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Andrew Huggett Ottawa Manotick Citizen
1971
CONCERTS & EVENTS
January - Family relocates to "Sea View", on the Ise of Purbeck, Dorset, U.K..
January - Entire family is enroled at Trinity College, and the Royal College of Music, London.
July - CBC documentary series, Telescope, Wales.
September - Back to Sea View and formal musical studies, Dorset.
This is the only year in which the Huggetts did not spend time in Canada.
LISTEN WHILE YOU BROWSE
Oboe Sonata in C Minor
G.F. Handel
The baroque oboe was derived from the eastern shawm and bombard of the middle ages and was the instrument for which Handel wrote this Sonata in C minor. Technically the instrument presents many challenges to the player. The sound tends to the uneven side, and without its modern counterpart's many keys, many fingerings are clumsy and awkward.
Handel's music is considered some of the finest in the "high baroque" style, and he is consistently recognized as one of the greatest composers of his age.
This 1973 recording was produced by Jane Forner.
Andrew - baroque oboe
Margaret - harpsichord
Jennifer - bass viol
SWANAGE, DORSET
In mid-January 1971, the family set down roots in Swanage, Dorset. Usually rented by the week to summer holidaymakers, their new home, "Sea View," perched high on the windswept bluffs, offered a spectacular view of the English Channel and the Isle of Wight. Central heating was a novelty in the UK and individual coal fireplaces heated each room. In January, bedtime was a damp frigid experience only slightly improved by a mandatory hot water bottle. But spring comes early to the southern British Isles. By the end of February, and with the daffodils in full bloom, the Huggetts started practicing outdoors.
There was a set daily practice routine. Eight a.m. Breakfast was followed by an hour of group singing, after which individuals practiced various instruments until lunch. After lunch, there was an hour off followed by two hours of schooling courtesy of the Ontario Ministry of Education. Before supper, there were two more hours spent on instrumental ensemble practice. After supper was personal time.
Sea View, Acton, Langton Matravers, Swanage, Dorset, UK. - an address without a number in sight! Margaret surveys the property before renting with the curmudgeonly landlord, Mr. Kade, who held a rather grandiose opinion of "his house."
January. Jennifer waiting for warmer climes.
A tribute to Julie Andrews. There is no doubt that the success of The Sound of Music helped pave the way for The Huggett Family's own musical journey 10 years later.
Outside ensemble practice. By early March, the weather in Dorset was relatively balmy.
Andrew practicing on a lute generously loaned to him by teacher Edgar Hunt.
A publicity shot taken at the McKenzie King Estate in Gatineau, Quebec.
Fiona on the tenor viol.
Publicity shots on the Dorset downs in front of Sea View.
Hidden talents revealed. In this publicity shot taken with the assistance of the Huggett's milkman, you can see Sea View and the quarry worker's hamlet of Acton in the background.
SNOWDONIA PARK, WALES
During the summer months, the rent at Sea View was prohibitive. Margaret's Aunt Cecil, author of over 60 Harlequin Romances under the pen-name Eleanor Farnes, and her husband Uncle Bob, who'd made a small fortune building swimming pools for the Arabs in the 1930s and 50s, generously allowed the family to summer in their Snowdonia Park cottage in Wales.
Aunt Cecil's cottage in Snowdonia National Park.
Jennifer and Fiona with their pet guinea pigs. Wherever went the Huggetts, so too went the guinea pigs.
The cottage's view overlooked the beautiful Mawddach Estuary.
Plenty of backdrops for publicity photos and one of the sunniest summers on record.
Ian adopts one of the local cows.
