The late James Wilson, who died last August just a few weeks shy of his 83rd birthday, often said that he preferred to compose with a particular player in mind.
James Wilson: Serenade; Explorations; Violin Sonata No 6; Donizetti Variations; Consequences; Accordion Quintet
A number of those players were at the core of Monday night's concert of chamber music from the composer's large output.
Violinist Alan Smale, for whom Wilson wrote his Violin Concerto, was the first of several musicians to preface a piece with an affectionate introduction. This was for the 2002 Serenade for violin, cello and harp in which Smale was joined by harpist Geraldine O'Doherty and cellist Moya O'Grady, the dedicatee. The work's judicious combination of intricate imitative writing with the subtle control of colour - notably from the harp - illustrated the craftsmanship characterising the programme.
Dermot Dunne described how he tried in vain to persuade Wilson to locate for him the duet from Lucia di Lammermoor, which is the heavily disguised theme of the 1969 Donizetti Variations for solo accordion. The five brief movements wear their well-wrought design lightly. They explore a wide range of colours in the instrument and came across, in Dunne's fleet and animated performance, as whimsical to the point of cheeky.
Two works were receiving first performances. The light-infused Consequences for flute, viola and harp was performed by Ríona Ó Duinnín, David O'Doherty and Geraldine O'Doherty, the trio for whom - typically - he composed it after hearing them in concert. And the eight-minute Sonata No 6 for violin and piano was given its Irish premiere by violinist David O'Doherty and pianist Katerina Lemoni, whose nicely-judged partnership brought out the work's blend of angst and pleading.
Several stylistic traits which are common to much of Wilson's music were evident throughout the concert. Instruments were played in a traditional manner without recourse to advanced techniques. His self-professed affection for melody shone, and his harmony always seemed to inhabit shifting and sometimes ambiguous but ultimately traceable tonalities. But above all, right across the programme, there was a clear consistency of voice, a musical voice to accompany the public face of Jim Wilson: gentle, genial, calm and enthusiastic. - Michael Dungan
