An enlightening evening of passionate musicians and contemporary pieces.
It is very reassuring to see that seats are being filled due to current talent like Jess Gillam, Ben Glassberg and their orchestral group to celebrate and perform a range of contemporary work. Saxophone Dreams as part of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s New Dimensions concert series was an evening of equally educational and emotionally moving orchestral performance.
The evening consisted of seven compositions, starting with Anna Clyne’s Sound and Fury. This was a fiery beginning to the evening, and an engaging listen. Like river rapids, the composition twisted, picking up and losing pace when needed. Off putting notes and frantic playing from strings and woodwind were the highlight of the piece, finalising with a quotation from Shakespeare’s Macbeth. This piece was a gentle introduction into the possibilities of contemporary composition, including script quotations, discordance sounds and pace changes.
To follow was a shorter piece, Lyric for Strings by George Walker, which was a compact and multifaceted piece. Performed only by string instruments, where plucking is used to evoke percussion and sections of violin mimicked singing, this was an exhibit of what is possible through reduction and minimalism. Therefore, a fitting piece for the show’s introduction.
Glassberg, the orchestra’s conductor, then illuminated the show’s programme: contemporary pieces, many of which inspired by Gillam’s playing and intended for her to play. Then, Gillam joins the Orchestra to perform Dani Howard’s Saxophone Concerto, arranged specifically for Gillam. What followed was a jaunty number that swelled over time, as the saxophone drove the orchestra and accelerated it toward a rise of strings and percussion, opening up into a vast landscape of noise. A fantastic end to the first half.
After the intermission, the orchestra started with Entr’acte by Caroline Shaw, which was a delightfully discordant piece. The orchestra performed the piece with a growing ferocity, taking the song’s volume from soft to very loud. Musicians played like cars passing by. Strings attacked slowly, climbing into an entrance and then spattered out with distant plucking. Filled with silence, this was a discomforting and unpredictable piece, but was an exciting welcome back.
After this, Jess Gillam rejoined to perform saxophone for The Celtic by Dave Heath and Rant! by John Harle. Starting with The Celtic, this piece contains three movements, with the third and final movement being particularly emotionally moving. The piece tells the story of bustling London life, then a deep yearning, then the beauty of Scotland and London coming together. Funnily enough, the saxophone section moves from disagreement, to agreement, to harmony with the orchestra from movement to movement. This was an extremely well composed piece, and a very personal one, which this orchestra brought to life beautifully.
The evening concluded with Rant!, the most technical piece of the evening. Speaking briefly with Gillam after the show, she explained how there is always some anticipation leading up to the performance, much like performing a monologue in a piece of theatre. As for the piece itself, it was an ecstatic performance with apparent western influences. Gillam pulled her parts off with technical brilliance, and by the end the audience was on their feet.
With Gillam’s technical brilliance, Glassberg’s controlled conducting, and an orchestral group full of talented musicians, each with solos and moments to shine, this was a well-organised evening of contemporary work. Each song was placed in the right way, to introduce, move, celebrate and educate about the wealth of new work out there.
Find more work by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra here: https://www.sco.org.uk/