax breaks to support it. This is not to say that Eton’s charitable benefit is necessarily in doubt according to the guidance of the commission; we will have to wait and see as to their conclusions, but whatever the outcome, Eton must learn to be accountable to the taxpayer. Whilst many will quote the figure that we save the state by all 1300 of us not taking up our maintained school education entitlement, that, in itself, does not make the endeavour of private education neces-sarily charitable. It is up to the school, and to those who lead it, to make the case to the public at large that the education which it provides is a service to the nation, not just to a remnant of the class system which the postcards of our school uniform and the archaic foibles which we sell in the gift shop might suggest.

Of course, in many respects the last five years of Eton’s history has shown remarkable progress, characterized by a reengage-

One experiences very few anticlimaxes at Eton, but becoming a B blocker is one of them. Finally reaching the top of the pile (but not the alphabet) admittedly has its perks: the bow ties and buttons, restaurant leave and Luxmoore’s Garden are great. However, a feeling of disappointment, that the position we once viewed with such awe and wonder feels hardly different to the year before, lingers.

Perhaps it is to compensate that B Blockers take to reminiscing, with all the pomp of a battle-scarred veteran, of what it was like in ‘our day.’ It’s largely tongue-in-cheek, yet there are grains of truth in the nostalgia: some things have changed since we were F Blockers. For new boys this year, there’ll be no outdoor pool to while away the summer afternoons, while we would have greeted a reference to ‘Nolan’s Crack’ with a lot more alarm than they do. Perhaps most significantly, the timetable has undergone massive changes.

But can that be enough to merit such fervent harking back to

ment with the media, driven forward by a proactive Head Master and two Provosts, and accompanied by an ambitious attempt to expand the range of scholarship access schemes of-fered. These efforts do not merely represent a grudging attempt to pass the test of the Charity Commission, but hopefully a very real change in ethos within the heart of the school. None-theless the imperative to be accountable persists; however much we write in The Sun or invite Five Live into our inner sanctum, the image of our school as an inaccessible organization persists, and any overly defensive attempt to guard its charitable status will doubtless be received with glee by critics of the idiosyn-cratic British education system.

Accountability is then an important objective in the course of the next months; it is a pity that, unlike Rugby and Wellington and other major public schools, the accounts for Eton College and the charity number under which it is registered are kept confidential by the school. Even the donation forms for the New Foundation appeal only give the last four digits of the registered number. Keeping information such as this out of the easily accessible public domain will only give more credence to our critics. If Etonians and their leaders believe in the princi-ples of the education offered here, there is nothing to fear from being open with the taxpayers who support us.

the golden days? The truth is that, in the context of Eton’s his-tory, the changes hardly register on the snickometer. After all, this school is almost 600 years old, and in that context five years is nothing. The school certainly is changing, as does any institu-tion that wishes to survive. The campaign for a New Founda-tion is underway, and the project Sir Eric Anderson started, the make Eton’s fees entirely means-tested, will transform the school for the good. Sport is unrecognisable from what it was 30 years ago, demonstrated by any Field Game match against the senior end of the Old Boys circuit, when the rules are in-terpreted in any number of ways. But all these changes are too slow and massive to even be evident during one’s time here.

What becoming a B Blocker really makes you appreciate, therefore, is not how much Eton changes, but how much it flies by. In no time at all we’ll be saying goodbye to the place forever, but it’s far too early for that kind of talk yet. A lot will happen in our final year, and we’ll try to Chronicle as much of it as we can. We hope you enjoy it.

The Chronicle

In with the New

Out with the Old

4 Charter Day 2009

INTERVIEW

Eton’s ProvostArchie Cornish talked to William WaldegraveAn Eton Provost’s job is filled with miscellany: he must be an ambassador, a fundraiser, in some cases a teacher, perhaps even a figurehead. The di-verse nature of the job suits William Waldegrave, since in the course of his varied career he has encountered Eton from a number of different an-gles. To begin he was an Etonian in the early sixties, in a successful and fruitful five years that saw the scoop-ing of accolades such as President of Pop, Captain of the Oppidans and (most importantly) Editor of this au-gust publication itself. Then, during and after his career in politics, Lord Waldegrave experienced Eton from a parent’s angle: his son left the school in 2002. And now, in 2009, he is in his second academic year as Provost. While such a lifelong and varied in-volvement with the school is useful to the job, it also has its perils. He admits to a ‘sentimental overlay of memo-ries’ that can cloud one’s view of the school. ‘In a sense I have to stay with-drawn,’ he says thoughtfully. ‘You have to understand the detail of the school, but not intrude into it.’ The old adage that the Provost does nothing and the Vice-Provost assists him is not true at all: the Provost does a bit of eve-rything.

Our first topic of conversation in Lord Waldegrave’s office overlooking school yard is the changes in Eton’s relationship with the outside world. In his view, the post-war era has seen Eton drop its insular, even protective quality and image. This of course has its benefits: accountability to the me-dia is a good thing as it puts such an expensive school under well-deserved scrutiny. Similarly, Eton today is not nearly as geographically isolated as it was years ago: boys today regularly go to Slough, Windsor and of course London for whatever reason. Eton is more a part of the real world. Howev-

er, Eton’s deference to political or edu-cational standards is, in the Provost’s view, not wholly beneficial. He men-tions the increased influence of poli-tics on both schools and universities, observing that there is ‘much more regulation in the way we teach.’ To say the amount of bureaucracy in public exams did not go unnoticed by those who sat them last year would be a se-rious understatement. Etonians expe-rience daily a barrage of bland, often ludicrous mark schemes, and health and safety regulations. The presence of what the Provost describes as ‘much more regulation’ is particularly evident on the eve of the arrival of OFSTED’s inspectors. Indeed, the fact that the inspection seems to be focussed not so much on what we teach (the officials will observe fewer than ten lessons) as on how much paperwork we process is telling of how Eton’s increased ac-countability has made it more bureau-cratic.

While maintaining, rightly, that in-creased regulation is a reality of mod-ern education and that Eton remains prosperous academically, the Provost admits that the standardisation of education is a change ‘largely not for

the better.’ He believes in the benefits of ‘educating in the round’: a system whereby teachers have more of a chance to direct classes in ways that suit them, according to their own ar-eas of interest. ‘In my day,’ he says with a hint of irony, ‘nobody had the idea that what a teacher taught a class was up to anybody but the teacher.’ I am fairly certain that most of Eton agrees with him that a more flexible system would be immensely beneficial. The present system is efficient and com-prehensive, but lacks any sense of in-dividuality. For example, every single boy in D block is currently reading Death of a Salesman for his English GCSE. Of course, this doesn’t mean that they become an army of synchro-nised robots overnight, but it is hardly conducive to a spirit of academic in-dependence and a sense of general individuality. Of course, the Provost is not recommending a revolution in how we teach, but his words serve as refreshing confirmation that the sen-ior management of this school views educational policy and regulation with some of the scepticism with which we see it.

