Music Review: Ensemble 10/10, The Cornerhouse, Hope at Everton

Nov 23 2007 by Glyn Mon Hughes, Liverpool Daily Post

IT REALLY was a quite extra-ordinary occasion.

Many of us will remember sitting in a rather sparsely- populated Philharmonic Hall a decade ago after the main concert had taken place and the crowds had cleared.

On came a selection of RLPO players to perform works by Poulenc and Martinu as well as song arrangements by Thomas Ades, Gary Carpenter and John Woolrich.

The enthusiasm that night was evident, not only on the part of the performers but also from the stalls where the few stalwarts, enthusiasts of new music, were sitting.

Ten years later, Ensemble 10/10 is playing to full houses. They’re in demand nationwide and last night’s concert was recorded by BBC Radio 3.

To celebrate their first decade, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society commissioned 10 10-minute works from a range of composers with close Liverpool links. All works have been heard before but to hear all 10 in succession was quite mind-blowing.

Add to that the fact that all but one composer was present in the audience and it was rather like being in the presence of a rather elite society.

To select any one work for special mention would be invidious since each was a miniature working of extreme fascination. Suffice it to say that the talent and expert playing evident in the Ensemble made the performance of each of these pieces not only possible but also educating and entertaining.

It was left to the conductor and director of Ensemble 10/10, Clark Rundell, to issue a stark warning.

“Liverpool is now a vibrant place where musicians feel, if they write music, that they are amongst friends. We need them. They have been disengaged by musical organisations around the world and it is an organisation such as Ensemble 10/10 which will help music, as an art form, to avoid dying out.”

Composers featured included: Kenneth Hesketh, Stephen Pratt, Howard Skempton, David Horne, Ian Stephens, Ian Gardiner, Graham Fitkin, Steve Martland, Kurt Schwertsik and Gary Carpenter.

The concert was presented as part of the Cornerstone Arts Festival 2007 which runs until December 8.