Pushing boundaries to keep their composure

Thursday 4 October 2012

It's unusual enough for an amateur chamber orchestra to programme new music.

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KAte Molleson

But to commission and premiere eight new works in one season? Starting on Saturday the Edinburgh-based Meadows Chamber Orchestra is doing exactly that: presenting a series of specially commissioned new pieces, each lasting up to five minutes, by eight Scotland-based composers. Spread across four concerts between now and May, the programming makes for a ratio of new-to-old repertoire that outstrips Scotland's professional orchestras by miles.

Granted, the MCO has form when it comes to supporting contemporary music. Founded in 1972 by pianist Peter Evans, its repertoire has encompassed composers from Craig Armstrong to Edward McGuire, Sally Beamish to Lyell Creswell and James MacMillan. Crucially, the orchestra maintains a high playing standard to tackle a range of contemporary scores: Evans's close links with Edinburgh University's music department stocked the orchestra with talented students from the outset, and his close links with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra have continued to supply a pool of professional guest conductors and soloists. David Rimer, a veterinary surgeon by day, joined the MCO as a student nearly 40 years ago and as principal horn and chairman of the board remains one of its longest-standing members. He explains that while Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert and Schumann form the group's core repertoire, contemporary music stands proud in its legacy. "We have a unique reputation for encouraging and supporting new music," he says. "We were among the first to recognise the talents of Helen Grime, for example." Indeed, the Scottish composer was soloist in her own Oboe Concerto, which was commissioned and premiered by the Meadows in 2003 and broadcast on BBC Radio 3. "Last year we premiered two new works by James Clapperton and Richard Michael respectively. The MCO also runs an annual Composers' Competition where we invite schoolchildren from Edinburgh secondary schools to submit original work. Now in its fifth year, the winner receives a prize and a performance of their work by the orchestra." But this year's line-up of new work is impressive even by Meadows' standards. The commissions came about through a conversation between Rimer and the Glasgow-based composer Tom David Wilson. "In the past, the MCO has received generous grants from the PRS for New Music Foundation," Rimer says. "More recently our applications haven't been successful because the PRSF criteria have changed. One new stipulation is that anyone seeking grants should give eight public performances during the year for which the funding is sought. For us, this was out of the question." Rimer told Wilson, who came up with the idea of asking eight composers in Glasgow and Edinburgh to compose short works that could be divvied up throughout the season. With the incentive purely of a performance by the MCO, all eight agreed. The series kicks off this Saturday with Wilson's own piece, titled Kernel. Also on the programme, between a Mozart flute concerto and Beethoven's Seventh Symphony, is Harbour Dreams by Oliver Searle. Like Wilson, Searle teaches at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, and he's a composer of energy and imagination who has written for the RSNO, BBC SSO, the Hebrides Ensemble. So does he make any concessions when writing for amateur musicians?"Not really," says Rimer. "We simply give them our restrictions in terms of instrumentation and orchestral size and they often send back pretty challenging stuff." The series continues with new works by Jake Spence, Simon Smith, Lewis Forbes, Elisabeth Cowe, John de Simone and Alfredo Caponetto. The Meadows Chamber Orchestra perform at the Canongate Kirk, Edinburgh, on Saturday; at Greyfriars Kirk, Edinburgh, on November 24 and February 9; and at Canongate Kirk on May 25.

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Pushing boundaries to keep their composure

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