However, given his political past, we

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mustn’t let Lord Waldegrave get away with such statements too easily. I point out, and he readily admits, that it was under his own Conservative govern-ment that the National Curriculum was introduced. Smiling, he concedes that the Department of Education during Thatcher’s time in government ‘made some mistakes.’ ‘For a while we were very taken by what the French were doing with their education. We were convinced that their system of everybody learning the same thing in the same sort of place was a good one. In fact they were moving away from that.’ The introduction of the National Curriculum in 1988 can be seen as a symptom of this urge to unify, and as mentioned above, its effects have been mixed to put it mildly. ‘The second mistake we made,’ says the Provost, ‘and this is much more controversial, was with in tertiary education.’ In his opinion, getting rid of Polytech-nics and vocational colleges led to the ‘creation of rather watered-down uni-versities.’ As such, in his view, tertiary education and the vocations have suf-fered. It is necessary, though, to bal-ance this admirably frank admission of the Thatcher government’s educa-tional failures with the disclaimer that the Tories were and remain ‘a broad church.’ Lord Waldegrave opposed the reduction in the number of vo-cational colleges, and while he views Thatcher as a woman with ‘wonderful strength of character,’ he was by no means always aligned with the gov-ernment’s policies.

It is easy for the current set of Eto-nians, and indeed all that will follow them, to overlook the Provost’s po-litical career, since it was over before we were aware of elections and politi-cians, and before some F blockers were born. Lord Waldegrave held a number of important cabinet positions under both Thatcher and John Major, be-fore losing his seat in the 1997 La-bour landslide, including Secretary of State for Health from 1990-2. What was his proudest political moment? ‘Ah, well it’s always easier to remem-ber one’s catastrophes,’ he shoots back. He recounts a few moments in various

stages of his career, including a period from 1988-90, ‘when I was working in the Foreign Office, and the Berlin Wall came down, and Mandela was released, and there was a real sense of progress.’ More specifically, he re-members the ‘resuscitation of envi-ronmental policy’ towards the end of the 1980s with particular pride. On the subject of the political outlook of boys at Eton, he is optimistic. In my opinion, Etonians’ views are some-what narrow, and have lapsed into a casual and apathetic support of David Cameron, as much for his school as for his policies. Yet Lord Waldegrave is sure that ‘we will continue to pro-duce Shelleys, and Orwells, and radi-cal, independently-thinking people.’ The thriving Orwell Society is com-forting, but we shall nevertheless have to wait and see. In an attempt to link his political past with his current posi-tion, I ask whether there is any over-lap between running a government department, and being Provost of Eton. ‘Funnily enough, I think there is,’ he replies thoughtfully. ‘You have the same level of complexity and di-versity as a small government depart-ment.’ The experience of being loosely involved in many areas is common to both jobs.

Lord Waldegrave is enthusiastic about the projects and campaigns for the school with which he is as-sociated as Eton’s overseer. He speaks with great verve on the Campaign for a New Foundation, a phrase that ap-pears often in newsletters and articles but which has a degree of mystery surrounding it. ‘The campaign was initiated by my predecessor, Eric An-derson, and I’m glad to say he’s still actively involved.’ So what is the es-sence of this project? ‘We have two targets,’ he says. ‘The first is increasing the number of bursaries. The even-tual idea is that anyone academically strong enough to come to Eton will be able to.’ It goes without saying that this is wholly admirable, and will im-prove Eton a great deal. Should the Campaign be successful – and at this stage it shows signs of being nothing but – Eton may become a means-

tested school, in the mould of Christ’s Hospital in Sussex. It is hard to imag-ine a better way to solve the injustice, not perpetrated actively by anyone at the school, that so much is offered to so few. However, there is more to the Campaign than financial change. ‘We’re talking in my study with the noise of builders working outside,’ says the Provost, gesturing at the extensive scaffolding in School Yard. There is a massive drive to update Eton’s build-ings and facilities, world-class though many of them are at present. ‘Some boys are still taught in Portacabins,’ says Lord Waldegrave with a frown. ‘It’s pretty hard to accept for a parent who pays thousands of pounds a year that their sons are taught in tempo-rary classrooms.’

His interest in this side of the project is evident. ‘Before I leave here, I person-ally want to ensure that Eton has bet-ter places to show off its collections.’ The school’s extraordinary range of antiquities, art and artefacts is largely unheard of, since much of it has no place to be displayed. For example, the Myers collection, an assortment of Egyptian antiquities described by the Provost as ‘museum-class,’ has had to be loaned to raise money for its per-manent housing. Perhaps more popu-larly, the Provost firmly maintains that ‘boys must have an outdoor pool to swim in.’ We could not agree more.

Not yet one year into his job, Lord Waldegrave has encountered many different facets of the school, and fully immersed himself into working for its future. And so we come to the most important question of all: what does he think of the people for whom the school exists – Etonians themselves? In response to the question of wheth-er there is such thing as a stereotypi-cal Etonian, he says that he ‘honestly doesn’t think there is.’ It is refreshing to hear that the temptation to pigeon-hole, so persistent everywhere else, has not pervaded the senior management of the school. Lord Waldegrave seems to understand modern-day Etonians and modern-day Eton, and that, sure-ly, is the key to success in his job.

6 Charter Day 2009

COVER STORY

Eton Action FairDavid Griffith-Jones and Arno Albici commend the efforts of this year’s fair

It is a sight that never fails to im-press: the transition from a stark, dejected parade ground with ex-amination tables spread out as if for trials, each marked with a stallholder number, to the choc-a-bloc vivacity of the Eton Action fair within the space of two hours is wondrous to behold. A full-scale military invasion may well require less planning than the coordination of the vans and cars coming into and out of the parade ground and fives courts on Saturday morning; one-way systems, passing places and Etonian boys and masters running around with maps and lists prevented too much chaos (despite a few stall-holders circulating in the vain hope of finding their pitch amid congestion reminiscent of the M25 in rush hour).

Then, suddenly, the engines went away and the outdoor exam room, by means of tasteful tablecloths and or-namentations, adopted another iden-tity altogether: flowers, cake-stands, cheeses, jams, mugs, glass, clothes, a merry-go-round and a bouncy castle appeared from nowhere, the organ struck up and the first bacon hit the hot pans on the Bekynton stand. Relative tranquillity filled the place and our external stallholders, many representing charitable organisations as diverse as Macmillan Cancer Sup-port and Cats Protection, awaited our visitors.

They came in their thousands; beauti-ful weather, the smell of burgers, and our annual advertising campaign

tempted people from across the local community and further afield into the heaving streets of Eton. Boys took admission fees, sold jumble, parked cars and moved tables in a watertight programme organised, along with everything else, to the height of efficiency by DJF.

Whilst the external stalls provided a huge range of hand-crafted items, as ever the house stalls injected a cer-tain liveliness and fun into the mix; horizontal bungee jumping, high-profile soaking and fat-suit sumo wrestling were among the more energetic stalls, whilst the array of raffles, tombolas and silent auctions (along with downright begging from moaning and crawling members of NCWS’s) all contributed to Eton Action’s total. As a sign that recent traditions of the Eton Action fair are still favorites, RDO-C’s again launched into enthusiastic salesman-ship of pancakes, CJD’s made use of their old Sweeny Todd set to send people into a soapy and muddy pool and College offered themselves for soaking. Of particular note were the efforts of MAG’s, which once again

Top Jumblesale

Above Bungeerunning(JMN)

Right Mudslide(CJD)

Below TheWindsorcrawl(NCWS)

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topped the leader board of house contributions by an impressive mar-gin. In total, house contributions to the total were close to £19,000.

Eton Action involves everyone in the school community – indeed that is one of its greatest strengths. The ex-ecution of the fair however depends upon a number of people who de-serve special credit. The months and months of preparation undertaken by DJF in communication with external stall holders and during the last few weeks in dealing with the duty roster and infrastructure of the day paid huge dividends in making the day go smoothly literally from dawn to dusk. SJD, meanwhile, accompanied by the omnipresent Mr Hutton, had the unenviable job of counting, weighing and recounting thousands and thou-sands of coins. They were accompa-nied by a large group of residents and masters who grappled with mental arithmetic.

