Royal Conservatoire of Scotland: Red Note Ensemble
RCS Stevenson Hall, Glasgow - 26/01/24
Ryan McAdams, conductor | Marianna Abrahamyan, piano
As part of their Fridays at One series, the Stevenson Hall of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland played host to contemporary music specialists, the Red Note Ensemble, conducted by American conductor now based in Brighton, Ryan McAdams, on the afternoon of 26th January. The programme featured three pieces by emerging composers currently studying at RCS and concluded with Ligeti’s Piano Concerto, with award-winning Armenian pianist Marianna Abrahamyan, who is completing a research Doctorate in Performance at the RCS while also on the staff, as soloist. Less than 24 hours after a sparsely attended BBCSSO programme featuring contemporary music, this admittedly smaller venue was pleasingly full. All 3 young composers were present to acknowledge the applause after their pieces,
The opening piece, ‘On G’ by Stirlingshire-born PhD composer Kate Sagovsky, quasi-programmatically depicts a conversation with her mother, a former classical pianist now confined to bed by secondary progressive MS and no longer able to play. It is scored for xylophone, violin, cello, trombone, flute and oboe, and also a whip. Chord explorations give way to comments from individual instruments, especially xylophone and trombone. Oblique references to Chopin’s ‘Fantaisie Impromptu in C#-minor’ are interrupted by equally oblique references to nursery rhyme interruptions, suggestive of a toddler keyboard. A 50 Hz long crescendo drone, produced by a low-frequency electric vibrator placed within a grand piano as a sympathetic resonator grows in amplitude, representing the intrusive hum from the mother’s airflow mattress pump. At the end of the piece, the players stop suddenly and we hear the resonance of the piano die away slowly to silence. A very interesting, thought-provoking and poignant piece.
Next up, Kassia Bailey’s ‘Twice Upon’ is a play on the fairy-tale opening “Once upon a time”. Kassia, a Glasgow-based composer of colour identifying as queer, has re-imagined music from the portfolio that first secured her entry to RCS 7 years ago, before the pandemic interrupted her studies. The music, like Kassia herself, has emerged with a new name and identity. It is melodic and gently contrapuntal, with a slowish common time metre and elements suggestive of fanfares, music boxes and laments, and has a vaguely narrative style. The instrumentation adds marimba and single tubular bell plus a set of bells and there is lots of exploration of interesting timbres and sonorities, including muted and unmuted trombone, solo violin harmonics, clarinet and piccolo in conversation. The mood is sometimes wistful and sometimes passionate, concluding morendo. Moments of introspection reminded me of middle period Shostakovich quartets. A very satisfying listen.
Kaiwen Liu is studying at the RCS for a Masters in Composition, having already gained a Bachelors in Engineering and a Masters in Visual Arts. His piece, ‘Wind is Tonight’s Answer’, is inspired by ancient Chinese cosmology and he wants the listener to feel the energy perspective in the music, rather than strive to understand it analytically. The piece opens with a Chinese poem being recited over the PA speakers, with an English translation following out of sync. The music seems to grow organically from assorted simple timbrally contrasting elements which, though separate, appear to be aspects of an organic whole. Interesting effects from wind chimes and tuned gongs merge with more conventional timbres. The Chinese poem returns before a serene conclusion. Another intriguing and satisfying piece.
Ligeti’s 5-movement Piano Concerto was completed in 1988 and it is an immensely technically demanding work, which Marianna took in her stride. Although the marimba and tubular bells were removed, the ensemble was augmented with the addition of a double bass, a trumpet and horn and a large array of assorted percussion, not forgetting a few additional oddities like a wolf whistle and an ocarina. Much of the writing is polyrhythmic or syncopated, with playfulness rather than tension defining the distinctly non-concertante style, certainly in the first movement. In the slower second movement, after a calm orchestral introduction, peremptory interruptions from orchestral instruments seek to derail the piano’s serenity, eventually building to a huge shrill climax, after which the movement concludes quietly. The thrilling third movement’s fiendishly difficult polyrhythmic piano part was stunningly precise, offset by some lovely cantabile lyricism from the solo violin (Jackie Shave) and a calm brief piano cadenza to conclude. Concertante elements emerge in the fourth movement, with short declamatory phrases sometimes seemingly in conflict, other times in agreement. The two percussionists were kept busy moving between the array of instruments. More fiendishly complex polyrhythms on a 6/8 matrix in the Presto finale with lovely timbral colour from the glockenspiel, thrilling to the last ‘bock’ on the wood block. Marianna’s pianism was dazzling, both technically and expressively.