Flercussion, Kendal Town Hall

KENDAL Midday Concert Club experienced music with a difference when the society was host to Flercussion, a duo combination of flute and marimba. This unusual ensemble, formed in 2008 and probably unique in this country, was born out of a meeting of two enthusiasts for their instruments, Jo Ashcroft, flute, and Calum Huggan, marimba. Both performers are no strangers to Kendal. Jo was born in Cumbria and won the prestigious Keldwyth Award in 2005; Calum gave a solo recital at the concert club in 2014.

Both artists are fine players: Calum displays great agility on his instrument and Jo has a wide tonal and dynamic range and complete control of rapid passage work.

Inevitably in a programme for this combination of instruments, much of the programme consisted of arrangements, sometimes of works better-known as piano pieces in their original, or pieces for voice and piano. Possibly what worked best in this duo combination were pieces originally written with the sound of the marimba in mind. When the marimba is called upon to play what was in the original a piano accompaniment it lacks the ability to sustain notes in the way in which a piano can, with the aid of the sustaining pedal. For this reason, fast moving rhythmic pieces like Bartok’s Two Pieces in Bulgarian Rhythm, from his set of piano pieces Mikrokosmos, and the tangos of Piazzolla tended to work better than Debussy’s first Arabesque for example, written in the composer’s impressionistic style.

Both players gave us solo performances. Jo’s playing of Honegger’s Danse de la Chevre was enchanting, enabling her to display her technique to the full, whilst Calum delighted the audience with a short samba-style percussion solo composed by Rachel Gledhill, principal percussionist with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

The concert came to a delightful conclusion as both players revealed their versatility in a short sequence of Scottish dances.

Clive Walkley