27 March: Tom Gould and London Charity Orchestra, St James’s Piccadilly

Erika and I went to listen to Philip Glass’ Violin Concerto in Piccadilly Circus.  The reason?  Because the soloist was Thomas Gould, who performed at Breinton last September!  Sorry for my ignorance, but I didn’t know much of this composer up until this day.  His concerto, composed between 1986 and 1987, is totally different from most of the classic violin concertos I know and it reminded me of John Adam’s music.  Sure enough and according to the concert program, he began writing what is commonly known as ‘minimalist’ music in 1966.  If you had gone to this concert expecting a beautiful violin cadenza, this is a totally different type of concerto.  Instead of lyrical melodies, we heard more of repetitive chords, in steady rhythms, but it was impressive to watch!

The three movements were in a fast-slow-fast form, and in the first and last movements it was all about how fast Tom could move his left fingers and how high the notes could go up.  In fact Tom asked us later, “Wasn’t it a bit like watching someone practicing studies – lots of arpeggios?”  Anyway, Erika and I were glued to his impressive finger and bow movements!  But I did think during this piece that there is little opportunity for the violin soloist to stand out or be heard as much as they might be in other concertos.  I have since discovered that this is the composer’s intention; quoting from the programme again, Glass said that he was more interested in the overall sound he was creating than in the contribution of a particular orchestral instrument.

Out of the three movements, I particularly liked the slow second one.  It is rather somber but the solo violin is beautiful.  I wondered if it was a real challenge for the soloist?  There aren’t that many notes to be played in the solo part and in order to express the beauty of those slow notes they all need to be extremely well played and presented with great care.  Tom impresses me every time I listen to him; he is excellent at producing sensitive and tender notes, but very clear sounds and this time was no exception.  He expressed the prolonged notes of the second movement fabulously – so sad, sensitive and subtle. 

Tom and the orchestra leader Simon played a lovely duo piece  - El Último Trémolo.  This is originally a guitar piece by Agustín Barrios Mangoré, but was arranged for two violins by Tom.  And it was truly gorgeous.  We could certainly hear where “ultimo tremolo” came from.  Tom seemed to be barely moving his bows but managed to produce amazing tremolo – how does he do it??  Erika turned to me with her jaw dropped.

It was getting late for my little 9-year old, so we headed back after the first half.  But first, we went to backstage to see Tom.  He is always so friendly, and Erika and I are now his big fans - next time we would love to come to your full recital, Tom!