In this time of online media replacing the live event due to the curent pandemic, Manchester's RNCM have joined the webspace with a series of concerts being performed live inside the RNCM building but to an empty auditorium, or perhaps just a handful of invited guests. This is 'Live From The RNCM'. However last Thursday saw them start a new initiative still as part of the same series: 'Thursday Lates'. Here each section of the school has a concert dedicated to themselves to highlight and showcase just one small section of what goes on behind the RNCM's closed doors. These Thursday Live concerts are only available to watch online each Thursday via their website, and this, their third concert featured two of the school's chamber ensembles - one brass and the other wind.
The first ensemble to take to their socially-distanced stage was the newly formed Whitworth Brass Septet, which started only in March joining seven of the school's students in an ensemble which is not common and I don't know of much music, or perhaps indeed any, which has been written especially for this configuration. Perhaps this is why all four of the pieces they played this evening were arranged for this grouping.
They started with Purcell. Bright, crisp and clear sounds came from the stage as the familiar structures of Baroque music filed the speakers on my computer. A jolly opener to their set, and sensibly played. A complete change of mood and era came next as Knight's arrangement of a Romantic German song was turned into something quite mystical. This was Brahms's 'Geistliches Lied', a slow, lyrical hymn-like melody which translates as a 'Spiritual Song'. For their third and fourth pieces the ensemble chose to include the services of another school pupil, Charlie Saunders, on the drum kit, and they spiced their repertoire up a bit with ragtime and jazz. First, Scott Joplin's Stomptime Rag - arranged by one of the ensemble - which worked excellently in this format, and then they finished with the traditional Spiritual 'Wade In The Water', which arranger Bassey had turned into an upbeat showstopper, even managing to get a Big Band sound out of such a small number of players. Very impressive.
Whitworth Brass Septet impressed, and it must have been incredibly difficult to play "together" when they were all 3 meters apart from each other. Coronavirus isn't making things easy for us is it??!!
After a short break, we then turned to the wind instruments, specifically the flutes. Here we heard another RNCM chamber ensemble, The Quora Flute Quartet. Their opening piece was arranged by the ensemble, and worked excellently. Lili Boulanger, one of the lesser known French Impressionist composers, wrote this haunting piece in 1911 for violin and piano; and yet here it was transcribed beautifully and was played with great passion and skill. Their second and final piece was three movements from the only composer in the concert that I had not heard of. This was a piece of music called 'Salt Of The Earth' from contemporary American composer Catherine McMichael. the three movements, as indeed the whole suite, are, as the title might suggest, about the land and landscape of her native Oklahoma. The three movements had been given titles by McMichael, "Ferocity", "Iniquity" and "Audacity", which were emotive, however, I further subtitled each movement as I interpreted the music hearing for the first time, and I came up with, "Wild Fire", "Corn In The Spring Breeze", and "Labourers Retire To The Pub After Working In The Fields".
I have to be honest, and I really didn't think I was going to enjoy this piece when it was announced, as I am no fan of discordant, atonal, contemporary "noise" (a-hem!); however this music was lyrical, harmonic, tuneful, and yet still very modern with that most distinctive American lilt which permeates much of the music from the other side of the pond. In her music I heard shades of Copland, Ives, Barber, and even Robert Russell Bennett. I really enjoyed it, and was a great finish to a wonderful concert of LIVE music.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 15/10/20
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