A Saturday afternoon towards the end of November in Manchester. Well, there are the Christmas Markets (same old, same old.. yawn!), and then there's a concert given by the students of Manchester University's Music Society at their resident concert hall in the depths of the university complex along Oxford Road. I'll give you a wee clue as to which I chose...!
The rather splendidly named Cosmo Rodewald Concert Hall within The Martin Harris Centre is one of three classical music concert venues in the city, but is almost exclusively used by the university. It's a very homely and welcoming place.. no-one stands on ceremony here, it's a working and studying centre... and they do a decent cup of tea too!
This afternoon's concert was student-led, and was there to showcase four of the universty's different music ensembles, performing works which would hopefully show their groups and musicianship off to their best advantage.
The first ensemble to take the stage was the Wind Band. They started in bright and upbeat form playing arrangements of animated film tunes etc (some more familiar than others) with real gusto, and plenty of jazz rhythms. This was David Johnson's 'Symphonic Animation', a suite of 6 short pieces from swing to the James Bond-esque. The third movement in this suite featured one of the band crooning his way through the French chanson standard, 'La Mer' (in its English translation). A great start to the concert, and with the 6 movements split between two student conductors it also gave them a chance to practise and hone thier skills too.
The Wind Band then finished (conducted by a third student) with a Star Wars Medley (arr. Burden), which consisted mostly of the main theme we are all familiar with with a quieter section sandwiched in between. A bold flourish of a finish for this first ensemble, setting the bar rather high for those to follow.
The String Ensemble came next and played two pieces; Dvorak's 'Serenade For Strings' followed by movements from 'Six Songs' by John Downland. With the Dvorak being so well known, it is even more imperative to make sure it is solid and secure before performing than let's say, a jazz impro piece or even something by Stockhausen (where you can more or less play any note at any time and still no-one would notice!) Sadly the violin section was extremely tentative with this piece this afternoon, and because they had not tuned their instruments before playing there were also a few differing pitches and unintentional discords. The Downland pieces proved more enjoyable.
After the interval and it was the turn of MUMS Brass Band. A change of conductor here too, [I believe he was the band's main conductor and also a tutor], bringing the best out of this ensemble with three pieces. Starting with a march called 'The Spacemen', it was classic brass band music and was a great opener for the ensemble. This was followed by a much more mellow, and indeed unusual piece of music for a brass band to play; Goff Richards's 'Country Scene', but any thought of nodding off was soon quashed as they then played the opening section of Holst's 'Mars' from his Planets Suite. Rousing, stirring, and consummate. Our conductor then handed the baton to his junior assistant to complete the conducting of the band's set this afternoon. We were first of all taken back into a more mellow mood with a lovely arrangement of 'The Londonderry Air' (Danny Boy), before the whole band let their hair down, changed positions, stood Big Band style, and with flashy Cuban rhythms finished their set with the showpiece that is 'Valero' by James Swearingen.
The last group to play this afternoon was the university's Big Band. Dressing down in Hawaiian shirts and ripped jeans, this was more akin to a band playing at the Academy rather than in the hallows of the Martin Harris Centre, and once they started to play, the volume was too! I have only reviewed the Big Band once before, and I made exactly the same comment last time too... they are simply far too loud! Turn the volume down or better still play accoustically, this is a Big Band not a Heavy Metal one! They played six pieces of music ['Take The A Train', 'Baby Carrots', 'Nuttville', 'Pyramid', 'Whirly Bird', and 'Moanin''.] but I was unable to enjoy them due to the volume level. Undoubtedly they are all consummate players and their skill was undeniable, so I would have liked to have listened to them at the same volume levels as the previous ensembles.
One thing which did make the afternoon drag a little was the arranging and rearranging of the stage. Naturally each ensemble wanted a different seating configuration etc,. but surely, with a little thought beforehand, this could have been stage-managed much swifter, easier, etc. It all seemed very ad hoc when one person removed chairs, stacked them in a pile, and then another came and put the chairs back out again...! Fussy and disorganised.
Overall a very enjoyable concert.
Overall a very enjoyable concert.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 19.11.22
on - 19.11.22
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