‘Stunning…unsurpassed beauty…’

This month, local residents were treated to the delights of the Welsh Baroque Orchestra in concert at the Church of St. Thomas, Redwick. Under the direction of harpsichordist and organist Andrew Wilson-Dickson, the WBO gave a spectacular performance of an eclectic programme of both early and modern music. The concert - entitled Flood 400 - commemorated the 400th anniversary of the ‘Great Flood’ and made connections with ‘the weather, with elements … storms and tempests, even with global warming.’

The most striking feature of the WBO is its strong sense of period colour, which was most evident in the opening item, Holborne’s Dances for strings where each part had crispness and clarity, giving great dynamic character to the music. It was delightful to hear the music unblemished by modern performance conventions and played with such an ear for the authentic musical sounds of the past.

The better known, Concerto in G minor (La Notte) by Antonio Vivaldi brought the first half to its conclusion, and with stunning solos by flautist Claire Heaney and bassoonist Nathaniel Harrison, impeccably captured the drama and eerie goings on of the night.

The WBO also premiered a new work by local student composer, Heather Leighton. Revised and colourfully orchestrated for the WBO by the composer, Meteorological Muddle is a charming and turbulent work that couples early music conventions with a modern compositional approach. Distorted melodies give the work a disquieting quality – perfectly reflecting the chaotic weather conditions of 400 years ago – and just where the music seems to topple out of control, we are given a moment of respite where the calmer strings ‘engulf the mountains with fog.’

This modern work was followed by the thunderous dissonance of Cahos from Les Elemens, a choreographed symphony by French Baroque composer Jean-Féry Rebel. By 1737, the year of composition, Rebel was better known for his tasteful, gentle and tender music, yet even today the discordant harmony and rhythmic pungency is nothing short of shocking.

In a similar vein, Andrew Wilson-Dickson’s Concerto Grosso ‘Greenhouse Effect’ was an immense contribution to the ‘flood’ theme. First premiered in Chepstow last year, this work is a stark reflection upon the current state of affairs regarding climate change. Particularly poignant were the snippets of birdsong on the flute succumbing to the inevitable musical climate change. Whilst the ‘Flood 400’ theme provided a somewhat tenuous link between the early and modern music in the programme (some works being written over half a century apart), the performance itself was invigoratingly original and nothing short of breathtaking.

Perhaps one of the greatest highlights of the concert was the performance of J.S. Bach’s Concerto for Two Violins in D minor. Whilst it is always risky to perform popular works, the WBO did not disappoint. Husband and wife duo Simon Jones and Andrea Morris delivered music of unsurpassed beauty and clearly loved the music almost as much as the audience. Whilst it is wonderful to see new and modern works being performed, Bach definitely shows WBO at their best.

Christopher Andrews