At the time of going to print, exact totals for the fair are difficult ac-curately to predict, but at the end of counting on Saturday night money

accrued stood well above £25,000, which signals that the day could quite possibly be a record-breaker.

In the end of course the charities nominated by boys are the focus of the day and each will receive thou-sands of pounds. Here is our sum-mary of the charities we supported:

The Army Benevolent Fund is the British Army’s national charity, which has helped soldiers, former soldiers and their families in times of need for over 65 years. It is entirely supported by donations and must raise a yearly £5.5 million to continue helping people who have disabilities, mental illness, are homeless or out of work, and people in old age.

The Thames Valley Adventure Play-ground is designed for both mentally and physically disabled children and adults. It provides them with a range of therapeutic and educational activi-ties in a secure environment, and has had over 10,800 visitors in the last year from all around the Thames Val-ley and beyond.

The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation is the leading funder of research for type 1 diabetes research worldwide, with the mission of finding a cure for diabetes and its complications. Type 1 diabetes strikes children and adults alike and can in many cases be fatal, forcing people who suffer from it to test their blood sugar levels and inject themselves with insulin every day.

Plan International works in 49 countries to provide child-devel-opment help for over 1.5 million children and their families. Active mostly in developing countries in central Africa, South America and Southeast Asia, it tackles health, edu-cation, shelter and livelihood issues so as to improve the quality of life of children.

Médecins Sans Frontières helps sup-port over 26,000 doctors, nurses and healthcare related workers around the world to tackle endemic diseases in developing countries and war-torn regions. In 2007 they provided medi-cal aid in over 60 countries.

8 Charter Day 2009

Where have you arrived at Eton from?I was at Oundle School near Peterborough. I keep finding brothers of Oundelians here at Eton which is always a nice surprise.

What were your perceptions of Eton prior to coming here?I had the usual preconceptions. Most of which appear true and a few of which are evidently false. I suppose I knew it was a great place, but I didn’t know what the pupils would be like. Most of my perceptions have been pleasantly confirmed.

What’s your subject, and particular field of interest within it?I teach English. I like The Romantics, Shakespeare and poetry from all areas of liter-ary history. I suppose poetry is the highest form of literature. D. H. Lawrence is my favourite prose writer but Shakespeare is the writer of all writers.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?I like to fish and walk in Scotland, particularly the West Coast and The Hebrides. Training my dogs and shooting is also something I enjoy.

Is there anything you already particularly like or dislike about the school?I like the general attitude of the pupils: they want to get things done; they want to learn; they listen and remember things after one telling; they do what they are asked to do with faith; they respect the hard workers; they revere the humble achievers.

Who is your hero or heroine?The greatest hero I know must be Ernest Shackleton, for his incredible leadership, endurance, mental fortitude, physical stamina and determination.

Where have you arrived at Eton from? I have just moved back to Britain after a period of working abroad; after two years in the Middle East working in Communications, I spent a year working in a grammar school in Pula, Croatia. I arrived at Eton directly from the Adriatic Coast after a few sunny road trips across Europe!

What were your perceptions of Eton prior to coming here?Eton wasn’t a complete mystery to me; I had some experience of the place through helping out with a summer rowing school and accompanying girls to a few of the infamous awkward socials. I naturally had the highest expectations of the place.

What’s your subject, and particular field of interest within it?I am an English Master and am quite fixated with Muriel Spark; her writing has taken me to Zimbabwe Ruins and Victoria Falls. I’m collecting first editions of her work and I regret not being able to meet her (she died in 2006). I have also been en-grossed in the exploits of great Victorian adventurers in Arabia – particularly Wilfred Thesiger, T E Lawrence, and Gertrude Bell although their prose does not sparkle.

Salves: an introduction to some of Eton’s new beaks

Mr L Court

Ms S-J Bentley

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?I unwind by putting myself through some physical challenge; this might be competing with my sister in a BMF session in a Lon-don park, a run around the lake or contorting myself in yoga. I enjoy reading, of course, but I wouldn’t count the time I dedicate to literature as spare – it is a necessity.

Is there anything you already particularly like or dislike about the school?I like the fact that Eton recognises the importance of co-curricular (NB not extra-curricular) activities and encourages boys to pursue their interests alongside academic success. I love hearing the choir in College Chapel in the mornings. I dislike the sickly purple and anaemic blue of my shared school room but alas, aesthetic value must bend the knee to football team allegiance.

Who is your hero or heroine?I admire Gertrude Bell, who never compromised sartorial elegance even when crossing the shifting sands of the Nefud in a dust storm. Her poise and fluency in Arabic won the favour of Ibn Saud, a fierce, Wahabi, desert warrior. She also drew up the borders of Iraq and orchestrated the coronation of King Faisal. She was a remarkable spinster.

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Where have you arrived at Eton from?A year at King’s College London, before which a career in writing and publishing on Central Asia and Afghanistan.

What were your perceptions of Eton prior to coming here?I arrived with an open mind.

What’s your subject, and particular field of interest within it?Classics. Interests are very general – tragedy, early philosophy, religion and mystery cults, epic, and Alexander the Great (the first western conqueror of Afghanistan).

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?Reading; cycling long distances; writing verse; music and songs; contemplation of the infinite. And eating.

Is there anything you already particularly like or dislike about the school?The duff Latin on the memorials in Chapel. “Episcopus Novae Zelandiae”, I ask you. Odi et amo...

Who is your hero or heroine?Frederick Gustavus Burnaby.

Where have you arrived at Eton from?From 10 years in the Army. I was a member of the Rifles and have served in Iraq Bosnia and Northern Ireland. Most recently I was posted to the Royal Military Acad-emy Sandhurst teaching officer cadets.

What were your perceptions of Eton prior to coming here?The last time I was here was last summer playing cricket against the XI. I was caught out for a golden duck by one of my current tutees – so not very good.

What’s your subject, and particular field of interest within it?History. 18th and 19th Century Britain, French Revolution, Napoleon.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?I don’t have much spare time with an expanding family but I like to play a game of cricket or a round of golf – when I’m allowed.

Is there anything you already particularly like or dislike about the school?Likes – the coffee in Marten Schools.Dislikes – the traffic.

Who is your hero or heroine?The armed forces for the amazing work they do on a daily basis.

Where have you arrived at Eton from?I recently graduated from St John’s College, Cambridge with a degree in Classics.

What were your perceptions of Eton prior to coming here?Whether for better or for worse, Eton’s reputation precedes it. I had expectations of a vast, grand and traditional institution that maintained very high standards and, that is exactly what I have found.

What’s your subject, and particular field of interest within it?My particular interest within Classics was Ancient Philosophy. One of my finals papers was on Plato’s Metaphysics and Epistemology and my dissertation was on the translation of Lucretius’ De Rerum Natura. I also have a specific interest in Virgil’s Aeneid.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?Sport keeps me occupied during most of my spare time, whether it be playing or coaching. In the holidays, I enjoy travelling and sight-seeing, but, if possible, trips overseas will normally coincide with some sort of sporting event.

Is there anything you already particularly like or dislike about the school?Likes: boys’ general respect for masters; enthusiasm for activities outside the school-room; the friendly nature of masters; the collective drive for excellence in all areasDislikes: wearing school dress after games on a Friday afternoon, early morning starts.

