The comparativist

T he Southport String Ensemble performed today to a packed Christ Church. If memory serves, Christ Church normally has about 300 chairs, and today, in order to seat the great number of music admirers and proud family members of the musicians, extra chairs had to be procured from the neighbouring Café 1821—where customers, presumably, had to eat standing up. Southport String Ensemble's professor and conductor, Ms Sarah Marks, has outdone herself this last year and polished what was already an outstanding group of performers. «Swamp Thang», the rondo by Richard Meyer, was one of the stand-out pieces, as it was performed with just the right amount of pizzazz and spice. «Return to Deadman's Cove» by the great Peter Martin, the opening number, was another piece that was flawlessly performed; it set up a swashbuckling atmosphere that was later empowered by a rendition of «Drunken Sailor», where the ad-hoc Southport Choir of Christ Church joined in. The rest of the pieces followed t...