SCO Gnarly Buttons Queen's Hall Edinburgh 11th December 2025 Review
Scottish Chamber Orchestra Gnarly Buttons at the Queen's Hall Edinburgh was a much overdue celebration of the work of American composer John Adams (b. 1947), a concert that was part of their New Dimensions programme.
I have to admit that I know far less about John Adams' music than I probably should, and even though his music has encompassed operas, films, television and video games, this programme of music which featured "Shaker Loops", "Gnarly Buttons" and "Fearful Symmetries" was still an evening of musical exploration for me.
John Adams early in his career identified himself as a self-identifying minimalist, and although his music is often grouped into the same category as composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, there is something very different about much of his work. For me, John Adams was always experimenting with sound, instruments and musical structures, but there is always, as some of the music performed tonight illustrates, that reaction against some of the classical forms of music that he was hearing around him as he grew up in what was a very music orientated family. If anything, some works are a return to rhythm and harmony in music, almost similar to the Pre-Raphaelite's aesthetic principles and their reaction to so much of the art that they saw around them.
Opening tonight's music was "Shaker Loops" a work from 1978 that was originally scored for a septet but also capable of, like tonight, being scaled up to a larger string orchestra. This is a four movement work starting with a whisper of sound which rises to a crescendo before flowing back and rising again repeatedly and has an almost organic feel and sound to it.
Here, the intention was to create in sound the effect of objects in the water creating ripples, and the work was originally titled "Wavemaker". It was later re-titled "Shaker Loops" because of the shaking action on the instruments’ strings and the repeating musical loops.
As always with a composer like John Adams, your personal interpretation of the music can be very personal and at times I associated parts of this music with whale songs. At other times, the almost mechanical rhythms of the music reminded me much of a locomotive train coming towards you and then passing into the distance.
Closing the first part of this evening’s music was the title music for this programme, "Gnarly Buttons", Adams' clarinet/ chamber orchestra concerto from 1996 featuring soloist Maximiliano Martin. It is always a pleasure to hear anything that Maximiliano performs, and tonight was no exception as he is a world-class soloist.
With its use of clarinet, and the wind and brass instrument line-up augmenting strings, piano/keyboard, "Gnarly Buttons" often has a very jazz music feel to it, one that I sort of imagine being the soundtrack to something like "The Great Gatsby". There was also at times that feeling of being transported back to the days of a Jazz/swing/Big band line-up.
Over three movements here, John Adams takes us all on an unexpected musical journey, and what else could you expect when one movement is titled "Hoedown (Mad Cow)". There was some nice work here from Robert Carillo-Garcia on guitar/Mandolin/Banjo.
Taking up the whole of the second half this evening was "Fearful Symmetries", a 1988 work that has also been the score for a ballet. Here, a shifting musical landscape is underpinned by an almost techno-beat rhythm and the use of keyboards/synthesizer music is prominent throughout. This is a work that expands the soundscape that you would normally expect to come from a symphony orchestra, but it is also a work that is contained within very classical structures.
Conducting tonight's music was Andrew Manze, who also provided a welcome introduction to the music of John Adams. Also this evening was a perfect example of just how swiftly the SCO can adapt to rehearsing and performing live a work like this within their very busy performance schedule.
One thing was clear from tonight's music and that is that there is nothing minimalist about the very complex music of John Adams.
Review by Tom King (c) 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
I have to admit that I know far less about John Adams' music than I probably should, and even though his music has encompassed operas, films, television and video games, this programme of music which featured "Shaker Loops", "Gnarly Buttons" and "Fearful Symmetries" was still an evening of musical exploration for me.
John Adams early in his career identified himself as a self-identifying minimalist, and although his music is often grouped into the same category as composers such as Steve Reich and Philip Glass, there is something very different about much of his work. For me, John Adams was always experimenting with sound, instruments and musical structures, but there is always, as some of the music performed tonight illustrates, that reaction against some of the classical forms of music that he was hearing around him as he grew up in what was a very music orientated family. If anything, some works are a return to rhythm and harmony in music, almost similar to the Pre-Raphaelite's aesthetic principles and their reaction to so much of the art that they saw around them.
Opening tonight's music was "Shaker Loops" a work from 1978 that was originally scored for a septet but also capable of, like tonight, being scaled up to a larger string orchestra. This is a four movement work starting with a whisper of sound which rises to a crescendo before flowing back and rising again repeatedly and has an almost organic feel and sound to it.
Here, the intention was to create in sound the effect of objects in the water creating ripples, and the work was originally titled "Wavemaker". It was later re-titled "Shaker Loops" because of the shaking action on the instruments’ strings and the repeating musical loops.
As always with a composer like John Adams, your personal interpretation of the music can be very personal and at times I associated parts of this music with whale songs. At other times, the almost mechanical rhythms of the music reminded me much of a locomotive train coming towards you and then passing into the distance.
Closing the first part of this evening’s music was the title music for this programme, "Gnarly Buttons", Adams' clarinet/ chamber orchestra concerto from 1996 featuring soloist Maximiliano Martin. It is always a pleasure to hear anything that Maximiliano performs, and tonight was no exception as he is a world-class soloist.
With its use of clarinet, and the wind and brass instrument line-up augmenting strings, piano/keyboard, "Gnarly Buttons" often has a very jazz music feel to it, one that I sort of imagine being the soundtrack to something like "The Great Gatsby". There was also at times that feeling of being transported back to the days of a Jazz/swing/Big band line-up.
Over three movements here, John Adams takes us all on an unexpected musical journey, and what else could you expect when one movement is titled "Hoedown (Mad Cow)". There was some nice work here from Robert Carillo-Garcia on guitar/Mandolin/Banjo.
Taking up the whole of the second half this evening was "Fearful Symmetries", a 1988 work that has also been the score for a ballet. Here, a shifting musical landscape is underpinned by an almost techno-beat rhythm and the use of keyboards/synthesizer music is prominent throughout. This is a work that expands the soundscape that you would normally expect to come from a symphony orchestra, but it is also a work that is contained within very classical structures.
Conducting tonight's music was Andrew Manze, who also provided a welcome introduction to the music of John Adams. Also this evening was a perfect example of just how swiftly the SCO can adapt to rehearsing and performing live a work like this within their very busy performance schedule.
One thing was clear from tonight's music and that is that there is nothing minimalist about the very complex music of John Adams.
Review by Tom King (c) 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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