On 11 March Stefan Asbury at the NEC New Music Ensemble give the US premiere of Colin Matthews’ Postludes alongside Little Continuum from his Two Tributes, as part of Matthews’ role as NEC’s Malcolm Peyton Composer-in-Residence.
Postludes is an octet for oboe doubling cor anglais, joined by string trio and string quartet. The 16-minute work is cast in four movements which play without a break. The two string groups are separately defined, with their own music, though it is frequently exchanged between them. The opening ‘Prelude’ is the longest movement and opens with the oboe setting out a leaping melodic figure. An Elegiac Intermezzo follows, marked ‘Delicato’ and barely rising above piano, in which the oboe is joined by the string trio alone. In the Barcarolle, the oboe spins out long, high melodies over a gently rocking accompaniment from the quartet and delicate pizzicato from the trio. The Epilogue exchanges oboe exchanges for cor anglais, which pours out a passionate lament.
Postludes was premiered by Nicholas Daniel and Britten Sinfonia at Wigmore Hall, and released by NMC in 2020. It is dedicated to the memory of Oliver Knussen, who passed away as Matthews was working on the piece; it was partly inspired by Knussen’s oboe quartet Cantata, which he was writing when the two met in 1976.
Little Continuum from Matthews’ Two Tributes also celebrates a composer colleague, marking the 90th birthday of Elliott Carter. Scored for a chamber ensemble of 16 players, the 4-minute work begins as a mercurial, hushed scherzo, marked scorrevole, before more aggressive, percussive energies emerge. It was premiered in 2000 by Oliver Knussen and the London Sinfonietta.
On 8 February Olivier Stankiewicz premiered Matthews’ Oboe Concerto with the London Symphony Orchestra and Elim Chan. The 17-minute work, written for the LSO principal oboe, was celebrated by critics. Fiona Maddocks in The Observer noted “the composer’s flair in creating vivid orchestral colour, with ensemble and soloist entwined in dense but transparent textures”. “Dialogues between lush harp and cool, taut percussion imprinted themselves on the memory”, she continued. “Texturally dense, forcing the soloist to ride the storm”, The Guardian noted, “the music throws out challengers in the form of a raucous, jazz-tinged clarinet and a seductive cor anglais”.