SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Bennett, McCormack, Butler, Knussen, McCabe: Linos Wind Quintet (Juliette Bausor (flute), Daniel Bates (oboe), Christopher Richards (clarinet), Katharine Willison (bassoon), Christopher Parkes (horn)), Rebecca Wood (oboe), John McCabe and Alasdair Beatson (piano), Wigmore Hall, London, 25.7.2008 (BBr)

Richard Rodney Bennett: Sonata for wind quintet and piano (1986)
Andrew McCormack: Modern Innocence (2008) (World Première)
Richard Rodney Bennett: Ballad in memory of Shirley Horn (2005) (London Première)
Martin Butler: Dirty Beasts (1988)
Martin Butler: Down Hollow Winds (1991)
Oliver Knussen: Three Little Fantasies, op.6a (1970 rev 1983)
Richard Rodney Bennett: Troubadour Music (2006) (World Première)
John McCabe: Concerto for piano and wind quintet (1969)


There was a time, and not so long ago, that “modern” music could clear a concert hall. Ludicrous as this may seem, I remember attending a Prom, some 25 years ago, where the first half was given by the Academy of Ancient Music, and was well received, and the second half was given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. That second half didn’t include fantastically radical “new” music - Elliott Carter’s Piano Concerto, then nearly 20 years old, and Charles Ives’s Three Places in New England, 70 years old at the time of this particular performance. I have never seen so many members of the audience walk out of a concert as they did on that night.

I thought that we had managed to get past that stage in our concert going. Tonight’s concert, however, confirmed my worst fears. Although none of the music played tonight would exactly scare the horses, I am left wondering why the show was so poorly attended. Bennett and McCabe are well enough known figures in our musical life, both as performers and composers, that we have nothing to fear from them – their quality is legion – so perhaps it was the inclusion of McCormack (who, it must be said, would be a new name to many), Butler and Knussen, but both of the latter were represented by some of their loveliest, and most approachable works.

Andrew McCormack studied with Mark-Anthony Turnage and received the BBC Jazz Award for “Rising Star” in 2006. Modern Innocence is a one movement piece which I found to be much of a muchness; well crafted, to be sure, but with little variety and without real substance and personality.

Martin Butler’s Dirty Beasts sets three Roald Dahl poems for speaker with wind quintet and piano. This is music which is supposed to be funny, because the words are funny, but musically, it was written in his usual style, which doesn’t give itself up for humour, except in parody. The piece seemed terribly passé. Enjoyment wasn’t helped by the narrator, oboist Daniel Bates, being all but inaudible above the accompaniment. Down Hollow Winds is a much more successful composition, a pastoral idyll, beautifully laid out for the five instruments, full of interesting twists and turns, and, best of all, thoroughly melodic. A real winner of a piece.

Knussen’s Little Fantasies are delightful miniatures which aren’t long enough to outstay their welcome. The slow movement was particularly haunting in its simplicity and grace.

The lion’s share of the concert went to Richard Rodney Bennett. The new pieces, Ballad in memory of Shirley Horn and Troubadour Music showed both sides of his musical personality. The Ballad was written to be premiered on Artie Shaw’s clarinet, the year after that great performers death. This short work was not just elegiac, for it contained a cadenza and a more agitated section, but it was deeply felt and very touching. The end left the audience in breathless suspension. Troubadour Music couldn’t have been more of a contrast. A set of variations on a 13^th century minstrel song, it was, in general, light hearted and easy going. Both works were written for clarinet and piano and Christopher Richards proved himself to be a dedicated performer.

The real meat of the show came at the beginning and the end. Bennett’s Sonata is a tough work, written in one continuous movement, with three sections, and not, perhaps, the best work with which to start a concert. It is densely scored and the argument isn’t always clear. But it’s a strong work and, I am sure, could become more accessible with repeated hearings – and performances as good as this one could win it many friends. The evening ended with McCabe’s brilliant Concerto for piano and wind quintet. Although this is extrovert McCabe, there is as much tension and energy as in his three “proper” Piano Concertos. The members of the Quintet really threw themselves into their roles as full orchestra, and relished the multifaceted writing. McCabe was the outstanding pianist he always is in his own work and Bennett’s Sonata and Alasdair Beatson was in command for the other works with piano.

Overall, this was a most satisfying exposition of recent music and a lot of thought had obviously gone into the programming. However, I wonder if starting with the Bennett Sonata was such a good idea. Even though the audience was of the converted, surely it would have been a better idea to start with Knussen’s pieces for they would have led us gently into the seriousness of the first half, rather than plunge us straight into the more complicated works. A small point, perhaps, but significant.

The Linos Quintet is a fine group of young players and tonight it showed itself to be well equipped to tackle such a taxing programme and bring it off with great aplomb. One thing I might mention, good player that he is Christopher Parkes did tend to dominate the sound when playing at any volume over mezzo forte. Whether this was his natural exuberance or a strange manifestation of the acoustic I don’t know, but on occasion, it did jar and spoil the ensemble.

Bob Briggs

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