Classical review: Mr McFall's Chamber

Published on Wednesday 28 October 2009 17:56

MR MCFALL'S CHAMBER **** CHURCH OF ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST, EDINBURGH

ST JOHN'S may not be The Church Closest to the Sea but it provided an atmospheric backdrop for Gavin Bryars's piece which depicts St Monans Church in Fife.

Commissioned by Mr McFall's Chamber, the unusual scoring for string quartet, piano, percussion and double bass owes much to the relationship between McFall's bass player, Rick Standley, and Bryars, also a bass player. The soft thwack of the plucked bass strings provided the laid-back pulse for this mellow jazz and blues-inspired evocation of salted air and grey-cloaked sea haars.

Bryars favours the lower registers of the tonal spectrum, creating a shadowy palette that suits his Eight Irish Madrigals. Although the text was quite wordy, it was beautifully sung by soprano Susan Hamilton and tenor Nicholas Mulroy, their voices intertwining in a mesmerising dance of love and loss set against soft pillows of sound provided by the two violas, cello and double bass.