The Hourglass Ensemble earned enthusiastic applause from the audience, after performing an intimate concert, ‘HEARTFIRE’, at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday.
I was excited to see that the program showcased many contemporary Australian works, starting off strong with a new composition by Robert Davidson called ‘Three Bird Riffs’. Incorporating recorded birdsong and percussion, The Hourglass Ensemble members, Ewa Kowalska, Anna Rutkowska-Schock and Andrew Kennedy took to their instruments to portray the character of each bird. I was impressed by the skilful way each musician manoeuvred their instruments, keeping abreast of the fast and cheeky music as they moved from representing the Kookaburra, to the Raven and the Magpie. I found myself smiling alongside the audience, as we laughed and enjoyed the light-heartedness of the work.
Setting a different tone to Robert Davidson’s work, was ‘Trio for a Spry Clarinet, a Weeping Cello, and a Ruminating Harp’, from Glad Cohen in Israel. This piece made a strong impression on me, with its diverse and textural soundscape. The music began with the harp charmingly painting a picturesque scene, before the inclusion of a rich cello and agile clarinet. The piece moves through swells of intensity, utilising squeal on the clarinet, body percussion, as well as energetic pizzicato and knocking on the body of the cello. The trio explores and draws from a broad palette of musical inspiration, making the music feel playful, curious, and eclectic. The ensemble masterfully balances this challenge of holding together the divergent parts and styles as a coherent whole.
My favourite work from the night was ‘The Fire Always Says Yes’, commissioned by The Hourglass Ensemble to include all their guest performers from the evening. The composer, Anna Hirst Friedman, employed lyrics from Jessy Chapin Kahn who’d written a collection of poems after a series of life events involving her family’s health, sharing “We all have a heart story”. The music begins with the lyrics “The Fire Always Says Yes”, sung by Amy Moore of The Song Company, her voice a soothing balm throughout the work with her rich, clear tone. As the work unfolds, we are offered more textural elements, like cassinettes and metal pipes played with hammers; the work burst with the richness of layering instruments, all while maintaining a delicately dramatic vocal line. The music perfectly reflects the meaning and intent of the lyrics, and the musicians artfully created an atmosphere that perfectly represented each section. The unity of flute, clarinet, horn, voice, harp, cello and piano culminates in an epic sound that left me in awe.
The Hourglass ensemble is clearly an extremely talented group, who tackled challenging contemporary works with precision, and artful intention. As a listener, I was drawn into the musical worlds they created, and it was exciting to experience so many new pieces from an ensemble that pour so much into their craft.
If you would like to experience the excellence of The Hourglass Ensemble first hand, they will be performing at the 36 th Annual Glebe Music Festival on November 1st. Hourglass Ensemble will perform classic works, like those by Johannes Brahms, as well as pieces by our very own Australian composers, such as Alice Chance and Sally Greenaway.
Glebe Town Hall | 7:00pm | Saturday | November 1st
https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/classical-music/heartfire
Reviewed by: Eleanor Edwards