Mr J Fulton

Mr B Omrani

Mr S MacLennan

10 Charter Day 2009

CCF

Duke of Edinburgh’s AwardEJNR chronicles expeditions to Snowdonia and Lake District

June/ July 2009 saw our largest and highest quality Duke of Edinburgh expeditions to date. With over 50 boys registered and over 40 completing the expeditions, the logistics were complex. We ran two training expedi-tions simultaneously in the Lake District and Snowdonia, and then reversed this for the assessed expedition a few days later. One was overseen by EJNR, the other by NPTL. Each expedition was staffed by some Eton staff as well as some external mountaineer-ing instructors. This enabled all boys to receive professional training in navigation, route finding, expedition skills, wild camp-ing, cooking, emergency procedures, weath-er, nutrition, the ‘layering’ system, hygiene, and environmental impact. Although in different locations, the itinerary was essen-tially the same. For the training, there were two, one day expeditions to focus on the skills, followed by a two day self-contained expedition in which the boys were shadowed and received further instruction where required. The assessed expedition started with one more training day, and then a three day self-contained expedition. This culminated in a celebratory barbeque when the boys give their presentations on their chosen topics. The weather was mixed, but mainly kind. During the training expeditions, in both lo-cations, there was some heavy rain coupled with strong winds and poor visibility – ideal

conditions for learning to navigate. All boys learnt how to walk on a bearing, interpret contours, and timing and pacing. For the assessment, unusually, the strength of the sun was the main hazard – one boy getting heat blisters! The assessed expedition saw the best continuous weather I have experi-enced on DoE. All boys will have walked some of the most impressive and serious mountainous terrain in England and Wales – covering both a considerable distance and some techni-cal ground. Most of the boys (depending upon route) will have climbed both Scafell Pike and Snowdon, have traversed the full Helvellyn ridge, walked over High Raise, Bow Fell and Coniston Old Man, as well as the full Carneddau ridge, the Glyders ridge and Moel Siabod. Those who are familiar with these areas will be aware that this is a major achievement for a group of 16 year old boys with full packs. Many commented that this was the hardest thing they have ever done, both physically and mentally. Most impressive was the level of teamwork – helping to carry each other’s kit when blisters became unbearable, sharing the cooking and so on. Although these expedi-tions are considerably in excess of silver DoE, all participants will receive their silver award. Well done to all concerned! Thanks should be extended to the Eton staff who helped: NPTL, PKM, JM, RNE, SGPT, JWFS, PDAM and Bob Hutton.

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CRICKET

Cricket at Lord’sWill Vanderspar on his fourth appearanceThe annual Eton versus Harrow cricket fixture, as ever, was a much anticipated af-fair with Eton being favourites for the first time in five years. With a settled squad the boys very much fancied their chances. We arrived early, as always, to give every-one time to get used to the scenery, and to make sure we were ready for this feisty encounter. The highlight of the day for all the team without doubt is the privilege of being able to play at ‘The Home Of Cricket’ and the personal service that you are given. It is not everyday that you get a three course meal for lunch with five dif-ferent options for each course, or a fridge full of Powerade. So it’s not just about the cricket, or the post-match activities.

In the game itself Cox top scored with 67, and there were good contributions from Hobson, Sangha and Fitzroy who hit his first ball into the stands for six, and Eton set a large but not impossible total of 268-7. We fought well in the 40 overs we bowled before the rain hit, including a great catch by Gibson, but unfortunately

ThisyeartheJackalhasfinallybeenallowedintoPop.Given

thatheisimmortalit’sfaintlyembarrassinghowlongithas

taken.However,heisdelightedthathisobnoxiousness,his

polisheddistainforalllesserindividualsandhisheroicdrink-

inghaveatlastbeenrecognisedbytheschool.HisBillrecord

wassomethingofahindranceapparently.However,allofthe

incidents(whichincludedthefactthattheJackalwasfound,on

hisfirstdayinFBlock,unpackinghissuitcasesintheProvost’s

Lodge)wereputdowntoyouthfulindiscretion.

CompletinghisUCASformlastterm(theJackalhasnointen-

tionofleavingyet,butonemustkeeptheschoolonitstoes)

hewasoutragedtobeaskedtoprovidehisfather’soccupation;

the ‘Duckworth Lewis’ system although in use for the game was not allowed to deter-mine the result, and therefore the match ended ‘abandoned’ with Harrow requiring 111 off 15 overs. This was much to the frustration of the XI as we had one eye on a win, and the celebrations following.

The disappointment was keenly felt too by the crowd and by John Rice, our brilliant cricket professional, whose 25th year in the job deserved a win. And it would have been nice to send Nathan Leamon off to his job with the England Test team with a win at Lord’s to help him, but it wasn’t to be.

I once again have high hopes for next summer with nine capped XI players still available for selection, and as always I ex-pect a huge and vocal crowd for the Lord’s 2010 match.

Take it easy.

Will Vanderspar (Captain of the XI)

Match Drawn

Batting

Vanderspar 40Hobson 53

Cox 67Sangha 55

Fitzroy 31

Bowling

Morrison 0-17Priest 0-33Sangha 0-14Barber 0-50Hobson 2-35

Hopton 1-9

justwhoonearthdotheythinkhe

is?!Unabletofind‘gentleman’inthe

drop-downpaneltheJackalfinally

settledon‘unemployed’instead.

TheJackalisnotrenownedfor

hischaritywork,butwasperfectly

willingtoputhimselfoutonEton

ActionDay.Hewanderedaround

allafternoonwithhisguitar.Sadly,

hisupbringingmeansheisphysi-

callyincapableofsinginganythingbeyondthethreeimmortal

classics:Jerusalem,theEtonBoating Song and Smack My Bitch

UpbyTheProdigy.Consequentlymadeverylittlemoney.

Fortunatelyhewasabletotopuphiscontributionwiththe

proceedsofhisrecentsaleoftheBurningBushtoanunsus-

pectingAmericantourist.

The Jackal

12 Charter Day 2009

AQUATICS

Great expectationsABH recounts a successful season for the Boat Club

July 5th 2009. The feeling of relief I had was overpower-ing, and took my breath away. As I watched my crew enjoy a final precious moment on the dock at Henley together after their last race, I was staggering around at a loss for words. The crew, huddled together on the dock whilst Mike Evans (RPDF) their Captain explained what a privilege it had been to be their leader, had just con-cluded a perfect season.

During October 2008 in Long Leave, nine boys made the trip to Boston USA to compete in the Head of the Charles. Their eyes - wide open - absorbed the American interpretation of rowing: a powerful, colourful festi-val billed as the largest (no surprise there) regatta in the world. And so the season began with a win on the Charles River. Not only a first for Eton, but for any British school visiting the USA. Pandora’s box had been opened and the thirst for victory begun. Brimming with excitement at the prospect of what could be achieved, The VIII set about the domestic competitions establishing a new record over the championship four and a quarter mile Schools’ Head course with an indifferent row on a blustery day in March. Victory for the second VIII at this race was particularly sweet, and well deserved.

In May, following eight days of hard labour in Portugal, The VIII emerged leaner and fitter. The destruction of the field of Championship Eights in Nottingham was unnerving. The margin of victory: 16 seconds, equiva-lent to winning the 100m national final by 5 metres in Usain Bolt style, was surreal. Colts A and B also won at Nottingham, leaving other schools wondering what

they could do to keep up with Eton. Their prayers were answered as swine flu was spotted at the College; the boat club took a deep breath and spluttered. Getting to Henley in good shape took on new and uncharted dimensions. Four eights tried, and two were successful. The second eight, stirred by victory in its class at National Schools’ also got to race in the most famous (if not the biggest) regatta in the world.

