Until a few months ago, the name Gus Gowland meant nothing to me. I did however, have the opportunity of watching an online streamed performance of his Musical, 'Pieces Of String' which was performed at The Mercury Theatre in Colchester in 2018, winning him critical acclaim.
For my appraisal of this Musical then please read here:
https://number9reviews.blogspot.com/2020/05/theatre-review-pieces-of-string-mercury.html
And now his name has come to the fore once again, as his music is showcased in the latest of Cirencester's Barn Theatre online concerts. Once again introduced by Jamie Chapman Dixon, we learn about the background to the music and the composer, as well as getting to know what his latest projects are and his inspirations for them.
10 songs in all, sung by current Musical Theatre performers, showcasing their talents too whilst theatres are still dark (hopefully not for much longer...!). As well as a couple of songs from 'Pieces Of String' - including my favourite song from that show, the male quartet, "Standing In The Shadows" - we heard music from some work-in-progress musicals that Gowland is currrently working on.
With songs from 'Candidates', 'The Red Virgin', 'Black Lines', and 'Viareggio', and singers such as Craig Mather, Charlotte Wakefield, Kiran Patel, and Imogen Halsey, we truly appreciated the music and lyric style of Gowland. One thing in particular which seems to dominate much of his music is the use of basso continuo, alberti bass and ostinato in his accompaniments, but what impresssed most of all was his storytelling technique through the songs. The lyrics being an integral part of the whole, defining and ameliorating narrative and character development.
My favourite song of the evening, apart from 'Standing In The Shadows', was Abigail Matthews's rendition of 'The Sculptor' from 'The Red Virgin'.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 30/8/20
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