Nostalgic evening of a bygone era

Oliver on piano and Samuel standing. Photo courtesy of Oliver Hancock.

An evening of Flanders and Swann performed at St Mary’s Church Warwick, on Saturday 7 February 2026.

Review by Charles Essex

Brothers Samuel and Oliver Hancock treated a very knowledgeable audience to a wonderfully nostalgic evening of the songs of Flanders and Swann at St Mary’s Church in Warwick.  Although the demographic of the audience reflected that this appealed to a particular generation who recall hearing the songs either on the radio or on LP records belonging to older relatives, many of the songs had a timeless quality to them.

Samuel and Oliver started the evening with an updated version of In the Bath, with references to current political figures, hoping to get them together to talk peace.  The wistful Slow Train mentioned numerous stations which had fallen under the Beeching axe of the 60s.  One felt many of the audience clearly recalled the different stations mentioned, while the gentle pace and rhythm of the music evoked the pace and noise of the small trains on the branch lines.  The tempo and mood changed with the cheerful uplifting A Transport of Delight and the recurring refrain of the ninety-seven horsepower omnibus. 

Having lived through the 50s and 60s and the Cold War, Flanders and Swann reflected the danger of the nuclear arms race with gallows humour The Ostrich and Twenty Tons of TNT both.  The first half ended with the happy-go-lucky The Gas-Man Cometh, reminiscent of the circular narrative of Bernard Cribbins’ popular Right Said Fred.

The brothers swap roles! Photo courtesy of Oliver Hancock.

Two pieces highlighted Flanders and Swann’s enduring appeal.  Bedstead Men, ostensibly laughing at the seeming ubiquity of certain pieces of junk in beauty spots, pointed to the despoiling of the countryside with fly tipping, an ongoing problem.  Misalliance cleverly illustrated the intolerance of differences, whether class, culture, politics or race.

The extremely accomplished performance of both Samuel and Oliver reflected their astonishing musical pedigree.  Samuel, a very experienced bass baritone, gave wonderful expression to all the pieces.  Oliver, a music graduate of both Oxford and Cambridge, gave flawless accompaniment, and for one song the brothers swapped places.  Their characterisations were sublime and the nuances of the recital were appreciated by all.

There was an enchanting relationship between Samuel and Oliver and the whimsy of their interplay was amusing and brought smiles to many faces.  The personal stories they shared of their experiences of performing Flanders and Swann enhanced the songs.

The one faux pas was Madeira M’dear.  It was extraordinarily inappropriate to perform this song about the non-consensual sexual abuse of a young girl in the light of what the Me too movement has been highlighting and the very recent revelations about Jeffrey Epstein.  Hopefully they will omit this from any future repertoire.