ASHBORNEMichael Reckord, Contributor
PETER ASHBOURNE is looking forward to tonight's world premiere of his latest composition, Ring Games and Jubilee. Specially commissioned by the world-renowned European Chamber Orchestra (EUCO), the 12-minute work based on Jamaican folk songs will be performed by the orchestra in Montego Bay, St. James tonight and tomorrow in Kingston.
Mixed with the pleasure of anticipation, Ashbourne confesses, is a twinge of apprehension. "These things don't always work," he said in an interview earlier this week. "Saturday's premiere may turn out to be junk."
NEW GROUND
He admits that is unlikely. The work, he said, is "technically not beyond the reach of professionals, and they (the EUCO) are professionals. I'm not breaking new ground. It's an honest-to-goodness piece of music (not avant-garde)."
So why the unease? It might just stem from the opening night nerves most artistes in the performing arts experience, but Ashbourne mentioned two specific concerns: his uncertainty about the EUCO's ability to handle the syncopation of his piece, and the orchestra's hectic schedule.
The group lands in Kingston just hours before it sets off by bus to Montego Bay for a 'big rehearsal' with Ashbourne before the Saturday performance at the Half Moon Conference Centre. Then comes the drive back to Kingston for the Ward Theatre show.
Still, Ashbourne is hoping for -- and expecting -- the best. He wrote the work, he said, for love not money, and saw the benefits as being more exposure for him as an art music composer.
Written in three movements, Ring Games and Jubilee uses three folk songs "as points of departure" for the composition. The songs are Bapsi Kaisico Pinda Shell, Black Bud A Eat Pupa Corn, and Jubilee. The first and last movements are fast, the third one slow.
According to Ashbourne, the EUCO's director Matthais Wollong said the group plans to perform the specially commissioned work during the remainder of its Caribbean and Latin American tour, of which Jamaica is one stop.
JAMAICAN FOLK MATERIAL
Ashbourne said he had been experimenting with Jamaican folk material in his art music for some time. He mentioned his arrangements of five or six folk songs for Jamaican soprano Dawn Marie Virtue. Two have been used, to enthusiastic response, in her recent CD.
He also composed Suite for String Quartet for a Canadian group, and created a piece for the USA Spoleto Festival which, though it was not played, might get a performance by the Oman Symphony Orchestra in a festival this year.
In addition to the Ashbourne work, the EUCO, which comes to Jamaica courtesy of The Delegation of the European Union in association with the Ward Theatre Foundation and the Half Moon Montego Bay, will perform works by Elgar, Haydn and Mozart in the two cities.
The EUCO, referred to as 'musical ambassadors for the European Union', has gained a worldwide reputation since giving its first concerts in 1981. It has an annual schedule of some 70 concerts in numerous countries and has produced 18 CDs. Its patron is Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain.
Born in Berlin, Germany, the director, Wollong, took his first violin lessons at five and went on to win numerous violin competitions. As concertmaster of the Tibor Varga Chamber Orchestra, he performed in Germany, France and Switzerland and works as a soloist with many prestigious conductors. Since 1999, he has been first concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Dresden, held the same position in the Radio Symphony Orchestra of Berlin and, since 2001, has also been concertmaster at the Bayreuth Festival. He has received international recognition with his many radio and CD productions, in particular his CD of the complete works for violin by the Swiss composer Otmar Schoeck.
