Treskelion bring trio of concerts to Netherlorn
Netherlorn Music Scheme stages three concerts this month from talented and prize-winning trio Treskelion on their debut tour.
Formed by three young graduates from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Richard Schofield on saxophone, Cathal Killeen on the clarinet and accordionist Valerie Barr, Treskelion will be bringing full-evening concerts to Loch Melfort Hotel and to Seil Island Community Hall with a shorter, lunchtime programme at the Atlantic Isles Centre in Cullipool on Luing.
NeMs founder Steven Arnold from Seil writes: “My first, rather unworthy thought was to wonder whether there could be enough pieces in existence for such a strange trio to make up even half a show.
“Before the Covid pandemic,
I suggest that there were probably not; but, with virtually the whole music profession prevented from rehearsing and performing as normal, wee rebellions zoomed into focus, and out of disaster and into the fight-back: if there wasn’t a piece for you and your socially-distanced gang, go and something that suits it!
“Many musicians go through daily exercise routines to get themselves going, often using the music of JS Bach as the foundation of a musical workout. For Treskelion, there is the historical fact that none fix of their instruments had been invented until after Bach’s day. Yet here we have an entire half their concert programme based on Bach. They have fixed it - no problem!
“Examples include the Prelude to JSB’s solo Cello Suite No.1, (on bass clarinet), plus a commentary called Deja Vue on the same piece by Jay Capperauld; the well-known Toccata and Fugue in D minor (accordion), the Concerto in D minor, originally for two violins and string orchestra, but here performed by the whole trio. (Prepare for your heartstrings to be wrung in the slow, middle movement.) The other main thread of the Treskelion programme, demonstrated in the second half, is the group’s interest in Gaelic and other folk musics from around the globe.
“If Sir Malcolm Arnold’s Four Scottish Songs provides the clue, then Sir James MacMillan’s After the Tryst and From Galloway follow last month’s NeMs visit by the Whistlebinkies, when the key source piece, MacMillan’s The Tryst, was sung by Seil resident, Martin Waddle.
“A more Latin element emerges from the folk traditions of southern Italy, via the compositional prism of the French composer SaintSaens’s Tarantella, and then again, on the far side of the Atlantic Ocean, with the Argentinian master of the accordion and prolific composer of the tango, the late Astor Piazzolla, whose Escualo is arranged for the Treskelion by Richard Schofield, the group’s saxophonist.”
The Loch Melfort Hotel concert is on Friday April 14 at 7.30 pm.
Tickets are £12 (£8 concessions) on sale from the hotel reception, in advance and on the night. You can also call 01852 200233.
The second concert is at Seil Island Community Hall, Ellenabeich, on Saturday April 15 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £12 (£8 concessions) on sale in advance at Balvicar Stores or by calling 01852 300373.
The shorter and third recital is at the Atlantic Isles Centre, Cullipool, on Sunday April 16 at 12.30pm. Donations requested.