Folkish Flavours

Review by Kirsten Parry
29 June 2019
The Capitol, Horsham

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis
Adriano Adewale: Percussion Concerto (world premiere, featuring Adriano Adewale)
Grainger: Lincolnshire Posy
Bartók: Dance Suite

A beautifully crafted programme caused much excitement amongst audience members before they even walked through the doors of Horsham’s (thankfully, air-conditioned!) Capitol Theatre in the balmy evening of the hottest day of the year so far. With an air of something feeling a little different about the repertoire, orchestra and audience members alike anticipated a wonderful evening of interesting and varied music, introduced and conducted by Steve Dummer.

It was captivating to hear Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910), a church hymn infused with folk played beautifully by HSO’s string musicians. The modal harmony, haunting themes and antiphonal textures took us on a journey into the unknown – regardless of our existing familiarity with the piece. The textural contrasts were incredibly effective, with two string orchestras; one large and one small, and a string quartet whose solos were breathtaking. This was an amazing union of talented string musicians who were able to fill the theatre with the sound of Vaughan Williams’ soaring – yet shimmering – melodies.

Next, we were treated to the timbral contrast of the wind, brass and percussion sections in Grainger’s thrilling Lincolnshire Posy (1937). This set of six short pieces, one of which was collected in Horsham itself, contains characteristic folk elements such as rapid harmonic changes, motivic development, modal and pentatonic scale subsets and cross-rhythms. The Lincolnshire Posy was performed with great energy and character; an invigorating work by a composer who was instrumental in the British folk music revival in the early 20th century. This was an exciting end to the first half of a varied and vibrant concert.

After the interval, we heard the much-anticipated world premiere of Adriano Adewale’s Percussion Concerto. His rapport with Steve and the orchestra was evident as he was rapturously welcomed on stage to perform in the spotlight of his own, beautifully introduced, work. As Adewale indicated to the audience before the performance, music is ‘a powerful weapon of togetherness’ and he clearly conveyed this through his integration of unexpected instrumentation and musical styles. The audience was engaged throughout with an astonishing array of Brazilian and Angolan percussion instruments in use, and Adewale’s stage presence brought the performance – and the orchestra – alive. I hugely enjoyed the minimalist inflections in this concerto, with a focus on rhythm and timbre over melody and harmony; this was a refreshing approach by Adewale, who suggests that ‘a world where playing less might have a greater effect than playing more’. It’s safe to say that this concerto was a great joy to watch and listen to and we’re all excited to see what Adewale does next with his virtuosic and compositional talent.

The final step on our musical journey of folk brought us Bartok’s Dance Suite, which was a dramatic and momentous five-movement composition. The urgent but constantly changing atmosphere was beautifully crafted by Dummer and conveyed by each and every musician, reflecting the turbulent life events that Bartok was experiencing when he wrote the work. The orchestra maintained an infectious enthusiasm right up until the final flourish; a dramatic and unexpected ending for a unique, folk-filled and thoroughly enjoyable programme. Yet another wonderful evening thanks to HSO – the countdown is now on for Mahler in November!