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This concert is promoted by Inverurie Music as part of Sound, Scotland's festival of new music.

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Echo Chamber Ensemble

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Morgan's Music Shop

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Enterprise Music Scotland

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Review by Alistair Massey

The Echo Chamber Ensemble, Ruth Morley (flute), Hannah Craib (viola) and Sharron Griffiths (harp), gave an interesting and accomplished concert last Saturday at St Mary's Episcopal Church in Inverurie. The concert was part of the Sound Festival, a festival that features contemporary music. We were fortunate in hearing three brand new compositons. One of these was by student Milly Holroyd who was present to hear her piece and give a bow to the audience.

The use of flute, viola and harp is a particularly expressive combination. It came into vogue in France at the turn of the 20th Century, where its colour and texture mirrored the art of the impressionists. The Echo Chamber Ensemble displayed their mastery of this classic repertoire with a number of pieces from this era, including the Elegiac Trio by Arnold Bax and Claude Debussy's Sonata, which began and ended the recital. They were composed within a few months of each other in 1916. Although Bax was born an Englishman in a leafy London suburb, he fell in love with Ireland, as can be traced in the Celtic qualities in this musical response to the Easter Rising. Debussy's work was composed towards the end of his life, when he was affected by the war and his personal depression. In this richly expressive but economic work, the performance conveyed the moods with a compass of tone and dynamics that were superbly balanced.

The programme broadened to other works from the later 20th Century. The Serenade by Vincent Persichetti showed how much could be achieved with little material and this was followed by lyrical pieces by Jacques Ibert and Joseph Jongen. The Zodiac Trio by Welsh composer William Mathias was an exuberant composition that featured Pisces, Aries and Taurus. With its prominent clap of the strings and castanet rhythm, the bull was unmistakeably a Spanish bull!

The Ensemble invited compositions for the recital and performed works by Milly Holroyd, Emma–Ruth Richards and Gavin Osborne. In Milly's composition, A Beautiful Wolf and the Beautiful Moon, the tone painting was distinctive. As with the other contemporary pieces the Echo Chamber Ensemble accepted the challenges of the new scores with dedication and splendid musicianship.

The next Inverurie Music concert is on 15 March 2014 at the Acorn Centre, Inverurie at 8pm with the Delmege Quartet, celebrating the centenary of Gavin Greig's death. Gavin Greig was a notable folklorist, poet, playwright and novelist who lived in New Deer. He is chiefly remembered for being a collaborator with the Greig-Duncan Folk Song Collection.

Photo by John Hearne

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