Music / contemporary classical
Review: Will Gregory Moog Ensemble, St George’s Hall
When electronics engineer Robert Moog launched his eponymous keyboard in the 1960s people saw it either as a wacky musical toy or the evil omnisound maker that would render traditional instruments obsolete. However, thanks to the genius and imagination of Moog’s assistant Wendy Carlos and her lively multi-tracked arrangements of classics by Bach, Beethoven and others the synthesiser became widely recognised as an important new addition to the musical menu. When the 80s digital revolution saw analogue synths themselves swept aside Goldfrapp core member Will Gregory began collecting them and in 2005 he was able to pull together an ensemble to perform some of Carlos’ arrangements. Two decades later they have (finally) made a debut album and this concert showcased those two bookends, opening with some ‘switched on’ Bach, later moving on to Will’s new Archimedes-themed compositions.
Will Gregory Moog Ensemble (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Given the breadth of vintage music technology on the stage it felt appropriate that each musician was introduced with their particular instrument. This enabled them to show the mind-boggling range of sonic possibilities at their fingertips before launching into Bach’s vigorous Fourth Brandenburg Concerto, an impeccably tight rendition albeit with some cheeky little portamento swoops and swerves that Bach might not have scored. The individual clarity of each sound (which was excellently mixed) actually seemed to emphasise the composer’s original brilliance more than a conventional string ensemble, while Dan Moore’s bass lines cranked up the piece’s rhythmic drive.
Jason Hazeley, Ruth Wall and Will Gregory (pic: Tony Benjamin)
Carlos’ Clockwork Orange associated version of Purcell’s Funeral of Queen Mary cast a very different spell – appropriately sombre and leaden paced over spectral sirens punctuated by Harriet Riley’s sonorous timpani. Those kettle drums came even more to the fore in the Scherzo from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony which closed the first set. Its irresistibly joyful music and playful changes of tone through to punchy ensemble passages can make you smile – though, with the cheerful exception of Eddie Parker, the intent performers looked pretty serious throughout.
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Viv Hope-Scott, Ross Noble, Simon Haram, Graham Fitkin and Dan Moore (pic: Tony Benjamin)
The second set established a shift to the new with a swirling thunderstorm of electronic noise before Hamburg Pocket’s neo-Kraftwerk drive thanks to a fast bassline and motorik drumming courtesy of Tony Orrell making a guest ‘appearance’, albeit seated invisibly behind the front rank of synth players. A suite from the Heat Ray album began with the electro poppy Buoyancy Theory, shades of both Bach and Steve Reich evident, then the waves of sound of Law Of The Lever led on to a climactic piece based on triangles. What followed was a highpoint: a majestic suite of themes composed by John Carpenter for his film Escape From New York that truly suited a St George’s concert vibe and ennobled both the film score’s music and the synthesisers that made it possible. By contrast the breezy encore of Burt Bacharach’s South American Getaway from Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid had the insouciant irreverence of beach bar muzak, a perfect way to round off a top-quality night’s entertainment.
Unlike Dan Moore and Eddie Parker, Harriet Riley wisely avoids the comedy nose’n’tash look (pic: Tony Benjamin)
I don’t know if Wendy Carlos has ever heard the Will Gregory Moog Ensemble but hopefully she would be gratified by the sincerity, effort and skill that they bring to her arrangements as well as the celebration of the instrument she had a big part in developing and designing. It’s ironic that in the 21st Century analogue synth music has a sort of Early Music mystique, like harpsichords and crumhorns, but invaluable that contemporary musicians like Will Gregory have both preserved the sound and continued to develop its potential. That his Ensemble mission brings together classical composers, jazz and orchestral musicians, electronic producers and popsters (as well as a TV comedy writer!) is a testament to the enduring and inclusive relevance of the Moog/Carlos legacy.
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