Breath & Bow

The second concert in the Anthony Marwood series in Elder Hall gave the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s Brass section a chance to shine, with music by Henri Tomasi.  The three movements from the Fanfares liturgigues were scored for brass instruments, as  part of the opera Don Juan which Tomasi composed in 1947. 

The first movement opens dramatically before becoming more lyrical, while the final movement which bears the title Procession du Vendredi-Saint  was, in the opera, a funeral march. Throughout this movement you can hear the steady sound of feet, while the percussion completes the sense of occasion and drama. This was music not often heard, and all the more enjoyable for that. 

That composition was Breath.

Bow was represented by a very well known piece by Beethoven. In fact Beethoven is said to have wished he had never composed the Septet in E flat major because it became one of his most popular pieces, at the expense of more serious works. Hearing the members of the ASO playing this septet it was easy to see why it was so popular. 

The seven instruments were:clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and double bass. Placed as they were on stage it was as though they exchanged various themes and variations in light hearted conversation.  This was not a hostile exchange, but a shared enjoyment. The septet finished with a flourish as Anthony Marwood on violin played a few frilly turns and a cadenza, as the highpoint in the final movement.

Beethoven may have regretted the popularity of this septet, but he must have enjoyed composing a work that critics have described as having summed up the entire Classical Serenade and Divertimento tradition, and argue that even today it is regarded as the finest septet ever written.