Classical review: Hebrides Ensemble - St George’s West Church, Edinburgh

INVITING composers to write companion works to long established chamber music classics is an idea which works well on a number of levels.

Would emerging composer Alasdair Spratt, for instance, otherwise have written for the forces employed by Brahms in his G major String Quintet at this point in his career, one wonders.

Responding to a commission from Hebrides Ensemble, Spratt has come up with The Black Tree, an effective piece utilising the Brahms instrumentation of string quartet plus a second viola.

Taking inspiration from the poetry of Sorley MacLean, it is persuasive music of significant substance. Much of this, ironically, comes from its feeling of vulnerability. Although Spratt says that it is not narrative, the piece is in distinct sections, going from what Hebrides’ artistic director and cellist, William Conway, described as “like being on a choppy sea” to sounding plaintive and reflective, as if quietly searching for something elusive before frantically bounding on, determined to find it. I

In a completely assured performance by Hebrides Ensemble, it was only the jerky, uneven timings of the pizzicato scoring prior to the piece’s hushed ending which seemed to sit not quite so easily within the whole.

The Brahms itself was gloriously unified in a strong, muscular performance headed up by the compelling playing of first violin Ania Safonova, making her debut with the group. Passionate and lustrous, it was late Brahms in his best light, benefiting from the full-on integrity of Hebrides’ performing style.

Rating: ****