OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 8 December 2011

AS SCOTLAND went into amber and red weather warnings and all road trips were cancelled, not even a shed and trees on train tracks, a stranded viola player or the absence of a double bass, large bass drum and signature candelabra staging stopped this performance!

With the loan of a double bass from a local musician, candelabra from an obliging florist and some necessary programme changes, the show resoundingly went on. It may go down in history as the most eventful performance day ever, but as nature’s chaos reigned throughout the country the Scottish Ensemble treated their Inverness audience to a truly sublime journey with a selection of music by Purcell and contemporary composers from Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.

Jonathan Morton was exceptional in Vasks' Distant Light (photo Tommy Ga-Ken Wan)

Although changes to the programme, including the omission of William Byrd’s Fantasia a 6 No. 2 in G Minor, no doubt affected the flow of works, especially during the first half, the juxtaposition of contemporary works from the Balkans with 17^th century music was inspired, heightening appreciation of the unique qualities of each work.

The stark contrast between Lithuanian composer Bronius Kutavicius’s Northern Gates of Jerusalem and Purcell’s Dance of the Furies drew the audience from the bold sound of chains, drum and almost electronic sounding strings into the ceremonial flourish and repose of Purcell’s composition inspired by Classical Roman myth.

The visceral nature of the Lithuanian composer’s work, stripped bare of any discernible melodic structure, presenting instead an attitude or state inspired by Shamanic ritual, may have worked better with a drum of sufficient scale and depth to be felt in the ribcage of everyone present. It was however an interesting aural assault, building with convergent intensity in conclusion and a gratifying introduction to the evening.

It is a rare pleasure to hear the music of Arvo Pärt performed live in Inverness, and the Scottish Ensemble’s performance of Fratres (1977) by the great Estonian composer was one of the highlights of the evening.

Fratres combines an almost primordial sensibility, a sense of expectation in silence, ritualistic percussion and superbly layered strings that is richly evocative and transcendent. A deeply spiritual composer for a secular age, his tintinnabular style, together with the influence of sacred music such as Gregorian chant, creates an internal, contemplative space for the listener to inhabit.

The musical structure of Fratres is grounded in ancient practice, but also represents a point of departure, and it is this essential relationship between tradition and innovation that is a core strength of Pärt’s work.

Erkki-Sven Tüür’s rhythmically driven Action and the joyous impetus and discord of Illusion, both from his 1993 work Show, certainly whet the appetite for further exploration of the composer’s work. Between these two pieces Purcell’s beautiful and elegantly poised Fantasia Upon One Note (1680) positively shone.

It was Peteris Vasks’s Distant Light, however, that was the revelation of the evening. An extremely moving concerto for violin and strings within a single span, this is a work which feels grounded in heaven and earth.

The lone voice of solo violin seems to embody the human condition, aspirational and vulnerable. The range of sound reinvented is incredibly expansive; from the opening sequence where strings reverberate like single raindrops, the heightened tone of strings evoking an altered state of consciousness, to singular rhythms and melodies from Latvian folk music grounded in identity, to unified passages of orchestral intensity.

Distant Light is an engagingly complex work of remarkable beauty and clarity. Jonathan Morton’s solo performance was exceptional, communicating the poignancy, restraint and vitality of the composer’s work in dialogue with the whole ensemble. Vasks’s intention “to provide food for the soul” was realised completely in this performance.

The Scottish Ensemble’s annual December candlelit concert is a much loved tradition in the unconventional. At a time when sunlight certainly feels distant and the world chaotic, it is good to be reminded of the restorative power of music in what is perhaps the most resonant Christmas concert of them all.

Although this performance came at the end of a very challenging day for Jonathan Morton and his whole ensemble, it was an extremely rewarding, enlightening and enjoyable experience for their very appreciative audience.

© Georgina Coburn, 2011

Links

• Scottish Ensemble