Winchester College's school hall welcomed the Chamber Ensemble Conchord, an ensemble which was formed to allow works for unusual instrumental combinations.
It was also interesting to find a mixture of American and English artists - Daniel Pailthorpe (flute), Emily Pailthorpe (oboe), Barnaby Robson (clarinet), Bridget MacRae (cello) and Julian Milford (piano).
The individual accomplishments of the players and their ability to achieve close liaisons was apparent throughout the programme, which began with a Caprice on Danish and Russian airs (onus 79) for flute, oboe, clarinet and piano, by Saint-Saens. Composed in 1887 for famous wind players of the day, it contains much virtuosic writing and profound musicality.
Beethoven's Variations on La ci darem la mano, from Mozart's Don Giovanni, are a charming set in which the theme undergoes a brilliant array of transformations. Oboe, flute and cello were in the closest dialogue, each ready to yield when the interest lay elsewhere.
Poulenc's Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, one of three for woodwind planned as part of a larger set which he did not live to complete, has many of the composer's characteristic changes of mood. The astringent harmonies of the opening to the first movement made an arresting start and the pensive interlude framed by jaunty rhythms added contrasting moments of seriousness. The lyrical Romanza, slow and gentle, had intense peacefulness before the energetic playfulness given to the final Allegro con fuoco.
George Crumb's Vox Balaenae - Voice of the Whale - for three masked players and performed on piano, flute and cello in a darkened hall, was very much a novelty. Prefaced by a recited passage, the work continues to make an unorthodox use of the instruments helped by judicious amplification. The opening "vocalise" with the performer singing into the flute, evokes the strange sounds of the underwater world, leading to five Variations on Sea-Time and concluding with a Sea Nocturne.
The evening concluded with four Hungarian dances, by Brahms, with an arrangement of Bach's Sheep May Safely Graze as an encore.
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