Scottish Chamber Orchestra with Joseph Swensen

Joseph Swensen, composer of tonight's world premier, The Fire and the Rose, boasts an impressive CV of work with the SCO. Having toured extensively and conducted many recordings with the ensemble, he was able to give the audience an emotive realisation of this striking new work for horn and orchestra.

The first piece of the programme—Respighi’s The Birds—can initially be mistaken for classical writing, and was executed with the clarity required by such composition. Vibrant bird-call echoes were rendered beautifully by the wind in particular, while the strings underpinned this delicacy with deep and resonant harmonies.

Such thick chords were present also in Sibelius’ Peleas and Melisande – an evocative suite written for the symbolist play of the same title. The dense opening chord was particularly effective in demonstrating the ensemble’s unity and effortless communication, and this timbre was continually portrayed throughout the rest of the work. Such fulfilling writing also serves to frame fabulous solo passages, in particular those of the cor anglais and the duets between clarinets. The strings succeeded also in portraying the inherent contrasts within the string writing, and subtly bringing these nuances to the foreground.

It was Swensen’s symphony, however, which presented us with the biggest variety of sounds. From the serene and wistful opening, Swensen presents a vast range of timbres and orchestral textures. Soloist Radovan Vlatkovic—for whom the solo part of the piece was written—projected his part with great tenderness and created an excellent balance between the tonal qualities of soloist and ensemble player. The work is set apart also because of its juxtaposition of compositional elements: from the gentle echo effects created by the three horns, to the fast paced percussive dance sections in which the percussion section displays a flawless moving rhythm. Though occasionally too unpredictable, the form of the piece works well in maintaining an original coherence.