Catching up

It's coming on time to relax for Christmas, so that's my excuse. Here's my catchup on last Thursday, somewhat late and no pics. Morning was two performances, both recorded. Firstly, the Wind Ensemble from Brindabella Orchestra playing one of literally hundreds of Overture/suites by Telemann, this one in D major with four movements comprised of formal dance styles of the era. The Wind Ensemble was a quintet comprising 2xflute, 2xoboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon. Then the U3A Recorder Orchestra led my Margaret Wright. This is a large ensemble with a range of recorders from the descants and tenors down to the boxy, new-styled (and seriously costly) basses. They played a range of music, Mozart, Paisible, Liadov, Bonsor and did it well, but the highlight was an world-premiere, original composition by member Graham Ranft, Requiem Thiepval, a reflection on the Thiepval Cemetery memorial in France, in four parts, apparently recreating the sound of wind through the arch under repair using a dissonant F/F# pair. Then some jazz at night. Tilt played a gig with our mate Richard Manderson sitting in on various saxes. An outdoor gig for primary school kids and their parents, an end-of-year celebration with sizzles and beers. Good fun and an opportunity to let go (for me on EUB and JB) with a beer or two. Always much enjoyed.

Brindabella Wind Ensemble, U3A Recorder Orchestra and Tilt played at various locations last Thursday. Tilt comprised Richard Manderson (sax), James Woodman (piano), Eric Pozza (bass) and Dave McDade (drums).

A world of recorders

It's a strangely welcoming sound. This was the U3A Recorder Orchestra performing at Wesley and there was an absolute motza of people on stage and another row or so in front. There was also an audience to match, presumably friends and family, and these can be a big group with such a large set of performers. But what got me about this was the organ-like tone. Recorders are seen as a modest instrument, although director Margaret Wright says they are demanding to play. Every instrument has its own strengths and weaknesses and places its own demands. The recorder seems modest and at least amongst the smaller incarnations, it is. It's a whistle mouthpiece with a body that sounds chromatic notes. I realised the tone is actually just like an organ, mostly like the steam organ, the caliope, but sometimes more majestically, like a smaller pipe organ. It has the same attack and decay and presumably the sine-wave purity. So all together, in various sizes, they make a similar sound when played well and in concert, and it's pretty and pure. Absurd, maybe, given one organist can play all that sound and more, but great as a communal activity and really quite lovely. I expect it's very hard to get the unity of conception and performance but when it came through here it was satisfying.

Another thing, Canberra's recorderists, and perhaps the whole recorder orchestra scene, seems to be on an international circuit. Margaret runs an organisation that takes performers from nil to Nardini using the range of instruments and it's a big group with multiple components. [BTW, Margaret's group is not alone: there's another recorder outfit in the ACT, CREMS (Canberra Recorder and Early Music Society)]. I attended another concert of this orchestra where they played a composition written for them by English composer Steve Marshall. One composition this day was written for the Colorado Recorder Orchestra. I imagine these groups know of each other. For such a mild-mannered instrument, there seems to be a real scene here. And the strange box-like new form of the tenor and bass instruments confirms there's innovation amongst respected tradition.

This concert comprised a Gabrieli Kyrie, a set of three Renaissance dances by Susato, selections from Mendelssohn's Italian symphony (no.4), a modern tone poem called Mountain mosaic and written by Glen Shannon for the Colorado Recorder Orchestra and Biber Sonata pro tabula. The Biber was written for string orchestra and recorders and was accompanied here by the Four Bridges String Quartet plus one. The repertoire remains strong on the early era, and this is stately and dignified and fits the instruments. But the tone poem was quite a variation, starting with paired interacting recorders (perhaps alto and tenor?) then moving through contrasting colours and moods to portray a visit to a mountain, from sunrise, through birds and journey and wildlife and a nap and a climb and stars and rain and a return to sunset with that same pairing of instruments. The Mendelssohn, too, was diverse, jaunty with a sustained crochet bass line (like walking bass, but without the jazz feel) and with structure. But with my limited awareness of the field, the baroque and renaissance courtliness and joviality seem most attractive. The Gabrieli was dignified and devotional. The dances were innocent until the simple drumming appeared. The Biber was my favourite with its interplay with strings and its compositional development.

It's a very different world from jazz but a fascinating byway in Canberra. Margaret Wright (musical director, conductor) runs the U3A Recorder Orchestra.

Of lair and laird

The U3A Recorder Orchestra comprises eight ranges of recorders but on this day they played seven: sopranino was not required. Recorders don’t have a strong sound. Wikipedia describes them as “remarkably clear and sweet, partly because of the lack of upper harmonics and predominance of odd harmonics” (Recorder, in Wikipedia, viewed 16 Nov 2012).
When they all played together in harmony, with a string of basses down to the strangely squared contrabass, they surprised me with a likeness to a pipe organ. But then, they form notes in much the same way. This orchestra is not professional, with players having lifelong or little experience, so the tone was occasionally strident and intonation was sometimes sacrificed to reading the dots, but they performed a lovely range of musics. These are mediaeval and renaissance instruments, so I wasn’t surprised by a string of 6 Renaissance dances by various composers. I was surprised by the suggestion of an active international recorder family, but I shouldn’t have been. The dancers were arranged by an Englishman; a later Irish suite was composed by Steve Marshall from the UK; this very orchestra had a fantasy written for them by another Brit, Steve Marshall. Otherwise, the music moved from older to newer. From the Renaissance through Palestrina, Mascagni, the original tune and the contemporary Irish Suite, to Berlioz’ magisterial Serenade for the Holy Family. They presented the Berlioz as their Christmas offering - the performance is in St Alban’s Anglican Church, after all. I enjoyed some of the later works, with more syncopation and orchestral pads and instrumental interplays and more expansive concepts, but I think I preferred the simplicity of the early music for these instruments. They sound strangely distant - think Robin Hood but not Errol Flynn - pure and simple, humble when playing Berlioz and contemporary and in the context of the overwhelming power of modern instruments, but proud in their own context of taverns and debauchery or halls and dignity and stateliness. That’s their place and they sound great there. One more of the universe of sounds that is music as we know it now. Margaret Wright conducted the U3A (University of the Third Age) Recorder Orchestra’s Chamber Ensemble at St Albans.