Guildhall Symphonic Wind Ensemble / Reynish, Barbican, London

Review,Bayan Northcott
Friday 28 October 2005 00:00 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

They certainly chose a taxing opener to their latest programme. Tippett devised his Concerto for Orchestra (1963) to challenge the LSO in its most virtuoso phase. Its first movement, entitled Mosaic when performed separately, is a shifting collage of nine sub- groupings, each with its own material. Hardly surprising if his squiggling part-writing for clarinets or tuba brought the odd fluff on this occasion. But the standard, not to say stamina, of the playing in the rest of the concert were impressive.

Two recent items by Michael Berkeley came next: a short, tart scherzo entitled Shooting Stars in its first London hearing, and the premiere of Slow Dawn, a substantial dark processional with a more fiercely active central section. Tightly articulated and full of imposingly dissonant textures, these pieces not only formed a cohesive diptych, but could convincingly take their place in a larger structure, even a Symphony for Wind Instruments.

Then there were two concertante items. An effective, if not very personal, mini-saxophone concerto entitled Restless Birds before the Dark Moon, by the American composer David Kechley, enclosed a sentimental centre between busy minimalist outer sections; John Harle was the stentorian soloist. Adam Gorb's Elements, with the ace percussionist Richard Benjafield, proved longer and more problematic: full of attractive sonorous trouvailles, but curiously unfocused in style, and seeming to be on the point of ending many times before it actually did.

The concert culminated in Magnus Lindberg's now almost classic Gran Duo, with its pair of interlocking ensembles ricocheting massive chordal progressions and florid Gabrieli-esque apostrophes back and forth.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in