As the old saying goes, “Christmas comes but once a year and when it comes it brings…” Well, it brings good cheer, but it also brings the Scottish Ensemble’s Candlelight Concerts.
But this isn’t a Christmas concert along the usual lines, one that is brim-full of Christmas music.
Instead it is one where the ambiance provides a musical escape from the norm, a chance to reflect and consider the fuller things in life that occur not just at this time of year but for the months before and after.
Composers you rarely hear
Although two works, the arrangement of the German carol New Found is the Fairest of Roses and the encore Carol of the Bells did give a nod to the festive season.
This escape from the norm usually takes the shape of composers you rarely hear of never mind their music.
Edmund Finnis, Elizabeth Maconchy, Errollyn Wallen and Sally Norris were all new to me but that’s the essence of the Scottish Ensemble.
They take folk out of their comfort zone and deliver an innovative and fascinating programme that might be short in length but overflowing in musical treasures.
Having said that, usually one or even two of the composers the SE feature can leave me less than enamoured.
On Wednesday night in the Caird Hall all nine hit the spot, some more than others.
In the latter category Caroline Shaw stands tall and proud. Her two contributions were excellent, The Beech Tree and Entracte.
This lady knows the score and how much you can get from a string ensemble.
Harmonies, frenzied at times I have to admit, and the ability to use every possible string sound and effect and a variety of mood.
A chance to shine
Another composer who merits plaudits is Peteris Vasks, and that is for two reasons.
Beautiful atmospheric music and the opportunity to give violist Jane Atkins a well-merited chance to shine.
Most often hidden in the ranks of an orchestra, to have her in a solo capacity was a complete joy.
In two movements of Vasks’ concerto her tone was sublime and her interpretation intense, which led to sense of contentment equalled only by Shaw’s ingenuity.
Thomas Ades is a composer who blows hot and cold with me and on Wednesday he was red hot.
Complex and satisfying
Few composers can segue from a Bach slow movement such as his O Albion did. It was complex, perhaps, but ultimately satisfying.
Did I mention Bach? Well the great man made two appearances, the second and third movements of his A minor violin concerto with the Ensemble’s director Jonathan Morton once again showing his class.
But for once, the maestro played second fiddle, if you’ll pardon the expression, to composers who appeared more than two centuries later.
But that’s what I like about the Scottish Ensemble. Their ability to mix the standard repertoire with new discoveries and new ideas, while at the same time leaving an audience agog at sublime string playing, cohesion and collectiveness that leaves nothing to be desired.
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