Scottish Chamber Orchestra and I got a bike!

Let's start with the SCO concert on Friday night.  As it is a chamber orchestra they have a much smaller string section than I'm used to and only as many winds as they need for a piece, usually they perform smaller works.  They played with so much energy it was infectious and each of the performers moved in ways that were fun to watch and not distracting.  The principal cellist was especially enthusiastic and he had the long hair to go with his wild head gestures.  A good portion of the group also seemed pretty young.  Again, they wore all black and no ties so it was a more casual and unified look.  As far as having a smaller string section, it took a little getting used to.  Their sound was a more raw and you could tell that they were really playing with everything they have.  The winds sounded fantastic; the woodwinds were particularly well balanced and easy to hear because of the reduced strings.  They used period timpani, which are less boomy than modern ones and valveless horns and trumpets.  Because of this and the size, it didn't have the huge lush romantic sound that we are used to but was probably closer to what orchestras would have sounded like in the first half of the 19th century.  I enjoyed their playing a lot.

The program began with a new work, commissioned by this ensemble for a Scottish composer named Martin Suckling.  The piece was called "storm, rose, tiger" and was based loosely on Borges' short story "The Circular Ruins."  I went to the pre concert talk where they interviewed the composer about this work and his writing for the particular ensemble.  As a violinist he was very interested in melody and line and used some concepts from traditional Scottish line singing where many lines are sung at once but all with different ornamentation so you get a blurring effect.  He also used microtonal melodies that included notes not found in a normal 12-note scale.  This gave some interesting sonorities but wasn't harsh or dissonant.  I felt the piece was very atmospheric and had some interesting sounds from the strings with different melodic lines to follow.  I didn't find it terribly exciting or attention-grabbing but it was a neat effect and brought a lot out of the orchestra.

The next piece on the program was Schumann's Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, in the original version, with less dense scoring and instrumentation.  I had a hard time following this one but liked the continuity  throughout the work.  There are many recurring themes and so it flows as a unified whole.  Each movement went straight into the next, which first caught me off guard but I realized that the piece was intended that way.  The conductor, Robin Ticciati, is the orchestra's main conductor and though his movements seemed a little jerky to my eye he definitely got what he wanted out of the orchestra as they responded with great enthusiasm.  The big piece on the program was Beethoven's Violin Concerto with violinist Viktoria Mullova.  It is such a fantastic piece and in this setting seemed more like it would have been in Beethoven's time.  Mullova had a lot of energy throughout and put it to good use in the wild displays of virtuosity, even losing some tone quality for the sake energetic continuity.  Her soft playing in the slow movement and some of the cadenza was quite beautiful and clear and she even played some of the tutti sections, which I have never seen a soloist do.  There were a number bassoon solos in this piece and he was on top of all of them with great sound and musicality.  Overall, a great concert and I look forward to hearing them again.

Friday, I also got a bike from someone I found through gumtree (the UK's craigslist).  It is a black Peugot with some neon green on the handle bars and body.  Although the public transit in Glasgow is good the bus system is quite confusing and not that cheap.  I have been taking the train to the city centre to practice but its not that convenient since I still have to walk a bit.  So far, I love  having a bike and it is easy to get around.  I've already started to get used to riding on the left side of the street and figuring out the often confusing streetlights.  We'll see if I can bear it when it is really cold but for now it is fun and exciting to ride through town with the cool air rushing at me.

In other news, we have had two pairs of couchsurfers this week, one from Ireland and the other from New Zealand.  Since my flat mate is really involved with the community he has been taking the requests and it is nice meeting some more people and hearing stories from travelers.  They have been really nice and it's weird for me to be the one who lives here now.