A tuba cozily nestling against a drum kit on stage on Thursday night suggested that new sounds might well be afoot.
Auckland Philharmonia’s Colours of Brass had percussionists playing their part, too, with two tabour-like drums underlining the ceremonial grandeur of the opening William Byrd march.
Huw Dann, theAuckland Philharmonia’s principal trumpet, was a model MC, his crisp, informative commentary peppered with well-gauged humour, which included recalling the perils of being a trumpeter at a beachside wedding.
While the cathedral acoustics sometimes added undue weight and reverberation to otherwise lively performances, the clean lines of Giovanni Gabrieli’s Sonata pian’ e forte offered a welcome taste of classic Renaissance cool.
Huw Dann on trumpet performing with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in the Colours of Brass concert at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Parnell.
Later, Dann’s own transcription of Bruckner’s Os Justi had musicians palpably enjoying its sighing suspensions, before rounding it off in rousing unison.
Jeremiah Clarke’s well-known Prince of Denmark’s March was triumphantly led by the soprano trumpets of Josh Rogan and Sophie Spencer’s piccolo trumpets.
Three trombonists, Ben Lovell Greene, David Bremner and Grant Sinclair, used the space creatively, delivering two sonorous Bruckner Aequali from the balcony behind the audience.
Gemma Peacocke introduced her Don’t You Trust Me? Which was described in the programme notes as a playful exploration of power dynamics, unanswerable questions and the insidious nature of patriarchal control.
There was certainly humour in its woozy, sliding flexatones and perhaps a real anger in Steven Logan’s thundering timpani, but, for me, the piece’s impact was musical rather than political, especially when wooed by the cool serenity of singing bowls against mellow muted brass.
Working through four movements, Auckland Philharmonia’s resident composer gave us all the colours that the night had promised, from intriguingly inventive brass voicings, chiming vibraphone and glockenspiel and, at one point, the ominous sliding of trombones.
Gemma Peacocke performing her new work Don't You Trust Me with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in the Colours of Brass concert at the Holy Trinity Cathedral.
Sympathetically conducted by Vincent Hardaker, there were occasional issues of the ensemble, and I was disappointed when a major eruption was acoustically hampered. Might it have worked better in the more traditional acoustics of the town hall, where the orchestra’s one major commission of the year would have been heard by a larger audience?
