Saturday night found me once again in Frome, for another Festival event, this time a joint concert by Bath Philharmonia and Bluegrass quartet Harpeth Rising, who were taking part in the Frome Festival as part of their first ever (I think) tour outside the USA.
The idea was to make a connection between the country / bluegrass music and more classical pices inspired by the same type of music.
The first half of the concert consisted of the Phil. playing Adams' 'Shaker Loops', with a song from Harpeth Rising between each of the movements; the second half involved the Phil. playing Copland's 'Appalachian Spring', again, interspersed with songs from Harpeth Rising. There was also one song, 'Abraham' in which the Phil provided full accompaniment to Harpeth Rising.
I really enjoyed the concert. I did feel that the 2nd half worked better than the first - 'Shaker Loops' isn't what you could describe as an easy or accessible piece of music, and I would have preferred to hear it in full, to concentrate, rather than with a different style interspersed. I also felt that the audience were less thean completely attentive.
I felt the mix of Copland & bluegrass was a much better 'fit', and as 'Appalachian Spring' is a much better known piece of music (and with more obvious structure) it didn't suffer from the "have they finished yet? Should we clap?" issue which was apparent during the Adams!
The concert was held in St John's Church in Frome: the seating may not be the most comfortable in the world, but it does make an attractive setting for a concert.
After my exhausting morning shopping I was in two minds whether to head out again - I'd been awake since 5.30 a.m. and the idea of a glass of wine, the weekend paper and an early night was very appealing, but I'm glad that I madethe effort to go, as I eneded up having a really enjoyable evening.
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