Scottish Ensemble: La Follia

18 Feb 2013 in Highland, Music, Showcase

OneTouch Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 17 February 2013

JOINING forces with harpsichord soloist Jan Waterfield the Scottish Ensemble’s latest tour featured musical earworms from across the centuries with works by Geminiani, Górecki, Williams, Holst, Vivaldi, Britten and Suckling.

EXPLORING repetition in rhythm, harmony and melody, the programme and performances highlighted the joy and energy of musical ideas expanded and held in the mind of composer and audience. Geminiani’s Concerto Grosso ‘La Follia’ (1727) opened the concert in a stately fashion, expanding into a cascade of 24 variations and providing a lively introduction to the programme that followed.

Scottish Ensemble (photo Joanne Green)

Scottish Ensemble (photo Joanne Green)

Górecki’s hugely enjoyable but rhythmically unrelenting Harpsichord Concerto (1980) provided a rare opportunity to see the instrument amplified and creating an extraordinary range of sound. From the opening, reminiscent of the intro to a Rock power ballad, the work moves cyclically with a rhythmic impetus that is surprisingly mesmerising. There are times when the music resembles the movement of a hurdy gurdy or broken down circus ride, with the oscillating harpsichord driving the work into an almost meditative state.

This constant presence punctuated by variations of key and tempo provided form and variation, with entertaining sequences evocative of Horror soundtracks or a slice of Hitchcock. Humorous interludes aside, the core of this work is in the hands of the soloist, at times pitted against the strings and Jan Waterfield’s compelling performance succeeded in revealing an entirely unexpected side to the instrument and its powerful capacity for expression.

It was a pleasure to hear British contemporary composer Martin Suckling’s third musical postcard, Chimes at Midnight, commissioned by the Ensemble. These postcard compositions have been exciting additions to the Ensemble’s repertoire, and this wonderfully atmospheric piece is no exception. The high squeezed sound of violins and deep double bass feel like nocturnal churnings of the mind, with sound emerging out of an inky ground of unconscious thought.

Vaughan Williams beautiful Violin Concerto ‘Concerto Accademico’ (1925) returned the audience to more familiar territory with its melodic folk tunes and evocation of the British countryside. The expansiveness of solo violin and strings create a sonic/spatial element of sky and hills and, although considerably more robust than his The Lark Ascending, is no less moving, especially in the second movement Adagio with solo cello.

Holst’s St. Paul’s Suite (1912) continued the English folk theme with its resoundingly familiar melodies contrasted in the third movement Intermezzo with an exotic and mysterious interlude by solo violin, like a musical tale from the Arabian Nights. The combination of introspective melody; Greensleeves and the jig-like rhythms of The Dargason Circles played in a series of intricate variations create a dynamic final movement to this captivating work. The quality of performance highlighted the sensibility of all the musical elements at play in the concerto, together with the repetition of thematic content in the work of individual composers as a catalyst for further development.

Górecki ‘s 3 Pieces in the Old Style (1963) was another highlight of the concert, an exploration of repetition over centuries of musical styles which in the second movement Menuetto echoes early sacred music making in its processional rhythm and underpinning dirge. Melodically anchored to the folk music of his native Poland, this work has an ancient and contemplative feel which resonated in the Scottish Ensemble’s beautifully articulate performance.

Vivaldi’s Concerto Grosso no. 10 in B minor (1711) featured magnificent solo performances in dialogue with each other. This joyful and vibrant performance of a familiar and well-loved work transformed it, highlighting the way that the Scottish Ensemble led by lead violinist and Artistic Director Jonathan Morton are able to actively alter the audience perception of standard classical repertoire. This heightened experience is facilitated by each member of the ensemble who clearly love and are invigorated by the music they perform.

Britten’s playful Simple Symphony (1934) provided a fitting finale to a programme infused with imaginative connections and the infinite variety of repetition. The obsessive, innovative and transformative dimensions of sound were brilliantly celebrated in a programme of pure enjoyment and insight.

© Georgina Coburn, 2013

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