John Gough, 16 March 2007, Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon
The Orchestra of the Swan has a warm and intimate relationship with its audience, and this concert was further illustration of its care for communication. There were spoken contributions from the stage at various points by conductor David Curtis, violin soloist David Le Page, and composer Paul Patterson, whose 60th birthday year this is, and from whom OOTS commissioned a new work, his Allusions for two solo violins and strings.
This substantial and accessible piece was a virtuoso showcase for the orchestra and the two soloists, Le Page, and Cathy Leech. The Allusions of the title were to three operatic characters, each given an appropriate musical characterisation. Fittingly for Stratford, the first movement depicted Sir John Falstaff; the darker second movement featured Don Giovanni, while the finale moved to the affirmative world of Mozart’s Figaro.
The Verdian opening had great dynamism and excitement, creating a vivid picture of its Shakespearian hero. The introspective central movement, with its sustained dark opening chords on muted strings, gave an atmosphere reminiscent of Bartok’s night music as long solo lines intersected to provide lyrical moments of heartfelt beauty, along with a sinister harmonic tension. By the end we knew something profound had happened, but what?
The witty finale quoted directly from Figaro in an athletic chase. Here was impressive quiet playing as motives were nonchalantly tossed between all sections of the orchestra, no sooner a Mozartean shape identified than it was gone, replaced by another in scampering pursuit.
OOTS played with a palpable sense of enjoyment at this new gift they had been given, and at the end of the evening I found myself haunted by the enigmatic beauty of the slow movement. I hope to hear it again soon.
Christopher Morley, 1 May 2007, Hagley Festival
And there were further Mozartean references in Paul Patterson's Allusions for two violins and orchestra. David le Page and Catherine Leech brought bustling wizardry to their solo parts in a work which should be added to the canon of English string orchestra works without delay. |
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Paul Patterson
Born in 1947, Paul Patterson entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1964 as a trombone player before turning to composition and he has retained strong links with the Royal Academy ever since, first as Head of Composition and Contemporary Music and now as the Manson Professor of Composition.
His flair in producing works which are both challenging and accessible for performers and listeners has resulted in a series of highly regarded works, spreading his name all over the world. In 1997, in celebration of his 50th birthday, he was the featured composer on BBC Radio 3's Composer of the Week.
He has held many distinguished positions, Composer-in-Residence for South East Arts in Canterbury, Artistic Director of the Exeter Festival, and currently Composer-in-Residence of the National Youth Orchestra.
Many honours bestowed upon him include the Medal of Honour from the Polish Ministry of Culture and the Royal Philharmonic Society for outstanding services to contemporary music.
Commissions and Performances
Allusions for Two Solo Violins and Strings - 2007
14 March 2007: Civic Hall, Stratford-upon-Avon (world premiere)
28 April 2008: Hagley Festival
23 June 2007: Corsham Festival
28 July 2007: Aberystwyth Festival
13 December 2007: Mikkeli City Orchestra, Finland,
Allusions for Two Solo Violins and Strings
False Impressions
Mindscape
Beneath the Surface
Paul Patterson has had a long relationship with the world of the string instrument. Works like the Sinfonia for Strings, Tides of Mannanan, the Cello Concerto and the Violin Concerto are central to his instrumental output. Patterson was asked to write a work for the Orchestra of the Swan as a result of a close working relationship with the orchestra over the last few years. When asked about writing a work for the Orchestra, Patterson commented: "Over the years I have been so impressed by the unique quality of sound which Orchestra of the Swan's string section creates. When I was invited to write a piece to celebrate my 60th birthday with them, I was immediately drawn to the idea of writing for the strings. Allusions has turned out to be a real show piece for the two brilliant soloists from the orchestra, David Le Page and Cathy Leech, and for the string orchestra itself. There's a lot of fun about it, with plenty of 'chasing' between the soloists and orchestra, and a very lively orchestral accompaniment to the dialogue between the two soloists." The work is dedicated to the Orchestra's Artistic Director, David Curtis.
This cleverly thought out eighteen-minute work owes its existence to three operatic characters, each of which are given musical characterisation in an appropriate, musically speaking, stylistic manner. Love and/or seduction play a major part these character's lives.
False Impressions, the first movement, depicts Sir John Falstaff, with the musical material based on the fugue from the finale of Verdi's opera. The introspective second movement, Mindscape, inherits the dark world of Don Giovanni's meeting with the Commendatore whilst the sprightly third movement, Beneath the Surface, quotes directly from Mozart's Marriage of Figaro.
Lewis Mitchell
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