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SCRUTINY | Strings, Flute, Clarinet
And Harp Combine In A Perfect
Musical Recipe
By Robin Roger on October 6, 2016

2. Westwood Concerts (Photo: Robin Roger)
Westwood Concerts with Burning Bridge String Quartet, Sharlene Wallace, Kenneth Hall
and Michael Westwood at Gallery 345, Oct. 5.
When you buy a baking or cooking ingredient such as flour, chocolate or even a vegetable, it will
often come with a recipe attached or a link to a website with recipes. These recipes are usually
quite dependable because the vendor wants you to enjoy the ingredient and return to purchase
more. It’s a clever merchandising technique that has resulted in the wide distribution of such
recipe classics as Toll House Cookies (by Nestle, whose produce is the chocolate chips).
Instrument companies have exploited the same device, with equally delicious results. In 1905
the Erard company commissioned Maurice Ravel to compose a piece that would showcase their
newfangled double-action pedal harp — an alternative to the cross-strung harp. Introduction and
Allegro for harp, flute, clarinet and string quartet, which premiered in Paris in 1907 was the
result. If that performance matched the presentation at Gallery 345 on Wednesday evening, sales
for the Erard harp should have skyrocketed.
Just as Nestle combines the chocolate chips they are promoting with a blend of other enhancing
ingredients, Ravel wisely surrounded the harp with a medley of luxurious sounds that allowed
the harp to show off its expressive range, from mystical to mysterious to celestial to piquant to
serene to haunting. In this respect, it is not exactly a mini-concerto for harp with accompanying
instruments, but an ensemble piece, until the culminating cadenza, which is riveting.
Although the piece is called an introduction, at this concert it was performed as the last number,
by which time we were well acquainted with the superlative skills of harpist Sharlene Wallace
who had already indulged us with a rich medley of 20th-century, contemporary and traditional
compositions for solo harp as well duets for harp and flute and harp and clarinet. This included

3. the world premiere of Fantasy for Clarinet and Harp, by Colin Eatock who was in
attendance. His preliminary comments about the challenge of writing for an instrument that is
played with the hands and the feet, which operateseven pedals, increased my appreciation of his
work and the performer’s virtuosity enormously. Two compositions by Wallace gave the harp’s
voice a mellow tenderness as well as a jazzy resilience. She also performed on both a pedal harp
and a Celtic harp, which has a set of levers instead of pedals, treating us to a greater range of the
instrument’s colours.
At an intimate venue such as Gallery 345, which is in a converted loft, the audience sits on the
same plane as the performers — a pleasant change from looking up at them. The visual aspect of
an instrumental performance may be secondary to the sound but just as the dancer cannot be
separated from the dance, the physical, choreographic artistry of the musicians is a significant
component of the sounds they produce. This is especially true of the harpist, who is usually not
as visible as Wallace was. The harpist’s posture, leaning forward with arms extended on both
sides of the strings, face to one side, hands stroking and fingers plucking, creates the sense that
the harp is being held in a loving embrace. Wallace also bobbed her head in rhythm with her
playing at times, creating the illusion that she and the harp were partners agreeing with each
other in mutual dialogue.
The evening was a star turn for the harp, but the rest of the ensemble held its own. The Burning
Bridge String Quartet opened the program with one of Brahms’ three quartets,Opus 51 No. 2 in
A-minor, a demanding half-hour piece with a great many qualifications from the composer, who
wanted the movements to be “non-troppo” or “quasi” or “moderato” or “non assai”. They were
more than equal to these nuances, and especially in the finale, “Allegro non assai” demonstrated
why they call themselves burning.
Like the small but essential amount of baking soda in the Toll House cookies, Michael
Westwood on clarinet and Kenneth Hall on flute added the lifting sounds that elevated their
pieces. The expression “I’ve got it in my pocket”, meaning that something is under control, or
fully mastered, took on new meaning when Hall pulled his fife out of his pants pocket, after
playing on the modern flute.
Westwood Concerts has three more concerts in their 2016–17 season that showcase an intriguing
collection of musicians from home and abroad, who have studied at the finest schools with
legendary teachers, as well as a stimulating combination of original compositions and beloved
classics. Hearing these works in a relaxed venue, for an affordable price, is an opportunity that
music lovers in Toronto are lucky to have.
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4. Robin Roger
Robin Roger is a psychotherapist who emphasizes the importance of learning new things
as part of developing and maintaining mental wellness.She is a committed amateur
pianist as well as a writer, book reviewer and frequent contributor to Musical Toronto.