Monday 27th January 2020
7:30pm at the Penrith Methodist Church
Tickets: £16 (students £2), at the door or in advance.

Cavendish Winds comprises a group of young musicians finding their feet in the milieu of the international music scene, under the helpful sponsorship of Making Music.

Their programme includes an eclectic mix of popular classics and standard repertoire for the ensemble, starting with Ligeti’s quirky Bagatelles. These modern, spikey pieces explore the different sonorities of each instrument involved, with occasional nods to Bartok’s folk-inspired work and Stravinsky’s blues/jazz influenced Symphonies of Wind Instruments.

Malcolm Arnold’s Sea Shanties take us through three recognisable songs with deft, light and humorous touches.

Tomasi uses a fuller range of sound than Ligeti in his danses, and a more virtuosic style - the French horn dominates one, bassoon the next. There are bird calls and a jazziness in an express train ending.

Libertango is probably Piazzolla’s most played tango in its many arrangements, and easily conveys the smokey bar-room atmosphere of its origins. By contrast, Mozart’s commision has a solemn introduction, as befits a piece written for a mausoleum and, as indicated, a mechanical organ. Written in the last year of his life, the central allegro has Handelian grandeur and is followed by another brief solemn adagio

Debussy’s prelude has a stillness which should lend itself well to the sustained grace of a wind quintet.

Nielsen’s quintet is the most concerted of the pieces being performed. It displays Nielsen’s quirky humour, the first movement having a profusion of thematic ideas which come to an abrupt, trilling halt before a return to the opening theme. The 2nd movement begins with a promising fugue between clarinet & bassoon, then a conversation with the oboe and flute, with the horn adding depth to the harmony. A brief repeat of this follows, the clarinet’s bucolic them predominating. The next movement is a contrasting slow exposition of cadenzas, starting with flute, and linked by sombre chords; the finale is a set of variations on a chorale, highlighting each instrument, and finishing with a reprise of the chorale and a small final joke on the bassoonist.

Programme

More about Cavendish Winds

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