West End Festival Edinburgh Quartet & Alan Hacker, Glasgow University Concert Hall 4/5
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Summary
WILLIAM SWEENEY'S Clarinet Quintet, commissioned by Alan Hacker more than a decade ago, really should get out more. It is a highly accessible and approachable piece and - in the hand of these players at least - a warming experience. Introduced by a Scots air - of Sweeney's own devising - it takes its folk inspiration in very interesting directions. Hacker played that first solo in a style that implied not just the Highland bagpipes by the entire tradition in his tone - but it was only one of many voices he introduced.
Although there was one striking passage for the viola of Michael Beeston and a robust interjection later from Mark Bailey's cello, the clarinet really has a concert-like relationship with the strings in the piece, although their accompanying role is never bland. The spotlight, though, was on the single reed, with figures and runs as much jazz inspired as traditional Scots, with echoes of early Sidney Bechet at one point.See the full content of this document
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West End Festival Edinburgh Quartet & Alan Hacker, Glasgow University Concert Hall 4/5
Judith Weir's String Quartet of 1990 i...
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