Sneak previews of attractions
to come later in the programme brought Gaelic and Irish songs; a quietly compelling Shetland-Brazil collaboration; the powerful instrumental swell of maverick favourites Lau; and pipe music, both Galician dance-orientated with a hint of guitar-influenced soloing and an interesting new piece by Fraser Fifield, splendidly played by the National Youth Pipe Band of
Scotland and involving eerily shifting harmonies and delicate shading.
All of these had their merits but the continually arriving guests, with not always smooth set changes, meant that Jim Sutherland’s True North Orchestra often seemed almost incidental to their own gig and rarely achieved the momentum the music deserved.
This was a pity because in compositions such as Tartan Weave, Clan and an untitled Strathspey, Sutherland has achieved his aim of creating orchestral music with the finesse of the classical tradition and the accent of Scottish folk music -- and in the True North Orchestra he has the band to play it convincingly.
The writing was by turns luminous, understatedly beefy and superbly delicate, as on the emotional but never schmaltzy My Parents, and the combined talents of traditional, classical and jazz players sounded finely tempered. Matters weren’t helped by a rather hammy presentation, which may have been intended to rouse the audience, but came a poor second in that regard to the genuinely rousing and dramatically measured Shochad Storm, which showed off Sutherland’s talent for atmospheric scoring with the added bonus of a memorable hook.
This review first appeared in the later edition of Friday’s Herald.
Star rating: ***