What happened at Henley made the whole rowing world take stock. The one-on-one knock out formula at Henley means that half the crews in each competition go home each day, until only two remain to contest the final, just like Wimbledon. The VIII had turned heads all season, and now the spotlight of the media, supporters and the general rowing public was well and truly upon them. Picked to win not only the schoolboys’ Princess Eliza-beth Cup, but also the university and club events had we had entered them meant that weight of expectation was mounting inexorably. A uniquely worrying position to find oneself with the knowledge that nothing can ever be taken for granted. Just getting to the start line at Henley is enough of an ordeal. The majority of crews have lost the important psychological battle before their boat even touches the water. As temperatures soared into the forties gentlemen could remove their jackets in the enclosures for the first time in memory. Hampton School despaired so much at having to race the Eton VIII on Henley Thursday that they tried in vain to ram our boat off the course despite the Umpire’s warnings to the contrary. King’s Chester, Pangbourne and then Abingdon fell in the final. An Abingdon coach, when quizzed about his crew’s chances, said that qualifying for the final had given his boys the opportunity to be stuffed royally by Eton. They were. Stewards of the regatta gave the winning margin as five lengths to Eton and the Princess Eliza-beth Cup was restored to English shores from Canada’s Shawnigan Lake, who had beaten The VIII of 2008 in the final.

So what’s going on at Eton? I’ve been asked to explain this at a conference in September. Exceptional facilities and support from the College are obvious answers. How-ever, the system is looking after the boys who choose to come to the lake by giving them a fun experience which compliments their education. It is not a sport that suits

The Chronicle 13

Robin Muir talks to Constantine Louloudis, world champion

everyone, but then again, there are only nine seats in a boat, and they go to the best boys. However, there is a place for every taste whether it be in the Bump-ing Fours, the internal regatta and non elite rowing, a casual trip to Queen’s Eyot in Summer or the apparent mas-ochism of the gym in February. Is it all worth it? Only if the lessons learnt on the water can be used in everyday life, especially once the oars have been put to rest. Whether the oarsman finishes with the highest honours in the sport, or hav-ing made it Queen’s Eyot just once, it is the journey that is important.

Last year’s VIII made records tumble, jaws drop and op-ponents tremble. Considered among the greatest school-boy crews of all time, they punched far above their weight, often giving University crews a black eye. At the centre of the action were Constantine Louloudis KS, Caspar Jopling (NJR), Ed Nainby-Luxmoore (CMJ) and Max Monfared (MAG), who went on to win a gold medal at the Junior World Championships in Brive-La-Gaillarde, France.

“It’s been a great honour, I feel privileged to have been part of it,” said world champion, and now Captain of Boats, Constantine Louloudis.

This is a fitting summary for a season that will be re-membered for a long time. An unbeaten Eton 1st VIII, winners of Head of the Charles, School’s Head, National Schools’ Regatta, Wallingford Regatta, Henley Royal Re-gatta… the accolades are endless. Their success was such that by Henley, all eyes were on them. “That was quite a challenge,” confessed Constantine. “It takes quite a bit of mental strength to ignore all the expectation and just perform.”

But the VIII did perform, beating Abingdon in the final by a margin of 19 seconds, more than five lengths clear. With ‘mission accomplished’ on a school level, the afore-mentioned four that were selected for Great Britain head-ed to France for the Junior World Championships. “The Championships were on a bigger scale than anything I’d ever done before… It’s more nerve racking,” Louloudis said. However, his coxless four experienced what Con-stantine describes as a “really tough race” where “every man and his dog pushed at the halfway point.” They pulled through the Australians to secure a Gold medal, before the Romanian crew overtook the Australians in

the races closing stages. “It’s not something you can really process when you cross the line. We’d done far more than we knew we were capable of, ” admitted Constantine. “It was different from Henley, because Henley was more a case of relief that we’d done what we were expected to do, the World Championships was more elation.”

The three other Etonians ( Jopling (NJR), Monfared (MAG) and Nainby-Luxmoore (CMJ)) all rowed in the eight. They lost out to the German crew who started faster and were chased hard, but never caught. The GB boat still came in second. Caspar Jopling said that “after-wards, we were told that we had won a silver as opposed to losing a gold. I suppose we just have to think of it like that and train harder for next year.”

The Cox of the VIII, Ollie Fletcher, represented Great Britain in the Coupe de la Jeunesse competition in the VIII and the coxed IV, as well as Rowan Lawson, Tom Sandberg, Will Kenworthy and Josh Bernstein racing for Great Britain in the Anglo-French Under 16 match. All of these came back with gold medals.

The international success of our oarsmen is a tribute to a quite extraordinary year for the boat club. Constantine explains that “an engine is faster than the sum of its parts, and that was certainly true of our crew last year… We all had every faith in each other, and we learnt to gel as a crew.” However, this has put pressure on Eton’s oarsmen. “We’ve now put even bigger targets on our backs, all the other crews are going to be out to get us, and we’ve got to be aware of that, but we also have to try and ignore that and just be the best we can be.”

The Chronicle wishes the VIII the best of luck with this year’s rowing.

14 Charter Day 2009

ASSOCIATION

Twelfth Man ReportThe association has played only four matches so far this half; however it is already apparent that the team are playing better together in the later matches than they did during the early matches of the season. The early scrappiness has dimin-ished in their play and they have been keeping possession and pressuring the opposition players much more consistently than they did before. ASJ’s men have shown promise in the later two matches of this portion of the season, which was dem-onstrated by their impressive performance against Highgate, where a strong back four and good use of the wings led to a 3-1 vic-tory for Eton. It is too early in the season to make concrete predictions for league standings, but, when they are playing well, this year’s Association seem to be a very tactically astute side, with the play being spread around the pitch and the ball being moved out to the wings quickly, leading to a fast paced attacking game. The only parts of the play that Eton are lacking on is the final ball through to the strikers, and the early game, even Highgate, a relatively me-

diocre side, managed to score early against the Association. The recent loss and subsequent ejection from the ISFA cup has done very little to raise moral in the Eton camp, after a scrappy first half fraught with errors and a lack of drive, they finally settled during the second half and they didn’t manage to capitalise on their better performance and lost 2-0 to Latymer. This performance summed up all of the season’s play and although Eton played a very good game against Highgate, the stronger teams will take advantage of Eton’s shaky play especially early in the first half. The team needs to put this poor performance behind them and build on the flowing play against Highgate and try not to spend too much time bogged down in midfield. Something also needs to be done by ASJ’s men to play to their full ability from the starting whistle because at the moment, too many goals have been scored early on and if the flow of goals can be staunched, then the prospects of the Association are looking brighter already.

