4-Mality

The Box Theatre, Kendal.

A rich diversity of music is now presented at Lake District Summer Music. Alongside chamber music concerts in the classical tradition, music less in the mainstream now appears in LDSM’s programme. Representative of the more ‘way out’ was the percussion group 4-Mality.

This exciting quartet of just four players had assembled an amazing array of tuned and untuned percussion instruments - vibraphone and marimbas, scaffolding pipes, and drums and cymbals of various shapes and sizes. 4-Mality’s programmes are contemporary in the true meaning of the word: with one exception all six pieces in the programme were written during the last ten years.

The exception, Steve Reich’s Drumming (part 1), dates from 1970-71. This rhythmically intricate and electrifying work for eight small tuned drums, which demands so much of the players in concentration and energy, was hailed with enthusiastic applause, although some in the audience may have found a quarter of an hour of sustained drumming rather tedious.

There was so much to admire in this concert: the energy of the four young players; their enthusiasm for their music and ability to communicate this; their dazzling technique and dexterity in moving quickly from one instrument to another. The volume level throughout the evening remained fairly high (a larger venue would have been more comfortable), but there were gentler moments when the tuned percussion instruments were given prominence.

 

The American Dream

Kendal Town Hall

Counterpoise gave a well-devised programme entitled The American Dream as part of LDSM 2013. In a sequence of jazz-influenced music, the four instrumentalists (piano, trumpet, saxophone and violin) and two dancers retraced the American vision of happiness and prosperity, but also the bitterness expressed by those excluded from the vision.

Baritone, David Kempster, contributed to the dream by his performance of songs by Aaron Copland and George Gershwin. However, the impact of these was lessened by his reliance on copies of the music, which obviously inhibited his ability to make full use of the stage. This was unfortunate as his rich bass voice is ideally suited to this repertoire.

The four players distinguished themselves in a series of cabaret pieces and 1920s style dance music; and dancers Amir Giles and Tara Pilbrow made excellent and imaginative use of the limited space available to them in the town hall (a less than ideal venue for this programme). Pianist, Iain Farrington, played a central role and dazzled with the virtuosity of his piano accompaniments; there were some lovely solo contributions from violinist, Caroline Balding, and saxophonist, Kyle Horch, while trumpeter, Deborah Calland, added sleazy touches with her muted trumpet. This was a highly entertaining evening, illustrating yet again the diversity of LDSM’s programme planning.

Clive Walkley