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First Unitarian Church
June 2, 2013
Driving along West Saanich Road in glorious sunshine is enough to fill a person with song, so much so that the EKSM concert at the First Unitarian Church seemed a natural mood extension. The concert opened with Mozart's Quartet for Flute and Strings in D major, K.285, and was the only piece that did not receive a verbal introduction by one of the ensemble. Nor did it need any, because the first movement practically cries out "summer is here, at last!" The summer mood was further enhanced by the airy pizzicato in the strings which accompanied the flute in the 2nd movement. The final Rondo includes a rapid and challenging passage in unison between the flute and the violin, pulled off by Volet and Tam with seeming effortlessness.
Bach's Sonata for Viola da Gamba in G major, BWV 1027, followed. This piece is often heard with a harpsicord or piano accompaniment of the viola da gamba (check on YouTube). In the absence of either of these, Backstrom said that she had found the piano score readily adaptable to two violins. With the cello taking the part of the viola da gamba, it seemed worth trying the piece as a string trio. Besides, she said, Bach would have had no objection and would simply have said: "Go right ahead, use what you've got!" This arrangement worked well for the two Allegri and especially for the Adagio, which is rather more melodius and a little less "mathematical" than so many of his other works. However, I am not sure about the Andante which came across as rather turgid and perhaps needs a keyboard accompaniment to lighten it up.
The Finnish-born and Swedish-raised Crusell was a prominent oboe player and had a career in military bands. His Divertimento for Oboe & Strings in C major, Op. 9, has the beginnings of the unique Scandinavian flavour à la Sibelius and Peterson-Berger, even though it was composed a century earlier. It is actually more of an oboe sonata, and Cayer commented how valuable rehearsal time was spent discussing whether he should stand up or sit down while playing his oboe. The Andante is surprisingly funereal for a divertimento and was performed so movingly that I decided there and then to have it played at my funeral.
During the intermission, the audience indulged in lemon juice and delicious high-calorie cookies, and went to soak up the sun on the south-facing deck. Thus invigorated, the mood was just right for the first modern piece, the Duo per flauto e oboe op. 13 by Ginastera. Considering that this is a piece for only two instruments, the stage seemed overly crowded with a forest of music stands. Cayer explained that the piece left little time to catch one's breath, let alone to turn the pages of the sheet music; hence the many music stands to allow the sheets to be spread out all at once. He predicted that, although modern, we would enjoy the piece. The audience loved the interaction between the flute and the oboe, and the enthusiastic applause at the end indicted that he was right. But be warned: the combination of oboe and flute is hard on the ear drums, especially when both play the same note!
The concert concluded with Debussy's one and only string quartet - the one in G minor Op. 10. Given that Debussy did not usually number his works, it is funny to see "Opus 10" in this context. When he first proposed the string quartet for publication, he apparently felt compelled to give the impression that he had a track record, and "10" was as good a number as any. Debussy had many contemporary detractors who accused him of musical anarchy. Now that we have had more than a century to get used to his style, we have discovered that his works are often carefully crafted and structured. This fact was illustrated in the introduction when the ensemble briefly played variations of the recurring theme in each of the four movements - one of the things that makes a live concert so much more enjoyable than a recording. Today, Debussy has become familiar musical territory. So perhaps there is still hope that, some day, our grandchildren will also make sense of Schoenberg.
It is a privilege for Victoria to have an institution of EKSM's caliber - now in its 26th season - to enrich our musical life at affordable ticket prices. More concerts are scheduled for June at the First Unitarian Church, with some repeat performances at the Muse Winery.
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