Above Shaw(RJM)

Below AssociationvHighgate

Sports Results: HighlightsFOOTBALL RUGBY

11-Sep 1st XI v John Madejski Academy Lost 1 - 2 20-Sep 1st XV v Abingdon Won 31 - 011-Sep 2nd XI v John Madejski Academy Won 2 - 1 20-Sep 2nd XV v Abingdon Won 31 - 016-Sep 1st XI v Westminster Lost 0 - 2 20-Sep 3rd XV v Abingdon Drew 15 - 1516-Sep 2nd XI v Westminster Won 5 - 0 20-Sep Colts A v Abingdon Lost 8 - 1816-Sep 3rd XI v ACS Hillingdon Won 2 - 0 20-Sep Colts B v Abingdon Won 17 - 1416-Sep U16A v Westminster Drew 2 - 2 20-Sep Junior Colts A v Abingdon Won 26 - 1516-Sep U16B v Westminster Won 2 - 1 20-Sep Junior Colts B v Abingdon Won 51 - 016-Sep U15A v Westminster Won 4 - 2 20-Sep Yearlings A v Abingdon Won 7 - 016-Sep U15B v Westminster Won 6 - 2 20-Sep Yearlings B v Abingdon Won 36 - 716-Sep U14A v Westminster Won 4 - 3 27-Sep 1st XV v Marlborough Won 54 - 1516-Sep U14B v Westminster Won 6 - 2 27-Sep 2nd XV v Marlborough Abandoned20-Sep 1st XI v Highgate 1st XI Won 3 - 1 27-Sep 3rd XV v Marlborough Won 38 - 020-Sep 2nd XI v Tonbridge 1st XI Drew 2 - 2 27-Sep Junior Colts A v Marlborough Drew 7 - 720-Sep 3rd XI v Highgate 2nd XI Lost 0 - 1 27-Sep Yearlings A v Marlborough Won 15 - 520-Sep U16A v Highgate Won 3 - 0 27-Sep Yearlings B v Marlborough Won 20 - 520-Sep U16B v Highgate Won 6 - 120-Sep U15A v Highgate Won 3 - 120-Sep U15B v Highgate Won 3 - 020-Sep U14A v Highgate Won 2 - 120-Sep U14B v Highgate Drew 3 - 3 16-Sep 1st V v Epsom Won 4 - 123-Sep U15A v Frensham Heights Won 5 - 0 18-Sep 1st V v Dulwich Won 5 - 023-Sep U15B v Battersea Tech U16A Lost 0 - 3 18-Sep 2nd V v Berkhamsted 1st V Won 4 - 123-Sep U14A v Battersea Tech U14A Won 6 - 4 18-Sep Junior V v Berkhamsted Won 3 - 223-Sep U14B v Ibstock Place U14A Lost 0 - 3 25-Sep 1st V v KCS Wimbledon Won 5 - 024-Sep 1st XI v Latymer Upper Lost 0 - 2 25-Sep 2nd V v Aylesbury Lost 2 - 325-Sep 2nd XI v Marlborough 1st XI Won 5 - 2 25-Sep U15 V v KCS Wimbledon Won 5 - 025-Sep 3rd XI v Marlborough 2nd XI Drew 2 - 2 25-Sep U14 V v Aylesbury Won 5 - 025-Sep U16B v Marlborough U16A Won 8 - 127-Sep 1st XI v Ardingly Won 3 - 227-Sep 2nd XI v Ardingly Drew 1 - 127-Sep U16A v Ardingly 3rd XI Won 2 - 127-Sep U15A v Ardingly Won 4 - 2 16-Sep 1st Pair v Haileybury Won 4 - 227-Sep U15B v Ardingly Won 7 - 0 23-Sep 1st Pair v Tonbridge Won 4 - 227-Sep U14A v Ardingly Won 3 - 2 25-Sep 1st Pair v St. Paul's Won 4 - 027-Sep U14B v Ardingly Won 6 - 0 25-Sep Colts A v St. Paul's Won 3 - 0

RACKETS

SQUASH

The Chronicle 15

DRAMA

The shows will go onHughie Stanley previews the first four plays of the termSchool Play Michaelmas 2009: The BacchaeThursday 15th - Saturday 17th October

H-EO takes on the dark, manic and metrosexual The Bacchae for this half ’s School Play. Sexual ambiguity, de-bauched gods, proud kings and enraged aunts ensue…

When the god of drink, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll comes home to Thebes expecting to be recognised as their god, trouble seems inevitable. With his outrageous group of Maenads – who lure fans with the power of music, dance and mysticism – Dionysus has upset this straight laced cousin Pentheus. As the plot builds, and the Bacchae become more savage, eventually, the power of a god is too great and hubris must be punished. Performed in the Farrer Theatre.

Directed by H-EO, Music by Tom Recknell OE, Chore-ography by Becca Steel and Neil Fisher. Vocal coaching by MAO’D

Independent Play: A Day in the Death of Joe Egg Tuesday 20th - Thursday 22nd October

Giacomo Sain takes on the Michaelmas Independent Play in what he promises to be a ‘mixture of bone-aching comedy and heart-pounding tragedy.’

The play follows a day in the life of a couple and their heavily disabled daughter which spirals into chaos and madness within the space of a few short hours. MNF’s Toby Weatherall takes the lead, supported closely by MJP’s James Tozer, Taming of the Shrew’s Katie Good-sell and Edith Dormandy. Completing the cast are new boys Arthur Studholme and Seamus Lavan. Charlie Parham, something of an acting veteran, also appears. The tension sizzles in Peter Nichols’ acclaimed play. Performed in the Empty Space.

MAG House Plays: Chatroom and Totally Over You Thursday 5th - Saturday 7th November

NCH directs MAG’s in a satire double bill with the “funny, uplifting and compelling” The Chatroom going alongside the “satire with the lightest of touches”, Totally Over You.

The Chatroom features six immature West London teens

who meet online in 2009 where they set about to decon-struct Roald Dahl and Harry Potter; or share a laugh over Britney Spears on the internet. Jim is a depressive, and as he talks of ending his life Eva and William decide to do their utmost to persuade him to carry out his threat. From this chilling premise, Enda Walsh has created something which tackles some of the issues of teenage life head-on and with great understanding. Totally Over You also explores the possibilities of teenage satire and deals with a simple premise: four girls want-ing to become famous by marrying celebrities. So what is the obvious thing to do? Dump their current boyfriends. In reply the four now ex-boyfriends, with the help of the members of their school’s drama class, set up a witty scenario designed to fool the girls into thinking that they should never have called off their relationships - because one day, they will be the world-famous boy band ‘Awe-some’. Performed in the Caccia Studio. College House Play: Habeas Corpus Thursday 12th - Saturday 14th November

It’s Hove, and it’s 1973. In Hove in 1973 there hap-pens also to be a randy GP, a peeping-Tom vicar, a lusty Brownie, a busty nympho, and an insatiable middle-class matron. And it is these people who are the outfit to Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus.

The population of Hove has become a permissive one and, subsequently, a swarm of ‘dirty-postcard’ stereotypes. And as these half-dressed pillars of the community loudly pro-nounce their respectability while criss-crossing the stage in hot pursuit of the most inappropriate objects of desire, only one thing must happen. Everything must explode in a firework display of exposures, revelations and couplings.

Habeas Corpus is, in short, a classic farce, one of the fun-niest and most beautifully written in English. It is also a tour-de-force of quick-fire wit and psychedelic stagecraft, playing with the conventions of the genre and adding its own 70’s, ‘Pythonesque’ twist, as well as a subtle - and surprisingly moving - air of melancholy. Performed in the Farrer Theatre.

Hughie’s previews of the rest of the half ’s shows will be ap-pearing in forthcoming issues.

16 Charter Day 2009

ART

Exhibition: Gordon & Nancy BaldwinReviewed by Richard Braham

Almost three exhibitions in one, Gordon and Nancy Baldwin’s partial retrospective show in the Drawing Schools is a fascinating example of a working creative partnership. The exhibition comprises of examples of Gordon’s internationally renowned sculpture alongside Nancy’s paintings. However, the highlight of the exhibi-tion is the third section: a series of ceramic pots thrown by Gordon and decorated by Nancy - a truly original and energetic series, full of life.

