A Friday night concert in Die Glöcke, Bremen with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, was a very British meeting of minds. Ben Goldscheider gave the German premiere of a new concerto from British composer Huw Watkins, with British conductor Duncan Ward at the helm. Written following a recent collaboration celebrating the legacy of legendary British French horn player Dennis Brain, this had all the ingredients for a very special performance.
Since competing in the finals of BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2016, Goldscheider has sought to make his own very distinctive mark in the classical music world. Inspired by Dennis Brain, Goldscheider, aged just 26, is quietly and methodically building up an extensive portfolio of new commissions: a total of fifty to date, and ten this year alone. For his efforts, he has been nominated for The Times Breakthrough Award for Classical Music at the inaugural Sky Arts Awards 2024.
The work
I
The opening of the first movement is full of billowing triplets and cross rhythms which challenge orchestra and soloist alike, resulting in an ocean of swirling and whirling waves, tossing and tumbling. Watkins seeks to explore the extremities of the horn’s register, alternating between tricky octave jumps and fast passage work. A theme he continues in all three movements. Speaking to Watkins later, he explained: “Ben is a heroic young man, full of optimism. His character inspired my writing”.
II
The beginning of the Lento with the beautiful oboe obligato is quite a contrast to the busy Allegro molto. Lush harmonies, devoid of consonance or dissonance, neither heading towards nor returning from a destination, proliferate.
The final obligato evokes echoes of Britten’s Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings before the muted horn concludes with some beautiful unresolved dissonances.
To those who may consider Watkins’ work to be angular or even ’12-tone music’, his very distinctive harmonic language feels fresh and alive. Dissonances are sometimes resolved, but not perhaps as expected.
III
The end of the Allegro sees one of the trickiest moments in the whole work. The solo horn makes antiphonal exchanges, first with the trumpets and then with the orchestral horns, developing distinct instrumental timbres before passing them on in a new and more challenging register. Really very clever, especially at this fast tempo!
This most attractive concerto is a crowd pleaser and deserves to quickly become a staple in the horn repertoire.
A concert recording
Bremen : The North German Hanseatic home of the Brothers Grimm
Found just beside the Market Square is the statue of the Bremen Town Musicians which represents the famous tale by the Brothers Grimm. A donkey, a cat, a dog and a rooster travel to Bremen hoping to escape certain death by becoming town musicians, but are distracted along the way. If you rub the donkey’s legs, you will be blessed with good luck, but make sure to rub both legs otherwise people will know you are a tourist and not a local!
Bremen Town Hall on the Market Square, a UNESCO World Heritage site
The Roland Statue
The concert hall – Die Glöcke
The Old town
Time for tea
Click on the link below to read Clare’s review for Bachtrack
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This concert was reviewed at Die Glöcke, Bremen on Friday 8th June, 2024
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