Gordon and Nancy Baldwin have both been closely as-sociated with Eton College since Gordon first joined the staff in 1957, going on to become the Drawing Master and teach here for nearly 40 years. The exhibition, run in association with JaM (a fine art gallery based on the Eton High Street) represents a homecoming for Gordon and Nancy, returning to their many connections with the Eton community.

However, the subject-matter of the exhibition is about as far away from Eton life as could be hoped for. Gordon’s ceramics are assured and beautiful. He creates simple, organic, abstract ceramic forms - reminiscent of down-land flint, seedlings or smooth pebbles. But their worn, understated glazing gives them a weathered appearance, adding a sense of warmth to what might otherwise be cold, minimalist designs. In addition, Gordon punctuates the smooth shapes of his sculptures with carefully placed clinical marks and harsh cuts. The mechanical cuts in the surface of Vessel with Cross I and II form an opposition

to the bulging smoothness of the sculpture and its glaze, whilst revealing that the solid presence of the sculpture is in fact an illusion. This contrast between warmth and coolness, organic forms and mechanical marks, solidity and delicacy which gives Gordon’s sculptures their enig-matic beauty.

Nancy’s paintings form a complete contrast to her hus-band’s work. Her exuberant handling of paint and bold, bordering on brash, use of colour gives these paintings real energy and movement, though when contrasted with her drawing and ceramic decorations they are arguably less exciting.

In this exhibition, Nancy Baldwin’s most impressive work seems to have been created when some form of limitation is placed on her. Some of the highlights of her two-dimensional work are the epic charcoal drawings Welsh Cliff I, II and III. Limited only to black and white, Nancy Baldwin lends a sense of scale to these drawings which belies their modest size. These three drawings are remark-able, especially given the basic materials which the artist has used to create them.

This leads on to the most exciting part of the exhibition: the decorated pots made in collaboration between Nancy and Gordon Baldwin since 2006. These beautifully crafted pots were made by Gordon Baldwin and then decorated by Nancy with flowing human forms. Here, Gordon’s ceramic pots give structure and boundaries to Nancy’s

The Chronicle 17

MUSIC

The trumpet shall soundAdam Berman reviews Alison Balsom and David Goode’s concert

You can’t get very far nowadays without hearing the name Alison Balsom somewhere.

Look in almost any newspaper’s cultural section and you’re bound to find some reference to her. So when given the chance to hear a player who allegedly ‘makes the trumpet sing with an irresistible eloquence’, I jumped at the chance. Following numerous performances such as one in The Moscow Performing Arts Centre I feel it’s safe to say that Alison Balsom and our very own David Goode are a formidable pairing.

Despite a generally quite unusual programme, the concert began with Bach’s Concerto in D Minor, a piece originally set for strings but Vivaldi but subsequently arranged for organ or organ and solo trumpet by J.S.Bach. As soon as the trumpet started the audience was struck by Balsom’s impressive handling of an instrument that is gener-ally considered to be one of the demanding instruments technically. The smooth lyricism of the trumpet seemed to match exactly the accompanying flourishes from the organ. During the first two movements Balsom perfectly captured the Italian mood whilst maintaining the more German elements throughout. Although technically tricky the third movement presented little problem for Balsom despite the use of a piccolo trumpet, and even less for Goode who tackled it with ease. In spite of the acoustic difficulties the pair pulled off the Bach extremely well demonstrating their immense musicality and profes-sionalism.

The Gammal Fäbodpsalm by Oscar Lindberg, a romantic Swedish composer, was described by Balsom as a piece which evokes the imagery of shepherdesses in pastoral scenes. Based on an old Swedish folk tune the trumpet part boasted many expressive lines bursting with emotion

which Balsom admirably tackled with immense breath control and a real feel for the romanticism of the piece. Although livened up by stunning solo organ sections and trumpet ornamentation the piece itself didn’t change much over ten minutes. However this ‘pastoral’ idea did become more evident throughout the piece and by the end the audience really had a sense of an idyllic rural scene.

The next piece heard was by a composer I don’t think anyone in the audience had heard of before the concert. A student of Jean Langlais and successor to Olivier Mes-siaen as organist at the Eglise de La Sainte-Trinite, Paris, Naji Hakim is a composer who spans the genres unlike any composer I have heard before. With the use of differ-ent mutes for different effects, the music broadly speaking went from jazz to folk and back to classical. Extremely virtuoso in its style Hakim’s Sonata was an obvious choice for Balsom demonstrating the full breath of her capabili-ties.

To end, the dynamic duo finished with Windows by Petr Eben, a little known Czech composer whose piece describes three different stained glass windows – Green, Red and Golden. Each movement summed up the differ-ent qualities of the colour such as the regality of golden and the vivacity of Green. The combination of intri-cate keyboard work and difficult passages on the pedals seemed all trivial for Goode whilst Balsom tackled the most difficult and dissonant passages with complete ef-fortlessness.

To hear a musician who has appeared on the Last Night of the Proms is one thing, but when she is accompanied by a player whose subtle expertise always brings out the best, it’s a concert worth dying for.

flowing, exuberant drawings. Created without preparatory drawing from Nancy’s imagination and taken from clas-sical mythology, circus characters and Egyptian art, the figures spill out around the circumference of the sphere. The energy of her drawing and the vibrancy of the glaz-ing gives the pots the look of bubbles about to pop - as if the dancing figures were about to leap up and career off around the room.

Gordon and Nancy Baldwin’s exhibition is of internation-al standards. The Eton College Drawing Schools is hugely

fortunate to be hosting an art exhibition of such incred-ibly high quality, and it is one that serves as a reminder of the amazing standard of visiting professional work exhibited in the Drawing Schools each year. It would be a huge loss if any Eton boy with any interest in art at all were to miss it.

‘Nancy Baldwin and Gordon Baldwin: A retrospective view 1984-2009’ is open in Drawing Schools opening hours (found in Fixtures) from September 19 - October 11. Admission free.

18 Charter Day 2009

INTERVIEW

Director in ResidenceJim Stacey spoke to Nick Chambers

The Chronicle: Could we start with your life before you came to Eton? What have you done until now?

NC: I trained at the Bristol old Vic theatre school where I got to play around with actors and direct a lot of productions as well as learn about stage management and lighting. In short I got to run riot, so that was a really good time for me.Before that I was living in Brighton where I went to the University of Sussex to study for a media degree. In Brighton I discovered the theatre and I started acting in, and then directing, a lot of plays. I really fell in love with the theatre at Sussex; they have a big theatre there called the Gardener Arts Centre, which is a magnificent space both to act and direct in. From that I set up a theatre company called ‘Tucked In.’ This is company which is very inventive and creative, aimed at children from four up, but really anyone can come. It’s about good storytelling more than anything else.Since theatre school I’ve been work-ing around different theatres in Eng-land, directing and working at the London fringe and teaching young people workshops, which is kind of how I’ve ended up here.

Chr: What plays are you taking charge of at Eton, and what plans do you have for them?

NC: I’m doing Lord of the Flies with CJD in February in the Farrer. I haven’t seen any other versions, so I’m coming at it from a pretty fresh angle. Basically it’s going to be very dark, very energetic, and there will be no main part; everyone will be playing for each other. I’m hoping it will have

some images that will have a lot of resonance.I’m also doing Cymbeline with the lower school. It’s going to be a dark, magical, romantic thriller, if I can use that word. It’s almost impossible to define, and it’s full of mad charac-ters doing mad things. There is a lot of extravagant storytelling, exces-sive twists and turns and beautiful speeches.

Chr: Is there a specific point in your life where you can say that you definitively decided that you wanted to be involved in drama in some way as a career?

NC: Yes; when I went to university I loved playing football, so I trialled for a football team and in the same week auditioned for Romeo and Juliet, which was a big production at the Gardener Arts Centre. And there were hundreds of people going for the trials and hundreds of people going for the play. I didn’t get into any of the football teams, but on the very same day I walked up into the drama studio, looked on the cast list, and I was playing Romeo! That was a big turning point for me and I started thinking about it quite seriously. So if I had made it into a football team, I might not be here today.

Chr: Where do you see yourself in ten years time, if everything goes ac-cording to plan?

NC: In ten years’ time I hope to be directing in London, but it takes so long to build your reputation and your skills to be able to direct in the big theatres like the Old Vic or the National. More realistically I’d like

my theatre company to be very, very popular and performing around the country, with me hopefully direct-ing regionally with the view of going and directing somewhere in London. I’m also fascinated with working in youth theatres as well, so if I ended up working in a youth theatre for a big organisation, or a head of drama at a big school then that would also be fun. But at the moment I’m not quite sure where I’ll be, but hopefully somewhere good.

Chr: Do you have a particular phi-losophy by which you try to live your life, or a saying you try to stick to?

NC: Deal with it. If there’s a prob-lem, don’t step around it, just deal with it head on, because if you don’t do that things start going wrong. But the most important motif in my life is this: knowledge is power. It’s just a little thing that I say to myself. It sounds really weird, but it means if you’re passionate about something find out about it. If you want to be a theatre director you really need to know about plays and what’s happen-ing in theatre.

Chr: If you had to describe yourself in three words, what would they be?

NC: Joyous, clinical and open-mind-ed. Actually, clinical sounds quite psychotic, but its just get on with it, that kind of attitude. Don’t just sit back.

The Chronicle 19

Societies ReportMichaelmas Weeks 1 to 4

Orwell: Kevin Warwick

The Orwell Society held a success-ful meeting on Tuesday 15 September, at which Professor Kevin Warwick, the first cyborg and a world-leading cyberneticist, came to speak on the topic of his Cyborg Experiments. Starting with the mild beginnings of robots programmed with a survival drive—with the intellectual capacity of a slug or Manchester United supporter, in his own words—Professor Warwick moved on to describe the growing of biologi-cal brains to place in and use to control robots. He moved on from robots to come to the most interesting part of his talk: his experiments with human-computer interfacing. He described how he had connected a mechanical hand to his nervous system over the Internet, and was able to control the hand from across the Atlantic Ocean. He received implants in his arm with which he was able to enhance his abilities, making him the first cyborg. He linked his nervous system with his wife’s, and was able to feel what she was feeling through a computer connection, and of course he provided her with jewellery which would flash red when he was excited and stay blue otherwise. There were a selec-tion of interesting questions, particularly dealing with whether there were any security measures against hacking the mind-computer interface (answer: not yet). All in all it was a very interesting and enlightening talk, and Professor Warwick, who wants to be able to see in infrared and ten dimensions but “would be happy with just five”, made clear his aim to enhance humanity through its integration with computer technology—and how he is doing it.

Vincent Garton KS

Political: Ken Livingstone

On Tuesday 22nd September we were lucky to host Ken Livingstone; worldwide economics was his opening topic. He placed huge emphasis on the percentage of GDP reinvested back into a society, highlighting that Britain had never risen above 20%, compared to about 25% for nations such as Germany. In his view this is why our ‘schools and hospitals’ are not as well equipped.

He also demonstrated the shift in economic power from Western Europe and the USA to China, noting that China’s reinvestment of over 40% of its GDP was the main reason for its rapid economic growth. This transfer of power from West to East was going to make life a lot harder for our generation to succeed in business, he claimed.

Ken then went on to discuss the po-litical effect of Global Warming, with strong reference to the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December. Controversially he suggested that the target to stop the global rise in tempera-ture at 2°C was unrealistic and that 4°C was more realistic. He anticipated that China would make a significant U-turn in its environmental policy soon.

‘Red Ken’ drew some wry smiles from the audience when calling Lady Thatch-er mad and referencing the Provost Lord Waldegrave, who ironically was the Junior Minister in charge of the removal of the Greater London Council in the 80s.

With a very large crowd and a very entertaining speaker it was an excellent way to start the year. Guy MacInnes-Manby

Keynes: Simon Henry

We were very fortunate to have Simon Henry, CFO of Shell speaking at the first meeting of both the Keynes and the Management Societies. He came with the aim of persuading us of the enormous risk and uncertainty involved in the varied business environment surrounding the extraction and selling of oil. In some of the off-shore rigs it is necessary to get through some 9km of water before you get to a reservoir the area of Upper School. He also spoke about the way that decisions now will impact upon the future of his company.

Being head of strategy gave Mr. Henry a perfect platform from which to preach the necessity for a long-term move-ment away from oil towards gas and biofuels, an industry in which Shell are the leading investors. Volatility makes investment decisions very unpredictable which is where the geologists come in – a special point was made of emphasis-ing human capital’s role in his business. Much of his defense of multi-national corporations in third world countries revolved around the training provided.

Questions varied from the likelihood of a gas cartel to whether it may be a mistake not to invest in nuclear energy, as Shell have not after previous losses. Oil prices are going to fall before rising to $147 and beyond according to Mr. Henry.

Ultimately, it was an informative talk on quite a specialist area of business which is so entrenched in our economy and our everyday life.

Tom Witherow

20 Charter Day 2009

Eton ArchetypesArchieCornishandRichardBraham

The Young Beak

Mr Fresher storms down the High Street on his mountain bike, eyes on the prize. It’s 7.00 – two hours before divs start – but Mr Fresher needs to be in the department early for some last-minute preparation. His F-block boys are being treated to not one but three Powerpoints on Henry II this morning, and despite having been up all night adding medieval music Mr Fresher still needs to apply the finishing touches. He tin-gles with excitement to see how the troops will respond.

‘Buzzwords’ abound. Having come down from Oxford with a brilliant history degree, Mr Fresher threw himself into his teaching course with all the enthusiasm of a man possessed. Consequently, desks in his schoolroom are in tables to enable discussion, marking is done ‘dynamically’ and hardly a lesson goes by without a spider diagram being drawn.

Three weeks into the half Mr Fresher acquires the pallid and unhealthy look of a sleep-deprived man. The pressures of two tutorial groups, coaching the football U14 E’s and supervis-ing the Lower Boy Pottery society are showing signs of get-ting to him. Lesser men than he would resort to showing his divs videos on a Friday afternoon, but Mr Fresher is made of sterner stuff.

Still a touch intimidated by Eton’s enormity and the hordes of men and boys in mourning dress, Mr Fresher takes a while to settle in. Soon, though, he is invited to a dinner party in Baldwin’s End, that hub of debauchery and good cheer, and never looks back.

CongratulationstoGeordie Hazeel,whosephotographofTheFieldwonThe Chronicle’sinauguralphotocompetition.Entriesfornextissue’scompetitionmustbesubmittedtochronicle@etoncollege.org.ukbyWednesday 14th October.